I left off last time half way in Istanbul.....

.... so after walking a pretty long way and up a hill to try and visit Galata Tower, we found out that it cost YTL 10 to visit this tower, which you basically went in, took a lift to the top to take in the view. And no, we didn't go up the tower in the end, because we thought it wasn't worth the money... So here's the only shot I have of the tower...



We then walked around the city, where I saw the ONLY Starbucks coffee on the trip - though we didn't go in. Who needs coffee when we have all the hospitaliTEA in the world? ;p (i've lost count of the number of cups of tea I had in Turkey... and diabetic tea at that - ie. VERY sweet)

We also managed to get tickets to a football match in Turkey - Basiktas vs C.Rizespor. Initially, we were ATTACKED by touters on the street, who tried to sell us tickets. The initial offer was YTL50, but that soon came down to YTL30, and then YTL20 when they saw that we were gonna buy from the official ticket booth (we paid YTL30 for official tickets in the end). I don't think the tickets were fake though - I noticed the value on the ticket said it was complimentary....

The match security was CRAZY though. Being travellers, we were carrying our daypacks (ie. haversacks), which of course contained our essentials like water bottle, camera, books, writing materials, etc. When we first went in, we'd hidden our plastic bottles already, but guess what they had a problem with? My SLR camera. Bloody hell. And all the supervising police officer could mumble was "problem" (the searching officers referred me to him). And I was like, if you have a bloody locker, I'd put my bag in the locker. But of course he understood not a word of english (except problem), which left us quite frustrated. In the end, we had to go out, repack our bags so that my camera was well hidden, and then we went in by a different gate and got through this time, thankfully. It was quite an ordeal really. It wasn't like my camera was using a TELEPHOTO lens or something - I know they don't allow that in the English Premier League matches. I was using a WIDE ANGLE lens. I don't think the idiots knew the difference though.

The atmosphere in the stadium was incredibly awesome (and I'm not trying to be hyperbolical). The fans were practically cheering throughout the match, and they have such interesting cheers as well. You know in JC/Sec school, we had all these "reply" cheers, where the cheer leaders shout something and you reply right? They did that in the stadium, only that ONE ENTIRE SECTION shouts to another ENTIRE SECTION, on the adjoining side of the stadium. I was duly impressed. The match ended, to much disappointment, in a 1-1 draw though.

Unfortunately pictures are on my other camera, and I can't seem to get my card reader working yet, so I'll have to post them at another time. The pictures weren't great either. Instead, I shall show some photos from walking around Taksim Square and the main shopping area...

Yummy baklava and other sweet things. The turks really like sweet stuff man! Don't start drooling all over your keyboard!

One of the little streets leading away from the main shopping area near Taksim Square.

Day 3 was spent exploring the Grand Bazaar, which I managed to resist the temptation to buy too much stuff. In fact, I didn't buy anything for myself in the end! hehe... It was nice to just wander through the bazaar and visit every crook and corner though.

Very colourful bowls. I thought of buying one, but I figured one by itself would look quite plain and boring. And I didn't exactly want to buy an ENTIRE set....

I told myself if I ever went back to Istanbul, I'd buy one of these lamps. So colourful too! I wasn't sure if I wanted to fork out YTL30 for a standing lamp at that time, plus it was the start of the trip, I risk breaking it along the way if I carried it around.... so well...

We finally departed Istanbul on the night of 3rd December for Goreme, Cappadochia, which is one of the most visited sights in Turkey. You shall see why when I post pictures of Goreme.... stay tuned!

Labels: Middle East, Travel, Turkiye