The flight ticket was purchased 5 months ago in March 2016 from Skyscanner.com at a price of GBP1,149. That came to exactly RM6,722.99. That made my heart bleed for a few days. I purchased a multi-city ticket (my trip this time involves Tanzania and Romania) with Turkish Airlines because that was the cheapest airline then. A few months later, Ethiopian Airlines came in cheaper by RM1K. *Heart bleed again*. Lesson learnt : Never check the price of the flight ticket again once purchased. The details of the flight are:
020916 : Kuala Lumpur --> Istanbul, Turkey transit 14 hours --> Kilimanjaro, Tanzania arrive 2 days later on 040916 at 1.15am local time
140916 : Kilimanjaro, Tanzania --> Mombasa, Kenya transit 55 minutes (not required to leave plane) --> Istanbul, Turkey transit 3 hour 25 minutes --> Stockholm, Sweden
021016: Stockholm --> Turkey transit 3 hour 20 minutes --> Kuala Lumpur arrive 031016
Due to the long transit of 14 hours, I started to research on what I can do in Istanbul. Many websites have offered information on what one can do in 24 hours. Looks like such long transit is common with Turkish Airlines. Then, I stumbled upon an offer by Turkish Airlines that provide FREE city tour for international transit of more than 6 hours but less than 24 hours. You can opt for a city tour or a hotel stay. No questions needed further - I am going for the city tour because everything is FREE including food (breakfast and lunch). Need I explain more to convince you? This post will tell you where I went in Istanbul. And also the next post too.
020916 - The date of my trip arrives. Turkish Airlines has some very delicious meals. I got 2 meals - dinner and breakfast. They were very filling. Plus, I watched 3 movies with very good sound system. Slept a bit. It was not freezing cold.
030916 - Upon my arrival at Ataturk International Airport, I looked for the Turkish Airlines counter to confirm on the free city tour. The officer on duty told me to come back at 7am when the next officer comes on duty. Reason being because it was only 5am. I arrived in Istanbul at 3.30am. The airport was already bustling in activity. Next to the Turkish Airlines counter is where you can leave your baggage for the day. I have no luggage to leave. So, I lied down on a bench for a while trying to nap but that did not work. I walked around the airport and counted there are 19 car rental booths! And they were just next to each other. Tough competition.
Because I was so hungry by 7am, I had breakfast at one of the eateries in the airport. I saw some airport staff eating there and I thought the price won't be too bad. I saw all the breads on display and I was so tempted to have a lot. But thankfully, I only took one sunflower bread because the bread was so hard. Can you see all the lines popping around my eyes because I was cringing to bite.. I have no idea how the locals eat their bread. And I had a small glass of Turkish tea. Bread costs TL4.75 (RM6.50) and tea costs TL5 (RM6.80). I agree if you exclaimed - Expensive!
I went to Turkish Airlines counter and confirmed on the city tour details. I took the 9am - 3pm tour. The itinerary is already fixed by the Airlines. I gave my passport to confirm my attendance and they returned it to me after reading my name prior to the start of the tour. Our group got a free headbuff. All of us waited at Starbucks by 9am. There were lots of people waiting but some were in a half day tour.
Once our names were read, we were ushered to our bus where it will bring us to our first stop - breakfast! In the bus, the tour leader introduced himself as Murad. He has a very cute smile. Maybe because he is small size. Our breakfast is in a very fancy restaurant which was close to the harbour.
Ta-da, the FREE breakfast. Gosh, I love highlighting the word FREE. Haha. Seriously, I have no idea how to eat it. Mostly because there is a variety of cheese, and I tried just a bite each. I feel so bad. But I ate the others - a slice of beef, olive, dates, salad, hard boiled egg, bread. We had Turkish tea. I wished I did not have my earlier breakfast, but then I won't know how hard Turkish bread is. Haha!
After breakfast, Murad assigned a number to each of us to make sure we don't get lost. He will do a number check each time we reach a stop. He is responsible for everyone. If you decide to venture away, you must sign a form to detach yourself from the group. We walked to our first place - Hippodrome of Constantinople.
Murad stopped in front of Obelisk of Theodosius and gave a brief history on the Hippodrome. I admit, I was not listening that much because I was not familiar with Turkey history. I am ashamed. So, I am googling it now.
The Hippodrome of Constantinople was a circus that was the sporting and social centre of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. Today it is a square named Sultanahmet Meydanı (Sultan Ahmet Square) in the Turkish city of Istanbul, with a few fragments of the original structure surviving. Source from Wikipedia.
The Obelisk of Theodosius is the Ancient Egyptian obelisk of Pharaoh Thutmose III re-erected in the Hippodrome of Constantinople (known today as At Meydanı or Sultanahmet Meydanı, in the modern city of Istanbul, Turkey) by the Roman emperor Theodosius I in the 4th century AD. The obelisk was erected during the 18th dynasty by Pharaoh Thutmose III (1479–1425 BC), to the south of the seventh pylon of the great temple of Karnak. The obelisk that would become the obelisk of Theodosius remained in Alexandria until 390, when Theodosius I (379–395 AD) had it transported to Constantinople and put up on the spina of the Hippodrome there.
The Obelisk of Theodosius is of red granite from Aswan and was originally 30m tall. The lower part was damaged in antiquity, probably during its transport or re-erection, and so the obelisk is today only 18.54m (or 19.6m) high, or 25.6m if the base is included. Between the four corners of the obelisk and the pedestal are four bronze cubes, used in its transportation and re-erection. Each of its four faces has a single central column of inscription, celebrating Thutmose III's victory over the Mitanni which took place on the banks of the Euphrates in about 1450 BC. Source from Wikipedia.
The Serpent Column also known as the Serpentine Column, Plataean Tripod or Delphi Tripod, is an ancient bronze column at the Hippodrome of Constantinople in what is now Istanbul, Turkey. It is part of an ancient Greek sacrificial tripod, originally in Delphi and relocated to Constantinople by Constantine I the Great in 324. It was built to commemorate the Greeks who fought and defeated the Persian Empire at the Battle of Plataea (479 BC). The serpent heads of the 8-metre (26 ft) high column remained intact until the end of the 17th century (one is on display at the nearby Istanbul Archaeology Museums). Source from Wikipedia.
Next, we went to the Blue Mosque.
The Sultan Ahmed Mosque or Sultan Ahmet Mosque is a historic mosque located in Istanbul, Turkey. A popular tourist site, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque continues to function as a mosque today; men still kneel in prayer on the mosque's lush red carpet after the call to prayer. The Blue Mosque, as it is popularly known, was constructed between 1609 and 1616 during the rule of Ahmed I. Magnificent hand-painted blue tiles adorn the mosque’s interior walls, and at night the mosque is bathed in blue as lights frame the mosque’s five main domes, six minarets and eight secondary domes.
The Sultan Ahmed Mosque is one of the three mosques in Turkey that has six minarets (the other two being the modern Sabancı Mosque in Adana and the Hz. Mikdat Mosque in Mersin). According to folklore, an architect misheard the Sultan's request for "altın minareler" (gold minarets) as "altı minare" (six minarets), at the time a unique feature of the mosque of the Ka'aba in Mecca. When criticized for his presumption, the Sultan then ordered a seventh minaret to be built at the Mecca mosque. Source from Wikipedia.
Those inappropriately dressed were required to cover up with the cloth provided. For me, it is covering my arms and my hair.
Also, to remove the shoes and carry them in a plastic bag to not get stolen.
Can you see the different versions of blue on the tiles? They are mesmerizing.
Murad told us that the lamps were hung low because the lamps needed to be lit many times a day in the past. I guess it is not so anymore.
Exiting the mosque, I turned behind and I had to snap a panoramic view of the mosque. It is grand.
Outside the mosque, there are benches for people to sit. Also, for the Muslims to hear the calls of the prayers and can perform their prayers.
The thing about participating in a tour is they don't wait for you. Haha. I was busy snapping photos and finding the right time when there are less tourists. By the time I turned behind, the group has disappeared at some turn. I ran after them. Next stop - Topkapi Palace. For FREE.
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