Istanbul
Trip Start
Mar 11, 2009
1
55
Trip End
Jan 05, 2010
Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Up on the gallery level you can find the remaining beautiful mosaics. After the Turkish Conquest and the subsequent conversion of Aya Sofya to a mosque (hence the minarets), the mosaics were covered over, as Islam prohibits images. They were not revealed until the 1930s, when Ataturk declared Aya Sofya a museum.
An amazing building that isn't dampened visually by the restoration work ongoing inside (huge scaffolding up to the dome). Entry was 20TL, a bargain for me for a building of such splendour.
We walked through Sultanahmet Park and into the restaurant area for lunch. Although we found a nice place we had to wait till 12pm for the kitchens to be up and running, giving us a chance to explore a bit more.
After lunch we went to see another striking monument in Sultanahmet, the Blue Mosque, just south of Aya Sofya and a work of art in itself. It was built between 1609 to 1619, and it is light and delicate compared with its squat ancient neighbour. The graceful exterior is notable for its six slender minarets and a cascade of domes and half domes; the inside is a luminous blue, created by the tiled walls and painted dome. Entry is free, although at the main prayer times the mosque will be closed to visitors.
Outside of the Blue Mosque is the Hippodrome, where chariot races took place. The Obelisk of Theodosius is an Egyptian column from the temple of Karnak. It features 3500-year-old hieroglyphics and rests on a Byzantine base. Near the obelisk are the remains of a spiral column of intertwined snakes. Erected at Delphi by the Greeks to celebrate their victory over the Persians, it was later transported to the Hippodrome, where the snakes' heads disappeared.
We headed back to the hostel after this as we are all going out tonight for a "Last Supper" as a complete group. Heather and Chris had organised a little awards ceremony at dinner in the restaurant on the street behind our hostel - this is where you'll find alot of restaurants (Akbiyik Cad). They both told everyone what they thought each person's best moment of the trip was. During dinner we had fun recounting the best moments of our trip in 3 trucks through nearly 30 countries together. I didn't find it too surprising that most of our more memorable events happended in West Africa, probably mostly due to the conditions on the road and feeling like we were in the "real Africa".
We continued to a bar and stayed up till late at night chatting about the trip, 3 people would be leaving tomorrow - the start of the sad farewells.
8th - I got up early to make sure Judiete didn't miss her minibus to the airport, which would be picking her up at about 7am. Sherry had already left even earlier at 5am. Within a hour after Judiete left Kodai met up with us again after arriving by train from Poland, where he had finally managed to obtain a visa for India - a long process for him, but he is happy its finally over. As Lene was leaving today aswell at 9am we all stayed in the hostel for another sad goodbye.
Rob, Elyse and myself went off to explore more of the city. Across the tram lines from Aya Sofya is the entrance to the Basilica Cistern (10TL entry), which was built by Constantine and enlarged by Justinian. This vast, atmospheric (mainly due to the use of red lighting around the columns), column-filled cistern held water not only for regular summer use but also for times of siege. With everything but the walkway in darkness it could be said that this makes the challenge for a great photo opportunity, well at least for Elyse and myself. The James Bond film "From Russia With Love" was filmed here, before the place was officially opened to the public to view.
We went back to the hostel to meet Heather before setting off to the Grand Bazaar. Heather brought along a bag filled with more souvenirs and other things to post home and I ended up carrying this around the city (can't remember if I offered first or she asked me to carry it), well to cut a long story short she didn't go to the correct post office in the end to send the package on its way.
We went into what some people call mind-boggling - the Grand Bazaar. I think with my experience in medinas throughout this trip I could find my way through this place, it is actually set out into different areas depending on what is being sold. The Grand Bazaar is located just north of Divan Yolu, and this labyrinthine medieval shopping mall contains some 4000 shops selling everything from carpets to clothing, including silverware, jewellery, anitques and belly-dancing costumes. Rob finally got himself a new hoody, much to Elyse's and Heather's approval.
From walking around Istanbul I get the feeling that I am in a Central European city, probably due to trams found here and the city being clean, friendly and atmospheric - a great place to end the trip.
Rob, Heather and I chose which restaurant to eat at for our last night with the group. We picked one and the staff squeezed us in to a tight space putting the makeshift large table at an angle. We left the restaurant and went back to the hostel for a little last minute packing spree by Heather.
9th - Heather left early in the morning waking all of us up briefly to say goodbye. After breakfast those of us left in the dorm room except Chris (Rob, Elyse, Bryony, Kodai and myself) went out for a wander around the park in the grounds of the Tokapi Palace - the most iconic monument in Istanbul. It was nice to walk around this park and around the loop of the Palace back to the hostel in time for Rob to get ready to be picked up for the airport, he left slightly later than planned due to the late minibus. I would be the next to leave in a couple of hours time. The dorm room costs 20TL per night and an average meal price is between 10 to 20 TL.
It felt very weird getting on the minibus to the airport leaving behind the people that I have spent nearly 24/7 with over the last 44 weeks, in what Elyse had described before the trip as being in what could be called a "Big Brother" environment.
Istanbul is now one of my favourite cities to be in and I would definitely come back here again to finish off viewing all the sites I didn't get to see this time around, prefering to spend time with people before we all leave each others company to head home.
My trip home was largely uneventful except for a 1hour delay sitting in the plane at Amsterdam waiting for the wings to be de-iced before flying home on the last leg of the journey.
This trip was probably the best year of my life. Travelling to all those countries and experiencing so many things, both cultural and adventurous, will stay with me forever. It may be hard to beat this adventure on any upcoming travel trips that I do, which is a true testament to all the great people I have been lucky to meet and travel with. I actually consider myself lucky to have experienced this trip and will go on another overland when I'm able to do so.
