Date: 15th April to 23rd April 2015
Duration: 9 days
Type: Tour Group
Airline: Malaysia Airlines
Cities: Istanbul, Bursa, Kusadassi, Pamukkale, Konya, Cappadocia, Ankara, Bolu.


April is a special month for us -it's my parents' anniversary. At first, I thought of not joining this trip since my annual leave is almost gone. I just accepted a new job offer, which means my current annual leave will be prorated.

Finally, I decided to go to Turkey since it is one of the destination in my list. The total costs for the 9 days trip blew my mind. Its costs ONLY RM4500 per pax! This costs cover airline fares, hotels, transport, tickets and full meal.

Our MAS flight was scheduled to be 11.30 p.m that departed on 12.am. This is a non-stop flight to Atartuk Airport in Istanbul. Overall, the MH hospitality is good but I am quite disappointed with the inflight meals. Flight was smooth with little turbulence.

Once arrived, we proceed to the Immigration counter which took a huge chunk from our time. I was held at the counter for 10 minutes, with the Immigration officer doing a live background check via phone call. I do not know why, the only reason I can came up is because of the illegal migration to the country next to Turkey.

Collect our bags, freshen up a bit and we were ushered to our bus. And I am yet impressed! Our bus is a VVIP bus - reclining 1-2 seats with screens full of entertainment and complimentary WiFi! We met our Turkish tour guide, Mr. Ouz.

The Blue Mosque Courtyard

First place of visit is the famous Sultanahmet Mosque or Blue Mosque a.k.a Masjid Biru. When we first got here, everyone was going nuts for the tulips, including myself. Many thought Netherlands was the native country of tulips but it is not. Tulips actually originated from Turkey. Tulip was derived from an Arabic to Turkish word which equally mean serban.

Interior of Blue Mosque

Blue mosque was famous for it's beautiful hand-made blue tiles. The mosque itself is huge and the interior is just beautiful. The lamps are hanged from the ceiling had gold interims. We exited the mosque and walk through the courtyard to another historic place called Topkapi Palace. We passed by the infamous Hagia Sophia (Im a bit sad we didn't enter though). The weather is quite cold since it is end of Winter and beginning of Spring.

Before the First Courtyard Entrance

YES!

YES!

We enter the Topkapi Palace through the First Courtyard which is filled with blooming beautiful Spring flowers. There are several complex in the palace compound. We then enter the Middle Gate or Bab-As-Salam where ticket are inspected and there are security screenings. One of the artifacts is the palm-size Ruby and Prophet Muhammad PBUH artifacts.

Ibu and Ayah

At the end of the Topkapi Palace

Middle Gate

We walked out and I bought some chestnut from the small stall outside of the palace. We had our first lunch in Turkey near the compound. We ate a kebab set. My mom bought a snow cap for my dad which costs 5 Lira since he's freezing.


Nasi dekat Turki ni bukan nasi. Dia macam pulut. Tapi I bedal je. Kucing kat sini, mak oi gemuknya. Anjing opun gemuk jugak.


Next, we venture to cross over the Marmara Sea to our next destination which is Bursa. We rode a vehicle ferry to Bursa. One of the activity is having loads of Turkish coffee and feeding seagulls. I got to feed the seagulls all the way to Bursa. The coldness? Yeah it is worst that Europe.

Seagulls

The ferry

People selling chestnut

I, of course sleep the whole way to Bursa. We reached Bursa when it's getting dark. Mr Ouz actually has a Masters in history. He is so informative! macam masuk crash course kelas Sejarah Turki masa dalam bas. We stayed at Tiara Thermal Hotel which is quite nice. I accompanied my parents to go out that night to have a relaxing stroll. And I, chase a fat cat as usual. Dinner was provided at the hotel, same goes for breakfast.

Spring is here

Some scenery

Our hotel room.

We check out from the room and off we go to the Grand Mosque of Bursa or Ulu Cami. C was pronounced as J. Kira masjid jamek la ni. Inside, there is this beautiful fountain for us to take ablutions. My parents performed a salah there. There is a natural lighting above the fountain. It is just gorgeous. The fountain water is cold as ice.

Ulu Cami

Outside the Silk Bazaar

The fountain

Next we venture to the Silk Bazaar! Turkey is famous for this especially their scarves. I splurged here where I bought 4 pashmina. One thing unique is everytime you went to a store, the owner always get you a Turkish tea-complimentary of course. There's a choice between apple or pomegranate.


Selesai sudah sesi melontar pertama. We moved to Yesil Cami or known as the Green Mosque. The most distinguish feature is the mihrab, which is the place where the Imam lead the prayers. It is beautiful and gorgeous. It is blue and turquoise (hence green). We are lucky that mr Ouz knows the Imam and he let us in to the mihrab! It was prohibited area. The Imam then recites surah Al-Mulk, all of us are mesmerized by his voice and how happy he is to see us.

The nice and kind Imam and the beautiful mihrab.

Quick fact about Green Mosque: The floors are brick laid to provide heat during winter. The exterior of the mosque does not finish completely. You can see some carvings are done mid-way.


We then ventured to the 6 hours journey to Kusadassi... see next part.