Day 13: Back in Istanbul

By Kin Enriquez -

On the 13th day I flew from Tbilisi to Istanbul, where I will stay for one night before traveling to UAE.

___

Istanbul Sweet Shop, 9:10pm
I had tea and some baklava here. I then went back to the hostel to rest.



Barbeque House, 8:30pm
I decided to get dinner and I ended up in this restaurant. I got chicken skewers, some bread and soup.

Cheers Hostel,  7:00pm
Just chilling out in my room and chatting with my roommates.


Grand Bazaar, 5:00pm
After another walk I reached the Grand Bazaar - it is even bigger than the Spice Bazaar! (Duh, that why it's called Grand, dummy) Goods of all shapes and colors are on sale. I remember this is where James Bond has a chase scene in Skyfall.



I went from shop to shop, sampling the free Turkish delight until I am full. I bought a few gifts for back home, and I went outside to the tram. I got my ticket and took one that will take me near the hostel.



Topkapi Palace, 2:45pm
I reach the palace after a short walk. Topkapi used to be the main residence of the sultans of the Ottoman empire. It is now a museum. There was a long time for the tickets so I just bought one from a hawker for 5 lira more.





The palace is very oppulent. It has a lot of courtyards and special buildings for every function and ceremonies, and for every whim of the sultans. There even a room where the princes are circumcized!




The artifacts on display are very impressive, particularly in this one room with all the religious items. Photography is forbidden in there but I saw among other things: the staff of Moses, the sword of King David, the footprint of Muhhamad, the headgear of Joseph, and pot of Abraham! I was really tempted to take pics but the guard looks menacing, so I did not. 




I explored the rest of the palace grounds. The view of the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn is great, especially from where the sultan is having his breakfast.

2:00pm
I woke a bit refreshed. I dressed up and went outside. I only plan to visit Topkapi Palace and the Grand Bazaar today.

Cheers Hostel, 10:30am
Finally in the hostel, same hostel as last time. Tariq is in the counter and checked me in. I was even able to eat the free breakfast! I then settled in, and took a nap. So sleepy now.


Taksim Square, 10:10am
We arrived at Taksim Square past 10am. There was already some traffic buildup along the way. I got a cab to the hostel, which is on the other side of the Bosphorus.


Havas Bus, 8:45 am
I am now in the bus going to Istanbul. It will stop in Taksim Square, where I plan to take a taxi to the hostel.

Sabiha Gokcen Airport, 7:00am
Touchdown Istanbul. I sort of regretted that I took Pegasus Air going back. Sabiha is in the Asian side of Istanbul and kind of far to where I am staying (my flight tomorrow is in Ataturk, in the European side).

I cleared immigration and proceeded to baggage claim. Lo and behold - my luggage is nowhere to be found! Although there are no valuables there - the Holy Water from House of Mother Mary is in it! So I went to the Pegasus office and filed a lost baggage claim, and they told me that they will forward my luggage to Manila if they locate it.

Crestfallen, I continue on. On the way out I pass by the carousel and I noticed that my luggage is there - together with the batch from the London flight. I retrieved it then went back to the office to sign the lost and found form.

5:30am
And we are off! I tried to catch some sleep on the plane and I did doze off.

4:50am
We started to board the plane.



Tbilisi Airport, 3:00am
I arrived at the airport around 3am. There were no issues at check-in or immigration, and I spend the time waiting for boarding at the concourse. I am flying Pegasus Airlines today.

Envoy Hostel, 2:30am
I only had a couple of hours sleep before the alarm went off. Soon after taxi arrived to take me to Tbilisi Airport.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Golden Tara of Agusan

By Kin Enriquez -
Image
One of the main reasons why I am always drawn to museums when I travel is that I would want to see, in real life, the fascinating things that I've only read in books or have seen in the films, such as archaeological artifacts or the paintings of Van Gogh and Dali . Museums give you access to all that. I majored in History when I was an undergraduate in the University of the Philippines. As such, I am always excited to see artifacts and historical curiosities that I encounter during my travels. But sometimes, they also make me sad, like when I saw the Golden Tara of Agusan in the Field Museum in Chicago.  The reverse of the Golden Tara The Golden Tara is a gold statue of a Hindu-Malayan deity discovered in 1917 in Esperanza, Agusan del Sur, in southern Philippines. Weighing about four pounds, the 21-karat gold statue depicts a woman deity sitting cross-legged, ornamented with a headdress and various accruements in the arms and legs....
Read more

Off the Beaten Track: Mapun, Tawi-Tawi

By Kin Enriquez -
Image
Guest post by Mara Ione Sarail Mapun? Where is that?” I get this question a lot when people ask me about my hometown. I’d ramble on and on the island (its location and the culture and the pretty spots...) but since the place is not really in any of the Philippines tourist spots and is in the middle of nowhere, I might as well talk about Atlantis instead. But the island does exist.  Mapun Tawi-Tawi or Cagayan de Sulu) is an island municipality in the Sulu Sea on the southwestern extreme of the Philippines, located very close to Sabah. Or from the way I see it on the Philippine map, the island is located on the Philippine’s “armpit”. Mapun is a volcanic island. The picture above shows Mt. Nanggoy, an inactive volcano near the Sapah Lake. The most popular tourist attraction in Mapun would be the three crater lakes on the west part of the island. Legend says that the three lakes were once volcanoes that erupted together. The first two, Danao and Singuwang, b...
Read more

How To Track Your Travels with Google Location History

By Kin Enriquez -
Image
Ever traveled to a place then forgot the name of that small shop that sells the best tasting cronuts you've ever had? Or have you ever wanted to retrace your steps in your travels, down to the smallest alleyways you passed along the way but couldn't? Here's a travel tool that enables you to do that - so well that it's cool and scary at the same time: the Google Location History. I use the service - which you need to enable on your mobile phone and Google account - to look back at my travels and generate some cool maps that retrace my steps during my trips. Google Maps, by itself, is an incredibly useful app already; I cannot count how many times I've used it when traveling to find my hostel, the nearest subway station, that cronut place. Having location history enable, made it cooler and more useful. Take a look at these examples: The top photo shows my movements around Singapore during my trip there in September, It basically showed my movements in t...
Read more