I know, I know, I went to Turkey during last year's summer yet it took me a year later to post about my lovely journey. *wink*
My friends and I wanted to travel overseas together again (since our trip to Korea), so we decided to travel to European countries (+Istanbul). I've been saving money after I finally settle down with paying health insurance, room rent, school, etc.
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| 1 bottle of mineral water, 1TL (macam 100yen/RM1 lah) |
Meet my travel partner, wiwin.
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| Selfie with travel partner before departing! |
So here we go. Guys, it's Turkey guys!! The place of great history. Haghia Sophia, Sultan Al-Fateh, Abu Ayyub Al-Ansari, culture, tea, kebab, baklava! Probably fell in love with Turkey after I read the novel about Sultan Muhammad Al-Fateh, and also knowing about the famous history of Constantinople. We gotta be serious and make up our itineraries!
Okay, before I start babbling about everything besides our travel in Turkey, let me tell you first that we (me and wiwin) joined the
Jejak Uthmaniyyah travel package, and it's quite a luxury package actually (sila jangan kecam saia). It's our first time travelling to far away country, and we wanted to have a tour guide to explain about the places and its history.
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| Kau Hado? |
So here we go.
It's a 18hrs flight (Nagoya-Beijing-Abu Dhabi-Istanbul), and it was a looong journey. We watched multiple lists of dramas, eat and sleep, transits, and finally reached Istanbul airport.
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| eat and sleep and eat again for hours |
As for lunch, we grabbed some burger at Burger King. (It was super expensive guys!) We reached earlier than everybody who were departing from KL and Mesir? (I guess).
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| The first among the group to reach Istanbul |
We reminded ourselves not to put a high expectation on this journey, so that we don't feel disappointed at the end of the day. It's our first journey together, we tried so hard to learn about each other and learn to be broadminded so that we don't ruin our vacation. We had plenty of times as we were the earliest. We went outside of the airport, look around, found a wifi hotspot, ordered some coffee and correct our wristwatch.
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| First selfie in Turkey |
As soon as everyone arrived, we introduced ourselves to the families. The uncles are very amusing, and the aunties are so..aunties. I'm glad that wiwin is the friendly type and loosened the awkwardness between us. We rode the bus, meet the Turkish tourguide who can speak Malay very well, and busy taking pictures throughout the journey to our first hotel in Bursa. We reached the hotel at 2 in the morning, so we quickly get into bed as soon as we have our room key.
Oh finally! First day in Bursa.
We went to Cumalikizi village which is the perkampungan awal Uthmaniyyah as we were told. I was imagining myself walking in the village during the early Uthmaniyyah period. It's quite early in the morning, and the souvenir shops were just beginning to open. (forgive me for the weak grammar *wink*)
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| Cumalikizi Village |
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| group photo! credits to (somebody's iphone) |
Then we visited Ulu Cami Mosque, the largest mosque in Bursa. We were told that it is the 5th important mosque, and Nabi Khidir AS wrote Himselves the 'و' calligraphy. And what amazes me is the water fountain IN the mosque for wudhu' (ablution). Cool, isn't it?
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| Ulu Cami Mosque |
Next we went to Koza Han - Silk Market. High quality and cheap productions such as silk fabrics, silk scarves, shawls, etc can be found here.
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| Koza Han - Silk Market |
After that we went for dessert hunting! Kidding. We went to a Turkish Delight store, where I bought boxes of desserts. yummy! (I didn't took any pictures here, probably because I was too focus on which baklava to buy *wink again*)
Finally we proceed to our next destination, Kusadasi and Pamukkale.
Day two: Kusadasi - Pamukkale
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| Our hotel in Kusadasi |
We watched a fashion show, where they promote their high quality of leather, and we were allowed to touch and try wearing the very expensive jacket! (I ALMOST bought myself a very pretty jacket leather which costs me 1/3 of my scholarship tsk tsk)
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| amboi pergi Turkey tgk fashion show |
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| almost bought the expensive leather jacket! phew.. |
We took quite some time at the store, and quickly proceed to our next destination: Selcuk. Here we visited the Ancient City Ephesus, but didn't have enough time to visit the Artemis Temple; one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. (I've no idea why it is listed in the seven wonders of the ancient world)
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| Ancient City of Ephesus |
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| The whole member of our group |
Then we went to visit Isabey Mosque, one of the oldest known mosque in Kusadasi. I love the idea of 'masjid hopping' of this travel package. It doesn't matter that we are stopping by to pray or not; it's just that I feel connected to the places just by stopping by at the mosques. Somehow I just feel welcomed. =)
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| Isabey Mosque, oldest known Turkish mosque with courtyard |
Finally, we proceed to our final destination of the day; Pamukkale. (Cotton Castle) It is one of Turkey's top attractions. We were given free time to explore the place, so we took a lot of pictures while dipping our feet in the pools. (wearing shoes are prohibited)
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Pamukkale (Cotton Candy Castle) |
It was a long day, and we headed to our next hotel in Pamukkale. I realised that I didn't really took pictures in hotels or our buffets. I only cared for my empty stomach and tired eyes. Haha
Probably you realized I took a lot of selfies, (normally i seldom do that) but this time I want to remember every places I went in Turkey, as it brings a lot of memories.
Well then, it's 1 am in the morning and I'm pretty tired so, see you again in my next journal, toodles!
