After waking up at the crack of dawn, we made our way to the
restaurant for a sumptuous breakfast overlooking the Bosphorous river. I was
particularly impressed with the fresh honeycomb blocks at the breakfast buffet.
After breakfast we headed for a day tour to all the major attractions in
Istanbul. It was also the first time that we met the rest of the tour group.
Having arrived late at the hotel the day before due to flight delays and the
rainy weather conditions, we missed the initial group meeting with our guide
Ajay. We were altogether 38 passengers
on the luxury bus from all parts of the world. We met people from Canada,
America, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and the UK. We were the only
Muslims on board the bus and hence we were the centre of attraction. We could
sense a certain degree of racism from some members of the group and believe it
or not some of the American tourists literally thought that we resided in a
jungle setting with animals roaming by.
Whilst a fully kitted out tour is convenient and takes into account
hotels, food and tours, it is not for the faint hearted as you need to be able
to interact with many different kinds of personalities on the bus. I was quite
shocked at the level of childishness among grown up adults who literally fought
for a particular seat on the bus as though they were school kids. I found that South Africans are quite timid,
complacent people as opposed to our loud mouth bullying American
counterparts. Nonetheless we tried our
best to be the best we could be.
Our first stop was the Topkapi Palace , the home of the
Turkish Sultans for four hundred years. We marveled at the grandeur of the
majestic Ottoman buildings and admired the Treasury and Porcelain collections.
What fascinated me the most was the Islamic artifacts dating back to the time
of the Prophet Muhammed (saw). Unfortunately we were not allowed to take
pictures in the building. Frames depicting the collection at the Topkapi palace
can be viewed at the exquisite gallery at the Turkish mosque in Midrand, South
Africa. Turkey is definitely a tourist destination and the Turks must be
complimented on mastering the art of hospitality. Never in my life did I see so
many tourists and buses. At the Topkapi Palace mom and I were stopped
repeatedly by tourists from other countries wanting to take pictures with us.
Some tourists found the sight of the hijab fascinating. I was intrigued with
the group of Chinese Muslims that we met. We spent a few minutes engaging in
dialogue with them. It was fun, fascinating and captivating. After spending some time at the Topkapi
Palace we then made our way to Haghia Sophia. Hagia Sophia is a great architectural beauty and an important monument both for
Byzantine and for Ottoman Empires. The mystical city Istanbul hosted
many civilizations since centuries, of which Byzantium and Ottoman Empires were
both the most famous ones. The city today carries the characteristics of these
two different cultures and surely Hagia Sophia is a perfect synthesis where one
can observe both Ottoman and Byzantium effects under one great dome. It
is the only building in the whole world that served three religions, namely
paganism, then Christianity and finally Sunni Islam. Today the building stands
as a museum in the Turkish Republic. .
After marveling at the
beauty of the Haghia Sophia and snapping up a few shots, we then took a lunch
break. We made our way to a quaint little roof top restaurant that had
breathtaking views of the Blue mosque and surrounding areas. The cheese pizzas
and salads were delicious. Turkish people love fresh food. They prefer eating organic grown vegetables. The women are very hard working and
domesticated.
With regards to food, we
preferred having vegetarian meals only as many restaurants served ham and
alcohol. Even though the locals told us that all the meat is halaal, we were
not comfortable with eating any of the meat products.
After lunch we made our
way to the Hippodrome which was the scene of the horse chariot races during the
Byzantine Era.. We then headed off to the Grand bazaar. With over 6000 shops to
choose from, your head doesn’t work. At the grand bazaar, you will be able to
find anything and everything from leather jackets, souvenirs, ceramic plates,
branded clothing, shoes and jewellery. The one item that fascinated me most at
the bazaar was the blue eye. All over Turkey you will find a blue eye, either
as a key ring, frame or necklace. The symbol of the blue eye originated from
ancient Mesopotamia and continued into modern Turkey. Turks believe that it is
a symbol of good luck and also wards off the evil eye. The time we spent at the
bazaar was too short and so we planned to re-visit this shopping paradise on
our last day of vacation which was a free day of leisure.
We ended off the day
with a magical sunset cruise on the Bosphorus river where some of the most
expensive properties in the world can be found today. We traveled towards the
old city from close to the Black Sea where the scenery complimented the
grandeur of the Ottoman palaces, old mansions and fortresses.
To view the rest of the pictures click on the link below:
