{"id":142,"date":"2011-05-31T23:04:42","date_gmt":"2011-05-31T11:04:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hailes.co.nz\/blog\/?p=142"},"modified":"2011-05-31T23:05:25","modified_gmt":"2011-05-31T11:05:25","slug":"the-last-of-turkey-the-first-of-singapore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hailes.co.nz\/blog\/2011\/05\/31\/the-last-of-turkey-the-first-of-singapore\/","title":{"rendered":"The Last of Turkey The First of Singapore"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tuesday 24th<\/sup> \u2013 Day 11: Back to Istanbul<\/strong><\/p>\n

We head out on the last leg of our tour.\u00a0 When we get to Istanbul we will have completed over 2,750 Km in the bus.\u00a0 We are on the road at 9 and have an hour trip to the ferry where we cross the Sea of Marmara to the out skirts of Istanbul.\u00a0 It is a half hour trip on a ferry similar to our crossing of the Dardanelles.\u00a0 We stop along the way for a refreshment stop and get into central Istanbul around mid day.\u00a0 The traffic certainly slows down as we head to the Grand Bazaar for some shopping,\u00a0 This is apparently the biggest under cover bazaar in the world with tourists coming in especially for it.\u00a0 We were told it was just a mad house and if you said hello to a shop owner you were hooked.\u00a0 This all proved to be hype and we were not hassled by the store owners at all.\u00a0 We didn\u2019t buy anything either as it was all pretty much the same stuff we had been seeing already.<\/p>\n

We took up one of the options of a cruise on the Bosphorus river.\u00a0 This is the bit of water between Europe and Asia and of course is right in the middle of Istanbul.\u00a0 You have the Sea of Marmara at one end and the Black sea at the other.\u00a0 It is a fascinating cruise looking at all the flash houses, palaces and hotels along this coast line.\u00a0 We went under both the bridges built across it.\u00a0 It is also a busy piece of water with ferries crossing and ships traversing.<\/p>\n

It is back to the hotel where we started in (Holiday Inn) Istanbul to get ready for dinner at supposedly a famous night club called the Kervavsaray with belly dancers and folk dancers and an impersonator who got up some of the audience to share his jokes and songs etc. What a great laugh we had at this part of the show, we finished up dancing to \u2018real\u2019 music before our tour guide forced us to leave. Some of our crowd were not wine drinkers so we did get to drink their allowances also!!!!!\u00a0 The show was good but we were packed in like sardines and it was impossible to watch the show and eat your meal if like me you had your back to the stage.<\/p>\n

Wednesday 25th<\/sup> \u2013 Day 12: Last day of the Tour<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another 9 o\u2019clock start as we head over to the old town for sightseeing.\u00a0 It is another hot day and very pleasant wandering around looking at some of the monuments and obelisks as we soak in the history.\u00a0 We do the Blue Mosque where we take our shoes off and the girls put on scarves.\u00a0 It is a magnificent building with a huge dome supported by half domes.\u00a0 There are lots of beautiful stained glass windows.<\/p>\n

Next is the Hagia Sophia a former Orthodox basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum.\u00a0 It was famous for its massive dome, and was the largest cathedral in the world for nearly a thousand years.<\/p>\n

We are all starting to get churched out by now and we wander off and find some lunch and then I head off to look at the Basilica Cistern.\u00a0 It costs me an extra 10 lire to view it but worth it.\u00a0\u00a0 It is a huge underground structure which used to provide water to some of the buildings on the hill.\u00a0 It had a capacity of nearly 3,000,000 cubic feet of water.\u00a0 The ceiling is supported by 300 odd columns, some of them carved.\u00a0 There was an upside down Madusa on one of them.\u00a0 It was then a rush to get back to our meeting point for our visit to the Topkai Palace.<\/p>\n

This was an Ottoman Palace built around the 15th<\/sup> century.\u00a0 It covered a lot of ground made up of four main courtyards.\u00a0 We wandered around here for about 2 hours looking at the palace jewels, one the biggest diamond in the world, much too big for our fine fingers, old clothing of the time, and the harem, library etc Ngaire even found the room where they turn blokes into eunuchs, yuk.<\/p>\n

Back to the hotel to get ready for our farewell dinner at a restaurant looking over the Bosphorus.\u00a0 A beautiful view, a nice meal and our tour was virtually over.\u00a0 It was all goodbyes as some were leaving the hotel at three the following morning to catch early flights.<\/p>\n

We went back to our hotel room to listen to music booming out at us from what must have been a nearby nightclub but it finished at eleven so not sure.\u00a0 At about 12.50 we got disturbed by an almighty boom and then what sounded like fireworks.\u00a0 I saw smoke rising from the street at the front of the hotel so hoping it was fireworks and not associated with the riots we had heard about.<\/p>\n

Thursday 26th<\/sup> \u2013 On our own again<\/strong><\/p>\n

With no rush and in our top rated hotel we are looking for a relaxed day today.\u00a0 We do have to change to a new hotel though as this one was part of the Trafalgar package and us poor Kiwi\u2019s can\u2019t afford the NZ$400 per day for this place.\u00a0 We have breakfast with Jan and David from Melbourne.\u00a0 I forgot to mention that this was the only place that has served us bacon in the whole of Turkey.\u00a0 No fried eggs but yummy although a bit salty bacon.\u00a0 We say our goodbyes to a few folk still around the hotel, put our bags in storage and are off for a stroll in the New town (I Guess) where they have shops and stuff more akin to home.\u00a0 We really just wander as we are full up on historical sites and stuff and get back to the Holiday Inn about 2pm.\u00a0 We book a van to take us to the Orka Royal\u00a0 Hotel back down in the old city area, in fact just below the Topkai Palace.\u00a0 Renee we decide that you have really done a great job in sorting out hotels for us both in quality and location.\u00a0 The taxi van ride is a two in one deal as it is as exciting as a River Rafting adventure.\u00a0 Our driver swapped lanes at least every thirty seconds, no gap was too small for him to charge at, horns blasting as we went.\u00a0 But then he didn\u2019t have a clue where our hotel was, the traffic was thick and he had to ask people directions.\u00a0 We must have over shot the street and we ended up getting dropped off at a street a couple of blocks above it.\u00a0 He pointed out a sign I couldn\u2019t see and said there it is I let you walk from here.\u00a0 He then had the cheek to charge us 10 lira more than the hotel said it would cost.\u00a0 All part of the experience as we head down this cobbled street dragging our bags.\u00a0 We found the hotel on this street that had been closed for a reconstruction which may have been part of the taxi driver\u2019s problem and it did make us wonder what the hotel was going to be like but all turned out good enough for a 7 maybe 8 rating.<\/p>\n

We dumped our bags and went off for a walk.\u00a0 We found a park below the palace and spent some peaceful time wandering through that \u00a0and coming out on the coastline before finding our way past the main railway station back to our hotel.<\/p>\n

We went up to one of the restaurants we had passed towing our bags earlier in the day for dinner.\u00a0 I had some lovely lamb chops.\u00a0 After dinner we strolled back to our hotel.\u00a0 It had a pool on the roof of our hotel and beautiful view over the sea and we decided that we would head up there tomorrow evening for happy hour.<\/p>\n

Friday 27th<\/sup> \u2013 A wander around the Spice Markets<\/strong><\/p>\n

We have a relaxed start to the day with a leisurely though not exciting breakfast.\u00a0 We set off about 10am to find the spice market, just wandering in the general direction that people keep point us towards.\u00a0 We found a swag of garden shops which were interesting.\u00a0 We didn\u2019t know you could buy Strawberry seeds.\u00a0 Just as well we aren\u2019t allowed to bring them into NZ TA otherwise you wouldn\u2019t of had a chance next summer as the strawberries over here are yummy.\u00a0 The Spice Market was just next door and it was much more interesting than the Grand Bazaar as you could almost buy anything here from hardware to Viagra.\u00a0 We split up and met back at a caf\u00e9 area for lunch.\u00a0 Again there was not a lot of interest in selling you stuff and when it was time for prayer some of the shops closed even although there were people in them.<\/p>\n

We were going to meet Doug and Ngaire back at the hotel for 4 o\u2019clock happy hour and probably got back about 3.\u00a0 Unfortunately the temperature had dropped and the wind had come up and there was a bit of rain about.\u00a0 Ngaire\u2019s reckie of the roof top suggested it was too cold up there and just a couple of people huddling under a rug drinking tea.\u00a0 I tried to catch up on the blog while the others went out and brought some wine.<\/p>\n

Dinner was pork chops again but they were not as nice as the night before.<\/p>\n

Saturday 28th<\/sup> \u2013 We begin our journey home<\/strong><\/p>\n

We wake to another not so good day.\u00a0 It is promising rain and trying hard but it doesn\u2019t on us anyway.\u00a0 We decide to go for a wander along the waterfront.\u00a0 It is a busy place, ferries are coming in, guys were catching anchovies and mackerel by the bucket and boats all over the place.\u00a0 Everyone is trying to sell us tickets for a trip on the Bosphorus.\u00a0 We could have had a trip for 10 lire instead of the US$40 we were charged by Trafalgar.\u00a0 We may not have had the commentary in English but I would be surprised if it wasn\u2019t.\u00a0 We wandered around a bit, did the common search for a WC thing before getting back to the hotel for our mid day taxi van to the airport.\u00a0 The driver was another Stirling Moss want-a-be (they must all go to same driving school) and had us at the airport in under half an hour.\u00a0 To drive in Istanbul you have to be super confident and not be put off by the cars tooting at you.<\/p>\n

We have three and a half hours until our flight so dump our bags, grab something to eat and go into the lounge to wait.\u00a0 Our plane is an Airbus 321 and Doug ends up sitting across the aisle from the rest of us.\u00a0 Our flight to Munich takes just over two hours with a snack of Pasta and wine for some of us where we have a four hour lay over before flying out.\u00a0 We have sat on our bums quite a bit over the last two and a half weeks, tummys and butts tell the story\u2026.\u00a0 We next have a 12 hour Flight to Singapore and arrive there at 3.50 in the afternoon. Yipee!!!!<\/p>\n

Sunday 29th<\/sup> \u2013 Singapore<\/strong><\/p>\n

The flight was reasonability uneventful and in a Lufthansa Airbus A343.\u00a0 Margaret and I were against the Window and the plane configuration of 2-4-2 meant we only had our selves to climb over.\u00a0 Ngaire cursed me as she reckoned I must have arranged that we always got the window seats with Renee.\u00a0 This was not true of course.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think any of us slept much but the meals were reasonable.\u00a0 We arrived on time and everything was well until Margaret declared her cigarettes as you have to do here.\u00a0 We then had to go to the customs counter where they wanted either $50 tax or for $4 would hold them until we left.\u00a0 We chose the later but needed to pay in SG$\u2019s which we didn\u2019t have yet and no ATM until we were through the door so it was a credit card transaction.\u00a0 Bloody smokers are a pain in the ass.<\/p>\n

The taxi driver couldn\u2019t find our hotel, The Park Regis, 23 Merchant Rd, and we went around the block three times.\u00a0 A great hotel Renee, in again a great location.\u00a0 Apart from Ngaire not getting window seats you are getting good points.\u00a0\u00a0 We settled in ad headed of to find an ATM and something to eat.\u00a0 China town was just around the corner so that was where we headed, a bustling place for a Sunday night and found a nice place to eat and watch the world go past.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t long before we had polished off a couple of large jugs of Tiger beer and a nice meal.\u00a0 Noodles and Black peppered beef for me, Chicken & Potatoe Curry for Margaret, Doug a pork dish and Ngaire Chicken Satay..\u00a0 I tried to get a haircut but after being told yes they decided they were closed come back tomorrow.<\/p>\n

We went back to the hotel and had a swim before retiring to bed.\u00a0 We are starting to appreciate the hot weather.<\/p>\n

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Tuesday 24th \u2013 Day 11: Back to Istanbul We head out on the last leg of our tour.\u00a0 When we get to Istanbul we will have completed over 2,750 Km in the bus.\u00a0 We are on the road at 9 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hailes.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hailes.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hailes.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hailes.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hailes.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.hailes.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":145,"href":"https:\/\/www.hailes.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142\/revisions\/145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hailes.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hailes.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hailes.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}