Istanbul, Part II

Fatih District: the heart of Istanbul

I came here to experience myself the legacy of the great and the famous Ottoman Caliphate. However it was difficult to discover the hundred years of history in a single day. So dear friends, my advice is, if you have limited time to spend in Istanbul, just book your hotel in this district. History lovers, art lovers, interior design fans, shoppers, Turkish delight hunters and hardcore travellers would not miss this place in their planner. You’ll find great places to visit such as Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque@ Sultan Ahmed Mosque, Istanbul Archaeology Museum, Grand Bazaar and many more. You can google and there are many websites have listed down their top 10 places to visit in Istanbul. I have my own too, but I separate the mosques as another list.

My TOP 10 List: 1.       Topkapi + Harem 2.       Hagia Sophia 3.       Grand Bazaar 4.       Hurrem Sultan Hammam 5.       Istanbul Museum of The History of          Science and Tech. in Islam 6.       Istanbul Archaeology Museum 7.       Spice Bazaar 8.       Arasta Bazaar + Marmara Seaside 9.       Mosaic Museum 10.    Basilica Cistern

My TOP 5 Mosque to visit: 1.       Blue Mosque 2.       Suleymaniye Mosque 3.       Shahzeda Mosque 4.       Fatih Mosque 5.       Eyup Sultan Mosque (outside Fatih)

The other places to visit outside Fatih District:

1.       Dolmabache Palace

2.       Bosphorus Cruise (going to Bursa take only 1 hour trip)

3.       Rumeli Hisari (Rumeli Fort - construction led by Sultan Muhammad II prior the fall of  
Constantinople)

4.       Miniataturk (just like Taman Islam Terengganu & Mini China, Shenzen)

5.       Golden gate and Theodosian Walls (Just like visiting China's Great Wall)

6.       Galata Tower (It just a big tower but you can dine at the tower top restaurant)

7.       Taksim square

First compartment of the Topkapi Sarayi (Palace)

Inside Topkapi Palace: Gardens, meeting rooms, 'bertapa' room etc.

There are much more I can tell you about Istanbul compared to London and Paris. I cannot explain every single place here but from my experience these places in the list are worth to visit and give a good ' return-on-investment' (value for your money). Of course it is not free and every museum has its own entrance fees but you can save your money by purchasing the combo ticket. For the museum in the Topkapi Palace, the price is 25 TL and the Harem entrance fees is 15 TL. At this price, (baru RM 70 seh!) I can see the relics of the sultans, including some stuffs and belongings of our Prophet Muhammad PBUH and his companions (in the Sacred Courtyard). There are also some stuffs belongs to Prophet Daud AS and Musa AS too. Besides, there are precious jewelries collection, weapons, manuscripts, statements and outstanding decorations that might make you bewitched (I was). However I believe that I had only 60-70% of enjoying in both places because of too many people, time consuming and of course my stomach was ringing. I missed few precious information that I was looking for but it was OK. Perhaps I'll come here again if I have a specific task. For more information you can visit its official website: http://www.topkapisarayi.gov.tr/. Lets enjoy the pics. first.

Bosphorus Straits from Topkapi Palace

Every small compartments/buildings in the palace allocates sultans' collections as well as the Prophet & his companions

One of the beautiful decorated dome

 

The place where the sultan met his visitors (is it Laura Ashley or Chesterfield sofa?)

4th Courtyard: Sofa i Humayun

Istanbul Archeology Museum: Haaah, this three strorey building made my knee niggles (penat maaa!)

One of the tomb in the museum

Inside the Harem (place for concubines and eunuchs)

The decoration in one of the harem room

Inside the harem - one of the room

My first day, I started with Topkapi Palace which allocates the museum and harem. Phew! It took almost 3 hours here. Then I thought I could continue to the nearby Istanbul Archeology Museum. Wow! this three storey building really made my knees niggle - lutut kasi goyang lor!. I try to postpone my lunch by visiting the third buidling: the mosaic museum, and - purrghhhh!. I'm done! I need to eat something and get some rest. Sorry Ayasofia, 'abang' will come later ya.