TURKEY PART II : ARRIVAL IN ISTANBUL & BURSA CITY

ARRIVAL (Atartuk International airport, Istanbul)

Location of Ataturk International Airport

0615: was looking for rest room and prayer room. The rest room was very clean, with toilet bowl equipped with spray water for cleaning.

We found no prayer room even until the last exit of arrival area. A Turkish gentlemen said that there is one at the departure hall on upper floor but we have to exit the arrival area first.

Got back our luggage and
excited to begin a great journey

It's not long for us to get our luggage.

Soon as we exit, there was a lady holding a card with my name on it. She is our tour guide, Ms Selin Topaloglu. We greet each other and she present her hand to shake hand with me but as usual, I politely declined by holding my hand to my left chest as a sign of respect while saying "Hope you don't mind (not to shake hand), it is a great pleasure to meet you". I am a Muslim and my faith does not allow a man touch skin of a woman whom does not have any blood relationship. Alhamdulillah, most of my non-Muslim friends and those that I newly met would normally understand with sense of surprise but full of respect of my wish.

Left to bayan (Women) and
Bay (Men) prayer room

Entrance to Bay (Men)
prayer room

We then requested her to take care of our luggage while we went to prayer room (they call it mascit / masjid).

The prayer room is large but very much like our Malaysian common prayer room in a big shopping mall. They had a clean and organize room complete with jacket wall hanger and slippers.

Inside Airport Mascit

Done solat, we walked down and get our ride.


Turkish Words Learned
Mer-ha-ba = Hello
Mas-chit = Prayer Room

Tips
Try ask the airport officer for prayer room before going to baggage claim as there is actually another prayer room inside the departure hall within duty free mall. We know this on our final day before our departure back to KL.

BURSA (Day 1)

Midway story
0730: begins the journey. We had Ms. Selin Topaloglu, our tour guide and Mr. Murat, the driver, its going to be an exciting trip with four of us. First we have take our ride on to a ferry to cross over the Sea of Marmara to Bursa. Expected 3 to 4 hours trip to reach.

The traffic is heavy but flowing, a lot like KL. The great Istanbul City which stretch from Europe moving towards Asia across Bosphorous sea is humongous. Reach the port after slight lost of direction by our driver, we are finally on board. Wifey not feeling good, so I try to get coffee or tea at the cafeteria on board. None can speak English and none of the food are familiar as well, hence, I have to get Selin for help. We got our cups of tea and some food (bread with some salads). I started to feel that communication will definitely be an issue if we travel by ourselves.

Fig & Olive trees farm

in front of a fig tree

40 minutes later we on the other side of the sea and before we arrive at Bursa City an hour after that we decided to stop by at a farm of olive and fig trees. This is the first time we had ever seen the trees.





Visit

1st Masjid:
Yesil Camii (aka Masjid
Sultan Mehmet I or
Green Masjid)

Place where the Sufis kept themselves alone with God

Our first visit was Yeşil Camii (Masjid Yeshil), also known Mehmet I Masjid or Green Masjid. This masjid is known for the gathering of sufi studies. The building plan includes the place where the sufis sleep, a madrasa and few small rooms.

We then visited Sultan Mehmet I tomb just beside the masjid. Very nice architecture but had the building had experience destruction due to earth quake. It was repaired by a French architect during long time ago but due to lack of Islamic art architecture  it was not perfectly re-built.

Our first Turkish Meal 'Iskander Kebab'

internal view of Yesil Camii

We then had our first Turkish Lunch at nearby restaurant beside the masjid. Excited sangat nak try Turkish meal and how it is different from ours. The Kebab Iskander as what the local calls it, was great... It started with corn soup, followed by salads with a lot of tomato, the the kebab and finally the fruits. There was also local drink which taste like sour milk (I believe it was like laban that we used to drink in Makkah)

2nd Masjid: In front of
Ulu Camii main entrance

After having lunch at that nice restaurant facing Bursa city from a hill view, we head to the city to reach Ulu Camii (Masjid Ulu).

Ulu means 'main'. Here, it was told that there was a spot where Nabi Haidir and Nabi Elias perform their solat. I am not sure about the truthness about the story.

Ulu Camii: It was said it was exactly at this
spot Prophet Haidir and Prophet Elias
performed their solat

In front of the bank

Turkish icecream...a bit sticky
but very nice

Just on the next block is a building which also house the Silk Bazaar. We just need to walk into a traditional mall which sells varieties of goods before reaching the Silk Bazaar. But before that we tried to find for money changer along the shop on the city street but could not find any. So we decided to go to one of local bank. The bank were all however closed between 1 to 2 pm for lunch as in Turkey, there is no shift work in banking. When it was open, the bank counter looks very simple having only few counters. We exchanged few of Euro and USD to Turkish Lira. Rate were 1.79TL for every USD.

Mustafa Kamal Ataturk and Turkish flags are common scene
decorating any Turkish city and villages

In the mall, we can see a lot of Mustafa Kamal Ataturk potret & banner together with their flags along the ways, hanging either on the walls of the shops or under the roof of the bazaar. I did asked whether there was some national event or public holiday during that time, but they said it is normal to have Mustafa Kamal Potret in every building, houses, either public or private places.

At Silk Bazaar

According to my wife, silk price in this bazaar are fairly good and the quality are really good as well but we  must  be able to not shy in bargaining. We are lucky for going into this one lady who not only give good bargaining price but also offer local Turkish tea drinks.

Selesai shopping, kami berangkat ke Baia Hotel sub-urb of Bursa city. We had all the balance of the day but we decided to take a long nap after jama' both Zohor and Asr Solat. This is for us to recover from the jet lag.

romantic dinner

Had a good romantic dinner at nite facing a nice view of a long straight street of Bursa city.

View from our room window
the next morning

Turkish Words Learned
Tash-shakure = Thank you
Camii - pronounce Ja-mii = Masjid (possible came from arab word jame' or jama' means mass)

Tips

• Get few simple Turkish translation phrases such as "How much?" , the numbers for us to say one or two Lira in Turkish. English is not common among local people except at tourist spots.
• Bring a long some snack along the way.
• Also ensure to bring a long some medication if you normally had traveling sickness or sea sick.
• Make sure you find money changer at the airport to change you cash into Turkish Lira. Eventhough USD and Euro are widely accepted, it is easier to deal in Turkish Lira (TL) especially in small shops.
• Credit cards are also widely accepted here regardless the size of shop. Few may charge a fee but most don't.
• Plan for your nap to recover from Jet-lag for you to enjoy the next of the trip

....to be continued....kindly visit next posting "Magnificent ancient city of Hierapolis"

TURKEY PART I : PRE-TRAVELLING

PRE-TRAVEL & EXPECTATION

Administrative
No visa is required. Just passport would do.

Climate & clothes
September expected to be early fall with temperature between 18-22 degree Celsius in the day and 10-15 degree Celsius at night depends on the area as the country is quite large with almost 6 times bigger than Peninsular Malaysia.

We bought simple jacket but also prepare for double clothing for nights at northern side of the country especially in Bolu.

We both brought our own rubber flipper slippers just for night walk and especially during Hierapolis visit. We also had our swimming attire for hot-spring swim and I brought my own towel for the swim just to be ready.

Other preparation
First Aid is a must for every travel complete also with ActivFast, musclepain tablets, plasters, musclepain cream, Silonplast, Minyak Cap Kapak, nasal spray etc.

Largest and mid size luggage with small travel handbag and small bag pack. We had a total of 19kg check-in luggage to give free space for some shopping stuff.

I had my pouch to keep camera, passport, cash, coins, tissue, handset and ray ban. We also did not forget to bring toiletries.

To ensure we do not leaves solat, I make sure I have all the solat times for all different cities and to bring compass for qiblah direction.

Overall expectation
People

We expect the Turks to be very friendly based on interaction with some pilgrimage during our hajj and umra. The Turks looked very friendly to us as they oftenly approach us first but they can't will speak English and will continue to speak Turkish eventhough we repeatedly do not understand any of their words.

Religion wise we expect them not to be that religious, may be almost like us Malaysian Muslim. They may be able to read Al-Quran but only few would really understand the meaning word by word. But we expect them to have the fundamental knowledge of Islam .

Food
Food is expected to skewed to any European countries with some mix of Asian and Arabic influenced. This is based on mere location of mix between east and west.

Places

Turkey cities are expected to be very modern whilst the villages are expected to be less developed relatively to other European countries.

DEPARTURE DAY
1800: made online check-in via MalaysianAirline.com online service. Online check-in would allow us to buy more time as we only need to be at the airport 1 hour before boarding time instead of 2 hours. 2115: Call for a cab to KLIA. 2130: Cab arrived and we reached KLIA at 2230. Straight to check-in our luggage. We then make some withdrawal from the ATM for some pocket money. Change some currency into Euro and USD as Turkish Lira (TL) is not available in Malaysia. Euro and USD is widely acceptable there.

0030 MH30 night flight expecting to reach Istanbul Atartuk Airport at 0615, requires us to have good sleep in-flight so to get fresh travel day the next morning. Small tea would be enough if plan to take in-flight meal but as we plan for a good night sleep, hence, decided to take meal at KLIA instead.

TIPS

• If possible make on-line check-in via Malaysian Airline portal so that can be at airport only 1 hour prior to departure instead of 2 hours. Online check-in would also allow us to select our seats.
• Pre-withdraw our cash as much as possible for the amount you need rather than waiting for final day withdrawal from ATM coz there will be withdrawal limit. ATM will be closed at 12 midnight/morning.

.....to be continued..kindly visit next posting "Arrival in Istanbul and visit to Bursa City"