Bismillah..
Went for our winter honeymoon slash my working trip 2 weeks after our wedding. Since it’s a slash working trip, I get to go for free obviously, while F had to pay half-price. And who in the right mind would bring their parents/family member for a honeymoon, right? Well, I did. In the first place, I don’t think using the term honeymoon really fits the bill. But anyways, lets just treat it as one.
It was also my first time following an organized tour, as before this, I would be the one usually in charge of organizing the family’s itinerary. It was a 10 days trip around Turkey: Bursa, Kusadasi, Pamukkale, Konya, Cappadocia, Ankara, Bolu, and Istanbul. I wouldn’t bore you with the day-to-day details, instead will just post some pictures and highlights of the trip.
Bursa
Played with snow at Mount Uludag and did some serious damage on our pockets as we bought a duvet, of all things! But it’s pretty cheap there for a whole set, so why not?
Had the best and most authentic Iskender Kebab with melted butter. The taste was just, subhanaAllah!
Kusadasi/Pamukkale
I fell down at the calcareous hot springs of Hierapolis. Obviously something to remember, right?! 😛 Again, we bought lots of textiles (towels, bed sheets, etc.) there at the textile center. Not sure why we spent so much money for these kind of stuffs, but I guess being newlyweds at that point of time, we thought it as a necessity. Shrugs.
At the Ancient City of Ephesus, Kusadasi
At the Hot Springs of Hierapolis, Cotton Castle
Konya
It was the burial town of the Sufi Jalaluddin al-Rumi. Visited the museum and mausoleum. What we realized here was that, the Turks were quite fascinated with the sepet tourists. They will stop to make conversations with them and took a selfie or two. Like, really, you can see their excitement with these sepets. They probably watched a lot of K-dramas I guess.
Cappadocia
No, we didn’t get to stay in a cave hotel. We also didn’t get to ride the hot air balloon first thing in the morning as the weather was too foggy, so they had to cancel the flight. However, after our visit to the Goreme Open Air Museum, the weather was just nice for a flight up, so we rushed to ride the hot air balloon. Mind you, it is once in a lifetime experience which cost USD200 per person. Nonetheless, Alhamdulillah for the safe flight and experience.
With my mum and aunt
Of all street food, kentang ni jugak yang popular
At night, we were brought to taste the best ice-cream ever; Turkish ice-cream! I tell you, even B&J’s couldn’t beat the Turks in creating the awesomest ice-cream ever! The cafe’s called Mado which also has an outlet in Singapore, JEM to be exact.
Also, you can’t say you’ve been to Turkey if you have yet to try their mouth-watering dessert called Kunefe. I’ve tried it before in KL and I tell you, it was love at first bite. But of course, what better way than to try it in the country of its origin.
It was snowing moderately the next morning and all of us were jakun obviously. It was minus 5 degree Celsius and below. Even the swimming pool froze overnight. The mentel me was so intrigued by it, I stepped on the frozen surface of the pool with my foot and… I fell, again.
Ankara/Bolu
The capital city and administration of Turkey. Witnessed the change of guards at the Atartuk Mausoleum and it was quite fascinating. The temperature here was really, ma sya’Allah. It was my first winter trip anyway, and I am the kind of person who really cannot tahan sejuk. Nasib tak kejung badan.
Overnight at Bolu, a place where you can feeling-feeling like staying at the cabin in the woods. If any of you intend to stop by Bolu, do visit the lake there and you will feel like in the movies.
Istanbul
Honestly, 2 days in Istanbul will never ever be enough. Seriously. I really dislike it when we have to terkejar-kejar here and there and couldn’t really soak in the culture and atmosphere there. Heck, I didn’t even have time to shop for myself! Asyik sibuk cari souvenirs je, shopping untuk diri sendiri pun tak sempat.
Hopped on the ferry to cruise over at the Bosphorus River. Got the opportunity to pray at the Sultan Ahmet Mosque, also known as the Blue Mosque. Visited the Topkapi Palace and Hagia Sophia.
There were lots of pushcarts selling pretzels there, to be eaten with or without Nutella. Before I ordered one, there were some other tourists who ordered in English. When it was my turn to order, I ordered in Turkish and guess what, the vendor gave half-price cheaper than the tourists! Dalam hati, tak sia-sia belajar bahasa Turki dalam kapal terbang. Learning a foreign language could be both advantageous and useful, especially when bargaining/haggling.
The first fish meal in Turkey
When it was time to depart, man, do I feel like something were at loss. Really gonna miss the place. Especially with the recent happenings there, my heart really goes out to the people and to the country itself.
Anyways, the good news is, we brought back someone else from Turkey. Till the next post. 😉
The Eleventh Hour Project 