Türkiye

I didn’t know much about Turkey/ Türkiye. However, because we’ve met so many lovely Turkish people, we decided to pay it a visit.

Turkey has such a rich history and multi cultural cusine, architecture and so on… It has a strong Ottoman root you don’t even have to try hard to look for.

Iternary:

London > Istanbul > Cappadocia > Istanbul > London

First stop, Istanbul.

My first impression: Ridiculously safe.
Getting used to traveling in Europe, I am always conscious about my belongings and try not to stand out as a lost tourist in major cities. We were a bit lost at the beginning, not using internet to look for our Airbnb, we walked to quieter darker streets, but seeing women walking on their own in front of me is a good sign of how safe it is.
Staying in the centre of Istanbul, I feel so safe, safer than Paris, London, Rome…
Not to mention… Street animals are so well looked after.

Cats can peacefully sleeping in a busting metro station, without human interference;
Even found cat food on unexpected corners thoughtfully left for them to eat;

Dogs look chubby due to being well-fed.

Humans respect animals and treat them well. It is not easy to find in the world. Makes me feel so happy being able to witness that.

Next day, meeting up with friends, went to a Mosque for the first time.

Then, of course we paid a visit to the Hagia Sophia.

Hagia Sophia Church was built in 537 AD, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Above: The Deesis mosaic

Hagia Sophia has been converted to a mosque again since 2020. If you dress in shorts and vest, you will have to pay extra for some covering like myself in the photo… (Thanks Karim who paid for that)

In the metro

Turkish food: Simit- Like bagel/ pretzel; More desserts and pomegranates.

Wrapping up a fun packed day by sailing through Bosphorus Bridge, having Asia on the right and Europe on the left. It was so wonderful…

The next 3 days we flew to Nevşehir. Staying in Göreme, Cappadocia.

Everywhere is so close to each other. We made a good choice by staying at Göreme. Although the weather was hot, most of the attractions are within walking distance from our hotel.

Top: Göreme Open-Air Museum ;
Bottom: Getting up at 4am setting up my camera for sunrise.

Back to Istanbul for the last two days. Seeing the city lit up in the evening.

It has been a great journey, so much to see.

Already looking forward to the next visit.

Thanks for reading.
AK

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