[Travelogue] Turkey Trip, Final Day :( | Bosphorus Cruise, Taksim Square, Miniaturk and Warung Nusantara
By Lasmarya Hadi Purwanto - August 25, 2016
And here's the last day of our Turkey Trip, our flight back to Jakarta was scheduled to be at 2.45 a.m the next day, so we had almost one full day left to spend in Istanbul.
Early in the morning, we were taken to ride the Fast Train, a subway express train that connects Istanbul the European side to Asian side. It only took 10-15 (or maybe 15-20 minutes to reach the other part of Istanbul).
Note: there are several ways to cross the strait to another part of Istanbul, such as riding the fast trains, driving through the bridge or by cruising.)
Arrived at the Asian part of Istanbul, we're heading back again to the European side by the cruise.
Idling around while waiting for our cruise ship to come. :)
Nope, not this one!
Not this one, either!
It's funny that when we heard about the Bosphorus Cruise, our expectations immediately rose up. It's a cruise, baby! We had been pampered by various five-star hotels, awesome restaurants, two thumbs-up hospitality and service when we had only expected for decent ones. So maybe it won't hurt a bit to expect more? Haha
And under those expectations, here came our cruise ship.
Beylerbeyi Palace, or a summer residence built for the imperial family during the Ottoman Empire.
Çırağan Palace Kempinski Istanbul - ranked as one of the most expensive hotels in the world.
There are total 620 waterfront mansions or Yali sprinkled along the Bosphorus.
Floating restaurant at sight.
Istanbul's Vodafone Arena
It's noon time when we ended our cruise crossing the Bosphorus Strait, and it means time to have some lunch. It seemed that the local tour guide really did understand that most of us were not suitable with the local Turkish food, that he brought us to a Chinese Restaurant in the city to satisfy our cravings after days.
That lunch was a brief one, everything got cleaned up in minutes, haha, since we finally got to meet Chinese food, our daily food, again after a whole full week.
Done fueling up, we moved on to the next spot.
A main transportation hub and major tourist and leisure district, which is considered as the heart of modern Istanbul.
Surrounding Taksim Square are numerous travel agencies, hotels, restaurants, pubs, and international fast food chains such as Pizza Hut, McDonald's,Subway, and Burger King. It is also home to some of Istanbul's grandest hotels including the InterContinental, the Ritz-Carlton, and The Marmara Hotel. - wikipedia
A 1.4 kilometres long elegant pedestrian shopping street, at the end of Taksim Square, which houses boutiques (international brands and local brands), music stores, bookstores, cinemas, cafes, pubs, chocolateries, restaurants and many more. You can find popular brands here, like Starbucks, HardRock Cafe, McDonalds, Sephora, Lacoste, Espresso Lab etc. Shortly said, it is the Fifth Avenue of Istanbul.
(Tried this Mango MilkShake from McDonalds to cool off the heat under a very sunny day!
It tasted really gooooood, :d wish they had it in Indonesia soon)
The weather turned really sunny for the last few days in Turkey, especially during our last days in Istanbul. There was no more chilly wind, and I guessed it's time for the summer to really sip in. Under the grueling heat, (and of course, under the condition that we're broke, *yeah, it's that again, oh please, who said money can't buy happiness? It can, you know, money helps you buy things that can make you happy haha) Jenny and I were not in the mood to do any shopping, and we were more curious about the historical tram that runs along the avenue with the starting point at the square.
Waiting for the tram at the first stop.
We first thought that we would only need to pay some coins to get on the tram, but the tram driver told us that we had to have Istanbul Metro Card to ride. The card can be bought through a machine right next to every stop. With 10 TL (the minimum price available) we got our new Metro Card with equal 10 TL balance inside. Since we're clueless, we bought one card for each of us. When we showed the tram driver the card, he kindly smiled and told us that it's only (if I'm not mistaken) 1,5 TL per ride, 3 TL back and forth, so one metro card would be enough for both of us. We looked at each other and laughed.
When we hopped on the tram, there's no seat for two of us and this man right here, was really kind to offer us his seat. We insisted on saying no, cause it's the norm to prioritize elderly and children, but he insisted back and even rose up from his seat. He didn't understand English, but when I told him I wanna take picture of him, he smiled at the camera. In the world of kindness, I guess language is no barrier.
Managed to get this shot, truly thanks to him. :)
With the super kind tram driver, who is very polite and friendly, and handsome too. Haha When we told him we wanted to take picture with him as we got off the tram, he asked us to wait for a minute, then he went somewhere, we thought he refused, cause we couldn't hear his English clearly, but then he came back and asked us to get on the driver's area to get better shot with him and the tram. :p
And to the very last stop in our trip, Miniaturk.
One of the largest miniature parks in the world with 122 models of structures from all around Turkey. There's an audio guide for each one of the models which is available by scanning our ticket to the device.
Pamukkale
Cappadocia
Then, the last dinner we had in Turkey. Back to our most favourite restaurant in Istanbul!
Warung Nusantara! :D:D We requested for Soto the other day, and they really served us Soto!! And very delicious Bakwan!!
The I-miss-you-so-much Sambal Bajak!!!
Have I told you that they have a truly Indonesian cook in Warung Nusantara? And the waiter there is also an Indonesian student currently attending university in Istanbul. There's one of the reason why the food served in Warung Nusantara is an authentic taste of Indonesia. YumYum
Now, time to head to the Ataturk Havalimani Airport. We had to set out early although our flight was still a long way to go, due to the traffic and with Turkish Airlines, the tour guide said, the earlier you check in, the more guarantee that you'll get a seat.
The long traffic jam >.<
And the crowd during the after-work hours!
These somehow remind me of Jakarta.
Now that it's reaching the end, I'm sad that I'm saying goodbye to Turkey.
Posting the whole trip on the blog, it effortlessly throw me back to the days I had there.
And, I really love the process of retelling and sharing the story from the first day to the last, cause it let me reminisce all the moments there. re-feeling all the warmth from the people I met there, and re-explore all pieces of memories made there.
I'd never traveled this far before, and I'm really glad that I made the choice to visit Turkey as the first one, though by chance, for it really leaves a deep impression on me. It's a beautiful country, really, it is. The people are kind, friendly and hardworking. The culture and the scenery, they're just beautiful. What else to ask? This is what I've been telling people who asked me about my trip, and I'm telling it to you guys now, "It is a country worth visiting, if you ever have a chance to go there, you should really go."
It was a wonderful trip, a trip that I won't forget a lifetime. Thanks to the local tour guide, Mr. Adem, the friendliest bus driver I have ever met, Mr. Asraf?, our tour leader, Mr. Prilmanto a.k.a Ko Sen Sen, who has been super caring and super patient with us, and the remaining tour members, Tante Yuni, Ci Debby, Om Ruby, Ci Evi and their daughter, Angel, Ci Vivi and Rachel, Pak Juwono and Bu Inge, Pak Okbri, Ibu Rita and Angga, and also Bu Floren and Patricia, who had been like a second family in a land far away from home, for making the whole trip super awesome and super duper enjoyable. Thanks for all the laughs, the caring, the affections and the warmth. You guys are the best! Really looking forward to traveling to somewhere else again as a whole group! :)
*Trivia: Our whole trip only cost us Rp 14,999,999,- per person, which includes everything, flight ticket from Jakarta to Istanbul, visa, hotels, entrance tickets, and meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner), and hot air balloon if you're among the first 10 people to register. It's literally all in. It can be said quite cheap, and what wow us the most is the service and facilities they provided us. We stayed in mostly five-star hotels, ride on free wifi smart-bus where we can charge our phone anytime, dine in middle to top-rated restaurants and we barely need to pay anything except for toilet fee. It's really beyond our expectation. What we get is far more than what is worth of the money we paid. It felt like getting bonus over bonuses. :)
To find out a tour package like ours, you might want to check Dwidaya Tour. They have various tour packages to offer that you might be interested in. :) They have really good service too. :)
-Fin-
xoxo
sillyandordinarygirl
:)
