Continued from Day 1
The night vanished and so did the headache. We finished a heavy breakfast that involved a cheese fest, and started out on our guided tour -at 8.30 AM, after a series of tour bus changes. They bring everyone to one place and then distribute into various buses depending on the tour chosen. Our group had, among others, four Indian middle aged ladies, a Pakistani couple, a US couple who name dropped Myanmar (!) every ten minutes, a Singaporean Indian who was having nightmares of a belly dance experience from the previous night, a Chinese girl, and an elderly Indian gentleman who was forever confused about the hotel he came from. (he raised his hand whichever hotel name was called out!) The tour was arranged by our travel operator through She Tours, and our guide was a lady named after Minerva. We also saw a hop-on hop-off sightseeing option called Big Bus Tours on the way. First on the agenda was the Hippodrome of Constantinople. It has a Serpent Column, a granite obelisk, a bronze (stolen since) obelisk and a German fountain. The place was crowded, also because there was a rally scheduled to happen in the evening. Quite a nice coincidence, because the place was originally famous for horse and chariot racing.
Hagia Sophia was next and was quite a vision even before we stepped into it. Some renovation was happening inside, but the splendour of the place was quite evident. A mosque and a church all rolled into one!
The next place was of considerable interest to us because it was related to one of the main pillars of our travels. Shopping! The famous Grand Bazaar, but we had only 40 minutes to explore it. We checked out the prices of various things we fancied so we could compare through our trip across Turkey. Bright, colourful, though not the crazy maze it was made out to be. I think we are used to mazes more complex than these in India.
Lunch was at a place called Masal and was reasonably meh. We also encountered the first of a million lentil soups! I like sweets, but that Baklava was a sugar bomb! After lunch, we bought water at a store where I saw ‘Cola Turkey’ for the first and last time. Quite a miss, that. 🙁
After lunch was Topkapi palace, whose grounds must be equivalent to multiple football fields. It had a super view at one end and among other things, we checked out the cutlery and plates used by Sultans. There is one Chinese bowl, which apparently changed colour if there was poison in it. This palace was used by most of the Ottoman dynasty rulers. D timed our walks such that I realised too late that we had no time to visit the harem!
The Blue Mosque was the last on the day’s itinerary and was a spectacular sight outside and inside. It was a Friday, the timings were strict as was the dress code (don’t worry, they’ll have you covered before you enter 😀 ) and the queue was long. But it was totally worth it. Despite the crowd, the place somehow seemed to hold its sense of calm. We sat inside for a while, enjoying the moment.
We had an evening flight to catch to Bodrum, but from a different airport – Istanbul Ataturk airport. Much closer than the other one. The flight was 20 minutes late to begin with, and we decided to grab a bite from Sbarro. Our gate was a flight of stairs down, and was a refrigerator in disguise! We found someone’s shades on the runway and passed it on to the staff. Wonder if the guy ever got it. Turkish airlines gave us some snacks on a flight that was almost an hour late! We reached Bodrum close to midnight and were driven to the hotel. Our tour operator called us on the way to ensure we were all right. Quite aww, and made us expect much. He also told us that our plans had been changed a bit.
Meanwhile, the view of Bodrum by night is just simply awesome. We saw the Jumeirah hotel on the way, and it looked, well, palatial! Our hotel, Salmakis, has a story behind the name, but it is too late for bedtime stories. Tomorrow. As promised on TripAdvisor, there were a hundred steps from the reception to the room! The hotel itself does have a grand view, but our luck held as we got a garden view! #facepalm We did get a sunset headboard though. 😀
