Istanbul .... Video...

My trip to Istanbul..

Thank you and credit to my friend Najib who produce this video...

Miniartuk, Turkey

I promised to continue writing about Turkey .. this time I want to write about Miniartuk, in Istanbul.. if you're in a rush or don't have time to travel around Turkey, you may want to come to this place..

I took a taxi from Istanbul to this place, it cost me about TLR20 per way.. quite expensive but I don't really have much choice because I was alone and lazy to think on how to get there in a cheap way.. traveling alone sucks .. it used to be fun .. it's always nice to have company .. maybe I'm getting older.. hu hu hu..

Personal opinion : I like this place..

Miniartuk Area

One of the mini mosque - Selimiye Camii, Edirne

They don't have private guide, but they have talking machine.. nice!!

Nemrut Dagi miniature.. it looks superb.. I wish I had time to come here..

Some of the miniature at the location..

I took almost 2 hours enjoying the historical monuments in Turkey..

Cappadocia - The underground city..

Our next destination, is the Underground City, Cappadocia. Surf about it on the internet and feel like it's must see place. It's so beautiful and unique.. it has everything I imagine in a flinstone world.. maybe for some people it might be a boring place, but for me and my friends, we found our "awwwwwwwww" moment when we see the whole place..

Before that, just to let you know that this was the longest route in our journey. We have made a very wise decision to rent the car and to start with the longest route first, as we were still excited with the whole road trip and didn't really feel the jet lag yet.. our later route become easy and more relaxing..

Our first 3 days route (where we didn't stay at any hotel until the third day)

To be honest, our trip actually based on MAS Holiday's route but with some personal touch from us. So instead of starting the journey to Bursa, we went the other way .. and MAS holiday's route doesn't include Cappadocia and Ankara.. and we never plan for Adana - Alanya - Antalya.. it was a mistake.. hahahaha .. will tell about it later ...

So just around 2pm, after we took our precious moment to have our Zohor prayer in the blue mosque (btw, I couldn't find place for Wudu' for women, but my friend who was there before told me that place to take wudu' for women is far behind the blue mosque, FYI), we start our car and set it to Ankara. It's in the middle way to Cappadocia. It took us around 4 hours to reach Ankara. We stopped at R&R for our lunch around 3pm.. We actually didn't eat much during our journey. Most of the time we skipped breakfast or if we had breakfast, we skipped lunch and straight to dinner.. most of the time, we ate once a day.. Traveler didn't eat much right? .. hahahaaa .. (iye la sangat kan)..

We stopped for 2 hours at Ankara Mall just to find a place to change our money to lira. We only bring Euro money from Malaysia and didn't change it at the airport because according to the Internet, there's lots of money changer in Istanbul.. It's true though but because our time in Istanbul was so short, we didn't really have the time to look for it.. so in Ankara, we were looking for money exchange like crazy and was so disappointed not able to find one.. we were tired and hungry (sebab sejuk dan penat jalan).. Not many people in Turkey can speak English, so that was another reason we couldn't find it...

AnkaMall in Ankara.. as big as SURIA KLCC maybe..

Then I saw this info counter-lady and it was so fortunate that she can speak English.. it turned out that the only money exchange shop at AnkaMall is a jewellery shop.. if we didn't ask her, we wouldn't have known it .. finally we managed to change our Euro to Lira in AnkaMall for 2.30lira for 1EURO.. then we had our dinner at KFC (not really like it, the coleslaw sucks and the chicken not really a KFC like I used to).. my friend had McD, and he said it was a safe choice. hehehe ..

Tips: you can't change lira in Malaysia, so change to EURO, POUND or DOLLAR, and then change to lira in Turkey.

We continued our journey to Cappadocia around 7pm (i think.. hehehe) .. it was dark by this time.. Actually it was dark by 5pm around this month.. it was still winter in February.. end of winter.. our next trip took us another 4 hours.. but I think we took longer than that because we were quite sleepy and tired..

We set the GPS to Cappadocia and it lead us to an unknown road.. no lights no traffic.. nothing!!! .. in the dark, we tried our best to stay calm by making jokes and laugh along the way, and not to forget, karaoke session as everyone in the car love singing (walaupun suara cam serak2 itik serati).. finally around 3a.m. we can see the town.. but nothing much as it was dark.. try to find the hostel, found it, but no one at the door.. of course, it was 4a.m, so we end up sleeping in the car .. I can still remember how freeeeeezinnnggg it was... but we managed to get some sleep until 7am...

this was not too bad.. there were time we actually on a village road where nothing's around.. hahahaha..

We woke up and try to find a mosque to change and clean up.. but all the mosque in Turkey do not have toilet.. we have no choice but to use the toilet at the gas station.. get ourselves clean (but x mandi.. hehehehe .. cuaca sejuk so x busyuk), changed to new shirt, new undies but same jeans, hahhahahaa.. i really felt like a traveler, something that I really love doing..

and then, we start our exploration in beautiful Cappadocia..

Good Morning, Cappdocia..

First few photos we took after we changed our clothes.. x mandi yer.. ahahahaha

Went to Goreme Balloons center to find out about the cost for a trip..

 If I'm not mistaken, it cost around EURO150 to take the hot balloon.. it start at 7a.m everyday and only 1 trip per day.. we reached there around 9am so definitely we missed it.. it would be a great experience to take the hot balloon, but we didn't really feel regret not taking it.. because we actually climb the hill to get the best view ever.. and we spend hours there just enjoying the beautiful views.. priceless (in fact, it was priceless, as it's free).. hehehee..

Note: we went to Goreme Balloons because we read lots of good feedback about them. When we were there, the operation manager was so friendly and explain everything we need to know about the hot air balloons. We end up taking photos with him (sebagai kenang-kenangan walaupun tak naik)..

We spent until noon taking all the beautiful photos..

 Around noon, we left the city and ahead to our next station - Konya..

Found this fantastic view on our way out from the city.. beautiful Canyon.. another priceless experience..

I have more beautiful photos, but currently I'm in a hotel and the internet is super slow.. really hard to upload photos.. so I'm going to stop here...

Will write again about our journey .. 

Next .. something bad happened during our trip.. jeng jeng jeng..

Day 1: Istanbul - Ankara - Cappacodia

We reached Istanbul at 6am.. we start the journey from KLIA a little late because the pilot said he doesn't want to reach too early in Istanbul if we depart at 1230am.. therefore, he delayed the plane for 30 mins so that we reached Istanbul by 6am, which is fine with us..

Once we touched down, got our passport stamped, get our bags and wait for our car.. we booked a car with http://www.circularcarhire.com.tr for a total of EURO150 + EURO30 for window insurances for 7 days rental.. it's quite cheap and save us money and time..

Waiting for our car at 7am at Atartuk Airport, Istanbul

While waiting, bought myself a turkish number for 45lira with only 5 lira call.. huh, so expensive.. i soon realized that I can get for 25-30lira in town.. so if you're not in hurry to get a number, get it once you're in Istanbul, not at the airport.. then if you want the internet, get a 1GB data plan for 1 week for 20 lira.. in Malaysia, I can get a number for only RM5 and unlimited 1 week data plan for only RM18 (anyhow, stop comparing appple to orange fyda!!!) .. by the way, I use Turkcell line because I read about it in the internet that it's the most reliable one.. and I do agree with the comments because everywhere I go, I get a good signal using this service provider...

Turkcell Sim Card

Our rental car .. first thing, isi minyak dulu.. 4.80lira per liter. Approximately RM8 per liter.. giler mahai..

The only thing that I don't like about renting a car in Turkey, is because of the petrol. As any other EU countries, their petrol is killing us.. on the first day itself, we spent 190lira for gas.. ko kali laa 1.70 kupang... haaaaa terduduk la jugak.. opsss.. that's about RM323 for full tank.. but anyhow.. that's something that we have been prepared for.. so it's not a surprise.. and for the overall journey, i believe we make a good decision renting this car..

Ok, once we settled down with the car, phone and petrol.. we set our GPS to Sultannahmet Mosque as our first destination.. We found a parking (there's a lot OTOPARK signboard around the city) and it cost 10lira per entry.

In front of Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofya..

Behind Hagia Sofya, walking towards Topkapi Palace

Topkapi Palace

We walked and took lots of photos from Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia and Topkapi.. we didn't go inside Topkapi though.. this 3 places took us to noon.. around 2pm, after Zohor prayer at the Blue Mosque, we start our journey to Cappadocia via Ankara...

OGS and EDS

Our car came with OGS, like a smarttag only it's a sticker on your screen (Malaysia jek x berjaya lagi buat benda nih) ... and the EDS.. lots of EDS.. OMG.. tak tau laa berapa banyak kami kena, but masa amik kereta, tak de plak si owner tu cakap apa2.. hehehehe .. hopefully tak de la kena charge kat kredit kad nanti..

We had our lunch at 3pm in one of the R&R, a lot of R&R from Istanbul to Ankara.. and you can find toilet everywhere.. just look for the WC sign .. and Bayan means "Women" and Bay means "Man" ..

We didn't stop at Ankara, but straight to the Underground city (Cappadocia) ... it was a long journey and GPS showed us crazy road.. dark and nothing around.. at 3am, it was scary.. hahahaha ... but we managed to find the place at 4am, and we decided to sleep in the car instead of getting a room.. we just sleep for 3 hours before morning...

.. to be continue ..

Say what???? Turkey trip bebeh!!!!!

You have to shout when you read the title of this blog ..

I was.. eh still am so blessed with the opportunity to visit Turkey for this time around.. currently I'm in Bergama, small beautiful place in west Turkey.. I'll tell about Bergama later... going to visit the whole town shortly..

But now, just something I wrote previously for this trip:

About our travel group:
We started way before 9th Feb if you include the planning time..

For me, traveling with the correct people is very important in any trip .. because when traveling, there will be certain things that was unplanned will happend... sometimes, decisions will change, places to visit might changed.. bad things happened (mintak simpang) ... but what I'm trying to say is, first thing to do in any group traveling, is knowing who you're going with.. set up the expectation and rules.. and relax.. then you can enjoy the whole trip no matter what happend.. Ultimately, that's what you want in a trip, right??


So far, I can say my journey is how I expect it to happen and I'm enjoying every moment.. great company, great food, great people in Turkey..

Opppsss.. so early jumping into the conclusion.. hahahahaa

My travel group consist of myself (single and going to be 40 in the next few years (uwaaaaaaa), no responsibility yet, just go with the flow, lazy girl, but love to have fun)... hahhahaa what a description i gave at 4a.m in Turkey...

Then we have Ijam (not his real name).. not sure single or not, never tell, I never ask also.. talkative person, also very sensitive and can become so quite in split second... hahahahaa happend all the time, but he get over it very soon, so sorry yerrr Ijam .. mulut mak nih kekadang x leh control.. hahahaha we are actually colleague so we can get along pretty well..

And the last member is Najib (also not his real name) .. he's Ijam's friend.. from Kuantan... very easy going person .. frequent traveler and he loves photography.. cek suka sbb ada laa orang nak tangkap gambar cek..hahahaa

Why did I choose Istanbul?
Maybe because of Lisa Surihani's movie, I believed so... she started to implant the place in my brain through that movie.. it was a boring movie, but the place is so beautiful, it catches my eyes and brain the moment i saw it..

How can I afford the trip??
As a normal level worker, you might be wandering how I can manage to buy the tickets.. Airplane tickets are killing every one who wish to travel ... but you might also heard that "Now Everyone can Fly"? ... hahahaha it's true though.. it's expensive, but with some luck, you might get it really cheap.. my luck came last year during Malaysia Airlines promotion .. when I got my bonus, I told myself that I want to use the money to go for holiday, alone or with friend, i don't care.. so when I browse all the airlines, I got a very-very-very cheap ticket, a total of RM 1500 for return ticket... there are some other factors as well, which I think I'll keep it to myself at the moment.. hehehehee..

What I'm trying to say is - if you want to travel, bookmark all the airlines websites, subsribe to their mailing list etc.. and when they do promotion that fits your plan, grab it.. travel cheap, but exclusively.. hahahahaa... and no one will know that you've booked the cheapest ticket ever when you're on the plane.. the receptionist will treat you as normal as the rest of the passenger who paid 2 or 3 times more than you...

My travel concept
I like the idea of "go with the flow" .. but you still need to have some planning, you can't just go to a place without it.. however, bare in mind that "plan might change" and most of the time, it will change a little or more.. so don't get freak out... just "go with the flow" .. sometimes getting lost, bumped into an accident, or traveling the wrong route and didn't realized it until 5 hours later thank you to the BEST GPS ever (hahahahahhaa) will lead to another beautiful journey that you cannot describe with words... so what the heck.. just get lost.. hahahahahaa .. (something you'll never get by following a tour)..

Will write again later .. till then, here's some photos: