day III: along the river and crossing the straits

Today was the day that we would be leaving Istanbul to Truva but we were going to spend the night at Kusadasi. Istanbul is mostly divided into 3 parts: The Asiatic region or Anatolia, the New European and the Old European. The 3% Europe region was called Thrace. Old European consisted of historical monuments, beautful architecture left by Byzantine and Ottoman Empires whilst the New European was mainly Istanbul's financial and business districts.

Dolmabache Palace

In the morning, as the bus passes through the city, you can get a glimpse of beautiful architectural buildings. We didn't get a chance to tour this palace, there was not enough time...




#6: BOSPHORUS RIVER CRUISE

The last itinerary in Istanbul is to go on a cruise along Bosphorus River, the main river separating Turkey's European and Asiatic regions.

The harbour

This would be a good way to get an overall panaromic view of Istanbul.

One of these was our boat / yacht

The weather started out fine at first, not too cold, just slightly chilly. But halfway through, strong winds started beating and water got kind of choppy. Made a few people seasick.

View of Istanbul houses

I like how the houses here look so colourful. The Turkish really like bright colours. The best houses or hotels are those situated by the Bosphorus River because they have the best view in Istanbul.

Private residences or yalı

Eric said that the government does not allowed new residences to be built along the river anymore. So usually only the rich will buy the houses here. The most expensive ones can go from 1 - 5 million USD. WTF~ There were a lot of beautiful rich men bungalows here.

I think this was a hotel, cannot remember ;P

Some of the more magnificent or historic buildings were kept and not destroyed. Most of them were turned into hotels. Very grand design, this building in the pic above reminded me of French palaces.

Secondary school

Something like Old Victorian style? And in the trademark bright orange colour too~

Fortress walls

As you drive through the city too, you can see what remained of the old fortress walls that were once used to protect the city. Istanbul is truly a mix of the old and the new.

What used to be a palace

The cruise lasted about an hour or so. When the weather got kind of cold, I even bought Turkish tea to keep me warm. But at one point the wind was blowing so strong, it blew some of my tea onto my windbreaker. Really, I think Clara could have been blown off by the wind.

One of the bridges, Suspension Bridge

There are about 3 bridges that connected European to Asian parts, and vice versa. Most Turkish work at the European side but lives in the Asiatic regions as the houses there are cheaper. Every day, there will be massive traffic jam across the bridges and even in ferries as people go to work.

Istanbul Mosque

There are many mosques scattered around Istanbul. Turkey may be 99% Muslim, but only one-third were religious Muslims. This means that, like Eric, the other two-third were born into Muslim families, but they do not pray like the others. Turkey has tolerance when it comes to religion. It is purely individual if they want to pray or not.

After our cruise, we had lunch and then it was a very long bus ride to Gelibolu.

#7 CROSSING THE DARDANELLES STRAITS FROM GALLIPOLI PENINSULA

From Gelibolu, we were to take a ferry across Dardanelles Straits to Lapsiki. We were moving from the coast of Turkey towards the Central Asiatic region of Turkey.

Our ferry jetty

By the time we reached the jetty, it was already evening. Btw, evening was like around 3 - 4pm in winter time.

On board the ferry

Again, the weather did not favour us. The wind blew so strongly again. That is why you can see most of the chairs were empty. Everyone went to get shade from the wind by standing or sitting near the main covered part of the ferry.

Sunset from ferry

I braved the strong winds to capture some shots of sunset. I really like the colours given off by rays of sunset light :)

Orange and grey skies

It was night when we reached Kusadasi. Kusadasi is near to Truva, where we were going to visit Ruins of Troy...

Next post: Ruins of Troy and Acropolis of Pergamon...