final post: random turkey

So, for my final and last post on Turkey, here are just photos taken throughout my journey there...

A pharmacy in Istanbul

Proton Wira under the tree

Sabah is really famous!

Circus-themed (?)

Interesting place to set up a stall

Ankara railway station

Turkish men in Turkish garments at Hilton Ankara

When he saw me about to snap picture of him, he stopped and posed lol

At the restaurant where we had our last meal in Turkey

part X: shopping in turkey

This is just going to be a photo spam post. As with any typical tour, the guide will bring you to places where you can buy Turkish specialty products. My mom and myself are not so interested when it comes to buying them as firstly, we lack the financial means (everything is either in USD or Euros) and secondly, we lack storage. We don't leave in a six-storey mansion ok. However, when you look on the bright side, you can actually get a slice of Turkish culture with the amazing sights and in some places, they actually show you the origin of them.

At the small shops along the alleyway in Ankara. I like all the lamps in different shapes and sizes.

These are called Baklava, a type of Turkish delight in a shop at Istanbul.

A place near Efes, where a jolly fat man promoted Turkish delights to us. He made me laughed a lot.

part IX: food in turkey

For all food-lovers, food-enthusiasts or just those who are curious what food the Turkish like to eat...here is pics galore of some interesting meals I had there. Although they are mostly situated on Asia, their style is very much European. First comes the appetizers - salad and soup (along with bread), followed by main course and lastly dessert.

Day 8 lunch, Ankara. Turkish pudding is a famous dessert here. Most of them are really sweet but this particular one is just captivating with the right amount of sweetness

Day 2 lunch, Istanbul. This is how a typical main course meal in Turkey is like. Rice, mash potatoes and chicken with gravy. Pork is not allowed as it is a Muslim country.

Day 2 lunch, Istanbul. The restaurant that we went to had these jars of colourful preserved pickles. This is one of my favourite photos.

day VIII: ankara, the capital of old and new

Finally we arrived on Day 8, which is our last day in wonderful exotic Turkey. We arrived at Ankara, the capital of Turkey last night from Cappadocia. They let us stay at Hilton Ankara which is one of the best hotels I ever stayed. I was so sad to leave the hotel when morning arrived. 

Ankara, being the capital is also another sprawling metropolis, but less busier compared to Istanbul. People here still seem more carefree. Our first destination is to Anitkabir which means "memorial tomb" in Turkish, which is the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder and first president of Republic of Turkey. 

We stumbled upon large number of schoolchildren on an excursion to Anitkabir. They are so cute and friendly. And stylish too lol.

Changing of the guards ceremony

day VII part 2: Goreme Valley, Cappadocia

Continuing from my previous post, we visited many heritage sites in Cappadocia. One of the famous places you have to visit is Goreme Open Air Museum, which is also on UNESCO World Heritage List since 1984. 

Goreme Village

This is an example of how the buildings in Goreme looks like

These are called frescoes, which are wall paintings usually found in churches. The whole area contains many churches or monasteries like these but most have been vandalized during the Islamic period.

My mom thinks they look scary haha

The Goreme town, some of these places are still inhabited by villagers

Truly an extraordinary sight to behold

day VII part 1: the breathtaking view from the top

On Day 7, we stayed at a town called Kappadokya. This town holds many historical importance as it still houses some of the preserved these cave-like buildings. I can't really describe it, just see the photos wtf.

Kaymakli Underground City. This man-made cave is by far the best I have seen out of all the caves I have been (trust me, China has endless number of caves). It is supposedly use to house many people during emergency times. They have rooms for cooking, meeting and even bedrooms!

One of the best experiences I ever had in life is in Kappadokya where I went on the hot air balloon for the first time ever! It was quite expensive to ride on one. When my mom finally agreed to let me go on one, I was ecstatic. But it meant waking up way before dawn.

It was really cold in the morning and there were so many hot air balloons ready to go up

Finally we were up too!

Looks like lollipops in the sky

Sunrise as we were looking down on the valley

The view was amazing

Our shadow...cute wtf

Tangerine in the sky lol

We flew for quite a distance and I enjoyed so much that I did not want to go down at all lol

With our pilot after we landed. They served us cakes and sparkling juice

The Turkish men handling the hot air balloon carried and threw (literally) myself and another lady in my tour onto the bags. Lol so much fun

And that was just the morning of Day 7.

day VI: cotton castle

Feel like finishing my Turkey travel posts. A long delay, I know, since I went there last December...

On Day 6 of our journey across Turkey, we went to a small town called Denizli. Here lies the famous attraction - Pamukkale, which means "Cotton Castle" in Turkish. It looks like snow, but actually they are calcium salt. There are also hot spring water where we soaked our feet.

This is my mom's favourite place in Turkey and really, the calcium cascades are a great view to behold. Reminds one of Swiss Alps, although it is not as freezing cold as that.

You can walk barefooted on the grounds

The flowing hot spring water

It can get very slippery at times

Besides Pamukkale, Denizli also has Hierapolis which is also known as the Holy City because it contains many ancient temples. The city are in ruins now but still a place worth visiting. I did take pictures of the place but not very nice :(

From Denizli, we then continue on to the famous town of Cappadocia or Kappadokya in Turkish. This is my favourite place. You will see why...