By: bound2explore                                     January 2016

Whenever you fly with Turkish Airlines and have a layover in Istanbul, then utilize the perk they offer which is a free Istanbul tour.  You can register at their desk when you arrive at the airport. Perfect tour for the first- timer since they cover many famous landmarks such as Blue mosque, Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sophia, the Obelisk and underground cistern. It’s a highlight tour of Istanbul. I visited Istanbul the previous year so I skipped the free tour and did it Anthony Bourdain’s style of layover.

Here is the recap of my adventurous layover in Turkey; I arrived at 4 AM in the morning after 10 hours non- stop flight from John F. Kennedy airport. I have applied for e-visa to avoid wasting my time on a queue waiting for a stamp. But if you don’t have time to apply online or last minute thing, then for 20 or 25 bucks depending on your nationality, you will get a visa stamp on your passport at the airport. You need this, since Turkey requires you to have a visa to exit the airport. Most nationality can obtain the tourist visa on arrival.

My Turkish friend-Irem picked me up from the airport and after a quick morning nap at her house, we were ready to explore. After a hearty and a very comprehensive breakfast, apparently breakfast is a big thing in Turkey, so expect to eat a super big meal in the morning especially if you are a guest. We left her house after breakfast and hopped onto light rail to visit Eyup Sultan mosque.

The mosque was constructed during the Ottoman Empire in 1458 A.D. The complex also includes the mausoleum which located on the north side of the courtyard opposite the main entrance, where Eyub Al-Ansari the friend of Prophet Muhammad SAW is said to have been buried.  Because of its importance in religion history and also very beautiful in its own way, this mosque definitely worth a visit.

The area outside the mosque is also nice with a water fountain and many gifts shops. Since Pierre loti hill is right around the corner, we decided to continue our exploration by foot. Pierre Loti hill is within walking distance from Eyub Sultan mosque, you can walk up all the way to bottom station of the cable car to board the cable car which take you all the way to the top of Pierre Loti hill. It is quite strange to find a landmark which French name in Istanbul. So here it goes the story behind the name; Pierre Loti is a nickname of Julien Viaud, a French naval officer and novelist. He was so captivated by the Ottoman culture that he became a regular visitor to the city and fell in love with Ottoman lady. He even named one of his novel after her and wrote another novel about Turkey. Considered as a sympathizer of the Ottoman, had earned him an official ceremony by Sultan Mehmet Resat. Then the Eyup hill was named after him for his support of Independence war. There are café on the top of Pierre Loti hill where you can sip the Turkish tea or coffee, while you are being enchanting by the beautiful panoramic view of Golden Horn.

 

Feeling relaxed after a cup of Turkish tea we continued to travel to Eminonu Pier. Here you can see many locals are grabbing their lunch from a boat. Yes, a boat has been transformed into food boat or café boat where you can order the fish sandwich. We were still full from the breakfast so we skipped the fish sandwich and continued to the spice market.

The spice market is where the locals shop. Price is cheap and the variety of good they sell is quite interesting especially if you are looking for variety of teas. Here you can also buy the Turkish delight and some Turkish jewelry. Shopping with a local was great, having someone to haggle the price with the seller helped me to keep my shopping budget on track. Among other things that I bought from Spice market were variety of tea: apple tea, erotic tea and love tea. I was smiling when the seller started to name the tea one by one. They sure are very creative with the name. The taste is absolutely scrumptious. So try those tea if you have a chance.

The sun had finally set when we boarded the ferry which took us across the Bosphorus strait to the Asian part of Istanbul. Yes, Istanbul is located on two continents of Europe and Asia. How cool is that! This fact never stops to amaze me. The nice thing about this commuter ferry is that you can easily spot the tea sellers with a pot of hot tea to offer the weary travelers. I was playing as a local and I couldn’t resist a cup of hot tea while staring at the blinking city of Istanbul from a ferry and imagining the scene of movie Taken II, but of course with a hope of not being taken.

As the ferry approaching the harbor, I could see the Asian part of Istanbul. We were hoping to catch a boat to the Maiden Tower for dinner. Maiden Tower is a tower in the middle of the sea, at the south entrance of Bhosporus and now has been transformed into popular café and restaurant. Unfortunately, we missed the boat and we ended up at outdoor waterfront café that serves popular Turkish drink called Kefir. Kefir is a yogurt drink. I often drink cold kefir at Middle Eastern restaurant in United States, but here in Istanbul, they also serve hot kefir which taste absolutely delicious.

While sipping kefir, we watched young love buying the lantern, lighted it up and set it free to the air.  It symbolizes their everlasting love if the lantern make it to the air and fly away.

I was completely captivated by the enchanted atmosphere, a good company, a delicious drink and a beautiful view, I almost forgot that I needed to catch my connecting flight to Malaysia. Sadly my 21 hours layover has come to an end and I had to go back to the airport. So we hopped back on the commuter ferry and the light rail and went back to her house to pick up some of my belongings and said goodbye to her family. As soon as she dropped me at the airport with her car, I ran to the gate and made it on time right before they called for the final boarding.

So if you have more than 12 hours layover in Istanbul, don’t just wait at the airport. Go explore this captivating city. You can take a cab, a bus, a light rail or even a hitch hike to a city. A nice old lady offered me a ride while I was standing on the sidewalk at the airport waiting for my friend. You just never know what opportunity awaits you.