August 20,2021 Post by :Ruoshui Chen

Days: 11 days time: June per capita: 15000 yuan and who: lovers play: photography, humanities, petty bourgeoisie, semi free travel, with the group

1 Gansu Urumqi International Airport

Saffron City

3 kapadochia on the way to Lake Tuz

4 cappadoccia

5 Konya cotton Fort Hot Spring Hotel

6 cotton Fort

7 the ancient city of Ephesus in Izmir

8 chanakale Istanbul

9 old city of Istanbul

10 Istanbul

I haven't had any itinerary for the 11th day~

Show all 11 days away

Day 1

2014-06-20

"Turkey is a country spanning two continents, including Anatolia Peninsula in Western Asia and Thrace area in southern Europe. It is adjacent to the Black Sea in the north, the Mediterranean Sea in the south, Syria and Iraq in the southeast, the Aegean Sea in the west, Greece and Bulgaria in the west, and Georgia, Iran and other countries in the East. Between the Anatolian Peninsula and the eastern Thrace region are the Bosphorus Strait, the Marmara Sea and the Dardanelles Strait, which belong to the Black Sea Strait, also known as the Turkish Strait. It is the only channel connecting the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Turkey's geographical location and geopolitical strategic significance are extremely important, and it is the crossroads connecting Europe and Asia. " From this brief introduction to Turkey on Baidu Encyclopedia, we can imagine how complicated this country should be. In fact, it is true: since the 17th century B.C., for more than 3000 years, there have been the Hittite Empire of Arianism, the Roman Empire of polytheism, and the Byzantine Empire of orthodox religion in Turkey, The Seljuk Empire believed in Islam and the Ottoman Empire which ended the Eastern Roman Empire and changed "Constantinople" to "Istanbul". It was not until 1923 that the modern secularist Republic of Turkey was founded under the leadership of Kemal, the father of Turkey, although it was still a country with an overwhelming Muslim population. Therefore, this is an ancient country where many cultures coexist. It's also a wonderful, mysterious and wonderful country. While waiting for the plane to take off, he picked up the Buddha's feet temporarily and read the book lonely, which he bought but didn't move much   "Planet" makes up for Turkey's past and present. In this way, with all kinds of wonderful expectations, we officially started our 11 day trip to Turkey.

From east to west, when the plane flew over the northwest, it suddenly saw snow mountains and Gobi out of the side window. It should be in Gansu Province. Quickly took out a camera to a.

Aerial photos of continuous snow mountains and Gobi.

As it is a special flight cooperated by Ctrip and China Southern Airlines, we need to transfer in Urumqi and then fly to Istanbul. It's 10pm Beijing time to arrive in Urumqi. Because it's the longest summer solstice in a year and the time difference between Urumqi and Beijing is about three hours, the sky is still bright in the "late night" Urumqi, and the sun is still making the last effort to show its face.

Urumqi airport at 10 pm. Gorgeous sunset.

It's already 0:00 a.m. local time to Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, and 6:00 a.m. Beijing time on the 21st. Go to the hotel as soon as you go through the immigration procedures. Fortunately, the hotel is not far from the airport. Unfortunately, the so-called four-star hotel facilities broke down and there was a problem (it is said that the star standard of Turkish hotels is at least one and a half stars lower than that of China), and they didn't go to sleep until two or three o'clock in the morning.

Day 2

2014-06-21

Although I didn't sleep well last night, since I'm traveling, I can only lower my requirements for sleep. The next morning, we finished the buffet at the hotel, and before 7 o'clock, we left Istanbul by car and embarked on the journey to safranborou. Istanbul will be the last two days of our turkey tour.

Saffron city is about 400 kilometers east of Istanbul. The speed limit of Turkish highway is 80 kilometers. With the stop in the middle and lunch, it's more than 3 p.m. to reach saffron city. Lunch at noon is the first meal after arriving in Turkey. A typical Turkish meal, referred to as "three and a half": first, a vegetable salad with olive oil and lemon juice, then a bowl of pea soup, then a staple food with meat (mostly rice with beef and mutton), and finally a dessert or fruit. This three and a half course was quite fresh at first, but later it would be fatal to eat it all at once, until I finally forced myself to eat it every time I thought of "no eating, no eating". Haha, it seems that Chinese people are picky about their stomachs.

Overlooking the beautiful saffron city.

Saffron city is a well preserved ancient city of the Ottoman Empire. The houses and buildings of the Ottoman period in the old city have been completely preserved, including private museums, mosques, cemeteries, historical fountains, Turkish baths, clock towers, sundials and hundreds of houses. After renovation, they were listed in the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1994. Saffron city covers an area of about 1000 square kilometers, 485 meters above sea level.

Old streets can be seen everywhere in the ancient city. On the red roof is the famous traditional Turkish public bathroom.

After arriving at saffron city in the afternoon, check in the local B & B for a short time   In and then you're free. Also due to the season and latitude, the sun did not set until 8 pm. We walked and photographed slowly, enjoying the taste of "slow life", quite like Lijiang in the early years~

Under the setting sun, the old houses of the Ottoman period radiate more and more charming light.

In the ancient city, I had a unique Turkish ice cream. It's a bit sticky and tough, but it's delicious. As a reminder, hawthorn ice cream is particularly sour, but it's suitable for children's acidophilic shoes. Ha ~ ~ we exchanged 400 lira at Istanbul Airport before, and now it's in use. Many small handicrafts and local products are cheaper than the famous Istanbul bazaar, so if we encounter something that we like but not expensive, Let's do it now ~ ~ ~ in addition, saffron city will be very cold sooner or later. Even in the hot late June, it's still too cold to wear a coat sooner or later~

Day 3

2014-06-22

Several times of the day (one at four in the morning) there are loud speakers playing the Koran. I was not used to it when I first arrived in Turkey, but I didn't feel it for a long time. On the contrary, I was infected by this devout religious spirit. Islam in Turkey is very moderate. In fact, the Koran itself urges people to be good, but unfortunately... Ah, not to mention this topic, ha ha ~ ~ it's gloomy when I get up in the morning, and it's raining cats and dogs when I finish breakfast in B & B. We got on the bus and went to the next destination, kapadochia. The guide said that the weather in kapadochia, more than 600 kilometers southeast of saffron City, was very sunny, which made our mood clear. It's just - yes - it's more than 600 kilometers, more than 8 hours by car... In Turkey, the biggest feeling during the ten days' journey is the endless bus ride. Almost every day, there are six or seven hours on the bus ~ ~ however, beautiful scenery constantly appears on the road, which makes the originally long and boring bus journey acceptable. Ah, isn't it promising? Ha ha~~

Soon after it opened from Crocus City, it was close to Ankara, the capital of Turkey. Ankara is a plateau city and the new capital of modern Turkey after the founding of the Republic of Turkey in 1923. However, it is obviously not as famous as Istanbul, so many people, including me, have always thought that Istanbul is the capital of Turkey. Ankara is mainly the administrative center of Turkey, but it is not a hot spot for tourism. Because the team itinerary has not been arranged, it has become a great pity for us to visit Turkey. We have not been able to have a close look at the capital of Turkey. About 50 kilometers south of Ankara Ring Road is Tuzi lake, Turkey's second largest salt water lake. Lake Tuz is located in a depression in the middle of the central plateau of Turkey.

Beautiful Tuzi Lake

Tuzi lake is a salt lake, and its landscape is obviously different from ordinary lakes. Especially this beach is full of salt. I can't help but get one   Ha~~

1、 Two, three, up!

After all, our destination is still ahead ~ ~ but all the way is full of Microsoft desktop ~ ~ ~ intoxicating~~

Salt lake shore   Vegetation with obvious difference

The salt lake in the distance glowed purple

All the way south to kapadochia~

Standard Microsoft classic desktop

Three dimensional strong white clouds and that piece of sunshine

Come to the gas station on the way. Enchanting blue sky and white clouds.

Finally, after more than eight hours of turbulence, at about 5 pm, we arrived in kapadochia. Although it was nearly evening, the sun was still shining~   Hotel simple check   After that, we set out for the center of the city~

An avenue from the hotel to the center of the city

City Center (in China, maybe only town center?) Small square. A leisurely town dweller.

Because I have to get up early tomorrow morning to take a hot air balloon, I will go back to the hotel early in the evening to have a rest. Dinner is the buffet of the hotel, and the meals in this hotel are also the best we have in Turkey. The authentic turkish food is "three and a half Courses"... That's really unbearable, ha ha~

Day 4

2014-06-23

Four o'clock in the morning is called early, because the sun rises at five or six o'clock in the summer solstice. The most suitable time to sit in a hot-air balloon is one or two hours when the sun just appears. The low air flow is stable and the scenery is beautiful. After I got up, I went to eat something to pad my stomach, and then I went to the hot air balloon base... Can I say I've never seen so many balloons~

Hot air balloon waiting to take off in the morning glow

Fly up in a hot-air balloon. The following is the legendary karpadochia canyon with a moonball like landform. In fact, this is mainly the result of volcanic lava and natural differentiation. Ah, is it boring to talk about science~

Let's fly~

The huge shadow in the lower right corner is our balloon~

In addition, hot air balloons are generally self financed items in the team itinerary. Our group's hot-air balloon project is charged at US $250 per person, which is not cheap locally, but generally speaking, it's still one price one goods. After all, hot-air balloon is a little dangerous project, so it's worth choosing a reliable hot-air balloon professional company. Because we got up very early, it's only seven o'clock in the morning when we get back from the hot-air balloon to the hotel. In order to make up for a buffet breakfast in the hotel, we started the journey between the most famous Graeme open-air museum in kapadoccia and the underground city of kaymakler.

Little by little are caves or churches. Around the seventh century, a group of Christians fled here to avoid the pursuit of the heretics. So, there is this incredible wonderful landscape.

The exit to the underground city of Kay Mahler. The scarves and bags around here are pretty good~~

Fairy chimney. In fact, it's a little bit like a enlarged version of Yunnan stone forest~

The dark church with the most exquisite murals in the open air museum of gramme. It's just that the tickets are a little expensive. I'm sorry~~

There are a large number of grotto churches decorated with exquisite murals in the open air museum of gramme. It is too short to see them. But the only complaint is: too much sunshine! It's hot, too. I can't help but miss the cool weather in saffron city two days ago ~ ~ after visiting the scenic spots, we went back to the hotel for a rest. Unwilling to end our trip to kapadochia, we went to the city center again. In fact, we wanted to go shopping~   According to the guide, the more you go back, the more expensive things are~

The most common and gorgeous scenery like oil painting

Another one~

This is someone's favorite Turkish drink: sweet and sour cherry juice. 50% high concentration juice, only 0.5 lira a box (equivalent to 1.5 yuan), it's really worth a taste ~ someone drank a lot in Turkey~

After a long stroll in the center of kapadochia, I bought a unique Turkish handicraft porcelain plate. The last counter-offer for a 100 lira plate was 55 lira. I don't know if it's in place. However, the dishes were so exquisite that I couldn't put them down and won back the hotel all the way~

Back to the hotel after dinner is more than 8 pm, but the sunset outside the window is still intoxicating. Take the camera on the roof, the beautiful night scene of cappadoccia is displayed in front of me.

Tomorrow we will leave for our next destination, cotton fort. I got up too early in the morning to savor the whole day's journey~

Day 5

2014-06-24

After breakfast in the morning, I got on the bus and rushed to the next destination, cotton fort. It's another five hundred kilometers and eight or nine hours' drive, which sounds almost maddening. Fortunately, along the way, one of Turkey's oldest cities, Konya, which was the capital of selju from the 12th to the 13th century, is the traditional religious and cultural center of Turkey. Konya is a relatively conservative city in Turkey. Especially when visiting its most famous meulana Museum, there are strict requirements on the dress of tourists: men need to wear trousers, while women need to wear not only trousers or skirts, but also gauze to wrap their hair. Fortunately, there are gauze scarves distributed at the entrance of the museum, which saves a lot of trouble~

When passing kongya, I first went to the famous kongya post station. This is the most magnificent post station in Turkey. Konya has been a necessary place for business travel in Anatolia since ancient times, and it is also a relay station of the long silk road. In the selzhu Dynasty, Turkey became an important trading town because of the concentration of traders. This magnificent post station is the most representative architectural work left over from this glorious period.

Tall and magnificent kongya post station

By the arcade of the post station   Ha ha~

After the transfer, we went to the most famous museum of meulana in kongya. The meulana Museum, which was converted from a mosque, is also the burial site of master Rumi, founder of Islam's Sufi morawi sect. The Sufi morawi sect, also known as the "mendicant order", known in the West as the "revolving ascetic", is an influential israh sect in the 134th century. The meulana museum is a sacred place for the people of Konya. The local people who visit every day chant around the mausoleum of Rumi and his son. The Rumi and his son, who are covered with gold embroidered velvet, are the most respected people of Konya. Besides this mosque, there are the remains of selzhu palace, which is quite impressive.

Location of meulana Museum

The wash basin beside the meulana Museum (also necessary beside the mosque) ~ is exquisitely shaped and intricate~

After visiting the meulana Museum, we drove all the way to pamkale (cotton Fort) in southwest Turkey. Palmkale is a famous hot spring resort in Turkey. It has not only natural hot springs for thousands of years, but also strange hills like cotton. After several hours of turbulence, we finally arrived at our hot spring hotel in the west of the sun.

The room is facing the cotton Fort scenic spot in the distance

The hotel has a natural hot spring from the mountain. We have been soaking in the hot spring for more than an hour, and then we go back to have a rest ~ ~ by the way, children's shoes who want to soak in the hot spring in mianhuabao should remember to bring their own swimsuit and swimming cap ~ ~ PS: the hardness of the tap water near mianhuabao is very high, and it's almost like salt water in the mouth, so it's not recommended to drink. There is no supermarket nearby to buy pure water. It is suggested to buy pure water the day before yesterday~

Day 6

2014-06-25

Maybe it was too comfortable to soak in the hot spring last night. When I got up at 7:00 in the morning, I still felt that I didn't have enough sleep. But when I think of the beautiful scenery in front of me, I immediately feel energetic~

The name of cotton Castle comes from its appearance like a castle covered with cotton. The so-called "cotton" means that the spring water flows down from the top of the mountain. After thousands of years of calcification and precipitation, it forms a layer upon layer of semicircular white natural limestone stairs. From a distance, it looks like big cotton flowers standing on the hill. The springs of cotton castle are of different depths, some reaching only the ankles and some reaching the waist.

Far view of cotton Fort~

Give me a pose~

In fact, mianhuabao scenic spot is quite similar to Huanglong scenic spot in Sichuan Province of China, both of which are naturally formed calcification pools. In fact, we should be proud to say that our Huanglong colorful pool is actually more beautiful, but the scale of the calcification pool in mianhuabao is more magnificent, and what's exciting is that the calcification pool in mianhuabao can experience zero distance contact~   However, it's not as good as you think when you really go on foot - because it's very painful to step barefoot in the calcification pool. According to the regulations of the scenic area, you must drop barefoot when you enter the calcification pool of cotton fort, so as to prevent the sole from wearing the limestone of cotton fort. The so-called "cotton" is not smooth to step on, even a little difficult to walk on, but in order to protect this magical gift of nature, it's better to take it as a free foot massage, ha ha~

Magic cotton Castle calcification pool

Near cotton fort is the ruins of the ancient city of hilaboris. The city of herapolis was built by the pagama Dynasty in the second century B.C. although it was damaged by many earthquakes in history, it still has ruins such as bathing beach, arena, street, Grand Theater and ancient cemetery with strong Greek style. It's a pity that we have to get to the next destination before evening: Izmir, a famous coastal city on the west coast of Aegean Sea. In addition, the weather is really hot and the sun is hot. We just stop by to take a long-distance view of the ancient city ruins and rush to the next destination. In addition, there is a post office near the gate of mianhuabao scenic area, If you want to send postcards, you can write them in advance and buy stamps to send them. Otherwise, you have to wait until you go to Istanbul. The postage to China is 2.5 lira, which is equivalent to more than 7 yuan~

Ruins of the ancient city of hilapolis

It was more than five o'clock in the evening from cotton fort to Izmir. In addition to lunch, I also went to a special leather market in Turkey, which is one of the few shopping spots in Turkey. Leather clothes are made of lambskin. It's very soft, but the price is too high. The counter-offer is based on less than half of the price. In fact, it is not popular for Turks to bargain, but it may be because they receive many tourists. Some businessmen who receive more tourists have learned to be good at it: first, the price is too high, and then they bargain slowly. Finally, they earn money and the consumers are happy. Hehe, I don't know if this is a win-win situation? When you arrive in Izmir, you will be staying in a hotel. Basically, the rhythm of team tour in Turkey is like this: start early in the morning, take a bus for six or seven hours to get to your destination, visit for one or two hours, and it's almost evening. Then you can move freely, and rush to the next destination early in the morning... Hehe, friends who are easy to get carsick should be prepared for traveling in Turkey~

Day 7

2014-06-26

Izmir is the third largest city in Turkey, second only to Istanbul and Ankara. It is located on the Aegean Sea at the western end of Anatolia plateau, opposite Greece~   It is also one of Turkey's important industrial, commercial, foreign trade and shipping centers, as well as a famous historical and cultural city, tourist resort and military fortress. Izmir, formerly known as Smyrna, is one of the oldest cities in the Aegean region, with a history of 5000 years. The Roman Empire from the first century BC was the heyday of Izmir. It is believed that Homer lived here during this period. Later, it was ruled by Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman Empire.   After the annexation of the Ottoman Empire, a large number of Turks moved in and Islam spread. After the first World War, it was occupied by Greece. In 1923, Kemal defeated the Greek occupation army, recovered Izmir and made it return to Turkey.

The location of our hotel in Izmir is very good. We can directly see the beautiful Aegean Sea from the balcony ~ ~ unfortunately, we are short of time, so we can't go to the sea for a zero distance feeling ~ not far from the hotel is the downtown area of Izmir. The business is very prosperous, and there are a variety of international brands, which makes us feel like an international metropolis, At the supermarket in Izmir, we bought several cans of Turkey brand Efes beer. This brand can be said to be one of Turkey's pride: Turkey's local "domestic products" ranked among the top ten international beer brands. The price of 500ml bottled is about 5 lira, equivalent to 15 yuan, which is more expensive than domestic beer, but the taste is really good. Highly recommended ~ PS: it's hard to buy wine in Turkey's conservative Muslim areas, but in the west, especially in the big cities like Izmir on the Aegean coast, the bar business is booming unexpectedly~

Night view of Izmir port - Aegean sunset

Looking out from the balcony of the hotel room, Izmir is still bright at night

Beautiful sea of love~   From the same angle, another picture of the morning~

After breakfast, we went to the famous ancient city of Ephesus near Izmir. Ephesus was one of the most important city states in ancient Greece in Asia Minor. In Roman times, Ephesus was the capital of Asia and the seat of the Roman governor.

Ephesus is the best preserved ancient Roman city in the eastern Mediterranean. It is a good place to experience and feel the life of Roman times. As the capital of the Roman Empire in Asia (Asia) at that time, it was known as "the first and largest metropolis in Asia". The world said that it was not Rome, it was better than Rome. Ephesus used to be one of the five largest cities in the Roman Empire. It flourished in ancient Greece and Rome. In ancient times, Ephesus was a prosperous trading port city, less than 1 km away from the sea mouth. However, after hundreds of years of changes, its sea mouth was gradually filled with silt, and the marine trade on which Ephesus depended for survival ended. Coupled with frequent earthquakes along the Mediterranean coast, Ephesus eventually became the marble ruins we see today, It becomes another open-air museum in Turkey. One of the most famous sites of Ephesus is the ancient library of Ephesus, also known as the library of selthers. The library of selthers fully embodies the splendid architecture and immortal technology of ancient Greece and Rome. It is also one of the best preserved sites in the ancient city of Ephesus.

Selthers Library~   The small square in front of the library is a necessary place for all visitors to Ephesus to take a group photo. It's hard to capture a picture with few visitors~

Another relatively well preserved and magnificent one is the grand amphitheater, which can accommodate tens of thousands of people. The scene of the Olympic Games~

Overlooking the grand amphitheater from the top

According to the schedule, we should gather at 11:30 noon and take the bus to the next destination. However, as the temperature on the east coast of the Aegean Sea where Ephesus is located was close to 38 degrees at the end of June, many members of the team asked to gather in advance. Although we really want to have a more careful tour, it's hard for us to disobey the public opinion. We also comfort ourselves that "if we go on the tour, we will get heatstroke". Less than 11 o'clock, we will get on the bus and go to chanakale, a port city in northwest Turkey 350 kilometers away. It was supposed to take five or six hours to arrive at chanacale and stay at the seaside hotel, so today's trip directly entered the stage of free activities. However, the tour leader and the tour guide suggested that we change our itinerary, considering that there will be a trip to Troy the next day, and the ancient city of Troy is about 20 kilometers south of chanakale, just on the way from Ephesus to chanakale. We should visit Troy in the afternoon and finish chanakale's trip earlier tomorrow, Arrive early in Istanbul, Turkey's most brilliant city. Facts have proved that the guide's advice is very reliable. Although the ancient city of Troy has a variety of historical sites spanning more than 2000 years from the 30th century B.C. to the 9th century B.C., due to its long history and serious damage caused by wars and natural disasters, the existing ones are just piles of bricks and plinths. As an ordinary tourist, there are not many things to see. The most representative is just a tall wooden horse imagination model. Ha ha ~ ~ after seeing Troy, we arrived at the seaside hotel on the coast of the Dardanelle Strait at about 6:00 in the evening~

Day 8

2014-06-27

There is a beach in front of the hotel, which is a good place to take photos. Ha ha ~ ~ unfortunately, due to arriving too late at night, the sky is dark, and there are many clouds in the sky. It looks like rain. We can't help but miss the blue sky and white clouds along the way from saffron city to cotton fort. But God still takes care of us~   The next morning I got up and saw that although there were still a lot of clouds, there was a little blue sky. I began to take a wild picture~~

The Dardanelle Strait in the morning~

Beach Hotel private beach~

After breakfast, we boarded the bus and went to chanakale wharf. From here, we crossed the Dardanelle Strait to reach the European part of Turkey. To tell you the truth, the Dardanelle Strait, which separates Eurasia, is not as grand as we thought, and due to the weather, the sea is yellow, Half an hour later, we arrived at the European part of Turkey - the Thrace peninsula. Then we continued to take the bus and turned to the East for about 150 kilometers. We arrived at Istanbul, Turkey's largest city and world famous city. PS: there will be peddlers selling souvenirs on ferries. They usually insist on one lira (3 yuan) at the beginning and don't give a counter-offer. But when they get off the ferry soon, it's possible to buy six or even seven in five lira~

It's more than three hours' drive across the Dardanelle Strait. At about 3pm, we finally arrive at Istanbul, the first and last stop of our first visit to Turkey. Istanbul, formerly known as Constantinople, is Turkey's largest city and port. It is also Turkey's economic, cultural and financial center. It is also one of the most prosperous international metropolises in Europe. It is located in the northwest of Turkey and crosses both sides of the Bosporus Strait. It is divided into the European part (Thrace) and the Asian part (Anatolia). The European part is divided into the old city in the South and the new city in the north by the natural port Golden Horn Bay. It is the only metropolis across two continents in the world. In its long history, Istanbul was the capital of the Roman Empire (330 – 395), Byzantine Empire (395 – 12041261 – 1453), Latin Empire (1204 – 1261), Ottoman Empire (1453 – 1922) and the early days of the Republic of Turkey. After the war of independence, Turkey moved its capital to Ankara. Originally, today's trip was to grand in Istanbul   S hotel is over, but because we arrived in Yishi ahead of time, we went to the famous big bazaar first. The goods in big bazaar are all kinds of, but they are not cheap~   It is said that more than 95% of the people visiting big bazaar are tourists, just like Town God's Temple in Shanghai, so the hawkers here also take the opportunity.   No money, no money~

Grand Bazaar entrance

Ha   Aladdin lamp?

After visiting the grand bazaar, we went to a grilled fish restaurant near the Bosporus Strait for dinner. The taste was not so good, but it was a group meal after all. Ha ha, we can't have too high hope ~ ~ but the grilled fish restaurant is just opposite the Strait, and the scenery is quite good ~ ~ and the sky swept away 200 km west of chanakale. The weather was gloomy, In the western half of Turkey in late June, there will be a lot of differences in temperature. For example, the temperature in Istanbul in the northwest and crocus city in the north are quite pleasant, and they don't feel hot during the day, and even cool at night; To the South or to the Aegean Sea, such as cotton fort and Izmir, the temperature will become very hot. At noon, it is exaggerating to say that it can almost kill a person~~

Bosporus Strait and mosque in the twilight

Day 9

2014-06-28

On the ninth day in Turkey, we really started our journey to Istanbul, a world famous city. Istanbul's main scenic spots and characteristic landmarks are basically located in its European part, and the European part is divided into the old city on the south side of the golden Cape Bay and the new city on the north side. Our trip today is mainly in the old part of Istanbul. Its historic city was recognized as a world cultural heritage by UNESCO in 1985, and this is also the most important part of Istanbul. The world-famous Cathedral of St. Sophia and the blue mosque are also in this area~

St. Sophia's Cathedral, blue mosque, yelebatan palace and Topkap Palace (the old palace) are all close to each other, so it's very convenient to visit~

The mysterious and grand underground water palace of yelebatan. It is a cistern built in the Byzantine period in the 6th century ad for war reasons.

Blue Mosque appearance

The blue mosque is the most representative Great Mosque in Istanbul. Its official name is Ahmed Mosque in Sudan. It is also known as the blue mosque because it has more than 20000 pieces of blue Iznik tiles inside. Before entering the mosque, the guide reminded us to take the essential balm, because there are too many visitors and the mosques all require slippers... It's funny at first, and it's unbelievable. But I found that what I said is true. Ha ~ the blue mosque can be called a masterpiece of the mosque. Unfortunately, the taste is unbearable. We had to go out in less than half an hour~~

The huge dome inside the blue mosque

From the blue mosque, we come to the Topkap palace, also known as the old palace, which was built in the 15th century. From the 15th century to the 19th century, it was the political center of the Ottoman Empire, and now it has been transformed into a museum. Here you can have a glimpse of the politics and daily life of the Ottoman sultan~

The handsome guard of honor in front of the old palace~

A glimpse of the old palace

Gallery with structural support~

To be honest, compared with the Russian Tsar's palace, the palace of the Ottoman Empire is much "shabby"~~

The old palace is similar to the back garden~

Overlooking the new city opposite from the palace

From the old palace, the team tour of Turkey is almost over. There is still about one and a half days left in Istanbul, which is DIY free travel nature. It is more suitable for travelers who like to walk by themselves. PS: because Turkish language is mainly Turkish of Turkic language family, the popularity of English is not high, so it is not convenient to communicate with local people. It is often necessary to ask several local people to ask a person who can speak a little English. In view of this, a free time of about one or two days is more appropriate. St. Sophia's Cathedral was first built by Constantine in 335 AD and continued by Justine I in 532. After it was occupied by the Ottoman Empire in 1453, it was rebuilt into a mosque for Islam to worship Allah. Today, St. Sophia's Cathedral belongs to a religious Museum shared by Christians and Muhammad believers, namely, the Museum of ashofia. As the first stop of our free tour, the Cathedral of St. Sophia, which is not arranged in the group's itinerary, is undoubtedly a must~

The appearance of St. Sophia's Cathedral

Far view of St. Sophia's Cathedral

Is it a wonder that there is still a holy image of Jesus on the dome, which coexists with the huge Islamic plaque beside it~

Interior of St. Sophia's Cathedral

In order to repair and protect the cathedral building, I don't know when the huge scaffold standing in the cathedral since 1993 can be removed?

The high dome of St. Sophia's Cathedral

It's only three o'clock in the afternoon when you come out of St. Sophia's Cathedral. After careful calculation, we decided to go to the spice market in the afternoon and the new palace, independence street and Galata stone pagoda in the new urban area tomorrow.

On the roadside of the old city, I came across an entrance gate with a very "accent"~

The most convenient means of transportation in the old city is undoubtedly tram

Near the spice market   Take a silhouette~

Tram Lane

After visiting the spice market, we went to the hotel. The guide said that there was a big shopping mall near the hotel that was worth seeing, so we wanted to go there for dinner~

A shopping mall called Forum

Shopping malls are in general, but they are the common large-scale community shopping malls in the first tier cities in China. After all, they are shopping malls in Turkey, which makes sense. Ha ha ~ ~ but after a round, I didn't find anything I wanted to eat. Finally, I had to go to KFC for dinner. The taste is not different from that in China, but mashed potatoes are totally different from that in China. But I think it's delicious in China~~

We bought an Istanbul card, which is similar to the domestic bus card. You can get a big discount by taking the tram, subway, etc., and the key is that one card can be used by many people without the trouble of change. It's very convenient. It's recommended (many roadside kiosks are available)~

PS: Istanbul's taxi drivers are famous for killing passengers, especially when they see foreign tourists, they are very likely to take you around the world asking for exorbitant prices. The family members of the team have encountered such problems and almost broke their money. Therefore, it is suggested that in Istanbul, we should take public transportation as far as possible~~

Day 10

2014-06-29

Today is the last day in Turkey. We got up at seven o'clock and finished breakfast. We checked out and sent our heavy luggage to the hotel. Then we started our free trip to Istanbul. According to yesterday's plan, we first took the tram to the subway to the domabache palace.   Dolmabahce   "Palace" means "reclaimed garden" and is located in the Western European part of the Bosporus Strait. In the 19th century, Majid I, the 31st Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, ordered to build a new palace here because the old palace, Topkap palace, was not enough to use and was not modern enough. At the same time, he took a fancy to the characteristics of this place near the sea and close to the center of the city. It was built in 1843 and completed in 1856, which was known as the "new palace". The 31st-36th emperor of the Ottoman Empire lived here until the end of the Empire. The new palace has a very strict control on tourists. In addition to limiting the number of tourists every day, tourists must follow the full-time tour guide of the palace according to the established schedule. And the open part of the palace only allows visitors to visit along the aisle, not to enter, and also can not take photos  ~ It is said that the new palace is still often used to receive state guests, which requires strict security management.

Empty subway cars~

Bell tower at the entrance of domabache Palace~

The baroque style of DOMA Bache palace is very obvious~

Fountain in front of domabache Palace~

There is a big slope from the new palace to Taksim square, the starting point of independence street, so the city has built a commuter cable car to transport people. I used to think that the cable car must be one of those hanging on one or two thick cables. The Turkish cable car broadened my horizons~~

The cable car, which looks like a subway, runs underground all the way~

The heavy steel cable is in the middle of the track~

This is the central power of the cable car~

Taksim square is similar to the people's Square in Shanghai~

Independence street, similar to Shanghai's Nanjing luha ~ ~ very interesting little train~

In today's Turkey, it is a rare Christian Church. You know, Istanbul, once the core of the Orthodox Church, now more than 95% of the people believe in Islam~

Independence street all the way south to the end, turn into an alley is the Galata stone tower. Galata stone tower is the absolute landmark of Istanbul. Almost every picture of Istanbul's Golden Horn Bay is a must. It is one of the oldest and most famous stone towers in the world. It was built in 507 by anastasius, the Byzantine emperor. It was originally used as a lighthouse. After the Ottoman Empire conquered Istanbul in 1453, the stone pagoda was used as a prison. In the 16th century, the stone pagoda was used as a fire tower to inspect the Sudan area full of wooden houses at that time. Today's Galata stone pagoda is mainly used for tourism. Of course, it has to be said that the entrance ticket of Galata stone tower is very expensive, up to 18 lira (equivalent to RMB 50 yuan) ~ however, although the entrance ticket is so expensive, there is still an endless stream of tourists queuing up to the tower. Maybe it's also because you can have a 360 degree bird's-eye view of Istanbul from the top of the stone tower, which is indeed a precious experience that can't be found in other parts of the city.

The alley near the stone tower   Staring at a cat in the window~

Looking up at the tallest structure in Istanbul before the advent of high-rise buildings

A view of Istanbul's new and old cities on both sides of the Bosporus Strait from the top of Galata stone tower~   The clouds under the blue sky are intoxicating~

Another one from another angle~~

The so-called one meter sunshine, is that it~

After saying goodbye to the Galata stone tower, our trip to Turkey is coming to an end. We still took the subway and tram to return to the hotel where we stayed for two days. We picked up the luggage, and the team gathered and rushed to istapur International Airport to set foot on the way home ~ ~ I feel a little reluctant to part with you~~~

Day 11

2014-06-30

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