"If one had but a single glance to give the world, one should gaze on Istanbul" - Alphonso De Lamartine.
The quote is true, not just for Istanbul, but for the entirety of Turkey. Our Turkey plan began in October when we saw that the Covid-19 restrictions were easing up. We booked our tickets immediately, applied for Visa and started planning the itinerary.
We started off in Istanbul, in the older Sultanahmet area, exploring the beautiful Hagia Sofia. Hagia Sofia, also locally known as Ayasofia has had it's fair share of history. It started off as a Church in 537 AD, and then when the Ottoman Empire came into power, it was converted to a Mosque, from 1453-1931. The Ottomans constructed 4 minarets around the Church to convert it to a mosque. It was converted to a Museum in 1935 by the Republic of Turkey, up until 2020 when it was converted back to a Mosque.
The thing that we loved about Turkey the most was that it was an amalgamation of cultures, such as the Obelisk of Theodosius. It is the Obelisk of the Egyptian emperor Pharaoh Thutmose III, and was re-erected in 4th Century AD by the Roman Emperor Theodosius. The Obelisk describes a victory of Thutmose in 1450 BC, and is erected over a Pedestal where Theodosius is offering laurels of victory.
Then we went off to Cappadocia. This place was one from our bucket list. It was a land of beautiful valleys, crazy rock formations, history, and well, the Hot Air Balloons! And bless our stars, it was snowing in Cappadocia.
And finally we got to experience the Hot air balloon ride with breathtaking views of Cappadocia in Snow. It was nothing less than a fairy land.
We then went on the Red Tour that covered various museums and places of interest in Cappadocia.
The next day, we chose the Green Tour, which included multiple museums, and a Valley Trek. We started off with a view point that overlooked Goreme, Cappadocia.
After visiting few spots, we went off to Ilhara Valley. The valley looked gorgeous, with beautiful rocks and a nice little river cutting across it. We walked along the valley for about 3 km before stopping over for lunch and heading back.
We then moved south, to the beach city of Antalya. Antalya is known for its happening night scene in the Old town Antalya and also its beautiful beach. We started off with the Upper Duden Waterfalls since it was the farthest from our hotel.
It was a beautiful waterfalls, almost coming out of a cave underground, and is a small, but serene place to visit. Away from the bustling city, we spend some good time admiring the beauty of this waterfalls.
Our next day was not planned. We had kept this day for us to explore the city. We started off with the Antalya Cablecar that took us up to a viewpoint and gave us a good view of the entire city.
We then headed to the next location - Konyaalti Beach. It stretches for 7km and is one of the longest beaches in Turkey. It is a pebble beach, and the most incredible thing about pebble beach is that the sound it makes when the waves hit the ground and retreat back is completely different from the traditional sand beaches.
The next stop was the Lower Duden falls. This is where the water would finally meet the Mediterranean Sea. This is one of only six waterfalls in Asia, and one of only thirty in the world that drop directly into the sea.
We finally ended up in Old Town Antalya exploring its beautiful lanes and cafes.
We decided to go out on a small tour on our last day in Antalya. We booked a tour to Pamukkale via Lake Salda.
Our first stop was Lake Salda. It is one of the largest lake in Turkey, and the 3rd deepest lake in the world. This crater lake had another speciality. It was a white sand lake, and the mineral content of the stones found here were the closest anywhere on Earth to those found in Mars. Since it was a snowing day, there were no tourists and we were the only ones to be at this lake. I guess the pictures of this lake will do the talking!
Lake Salda undoubtedly turned out to be one of the highlights of this trip since it was so un-expected. We were completely unaware of this beauty hidden here, and we taken aback by its natural beauty.
Then we headed to Pamukkale for the famous Cotton Candy Castle. Before heading over to the water, we decided to export the Ancient Greek city of Hierapolis. This ancient city was founded in 2nd century BC and was in active use until 14th century BC. We witnessed the majestic Greek architecture including a beautifully preserved Theatre. Looking at the theatre we could imagine the lifestyle of the inhabitants of Hierapolis.
Then, we went off to the main attraction of Pamukkale - The Cotton Candy Castle. It was a beautiful white hill made up of calcium deposits from the Hot water spring that has been flowing for centuries. We were allowed to walk barefoot over the Pamukkale hill.
What intrigued us the most was the unique formations due to the water flowing and depositing calcium.
As we entered the last leg of our Turkey trip, we went back to Istanbul. We had planned on visiting few of the places that we had missed out on our first day of the trip. We started with the famous Bosporous Tour. This was a cruise tour over the Bosporous Strait covering all important landmarks of Istanbul, and showcasing both the Asian and the European side of the city.
After the tour, we went on a shopping walk to the old Grand Bazaar. The Grand Bazaar of Istanbul is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with almost 4000 shops. It is very easy to get lost in the maze of Grand Bazaar and we found ourselves asking help for exit after entering the Bazaar.
Our next day was reserved for exploring Istanbul, and we started with the Galata Tower. The tower, built in 1348 was a watchtower initially, and then also used as an observatory, fire tower (to detect fires in the city), and finally now as a museum.
After the Galata tower, we went over to the Dolmabahçe Palace. This was an Ottoman era palace built in 1856, and is the largest palace in Turkey.
The Palace was built after the Ottoman Sultan visited Europe and felt that they needed to upgrade the Ottoman Palace.
We were unable to click any pictures inside the Palace since it was not allowed, but I can assure you that the interior of the palace is one of the grandest I've ever seen.
And then came our last day at Istanbul, and the last day of our trip. Since our flight was in the night, we went out to explore Istanbul once again, and visited the Topkapi Palace. This was the Palace used by the Ottoman Sultans before moving to the Dolmabahçe Palace.
After visiting the Palace grounds, we went for some shopping at the Grand Bazaar and neighbouring alleys, and finally off for our last lunch at Istanbul, overlooking the Bosporous Strait.
This brought our trip to the end, and we headed back to Bangalore.
As the quote in the beginning of the article mentioned, it felt like we saw the entire world at once, from beaches to mountains, from sun to snow.
Fin.
Note: All the pictures were clicked using a Nikon D7500 and iPhone 12 Pro.