Unusual Turkey❤️

Turkey has unique geography,  partly in Europe  and partly in Asia.
Beautiful Bosphorus strait divides the country between Europe & Asia.
So, without going much in history and geography of the country, I would like to share the itinerary with you.  
So, after checking all my essentials , I reached airport for the very first international trip of mine.
Anxious and excited both!!
Usual rituals at the airport done and boarded the Indigo airlines ( I wasn't sure if this is gonna be a correct decision as flight was of 8 hrs).
Now guess what??? Flight got delayed for 2 hrs and sitting for 10 hours in an Indigo flight was really painful.
But may be the excitement kept me hold my nerves.
Guys, guess what there was 10 pm in the night and the city along with  the river was looking mesmerizing from the above.
Having seen the view, I forgot that I took Indigo airlines.
After landing at Istanbul, I had a Turkish tea at the airport though it was expensive but was worth having that refreshing tea at that time.
My all nerves were open by that time.
Took the local bus and while passing by the city, I could feel the city, it's culture, it's food.
So I got down at sultan ahmat area which is one of the most popular area of Istanbul which is also house of many amazing restaurants and food places.
The two most popular mosques( Blue mosque & Hagia Sophia) are situated here in Sultan ahmat.

I didn't want to experiment with food at 11 in the night, so found a small India restaurant (though there was no Indian). But I could relate to food.
I ordered a thali, food was ok but filling.
Now since it was too late, I found a cab and headed to my hotel which was 2 kms from the area.
I wasn't expecting the room that I booked to be a small apartment. I was super happy so see that cute little apartment at the top of the building.
But I was so exhausted that I straight away went to sleep.

Istanbul it was!!
So I woke up and since I am a tea addict, I was carrying Grinar masala tea packets with me and made a Indian style masala tea and wow sat in my balcony with the mesmerizing view of sea and what a peace it was.
Soaked myself in some sunshine and then quickly got ready for my day tour of Istanbul.
I left my luggage at the hotel itself as I had to board a flight in night for Antalya.
So started walking on the streets of Istanbul, exploring cafes, markets, talking to people as to how to reach Blue mosque and Hagia Sophia.
Finally walking for may be half n hour, I reached in front of two mosques. They are opposite to each other.
So standing at one place you can capture both mosques.
It's your choice if you wanted to enter the mosque or not
I was running short of time so I clicked some pictures outside of both mosques.
So by that time I was totally exhausted and tired and hungry as I was walking all this long.
Now, I wanted a decent restaurant to sit and relax and eat something.
So, I reached the sultan ahmat area where you can find so many restaurants of every cuisine type. This place is at walking distance from mosques.
I sat,had an omelette, orange juice and again started exploring.
Now, I reached to Spice market of Istanbul. Such a huge spice market, you will get lost in the different fragrances of spices.
By that time it was already 2 in the afternoon and I had to board a flight for Antalya at 8:30 and the domestic airport is at approximately 2 hours drive from Istanbul city.
I again started walking through the markets with Google maps to reach Bosphorus river bank from where I can take day cruise which is of approximately 45 mins.
As I was reaching closer to River area, the breeze was more mesmerizing, I just wanted to sit there and enjoy the breeze.
But, I didn't have that much of time. I immediately purchased ticket for cruise and boarded it.
Guys, that view of sea and beautiful castles and city on the other side of the river was breathe taking.
You would not want to even take pictures and talk to anyone as it was so amazing that you would want to just, sit and stare.
Now, it was already 4 , so I rushed to hotel to pick my luggage. Took a cab back to hotel, again booked a cab to Sahiba Gokcen airport.
Sahiba Gokcen is one of the two largest international airports in Turkey.
Reaching this airport was interesting too.
So the cab I hired, after some distance reached to harbor and we were boarded on a ship. All the passengers were seated on deck and cabs are parked downside in the ship itself.
So the people traveling from one side of river to the other side, usually takes this way as this is cheaper and faster.
So now again after 15-20 minutes we were on road and reached airport on time.
Now I was super hungry, I grabbed a coffee and a burger from Burger king at the airport and had it while I was waiting for boarding to start.
Now, inside the Pegasus flight for Antalya. Guys Pegasus is one of the cheapest flights available and decent for internal traveling.
Landed in Antalya in 45 minutes.
Since I have not booked any hotel in Antalya, I sat at airport, enquired a bit from airport people and booked a hotel instantly on booking.com at zero cancellation.
Now hired a cab outside of the airport and reached the hotel. Bingo!! Hotel was decent and I liked it too.
Since it was 10 in the night, and I was tired, I made my instant noodles, had them and slept.
Guys, as I am an eggeterian and this was my first international trip, I was carrying these instant poha, Maggi, upma with me.

So guys, I  woke up in Antalya. Had breakfast at hotel; booked a cab to old City kalecia.
Antalya has a unique vibe which is combination of tranquility and yet very energetic.
So I got down at a street market in Antalya where you could shop, eat and enjoy the local delicacies.
I went into the Antalya Mall , but couldn't really find interesting.
Came out, had a cup of tea and explored some of the street shops.
By this time, I was hungry and craving for some India food.
I googled and got to choose Royal Haveli Indian & Pakistani restaurant.
They served delicious meal and this was the most satisfying meal till now.
Now I was eager to go-to old market, about which I have read alot.
As I reached, a cold breeze welcomed me. It is a huge market, you can find everything, from banks to eateries, souvenir stalls etc.
Spent some time there and headed to my hotel to pick my stuff as I had to leave for Fethiye in the evening.
Reached bus stand , got onto a mini bus kind of bus.
Headed towards the Fethiye-Oludeniz. The whole journey of 3 hours was so amazing, so comfortable inspite of that small bus.
Saw so many small villages in between, they are so clean and vegetables and fruits there are huge in size.
Every view from the bus was new.
Finally reached Fethiye at around 8-9 on the night.
I had my hotel booked in Oludeniz which is 4-5 kms from Fethiye.
Fethiye-Oludeniz are two small places, where Fethiye is town and Oludeniz is village.Really beautiful and happening I must say.
Checked-in the hotel, kept the luggage and went out to have dinner.
The best part was out hotel was that it was at walking distance from the market.
Went to an Indian restaurant called "Curry Palace"; where none of the staff or owner is Indian. Food was ok, filling.
I headed back to hotel as I was tired and slept.

This was little lazy, started a bit late. The weather in Oludeniz was amazing, the winter was in starting stage.
I went downstairs; had breakfast by poolside.
Had chitchat with owners.
They were big fans of Bollywood and thus we got to discuss Indian songs, food, Shahrukh Khan.
Took some advice from the hotel owners as where I can go and how.
So got ready and headed to Blue lagoon beach.
Guys, the road to beach is wow!! The views are amazing.
Reached beach, it was less crowded , so I  relaxed, had beer, clicked some pictures.
Tried some local drink in a restaurant near the beach.
Enjoyed the view and got to talk to some local people. Anyone in Oludeniz would see me and ask are u Indian?? To my amaze, everyone out of India is big fan of Bollywood.
To which I was proudly bragging about Bollywood.
It was fun. Took the bus back to the Oludeniz market which is really happening, you can find restaurants, apparels shops, clubs, discs etc.people roaming around.
Again I reached to Curry Palace, had some drinks and starter. I wanted to have good Indian food, so I searched for other options.
Got to know about, "Shine Indian restaurant".
To my amaze, it has got place for around 200 pax, still I had to wait for 30 minutes.
It was packed, I was surprised that an Indian restaurant is packed in this small town.
I realised the power of Indian Food, we could anywhere beat any available cuisine.
Finally, I got the table and I have ordered 3_4 items. Taste was good but the portion was less. But that's fine
I talked to the owner , he wasn't India either.
He told me his journey and how he came up with the Indian restaurant. He told me people all over the world love Indian food.
My eyes were glittering with proud. Haha. I had happy ending to my day.
I was a lil high by that time, and tired. So went straight to my room and slept.

So day 5 was lil unusual for me. Got up, not feeling well. Lil confused wether to go for the boat trip or not.
So without giving any thoughts, I went down to have breakfast, I was carrying instant Upma with me.
Spoke to hotel guy if it's worth going  for boat trip and he convinced me that it's pretty amazing.
But I was late by that time, but tha cute hotel guy got me a cab arranged and thankfully I reached the beach at time.
There were 6-7 boats standing to take you on 6 island boat trip, you can choose any.
So I went for comparatively larger boat "Black Pearl" which could accommodate about 150 folks and had 3 areas to sit- base, 1st floor and top floor.
So now the wheel started rolling, I was excited.
But soon I started feeling unwell and vomited.. Phewwww, that was so embarassing but adjacent to me, 2 English aunts were sitting. They were such darlings. They cleaned the vomit and made me so comfortable and soon I forgot something like that had happened.
Post that, We had foam party at boat twice or thrice. Drinks and snacks were available onboard and lunch was complimentary.
Boat halted at 6 islands and the journey was awesome and views were breathtaking!!
So the amazing boat trip ended at around 6 pm post which we went and had something.
Had some drinks and went to Indian restaurant as I was craving for some good food.
Had lime water and some Indian food and got some chocolates and souvenirs on my way back to hotel.
That was a wrap to the amazing Oludeniz.
Oludeniz is one hidden gem in Turkey which very few people know about.
I have written a full article/blog on this cute little place.

So this was my last in Turkey. I had a flight from Dalaman Airport to Istanbul ( Sabiha Gocken International airport).
I checked out of the hotel, took a bus to airport and checked in and reached Sabiha Gocken.
Had some coffee and took a bus for Turkey International Airport.
This part was very unusual- While traveling to airport, oh my my!! The views were breath taking.
I was approaching to the end of my trip but it gifted me with more amazing views.
So guys, this was the end of the trip.
Reached airport, had some coffee, pizza, got more souvenirs and sweets from duty free at the Istanbul airport and finally boarded the Turkish airlines.

Sharing some pictures from the trip!!