Update: I got bitten a LOT more than I realized on that overnight bus trip. I don't know why they didn't show up until later, but now looking at my legs, I can count 20+ bites. They look spotted T___T Clearly leggings are not thick enough to prevent mosquito bites >.<
This morning we arrived in Istanbul around 9:30AM, and then took the Metro, then Tram to Sultanahmet, which is near our hostel. Too bad you don't get a free transfer from the Metro to the Tram, so we had to pay twice to enter... And throughout our walk to the hostel, we just felt SO hot and so gross. We were like, Istanbul is miserable! But I think that was just the tiredness and grossness from the bus ride. Luckily, we were able to check in early since they had extra beds ready, and it felt SO good to wash our faces haha. We chilled in the room for a couple hours, and then headed out to see the Basilica Cistern, Grand Bazaar, and go to a Turkish Bath!
Istanbul has so many historic sites, but unfortunately they all have admission fees. :( The Basilica Cistern was 10 TL, which is about $5. (The exchange rate is a little under 2:1) But it was definitely a cool sight! It's basically this giant underground reservoir for water. And there are fish in there too! (Because the water was freshwater, it even had fish in the olden days!) The best part: it was very cool (temperature-wise) down there! Definitely a good break from the heat considering it was in the mid-80's with slight humidity. There are also a lot of places along the streets that sell fresh squeezed orange juice, which is super refreshing as well!
Next we visited the Grand Bazaar, which is HUGE. And there are so many stalls offering the same wares, it's quite overwhelming. Neither Steph nor I had anything in mind that we wanted to buy, so we just wandered around and took photos. Then we wandered around some more trying to find our way out and actually wound up super close to the Turkish Bath we wanted to go to! It's called Cagaloglu Hamami, is almost 300 years old, and has been visited by celebs such as Harrison Ford, Cameron Diaz, and Kate Moss! We actually didn't expect it to be as expensive as it was, and ended up forking over about $60 after tip for a bath + exfoliation session. But it was definitely a neat experience! We pretty much strip naked and leave our stuff in a locked room, then go to the large bathing room and wash ourselves, and then an attendant comes and gives us a whole body exfoliating scrub and washes our hair + body. After about a month of travelling, we definitely needed a deep cleaning! (It was actually pretty gross how much grime we had on ourselves hahaha)
It's too bad that Istanbul is so hot, we were sweaty and gross-feeling only a few hours after our bath >.< Still kind of tired, we took it easy, and just went out for an early dinner at a nearby restaurant. The food was good, but we're not too sure how much we like traditional Turkish food.... On the other hand, we LOVED the apple tea! And it was served in these cute glasses too!
Afterwards, we came back to our hostel to wait til sunset (and thus cooler weather), but totally ended up falling asleep! By the time we woke up, it was after 9pm, so we went to check out a popular bakery near the river called Hafiz Mustafa 1864. We picked out a few pieces of baklava (all with pistachio), and then ate at a small table on the street. Also not sure how much we like Turkish dessert. It was all so sweet and heavy! (And I don't really like the texture of Turkish delights either) We'll probably be eating mostly doner kebabs and the like in our next few days! (Which also happen to be super cheap!)
This morning we arrived in Istanbul around 9:30AM, and then took the Metro, then Tram to Sultanahmet, which is near our hostel. Too bad you don't get a free transfer from the Metro to the Tram, so we had to pay twice to enter... And throughout our walk to the hostel, we just felt SO hot and so gross. We were like, Istanbul is miserable! But I think that was just the tiredness and grossness from the bus ride. Luckily, we were able to check in early since they had extra beds ready, and it felt SO good to wash our faces haha. We chilled in the room for a couple hours, and then headed out to see the Basilica Cistern, Grand Bazaar, and go to a Turkish Bath!
Istanbul has so many historic sites, but unfortunately they all have admission fees. :( The Basilica Cistern was 10 TL, which is about $5. (The exchange rate is a little under 2:1) But it was definitely a cool sight! It's basically this giant underground reservoir for water. And there are fish in there too! (Because the water was freshwater, it even had fish in the olden days!) The best part: it was very cool (temperature-wise) down there! Definitely a good break from the heat considering it was in the mid-80's with slight humidity. There are also a lot of places along the streets that sell fresh squeezed orange juice, which is super refreshing as well!
A little eery, but very cool!
Fresh squeezed OJ for $1.50!
Next we visited the Grand Bazaar, which is HUGE. And there are so many stalls offering the same wares, it's quite overwhelming. Neither Steph nor I had anything in mind that we wanted to buy, so we just wandered around and took photos. Then we wandered around some more trying to find our way out and actually wound up super close to the Turkish Bath we wanted to go to! It's called Cagaloglu Hamami, is almost 300 years old, and has been visited by celebs such as Harrison Ford, Cameron Diaz, and Kate Moss! We actually didn't expect it to be as expensive as it was, and ended up forking over about $60 after tip for a bath + exfoliation session. But it was definitely a neat experience! We pretty much strip naked and leave our stuff in a locked room, then go to the large bathing room and wash ourselves, and then an attendant comes and gives us a whole body exfoliating scrub and washes our hair + body. After about a month of travelling, we definitely needed a deep cleaning! (It was actually pretty gross how much grime we had on ourselves hahaha)
Grand Bazaar! And the pretty lanterns a lot of stalls were selling.
Foyer of the Turkish Bath!
It's too bad that Istanbul is so hot, we were sweaty and gross-feeling only a few hours after our bath >.< Still kind of tired, we took it easy, and just went out for an early dinner at a nearby restaurant. The food was good, but we're not too sure how much we like traditional Turkish food.... On the other hand, we LOVED the apple tea! And it was served in these cute glasses too!
The lavash bread was bigger than our heads! (Although the middle is really just air)
Afterwards, we came back to our hostel to wait til sunset (and thus cooler weather), but totally ended up falling asleep! By the time we woke up, it was after 9pm, so we went to check out a popular bakery near the river called Hafiz Mustafa 1864. We picked out a few pieces of baklava (all with pistachio), and then ate at a small table on the street. Also not sure how much we like Turkish dessert. It was all so sweet and heavy! (And I don't really like the texture of Turkish delights either) We'll probably be eating mostly doner kebabs and the like in our next few days! (Which also happen to be super cheap!)
Our assortment of baklava, and pomegranate tea!
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