Singapore - Istanbul - Bursa

Hello everyone, this is my new travelblog. And I'll be blogging about my trip to Turkey here. Sorry, I cant post up every photo and video in this blog ( I got more den 1000+ pics), Anw, I hope u guys will like it thou. Enjoy...

SIN - IST ( 12 hours flight by Turkish Airlines )

After a long flight, we arrived at Istanbul Ataturk Airport. The airport was amazingly clean and quiet.
Note: Do not change too much money from the airport as money changers there impose a service fee for every dollar you change.

Our first destination: Blue Mosque

The exterior of the Blue Mosque

Interior of the Blue Mosque

Blue mosque takes its name from the mainly blue Iznik tilework which decorates its interior.

Next: St Sophia MuseumMe outside Saint Sophia Museum

Pope visited this museum 2 wks ago... And this is how the interior of the museum looks like. And before we pass by the suspension bridge that links Europe to Asia, we passed by the Orient Express Station:

And this is the suspension bridge that links Europe to Asia. This photo was taken at the Europe side.
And shortly after, we reached the Marmara sea. Took a ferry over to the Marmara region. And we head to Bursa after that.
And this is Bursa. Pic taken outside my hotel. The night market of Bursa. They have lotsa shops. But after a while, u'll find that they actually sell the same things.... Winter clothings, Turkish delights, Apple tea etc...

Will update again very soon... maybe 3-4 days later? haha...

Bursa - Izmir - Kusadasi

And we start our 2nd day by visiting this mosque. Its called the Grand Mosque. We must take off our shoes before entering the mosque, and females must wear a scarf or a hat upon entry.... And we proceed to the Silk Bazaar after that. Silk bazaar was located at the end of silk route. Well, there's nothing much there, just a few shops selling scarfs and oth silk products...Next, we proceed to the Uludaq Mountain... It was Christmas, and it's snowing!!! Eh just snow flakes.. Haha. Uludaq Mountain was reallie very ulu. Its suppose to be a ski resort but I dun tink the snow is thick enough for ski-ing.Me @ Uludaq
My dad and I at Uludaq
We headed to a boutique restaurant for lunch. And as usual, its Kebap plus sunflower rice plus soup of the day plus fruits...

And after a 3 plus hours journey, we reached Izmir.
Izmir is an ancient city facing the Aegean Sea on Turkey's West Coast. It is one of Turkey's largest cities and a major port.
And our hotel is at Kusadasi...A resort area.
Oh ya, and Ai4 Qing2 Hai3 is located at Kusadasi...

Kusadasi - Selcuk (Ephesus)

And next, its the 1st highlight of the trip. At Selcuk region.
1st visit of the day: The house of virgin Mary. Virgin Mary and St John were said to have lived in Ephesus and died here.... The statue of Virgin MaryThe House of Virgin Mary. Holy water. there are 3 taps. They represent Health, Love and Wealth..These are tissue papers... Tie tissue papers here and make a wish....

And next: Ephesus, one of the largest archaeological sites in existence. The ruins of Ephesus was simply awesome!

The temple of Artemis is known as one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. The most beautiful remaining of this temple are exhibited in the London British Museum - So sad.

Their paliament.

The ruins of Ephesus

The Library of Celsus. It was destroyed by Earthquake...I am the king of the world!!!

Ancient toilets... Hey its quite comfortable.. haha

Ancient theatre. Seats 25000 people

Ephesus was reallie reallie impressive.

Selcuk - Pamukkale - Cappadocia (via Konya)

And our destination after Selcuk was Pamukkale. We toured the ancient city of Hierapolis and explore the Cotton Castle. Cotton Castle is a world heritage site. Its made up of fascinating white terraces and pools created by calcareous hot spring waters. Me @ Cotton castle... Brrr. We weren't allow to wear shoes when we step on the limestones. Its like minus 5 degrees celcius! I am freezing!And before we depart for Cappadocia, we went to this Orange plantation... And pluck some oranges...
And after that, we headed to Cappadocia via Konya.

Cappadocia

Cappadocia is also known as the land of beautiful horses and it was the homeland of Hittite millions of years ago. Cappadocia boasts a unique landscape sculpted by the wind, sun, rain and snow. Upon reaching Cappadocia, u can see a sea of beautiful volcanic rocks. Its gorgeous!

Mushroom-liked rocks @ Karst mountains

Camel...Look at the beautiful scenery of Cappadocia. We were at Goreme Open Air Museum. A compound comprising of 29 rock churches. Some dating back to the 6th century.Look at the holes on the rocks. It's where the pigeons live in Cappadocians live in caves and worship in caves too. I'm in one of their caves...

Cave houses!

Next, we proceed to the underground city of Kaymakli. One of the largest underground cities there.

I have to squad down to pass this narrow 'city'.And this was their underground kitchen... If I'm not wrong... Haha..

Cappadocia - Ankara - Bolu

Next, from Cappadocia, we headed to Ankara, Turkey's capital. We visited the Ataturk mausoleum, the final resting place of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, also known as the 'father of modern Turkey'. During his reign, he introduced several reforms - language, social, economic reforms etc.

Yupz, this is Ataturk Mausoleum. Looks like the Mao ZeDong's mausoleum in Beijing ya?

Standing beside the guard...

Next, we headed to Bolu. And this pic was taken outside our hotel in Bolu.

Our boutique hotel... With this unique piano...

This was how thick the snow is... My dad and mom in pic...

Help! I'm stuck in snow!!! Someone pls save me!

My brother, making 'snow angel'

And.... my small little snowman...

Next, we're heading to Turkey's most populous city, Istanbul.
Istanbul is the only metropolis in the world, situated on 2 continents. First we visited Spice market.

Bargains, bargains, and bargains....

And next, its the Grand Bazaar. Its a tourist place, so the price there is a bit steep. Well, like in Bursa and Spice market, there are so many shops... but they're all selling the same kind of thing.The next day, we visited this stadium. The homeground of Besiktas. In case u guys dunno, its one of the more famous team in Turkey. The most well known soccer team in Turkey is Galatasaray. I dint go there coz I duno where their stadium is located. But I manage to find their club house...

The clubhouse of Galatasaray...

And next, just a 5 min walk from Besiktas Stadium, we reached Dolmabahce Palace. Dolmabahce means The filled garden. The baroque style palace looks very much like the Versailles Palace in Paris.
Next, Taksim Square. Workers were building a stage and setting up the sound system for a mega countdown to 2007...Next, Topkapi Palace. Topkapi Palace was once the seat of the Ottoman Empire. Today, it is a museum palace with a wide collection of porcelain, antiques, holy relics and oth treasures.

Me in Topkapi Palace

After our visit to Topkapi Palace, we went to this town in Istanbul called Ottakoy.

And here, we can take a photo of the suspension bridge that links Asia to Europe.

Ottakoy, famous for their super duper big baked potatoes.

Next, Bosphorus Cruise ride.... a unique experience of cruising btwn 2 continents.

And last but not least, A photo with my family at the renown suspension bridge.