India and the Middle East cruise: May 31-June 3

May 31 – Istanbul

Istanbul, well what can I say? I had no preconceptions but I can see how this city gets under your skin. What a mix of noise, sights, sounds and smells greeted us as we crawled our way through Sunday traffic on the HoHo bus. We had pre-purchased our ticket online. Really glad we did because not all buses have a ticket seller. Huge numbers of cruise passengers were left at the kerb!

We had been told Taksim Square was closed because of 'demonstrations'. Elections are due and I suspect they were political rallies. The modern city was awash with flags and posters and there were vehicles everywhere with loud speakers blaring out their message!

I believe there was also a football final being played in the local league. This added to the colour and noise.

It was a terrific way to spend an afternoon which would otherwise have been rather tiring being cheek by jowl with the local populace all out and about enjoying their Sunday.

Sailing through the Sea of Marmara. Large Turkish flags fly everywhere

Aya Sofya as we sail past

Topkapi Palace

Galata Tower

Bosphorus Bridge

The Bosphorus and Golden Horn are very busy waterways

The Dolmabache Palace

Almost every street was strung with political flags

The Bosphorus Bridge joining east and west

Beautiful mosques at every turn rising above the suburbs

Crossing the bridge we can see the old city and our ship

The sign says it all

A former naval academy

The busy Galata Bridge crossing the Golden Horn

Lots of vans blaring out the political messages in every public space you could find

Sunday is obviously a family day. These parklands stretching the length of the Golden Horn were filled with families barbecuing on little portable units. Everyone has a special 'fan' to get the coals going. These are readily available in the markets!

Yes - another wedding. Not entirely sure if the bride was making adjustment, but we were passing on the bus so could not see properly

Most families take along a hammock or two - again these are common place items in the markets

On the right a store selling barbecues. I'm sure you could buy a coal fan there!!!

Our hotel - aptly named Blue House Hotel

View from our cabin as the sun went down on our last night on board

June 1 – Istanbul

After a very easy disembarkation process, our transfer arrived on time and took us to our hotel. We had already passed this twice on our Big Bus tour yesterday. What a fantastic location. Just goes to show what personal recommendation can do!

Our room was ready soon after we arrived and after a personal tour of the hotel, we headed out for the start of a closer inspection of the sights. First up, the Blue Mosque is the view we have from our room window, so, only steps away. This is very quickly gone through (the queue was minimal). It's quite impressive. I'll hold judgement on where it fits into the impressive sights in this city.

We still had time on our bus ticket so hopped on again so we could visit Taksim Square. An unremarkable place, but obviously a very important meeting point for locals.

We hopped off the bus at the Spice market (Egyptian market). What a delightful place. I'm sure there is so much more that we did not see, but we spent a pleasant time wandering through in the general direction of the Grand Bazaar. I actually bought some 'harem' pants which will come in very handy for travelling – so comfortable.

The Grand Bazaar is also fascinating, though not the sort of shops we would frequent, not being interested in jewellery and fashion. I did, however, find Turkish apple tea and after sampling some came away with a couple of different boxes along with a couple of the glasses usually used to serve the tea in.

We found our way in and found our way out well enough. Having a map definitely helps as it is very much what they say you can lose direction and get lost very easily. It was easy to follow the tram line back to our hotel where we took a well earned rest before heading out for a Bosphorus cruise. More traditional experiences to come!

We decided to book ourselves on a dinner cruise of the Bosphorus. This was not just to see the city from a different perspective at night, but also to see some traditional (if touristy) dancing.

The meal was not bad for this sort of thing. The dancing was very enjoyable. It was actually quite hilarious at times seeing some of the men interacting with the belly dancer! The guests were asked where they were from and provided with a national flag. It was a very different group to what we are used. People from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Bangladesh (boy do they know how to party!) UK, Chile, USA, Yemen, Iran and us.

The beautiful Blue Mosque

It is always up above where the beauty really lies

Appropriate dress has now become almost second nature!

This amazing gold and silver model was presented to Turkey by the Sultan of Saudi Arabia

Explanation of the model in photo above

Notice the wires from the minaret - they don't have to call the faithful quite so loudly these days - it's done over loudspeakers

This local street food became a firm favourite of mine. Bread baked in a circle sprinkled with sesame or poppy seeds then halved and spread with cream cheese, butter or Nutella! I loved the cream cheese variety. Not bad for $1

Aya Sofya, a Christian church, a mosque and now a beautiful museum which is under constant restoration

We walked often through this lovely park between the Blue Mosque and the Aya Sofya. In the evening it is very colourful with the fountains all lit up and the floodlights on the buildings

As we went by on the same route taken the day before on the HoHo but, we could see Rhapsody still docked

This clock tower is part of the Dolmabache Palace

Tough job but someone has to do it

Crossing the Bosphorus Bridge

And this on the return trip

Unfortunately this is a real problem in this country

The unremarkable Taksim Square

A war memorial in the square

These floral coronets are not made of flowers these days and you will often children wearing them

An old tram trundles into the square with local boys making mischief

The streets are full of people - mostly tourists

A commonplace sight

The flag of Turkey which you see everywhere

This is the oldest hotel in Istanbul which has just been restored - Pera Palace

The Egyptian or Spice market/bazaar has all manner of goods and food stuffs for sale. It's a wonderful place to wander through

Oh well, let's go - tackling one entry to the Grand Bazaar

Inside the Grand Bazaar

Flags celebrating the win by the football team

This is the oldest part of the Grand Bazaar, notice the different ceiling

Bought some lovely Turkish apple tea here

Costumes for all occasions!

Back outside the street is just as congested

We found our way out through this gate which is exactly where we planned to come out!

This man is making ice cream. Didn't try it but the making is fascinating with the sugary substance being thrown about rather like candy. It was soft enough to eat though

Back at Sultan Ahmet Park.

View from our hotel terrace overlooking the Sea of Marmara

One last glimpse of Rhapsody as she sails for the Greek Islands

Our evening cruise was on a less substantial vessel, lovely nonetheless

A whirling dirvish dancer

Some typical Turkish dancers

The inevitable belly dancer. The gentleman front left was constantly filming! Later admonished by his wife!

June2 – Istanbul

Despite a late night, we were up promptly so we could get ahead of the pack. There was only a short line when we arrived at the Aya Sofya (Haiga Sophia), once a church, then a mosque and now a museum. It's pretty impressive inside with an amazing restoration process still underway.

We decided to look in the upper area first and very glad we did. By the time we came downstairs the crowds were building.

Then we went across to the Basilica cistern. This is a fascinating place to visit. What an amazing achievement to build such a huge area to guarantee a water supply. Sure slaves were used to build most of such structures, but the simple engineering achievement is astonishing.

We decided to return to the hotel for a rest as we had planned to visit another mosque in the afternon and the prayer times were such that it would be closed soon after we arrived if we went up there straight away. The rest was welcome.

Refreshed we took the tram up the hill to the Grand Bazaar stop and walked the remainder of the way to the Suleymaniye mosque. This mosque stands high up on the hill and dominates Istanbul's skyline. It is actually more beautiful in many ways than the Blue Mosque which possibly gets its reputation because of its position as much as its history.There are lovely gardens to meander through as well as a cemetery. We spent more time here than we did in the Blue Mosque which is really - queue up, remove your shoes, go inside and leave!

After our visit we planned a return route which took us down to the waterfront. From the top of the hill we decided to simply keep walking down as this would eventually get us to where we needed to be. The route took us along lots of local streets with shops selling every day wares. Eventually we ended up back in one of the many streets of the Egyptian/Spice market. I got to try another local street stall snack which was quite yummy. Everyone is so friendly and generous.

We decided to walk across the Galata bridge to catch the tram just for the experience. Fisherman everywhere with rods hanging over the edge catching sardines. The tram was packed with most of the seats being taken by men! No standing for women (pregnant or otherwise) or the elderly! One poor gentleman with a cane was hanging on for dear life! Back at our stop we wandered through the local Arasta bazaar then headed back to the hotel.

It's been a super couple of days and our planned itinerary really helped get through what we wanted to see in a reasonably relaxed time. It is certainly a city I would not hesitate to recommend to anyone to visit and would be happy to return.

The winding rocky pathway which leads to the top gallery of the Aya Sofya

Looking back along the colonnaded main entry

The tops (or capitals) of these columns have inscribed in the intricate work the initials of Justinianus after the Emperor ruling Constantinople in the 6th century AD and who commissioned the work

The painstaking work to remove the plaster which covered the Christian decoration when the building became a mosque reveals these rich decorations ...

and gold mosaics

The famous multi-winged angel

The washing station

This is a phenomenal piece of architecture

One of the famous medusa heads

It is not known why they have been used as the base for a couple of columns, though there is much speculation

Sulemaniye Mosque

View from the walls surrounding the mosque

The decorations of the domes here are beautiful

Shoes back on, scarf off, exiting the mosque

Think about it!

Tombstones had a variety of headwear types on the top

The tombs of Sultan Suleyman 1, his wife, daughter and sister

The mausoleum

This is a bath house just in the lane behind the mosque

Back in the local streets, where homewares are on display

This shop sells the evil eye in all shapes and forms

The waterfront on the Golden Horn adjacent to the Galata Bridge. You can just see the riot police in the centre. Why they were there - who knows, everyone seemed to be going about their business!

On the Galata bridge with the tower in the background

Bunnings Istanbul style!

Back at Sultanahmet

June 3 – Istanbul

Our last day was set aside for the Topkapi Palace. The No.1 sight in Istanbul and rightly so. This huge museum could easily have half a day dedicated to seeing everything. As it was we managed possibly 2/3rd and that included the Harem - which is a MUST. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, however, where some of the most treasured items are housed, photographs are not allowed.

Entering the Harem

The mosque of the Black Eunuchs is very plain with a flat ceiling. There is still some decoration

Prayer niche. The tiled picture has special significance incorporating many aspects of Islamic faith

This large corridor used to have a fountain in it. This is now housed elsewhere in the Harem rooms

A maze of connected rooms all with beautiful decorations

This is the Main Entrance of the Harem. There are a number of different doors leading to different parts of the Harem

This beautifully decorated room is part of the Apartments of the Queen Mother. She was the most important person in the Harem

Beautiful doors at every entrance

The Imperial Hall of the sultan where he would hold audiences

This door is inlaid with mother of pearl

This is the fountain which used to be located in the Fountain Hall where we entered the Haren. Now it is located in the Sultan's apartments

A square richly decorated room for the Princes

The concubines had their own mosque. Very simple in decoration

Outside the Harem mosque

Glimpses of the outside world. How hard it must have been, never to venture out again

Once in the concubines never left. These upstairs rooms would have had wonderful views over the Bosphorus

Speaks for itself!

A terrace outside the Harem with a fountain and wonderful gardens and views

This small covered pavilion was built as a breakfast area for one sultan

Built to commemorate the Baghdad campaign in 1638 this pavilion is one of the last examples of classical pavilion architecture. The panels are decorated with mother-of-pearl and tortoiseshell.