day 2: istanbul & canakkale - glimpse into turkish history

The airport was not huge but was lively in the early morning when we arrived. The immigration was not as organised as we are used to. Fortunately a counter opened in front of us and we swiftly got through to pick up our luggage.

Our local guide, Koray, a well-groomed native in his thirties, welcomed us and quickly orientated us around the essentials - money change, washroom and telco counters to purchase local sim cards. Then we met our bus captain, Sador. He always wears a smile though he doesn't say much to us.

Money changer at airport

Koray means business so immediately we went straight to the key tourist attractions in the historical city centre of Istanbul.

Historical walls of the Ottoman empire lined the road towards Topkapi Palace, St Sophia and the Blue Mosque. These three historical sites are within walking distance from one another, but distinct in character, enough to hold our interest throughout the morning despite our growling stomachs.

Topkapi Palace

Well-manicured gardens surrounded the insides of the Topkapi Palace. The real gem of this site, and frankly the key thing I could remember, was the dazzling 86 caret diamond, the second largest in the world. It was apparently picked up by a villager in a rubbish dump and after a few exchanges, found its way to the Sultan, who cleaned, cut it, and decorated it with more stones to make it a bling for a head gear. We also saw the staff which was used by the prophet Moses, can you believe it? No photography allowed, otherwise I would have loved to show them to you!

Interior of St Sophia

The Blue Mosque and the St Sophia were both magnificent, from their exterior and the insides. What was interesting to me was hearing the stories behind these architecture wonders, such as how St Sophia was built in mere five years (a feat during that time), how St Sophia was converted from a cathedral to a mosque, why the Blue Mosque got its interior lined with tiles, and more.

All covered up to enter the Blue Mosque

Our first encounter with the local food was at Tamara Restaurant where we had lunch. We started with pickled cabbage and lentils soup, and moved on to grilled chicken kebab with couscous and finally fresh oranges.

The rest of the day was spent mostly in the coach, travelling close to six hours from Istanbul to Canakkale where we stayed the night at Iris hotel, just by the sea. The long journey was broken up by a pleasant cruise ride crossing from "the Europe side to the Asian side".

• Highlight: Massive yellow gardens of sunflowers on our way to Canakkale. 
• Costs: 2 Lira Nutella Pretzels, 1 Lira Bottle of mineral water, 9 Lira Orange Juice, 3 Lira Nescafe coffee, less than 10 Lira for snacks
• Hotel: Iris Hotel Canakkale - the room was clean and basic. While it was nothing fancy, I loved that the restaurant where we had dinner and breakfast was just by the sea. We watched the sunset while we finished dinner.