Istanbul - Bursa

We arrived Istanbul around 8am. After taken our luggage we follow our tour guide and leader head to the 1st destination. The weather in April was nice, day time around 15-22 C.

The Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Camii)
The Blue Mosque was the 1st destination we visited in Istanbul. Camii known as mosque in Turkish.

The Blue Mosque is one of the most beautiful mosques in the world and one of very few to have six minarets. This is very unique, as most mosques have four, two or just one minaret. The Blue Mosque was commissioned by Sultan Ahmet I as a rival to AyaSofya (one of the famous historical museum in Istanbul). Construction on the mosque began in 1609 and took seven years to complete. According to one account, the Sultan directed his architect to make gold (altin) minarets, which was misunderstood as six (alti) minarets. The mosque located just next to AyaSofya in Istanbul. Entrance is free. To enter the mosque, we are required to remove our shoes.

Side view with one of the minarets

A beautifully tiled dome in the Blue Mosque



Hippodrome
Hippodrome was once the horse racing and chariot racing ground in the ancient time. Now it is maintained by the Turkish authorities. The surviving monuments of the Spina (the middle barrier of the racecourse), the two obelisks and the Serpentine Column can be seen in the garden.

Serpentine Column

The Walled Obelisk.

Obelisk of Thutmosis III.


April is the blooming season for Tulips. We saw beautiful tulips in the garden around Hippodrome. So beautiful with different colour! Haha, I think if I do not have the chance to see tulips in Holland also doesn’t matter ler!

Aya Sofya (Hagia Sophia)
Aya Sofya just located right next to Topkapi Palace, the Blue Mosque and the Hippodrome. The Church of the Holy Wisdom, known as Hagia Sophia in Greek, and Ayasofya or Aya Sofya in Turkish, is a former Byzantine church and former Ottoman mosque in Istanbul. Now a museum, Aya Sofya is universally acknowledged as one of the great buildings of the world. It became a model for many of the Ottoman mosques of Istanbul such as the Blue Mosque.

Interior view of AyaSofya



Most of the mosaics are not allowed to take photo in flash. Different type of Christian mosaics




Since Topkapi Palace closed on Tuesday, so we have to visit it on the day when we back to Istanbul again.

After the few famous spots in Istanbul, we departed by ferry to Yalova, then drove to Bursa for overnight. The ferry only took ½ hour to Yalova. All the vehicles were in the ferry, just like our ferry in Penang.