Turkey haven Part III

Our Last Day in Turkey
Arriving back in Istanbul
on our overnight sleeper train..



Lunch along Sultahnamet
real good turkish cuisine
Kebab, yogurt with cucumber
ooo~ I loveee Turkish beer - EFES!

TURKISH BATH (HAMMAM)
Woohoo~ we HAD to try the infamous turkish bath
for some taste of the REAL thing
so off we went to a famous one in Sultanhamet
n oh boy did we have a ride!

LOL
It was definitely an adventure.
we stepped into the old n stinky place
n were directed to change into our 'towel'
by this non-English speaking old man.
So we obediently followed him to the bath,
wrapped in our tiny see-thru towels.
Alberto n I sat on this hot marble rock in the center of the bath,
Old man mumbled to us in Turkish
sth we cld not comprehend.
We were all puzzled until he pushed Alberto to lie on his back
so 2 of us awkwardly lay facing the intriguing ceiling
sunlight was pouring thru these circular holes on the ceiling..
aft 15mins, Old man came again,
wrapped in his towel, revealing his big belly.
He started pouring boiling hot water on me n Alberto,
then started hitting Alberto with this huge pouch thingy filled with soap.
soon Alberto was all covered by foam
while I lay laughing out loud.
My turn came when a lady called for me in turkish (??)
so lucky for me, I had this massage chair to lay on..
I was told to strip off my towel
(yes, all naked gurp)
So we both experienced our first turkish massage
and boy, it was goooood...
hurt a lil, ached alil
bt we did walk abt, feelin lk we were floating...
ahhhhh....

there, the culprit n victim ;)

this boy popped into my camera
as i was taking a pic of the mosque
turned out pretty good :P

GRAN BAZAAR
The world's biggest covered bazaar
of course we had to visit it
it was big as hell,
probably takes days to finish it.
i hate the way Turkish do business thou,
too pushy n forceful.
yucks.
Alberto bought a sheesha for 50TYL. (S$50)
argh.

Im amazed by the amt of sheeshas!

Check out the grilled fish store by the sea!
it was yummylicious
i tried the fish-sandwich
it was really good,
althou i almost choked on the bones..

The Bosphorus,
that separates Asia-Europe Turkey
Did you know that Istanbul's the only part of the world
where you can cross from Asia to Europe??
*aha!*

rundown bus..
in some ways,
you can still tell this is not europe.
this is asia.

ORTAKÖY

we ventured across the Golden Horn
to the Asian side of Istanbul
to this bohemian lil neighbourhood
where young locals hang out.
we caught a gorgeous view of the Bosphorous bridge
from Ortaköy.

All smiles.
a few beer at the pub overlooking the bridge.

More turkish deserts!
they'r famous for their sweet deserts
so we definitely had to try more!
this one on the left, was disappointing,
tasted completely like mooncakes (i hate them).
on the right, just a chocolate cake
sprinkled with pistacchio flakes.

SULTANA'S
It was our last night in Istanbul
so of course we had to make a big deal outta it.
lol booked a Belly-dance show!!
they cost quite abit bt blurb :P
the food was excellent
4-course, salads, cooked vegetables, kebab, deserts.
Was an eye-opener,
my first encounter with belly-dancing...
impressive ey!

my fav belly-dancer
there were like 5 different ones, taking turns
n this one was the hottest, sexiest
and the most flexible! lol

belly-dance, turkish folk dance

Last view of the Blue Mosque
from our room.
How majestic...

Bye to you for now Turkey.. we'll be back.