Istanbul

Aftet a month on the road I am coming to the end of my trip at Istanbul

I have always been fascinated by Istanbul because of its past history and the special beauty that the city has. This is the 3rd time I visited the city and I feel I discover new things each time
As I approached the city of 12 million from the airport I realized  this is truly a big city and it looks like it never stop expanding.  New satellite townships are spring up and bustling with real estate development. Tall buildings are making the skyline

As I approached the city centre called  Sultan Ahmed , little has changed. The Blue Mosque , Hega Sophia, the Water Cistern, the Hippodrome, the Sultans Palace and the old building and houses are well preserved  But the number of people in the city centre has increased tremendously , the shops are doing roaring business and the city trams are packed like sardine.

Unlike my earlier trip, this time I roamed about the city more freely using its public transoprt. Taksim, a suburb built about 300 years ago, the epicentre of protest demonstration 3 years ago, is even more crowded with shoppers compared to Sultan Ahmed. I have never seen such a long shopping avenue with shops and boutiques on both sides. People seemed to be enjoying themselves window shopping, eating and drinking and circling around buskers' performance. I hardly covered half the avenue before deciding to turn back.

There is another place called Onomonu with its imposing mosque and a busy ferry terminal a few kilometer from Sultan Ahmet that I went to. I was at first interested only to see the bridge with restaurants underneath and people fishing at the top. But as I wondered around to the hilly part, I was amazed to see the bazaar with hundred of shops and their milling patrons. Not intending to purchase anything, I sat down in a cafe, enjoying the movement of the crowd, and soon found out that I had spent a day in Onomonu.

I also ventyred outside Istanbul to a city called Bursa, which is an old capital city of Turkey. I had to ride a 2 hours ferry and then about an hour by land transport to reach the city centre. The city centre is Osmangazi. It has a huge seljuk style mosque built in 1300s around which a gigantic bazaar in existence since the silk trade days. The whole area is full of life with merchandise and foodstuff of all sort. I sampled the kebab and the fruits and they are the most fresh I have had. Unfortunately I didnt have much time to spend as I heard that the places around this city have many splendid venues to appreciate

I think one can never be satisfied with just one or two visits to Istanbul for the city with make you discover new things at every turn and corner.