Friday 14 December 2012

My Istanbul Winter Trip: Hello Sultanahmet!

Salam semua...mesti ada yg perasan post yg be4 this....tried to upload a vid but the file is tooo big and Internet connection kat rumah ni is toooo snail pace, i think i just have to cancel nawaitu to load the vid. Penat ja buat....huh...! Oklah, nk start citer dah...

We went to Istanbul with Qatar Airways. Bought the tix during the 3 days sale. The tix was rm1900++ all in. Cheap eh? The cheapest i found so far. If u guys read my last last last new year's eve post entitled 12 places i want to visit, Istanbul n Rome were in my wishlist.

Anyway, we departed in the morning..Sapa yg nak naik Qatar Airways from KLIA, i advise u to do online check-in beforehand. Bukan apa, Q for those yg x online check-in, mak aii, 3km long... Serious..! I think it will take almost 2 hours...Ada lebih kurang 100 umat yg berator. On the other hand, if u already have yr e-tix, u will walk calmly, with no hassle whatsoever to the designated counter, with no one, i repeat no one queuing in front of u.. Heavennya rasa waktu tu... I told myself.."pak arab2 ni sumer, x reti nk online check-in ke..? Sanggopla berator berejam..." We sent our bag, p makan, lalu semula kat counter, my gosh, the Q was longer... Oh, we got 25kg each for luggage..x guna habis pon...travel light kan...?

How's Qatar Airways? Patotla menang skytrax award... They were great! Dah rasa mcm ular kembung dlm flight... X sempat nak lapar...x makan, minum, x minum, makan... Tngk movie...ada bnyk movie die...lebih dr MAS rasanya...Pekerja smiling 24 hours...aman hati rasanya... Patotla gaji air hostess mereka mahal, coz 24 hrs bekerja.... Cuma waktu balik, i had a complain..but will tell u all later ah, waktu balik...

Top: Blanket, kit2 dlm pouch n small pillow.
Bottom right: food, food n food, bottom left: layan Adele...la..la..la...

Ni biskut favourite. Tiba2 dapat banyak masa dalam flight.

 We had to transit at Doha..Qatar Airways kan..mestilah ke Doha... very short transit of 70 minutes. i purposely chose the short transit. No intention to stop longer..regret it later..hu..hu... so, turun2...terus ke next terminal of departure. We had to ride a bus to and from the terminal.

Qatar air space. Lawak plak tengok rumah ala2 kotak kasut...he...he... Ni outskirt area sikit rasanya coz once we
were nearer to the airport, the buildings are more modern.

The journey to Doha took us 7hrs ++ while the journey to Istanbul from Doha was 4 hrs. Dlm flight yg ni, tv rosak..huh...baru puji tadik...may be coz short haul flight kot...down sket quality.

Process at the airport was smooth. We took the metro. Signboards were everywhere. One would surely not get lost here.

This is the metro at the airport. Havalimani means airport in Turkish

U need to buy a jeton (3TL) for each ride regardless of 
the distance (above). So, untungla sapa naik jaoh2...

The journey from the airport will take u about half an hour to reach Sultanahmet. From the airport, u need to stop at Zeytiburnu, cross the street to the other side, buy another jeton and get on the next tram. Sultanahmet, Sirkeci and Eminonu are all on the same line which is the line to Kabatas. U can also buy Istanbulkad at the designated kiosks. The only kiosk I knew was the one at Eminonu. I think there's one at Sirkeci too. If u have the card, u will only have to pay 1.95TL per jeton/ride. Cheap, isn't it..? It's just like our touch n go card where u have to reload it (at the designated kiosk i had mentioned) once the money finishes.

Ini rupanya Sultanahmet! We reached here at about 6.30pm. Winterkan..gelap awal..Ahhh..hate that! Not good
for travellers like us!
One thing I like about winter trip is the cheaper price in everything but the downsides are u need to tolerate with the  bad weather and earlier nights...[sigh...]

From GoogleMap, our hotel is just 10 minutes walk from the tram station but in reality...kalau bwk bag, jalan atas jalan batu2 jarang2 mcm kat Istanbul ni, mau 1/2 an hour... But, we did find a short cut later on during our stay... Silap kami jugak p bwk bag troli..But, how on earth would we know that the walkways are like that? jarang2 mcm gigi rongak...x ada pulak tngkp gmbr batu2 jalan tu...or else i can show u... i think those who were already been there would understand what i meant...

After asking people, we arrived safely at the hotel...Ahhh...bahagia tol rasa dah sampai... Turks are very helpful. They are always willing to help u even though they are not so good in English/couldn't speak at all...kadang2 mcm itik ngan ayam, kita pon anggok beria mcm la paham...they showed right but they uttered left, mcm2 lah... The weather at the time we arrived was 13 degree celcius..Ok la, not so cold... From our room, we could see the Blue Mosque di sebalik cabang2 Astro Turki nyer aerial...Ha..ha...

Tu...! Nampak x?

OKlah folks, guess i'll stop here...I will tell u about our hotel in another post...:)

Till then!

38 comments:

  1. waaahh... best best... tak sabar tunggu nx entry... tqs for sharing..!!!

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  2. baru teringat aritu ko ade beli tiket qatar airlines yg murah tu kan. brape ek tiket ko tu? rm2.1k kan utk return? bestnyaa!!!

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    Replies
    1. x sampai rm2k... rasanya rm1940 return all in...lebih kurang gitula.. lepas2 tu, sale Qatar sumer dh rm2k lebih... aku belik september ritu...

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  3. istanbul aku datang, cewah...mimpi jer kan...patutlah bila klik post y lepas tak de paper, ada error rupanya...

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    Replies
    1. he..he...mimpi dulu...pas tu baru jadik realiti...malaysia boleh!

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  4. Waaaa....tak sabar nak baca trip ni. Istanbul Aku Nak Datang ....

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    Replies
    1. hai kak ita...Istanbul best! u must go...!

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  5. nice story dan photo...salam dari doha.

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    Replies
    1. Jimmy, ko kat doha ke..? memang rasa agak menyesal hari tu, x pilh transit yg 24 jam..leh jalan2 kat doha..sehari pon jadikla...sob..sob... Harga tix sama aja.. best tak sana?

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  6. Travel musim sejuk jugak yer...same ler kite...tu jer la masa yang ada untuk bercuti dgn kos yang murah...redah jer la kan....

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    Replies
    1. Kak Yong ke mana winter this year..? he..he... saya suka early summer sebenarnya, tp itula... cuti bukan boleh senang2 nak pilih kan.. iyelah, kite redah aja..janji sampai...;)

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  7. Salam ... been a silent reader b4... Dok tunggu update for turki ... Kalu boley citer sedetail habes ya ... boleh jadi reference. Dok tunggu tabung (yang asyik bocor nii) penuh ... Cepat cepat update ye ...

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  8. ok.. kalo naik cab tak ley ke? jauh tak international airport dengan town dia?

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    1. Boleh..tp agak mahal...(for me la..) tp ramai jugak yg naik cab.. Dlm 30-40tl rasanya..
      yg naik airport transfer pon ada...airport transfer 10TL ja seorg... masa balik, kami naik airport transfer...van yg ala2 bas mini tu...
      Distance dkt ja, dlm 1/2 an hour kalau x jam..kalu naik metro, less than that.
      Sabiha Airport yang jaoh coz it's at the other side of Istanbul dan sangat jam.

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  9. Assallammualaikum sis
    Owh rindunya dengan Istanbul.. Rasa tak nak balik masa gi sana.. hehe..

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    Replies
    1. W'salam..ramai yg mcm tu...he..he..reluctant nak balik..:)

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  10. salam..sy tgk gak the tix price..dpt RM2K+ ke istanbul June next yr..arghh sgt tempting! keep sharing..suke baca..mmg nak sgt2 gi Istanbul!

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    Replies
    1. Salam Smiley..Dah ke OZ lom? Haah, skrg tixnya dah naik rm2k++. Masa mula2 Qatar buat 3 days sale buln sept dulu, masih dpt lagik rm1980 tiket saya all in...may be coz winter kot...

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  11. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  12. Salam..seronok ye jln jln istanbul...kalau ada rezeki mmg teringin nak ke sana lagiii..seronok senang makan!!!

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  13. nak tanya u naik qatar airway tu transit kena gi terminal lain ke?jauh ke erminal tu,sempat tak kalau transit 50min nak ke terminal lain?

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    Replies
    1. yup, terminal lain.. ada bas bawa kita.. mereka dah siap coding kat boarding pass kita...kalau kaler orange, maksudnya express transit...masa pegi tu, my transit time was 50m..lebih dr sempat.. mereka akan tunggu semua dulu, baru bas ke 2nd flight jalan.

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  14. thks ..i nak gi 19 frb til 1 mac naik qatar airway yg transit 50min tu @ doha. tapi i tak dpt the lowest price 2155 but 2450 coz nak match time mas rm2898 so far qatar is the cheapest,,

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  15. Apa nama hotel di Sultan Ahmed tu dan brp kadar bayarannya? pesawat Qatar memang best, servicenya bagus. Rasanya dah 7 kali saya naik pesawat Qatar ke Tanah Suci, tahun lepas dari KL Madinah dengan Qatar juga tp balik dari Jedah Klia dengan Emirates dgn pesawat airbus 380. Bulan 11 tahun 2011 saya naik pesawat Kuwait airways dari Kl ke Rome dan balik dengan pesawat Kuwait juga dari Paris ke Klia. Harga tiket murah , hanya 2400rm, yang paling murah ketika itu setelah lama saya survey. Saya pergi dengan isteri melancung ke bumi Italy, Andalusia (Spain) menjejaki tamadun Islam di Qurtubah (Qordova), Ishbiliah (Sevilia), Gharnatah (Granada),Jabal Tariq (Gibraltar - wilayah UK), bermain salji di Sierra Nevada dan akhirnya ke Madrid. Dari Madrid naik bas Eurolines ke Paris selama 17 jam (4 kali berhenti) dgn tambang 75 euro. Di Paris 2 malam dan pulang ke Kl dengan pesawat Kuwait. Saya travel secara backpacking dan kos termasuk flight, makan dan penginapan hanya 6000RM selama 18 hari.Bahasa menjadi satu masalah tetapi alhamdulillah saya banyak berjumpa dengan orang Arab dan mudahlah saya bertanya dan berkomunikasi kerana saya dapat berbahasa Arab dan graduated dari Universiti Islam Madinah dan saya memang mengajar bahasa Arab di salah sebuah IPT .

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    Replies
    1. Saya dah x berapa ingatla..rasanya 35euro satu mlm... Saya pernah ke UK dngn tiket AAX rm1800++ return...tp skrg AAX dah x ada flight ke London and Paris...Tp rm2.4k is still considered cheap kalau ke europe.. Saya blm penah sampai ke negara2 di atas kecuali ke rome, tp berharap akan dpt ke sana suatu hari nanti...:)

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  16. Bestnya!

    Nak tanya, berbaloi ke melawat tempat-tempat menarik Istanbul semasa winter? Cuaca time winter tu sangat sejuk?

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  17. Yeah! Another blogger yang tulis details about Istanbul. Setakat ni bermalam kat 'rumah' si Syieda tu je. Now that I've found urs, seronok. Nak menjejak LS juga ni nanti. Insha Allah next year. And yes, naik Qatar Airways gak. Transit 7 hours, saja semata nak tengok Doha kejap.

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    Replies
    1. Wahh..nak ke istanbul cik bibie kite...hehe... haah, dulu syieda pon slalu berkunjung kemari sblm die ke istanbul... tp mmg syiok sana bibie.. i kalu blh nak p lagi ke sana... I stopped by at Doha tp x lama... rasa nyesal plok x ambik yg transit lama..blh jalan2 kat doha.. masa tu, i just jalan2 kt duty free dalam airport ja cos masa singkat dalam sejam lebih gitu... qatar airline best...makan sesaje

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    2. Insha Allah. Tiket dah beli hihi impromptu pun ye juga sebab duk usha tiket dah lama, tapi berbelah bagi nak gi sana or tour Eu. Suddenly seawal Subuh beli tiket to Istanbul. Penyakit sangat. Will ask u Qs from time to time nanti. Sekarang tengah 'mengarang' itinerary. Bab makan sesaja kat Qatar tu best sebab kata sorang2 kan, apart from tidur harus kena layan perut.

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    3. Itu rezeki nmanya bibie...hehe... sure, no prob.. will try to answer yr qns yg mna tau... from istanbul pon u blh tour europe. Blh naik pegasus or easyjet (london or basel)

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  18. Some of the pictures hilang.. kenapa ek?

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    Replies
    1. Ala...imageshack la ni... slalu jd gitu..huhu

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