April 29 – May 3, 2009 (Wednesday – Saturday)
終於去了土耳其，亨受了一次土耳其浴和土耳其男人的熱情。
在康士坦丁堡遊遊蕩蕩兩日後，睡眼還未張開時就趕往Troy（特洛伊城），途中在一沿海小鎮 çennakele宿一宵。
這個小鎮有令人心曠神怡的海景和好吃到死的海鮮。在英國待久了吃得死蝦死魚太多，一碰到新鮮海產便忍不住吃翻肚皮。
We took an early flight from London Gatwick -> Istanbul, Turkey at 6:40a.m. To my surprise, unlike other airports in U.K., Gatwick airport was a highly efficient one! We checked-into the flight smoothly. We reached Turkey at 12:30p.m. local time!
We were held in Sabiha Gökçen Airport for 1 hour due to BNO issue. Fortunately all the agent were so nice (and handsome)!!
Our flight landed in Sabiha Gökçen Airport, a new airport built recently. It is on the Asian side of the bi-continental city. The first challenge we encountered was the passport issue. With my friend holding a BNO passport (British National Overseas), which the immigration cannot identify in their database. As a result, we were hold up at the custom for an hour! Fortunately, everyone was just nice to us (and many of them were very handsome! 因為突厥人(Turks)本為遊牧民族，所以土耳其人經過多之混血的洗禮，得出來的是分明的輪廓和美麗的面孔。血統中除了波斯，還有希臘，那你可想像突厥男有多漂亮了吧？), with one of the agent able to speak English. We were fully informed the situation. An hour later, we finally can head to the citycenter.
From what we have been told by the custom agent, we took the E-10 bus to KARAKOY and then took the ferry to Laleli area, where our hotel located. It took us nearly 2 hours to get there! Istanbual really is the largest city in Turkey and fifth largest city proper in the with a population of 12.6 million! It was huge. I gussed I stayed in small, centralized U.K. for too long, I found it difficult to commute in such a large place. There were subway system in the city center, yet it was not fully developed. Some lines were not available after a certain time slot. And you can tell locals were still not fully utilize the system, many stations were desserted! Istanbul is also a megacity, as well as the cultural and financial centre of Turkey. I saw HSBC branch everywhere in city center!
Istanbual basically was divided into 2 areas: Europe (歐界) and Asya (亞界). Within Europe, it is divded into 舊城 (Old City) and 新城New City
站在歐亞兩陸的土地上，你可見到歐界和亞界明顯的分別，而最明顯的分別卻不在這兩界上，而是在歐界上舊城 (Old City)和歐陸 (Europa)的分別。
在舊城你不會看見McDonald, Burger King, Starbucks 和一切在其他大城市有的商店百貨。
在舊城你會滿足於土耳其尚且保留一片處女地，不容許金圓帝國的文化入侵。作為遊客，你是會相當高興的。
然後，當你踏足歐陸區就真的一切變得很歐美。你說得出的Designer Brands, 快餐店等等都可以在這裡找到。
可是土耳其不再是耶教之地，穆斯林的清真寺到處可見，而耶教教堂雖然依然華麗，但往往不容易在街上看到。
你以為突厥男真是虔誠的教徒嗎？土耳其是我見最不穆斯林的穆斯林國家。
女人不一定個個帶頭紗，當地人也不一定禁酒。相反，突厥吧 (Turkish Pub) 到處都是。禱告時間到時，你會聽到廣播；但對不起，生意照做，街上一樣行人如鯽，不見得人人即跑到清真寺禱告。
我和朋友和一個連鬍子都還沒長齊的突厥男喝了一杯突厥啤，聊到他們的宗教觀：在清真寺向阿拉禱告便後到酒吧喝上一杯然後希望找一個女生過夜﹣哈哈，夠俏了吧！
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Route:
Day 1:
Laleli (Hotel Location Crown Plaza) -> Beyazit Camil -> Kapoli Carsi 大市集 (really hugh local indoor market, lost 1/2 hour inside) ->Yeni Camli 耶尼清真寺-> Dinner @ Eminonu (Seabrass! + “fish burger”)
Day 2:
Morning:
Sultanahmet Camil, Sultanahmet (enjoyed my 1st Turish coffee here!) -> Topkapi Sarayi 皇宮(Pumped into Rotary Tour group) ->Lunch at a Traditional Turish Restaurant -> settled down our tour package for Troy! -> Yerebatan Sarayi 地下宫殿
Afternoon
After lunch crossing Galata Koprusu 加拉達橋 (wondered why there are so many people fishing there!) -> New City -> my first ice-cream in Turkey ! ( too sweet 
) -> Galata Kulesi 加拉達塔- overlooking the whole Europope area! -> Stopped by for a fresh orange juice! -> walk to Taksim Meydani – the crowed, longest, busy road -> walk back to the Old City, trying to take the subway… unfortunately it was closed after 8:00p.m.! –> back to old city for the Turisk bath, foot massage and facial @ Cemberlitas Hamami!
Day 3
Wake up at 6:00a.m. to join the package tour to Gallipoli + çennakele
Day 4
- Morning tour @ Troy
- Return to çennakele at noon
- After lunch take off to Istanbual at 12:35 -> People from Muslim country really focus on cleaniness, Buses were thoroughly cleaned during the stop in the middle of the journey -> Arrived in Istanbual city center at 7:00p.m! -> Fortunately meeting a guy knowing the new hotel “Titanic” (not even the driver knows!) who is able to speak little English, we get into the mini-van to continue the journey, meeting a couple who can speak English and helped us persuade the driver to drive to the hotel! What a day!
- Finally arrived in the brand new business hotel at 8:00p.m., with free internet access and free Turish Bath facilities. After the late dinner at the hotel restaurant, we spent the rest of the evening, enjoying our final Turkish Bath, steam/sauna and Jacuzzi!
This end the journey perfectly, with the last day, spending whole day on the road Istanbul -> London Luton -> Train to Manchester
More photos @ Photo Gallery http://travel.webshots.com/album/574565651GmNhPO
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Reference:
- Sabiha Gökçen airport – http://www.sgairport.com/havaalani/eng/start.asp
- Package Tour Ertan Kaya – www.senkrontours.com (travel@senkrontours.com)
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History
In its long history, Istanbul has served as the capital city of the Roman Empire (330–395), the East Roman (Byzantine) Empire (395–1204 and 1261–1453), the Latin Empire (1204–1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453–1922). The city was chosen as joint European Capital of Culture for 2010. The historic areas of Istanbul were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985!
