Turkey travel diary: Day 4 – Swimtrek day 2

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Woke up to this view, as seen from the balcony from my room.

From Swimtrek day 2
From Swimtrek day 2

Calm, flat waters and perfect weather. Today was the first official day of the Swimtrek tour (but I count yesterday as being day 1 – the Swimtrek arrival day). I think I was still jetlagged and woke up early. Or maybe it was out of habit considering the early starts that I had been having. There was going to be no sleep-ins this week. We had to be up early every day. I was sharing a room with a fellow female swimtrekker for the week. The tour is booked based on twin share, so I had been paired up with a roommate. You can pay extra to have your own room, but I was on a budget and didn’t want to fork out a week’s worth of single supplement, and was happy to share a room. The men however were inclined to get their own rooms. Jetlag, body clock adjustments, and the blare of the morning call to prayer from the local mosque was enough to awake me up. I was generally awake between 4am-6am everyday, but laid in bed until about 7-8am. We had to meet at 8am anyway for a compulsory pre-breakfast swim. Donned my cossies and headed down to the decks along with everyone else.

From Swimtrek day 2
From Swimtrek day 2

Our first ‘mini’ swim was only about 300-400m out in the bay in front of the hotel. This was a swim so the guides could assess our swim skill and speed. Based on this swim, they would put us into speed groups for the week. The hotel had its own private entry into the bay, via a ladder off the decks. The water was chilly. There was a fresh cold water spring right from the cliffs we were on. Patches of cold, patches of warm sea water. Swim completed. Breakfast on the deck. A buffet spread of fruit, bread, savouries, turkish condiments, cheese, olives, preserves, yoghurt etc. Had to restrict myself from going nuts on the buffet breakfasts so as to avoid getting bloated and drowning. A big meal, not a great idea before swimming. By about 9:30am we were all bundled up into a van and transported an hour’s drive away to Ucagiz. On the way to Ucagiz:

From Swimtrek day 2

Our swim for the day was taking place over that part of the coast. Ucagiz is a pretty little sea village.

From Swimtrek day 2
From Swimtrek day 2
From Swimtrek day 2

We boarded our “home” for the next two days – a gulet (a turkish yacht). Super nice. Seating, table, a small kitchen. a toilet, and plenty of sunbeds – all your mod cons.

From Swimtrek day 2
From Swimtrek day 2
From Swimtrek day 2

We set sail and enjoyed the water views, a little nervous about our first upcoming swim.

From Swimtrek day 2
From Swimtrek day 2
From Swimtrek day 2

Day 1 and there was no mucking around. Literally, thrown into the deep end. First up, a 3.5km coastal swim! Prior to each swim, there was a ritual of lathering ourselves in suncream, and greasing up with vaseline (to prevent chafing – a common hazard swimming in saltwater). I was in the yellow-cap middle group, which was fine by me. There were six of us in that group. The orange caps were the fast group, and the pink caps were the slower group. Each group was staggered and each group was accompanied by either a swim guide or the boat captain with an escort boat. Mr swim guide A (aka the hottie) was mostly designated to our yellow group. Suffice to say that I had a wee crush on Mr A. And by “wee” I mean major. Geez, he was easy on the eyes. I may not be tall, skinny or pretty. But I ain’t blind. And I liked what I saw. He was fit (and knew it, too). Enough to make you want to drown just so he could perform mouth to mouth. Wait. I was on a swimtrek. That wasn’t going to fly. Damn. Given the fact that were indeed on a swimtrek, it meant that I got to see him wear nothing but little swim shorties all week! I could get used to this. Hehe. A little holiday crush is normal, right. Who hasn’t gone away on holidays and had a crush on their tour guide, cruise director or their ski instructor. Anyway, enough of my gushing… The first swim was magical. The water was warm, blue and clear. Relatively flat and calm as well. Very decent swimming conditions. The sea water was really salty which helped with buoyancy. Wasn’t going to drown in this water, even if I wanted to. I was as bouyant as a helium nugget. Try sinking one of those. Near impossible. We swam a tad over 3.5km. Each swim over the course of the week was always escorted. We’d stop for drink breaks during the swim where drink bottles were thrown to us from the boats, and we’d tread water, take a little drink break and then onwards to our destination. Once we had reached our end point we climbed aboard the gulet. First swim done. And I had survived. We sailed to Kekova for lunch – Kekova is the largest of the Turkish islands.

From Swimtrek day 2

The boat was anchored into a little cove, where there were some goats nearby.

From Swimtrek day 2
From Swimtrek day 2

The clarity of the water was stunning. I suppose this is why this west coast of Turkey is called the Turquoise Coast, also known as the Turkish Riviera..

From Swimtrek day 2
From Swimtrek day 2
From Swimtrek day 2
From Swimtrek day 2
From Swimtrek day 2

Time here was spent sunbaking, getting to know each other, mingling, taking photos (maybe that was just me), and more importantly, eating.

From Swimtrek day 2
From Swimtrek day 2
From Swimtrek day 2

Our skipper barbequed chicken off the back of the boat for lunch.

From Swimtrek day 2

He even tried to catch us some squid. We could see a couple of squid but they weren’t biting. Lunch was a nice spread. A veritable feast of salads, bread and chicken.

From Swimtrek day 2
From Swimtrek day 2

After lunch had digested, it was time for the video shooting. We had to swim a short course, one by one, and be filmed twice – once above water and an underwater video. Our swim stroke technique (or lack thereof) would be analysed later. Here’s me with a couple of fellow swimtrekkers:

From Swimtrek day 2
From Swimtrek day 2

Then it was time for our afternoon swim of 2km. I struggled a little with this swim. I had already done 3.5km in the morning. I was ready to call it a day. The afternoon was a little harder because the water was choppy and bouncy – not as flat and calm as the morning had been. Day 1 alone and we had racked up about 6km. Back on the boat and we sailed to Simena/Kalekoy – a tiny island, home to an old castle ruin.

From Swimtrek day 2
From Swimtrek day 2
From Swimtrek day 2
From Swimtrek day 2

We had some free time to explore the castle and the views from the top, and/or some sarcophagi tombs. A handful of us chose the castle ruins (Entry – 8 Lira). We had to hike a bunch of steep stairs to reach the top of the castle. The views were absolutely worth it. But you be the judge…check out the views:

From Swimtrek day 2
From Swimtrek day 2
From Swimtrek day 2
From Swimtrek day 2
From Swimtrek day 2
From Swimtrek day 2
From Swimtrek day 2
From Swimtrek day 2
From Swimtrek day 2
From Swimtrek day 2
From Swimtrek day 2

Wow. Who knew Turkey was so beautiful. Bliss. There was even a little amphitheatre – perfect scene for a cheesy photo pose.

From Swimtrek day 2

I also loved the Turkish flag – it was everywhere! They’re a patriotic bunch. Such a simple understated flag – a moon crescent and a star. A flag as awesome as that, I’d hang up it up everywhere as well! Why wouldn’t ya!

From Swimtrek day 2

On the way back down – spotted: a cafe with an awesome name. I’ll spare you the cheesy photo pose that I took here as well. Yes, indeed a photo was taken here. How could you not?

From Swimtrek day 2

This holiday was truly turning out to be amazing. Beautiful water, stunning location, delicious food, great eye-candy. Geez,these guides had it hard. This was their “office” – not a hard life at all! Back onto the boat, and we sailed back to Ucagiz, and then a bus back to Kas. We got back to the hotel around 6:30pm and we had about an hour to shower and freshen up. It was a great first day. About 6km of swimming in one day. A group dinner had been planned for the night, so we met just before 8pm for dinner at a local restaurant where we enjoyed some wine and mezzes and some fresh Mediterranean cuisine. I could totally get used to this!

From Swimtrek day 2

Dinner – well earnt after a long swim day.

From Swimtrek day 2
From Swimtrek day 2
From Swimtrek day 2

Some other photos: A cat sleeping in a basket on a window sill (lots of cats running around in Kas).

From Swimtrek day 2
From Swimtrek day 2

I was physically tired by the end of the first day – a combination of jet lag, sleep deprivation, sun exposure, and oh, swimming 6km! Physical exertion alone was tiring. It was a great first day of swimming. Was on a total high. Met some great, friendly people. And was totally in love with the locale. Photo album link. 5

Turkey Swimtrek travel diary: Day 3 – From Istanbul to Kas (Swimtrek arrival)

memoirsofaleishaLeave a comment

So I’m getting closer to the more exciting part of my Turkey holiday – the bit where I swimtrek – but this post isn’t going to be so interesting…well, maybe a little interesting. More interesting than today’s horoscope I reckon. Monday – was the long travelling day. A tram:

From Trip to Antalya

A train:

From Trip to Antalya

A plane:

From Trip to Antalya

A bus

From Trip to Antalya

Another bus:

From Trip to Antalya

And a taxi later, I FINALLY arrived in Kaş (pronounced ‘Kash’) – the meeting point and base point for the week-long swimtrek. So I got myself from Istanbul via tram and train back to Istanbul airport. I had a 9:30am flight departure, so again was up early. Clearly, holidays are not meant for sleeping! Grabbed myself breakfast at the airport and a Turkish tea – I love the Turkish glass tea cups!

From Trip to Antalya
From Trip to Antalya

I had a flight from Istanbul to Antalya. Look at all the planes at my disposal. Pick a plane, any plane…

From Trip to Antalya

The flight was only 75 minutes but they still served us meals and drinks which was super impressive for such a brief flight.

From Trip to Antalya

I flew Turkish Airways. I love their company slogan: “Globally Yours”. What an awesome sign-off.

From Trip to Antalya

The flight from Istanbul to Antalya was rather scenic.

From Trip to Antalya
From Trip to Antalya
From Trip to Antalya
From Trip to Antalya
From Trip to Antalya
From Trip to Antalya

Scenic joy flight over Turkey. Check. Basically, I was heading for the Mediterranean west coast of Turkey, for the Lycian Way. Kaş is not the most convenient place to get to. Your choice of the two closest airports are either Dalaman – still 2.5 hours away to Kas by bus OR Antalya 3.5 hours by bus. I went with Antalya because flights there from Istanbul were cheaper. Check out the views as we approached the Mediterranean coast – some dramatic cliff coasts.

From Trip to Antalya
From Trip to Antalya
From Trip to Antalya

Landed at Antalya airport and picked up my gun (as you do!!??). No, seriously, rest assured I had no weapons on my possession, apart from my sharp wit. lol. I love that the gun delivery and the ATMs are in the same direction. Great! Memo to self: don’t withdraw cash at that airport. Based on the sign below, I see a foolproof plan: Pick up gun. Rob ATM. Hire getaway car at the Rent-a-car desk.

From Trip to Antalya

And if a tram, train and plane wasn’t enough modes of transport for a day (and it was only 10:30am), I still had another two buses to go. I got an airport shuttle bus from the airport into Antalya Otogar (bus station). One thing I observed about Turkey are their rather giant/massive extravagant roundabouts. Every major town and city had a major roundabout that was like a mini park adorned with statues, fountains, and bells and whistles. Here was one such roundabout in Antalya:

From Trip to Antalya
From Trip to Antalya

As for Antalya’s bus station – I was in for a rude surprise. I was expecting to be dropped off at a building, a proper bus terminal. Instead, we pulled over on a highway onto the side of the road and I was ushered into a mini van that was waiting there. I was bundled onto the mini-van that only seated about 16 people. This was my ride for the 3.5 hour journey to Kaş.

From Trip to Antalya

It was long, winding, journey along the coast of Turkey. We made a few stops along the way for toilets, food, and dropping people off. Everything was quite rural and coastal. Random trees along the side of the road constituted as bus stops. It’s also a very mountainous region as we crossed into the Lyican Way.

From Trip to Antalya

The winding roads were so dangerously close to the water.

From Trip to Antalya
From Trip to Antalya
From Trip to Antalya
From Trip to Antalya

A drive around Turkey isn’t complete with some goats alongside the road:

From Trip to Antalya

And then we approached Kaş.

From Trip to Antalya
From Trip to Antalya

Destination: Kaş. One word: Idlyllic.

From Trip to Antalya

Arrived at the bus terminal in the little town centre, but I still had to get to my accommodation. Kaş is one bitch of a hilly town, and I didn’t know the area so I hopped into a taxi for the 5-minute trip to my hotel. A long day on all sorts of transport from one length of Turkey to the other. A – Istanbul B – Antalya C – Kaş It was nice to check in to our digs for the week. A seaside hotel along the Turkish mediterranean coast with water views. Gorgeous weather – around 29 degrees. I arrived here sometime just before 4pm, and had a couple of hours to refresh before our swim briefing at 6pm. Check out the hotel we stayed in for the week!

From Swimtrek arrival

And check out the views!

From Swimtrek arrival

That island you see in the photo above – is a Greek island, which is only 20 minutes away by boat!

From Swimtrek arrival
From Swimtrek arrival
From Swimtrek arrival

A pool too, not that we ever swam in that. We are open water swimmers!

From Swimtrek arrival
From Swimtrek arrival

Kash – love at first sight. What an amazing location! Watched the sunset, ahhh bliss:

From Swimtrek arrival
From Swimtrek arrival

Water views from the dining terraces!

From Swimtrek arrival

Sundecks right over the water!

From Swimtrek arrival

I was in heaven. Surrounded by water. Watching the sun go down. Are you jealous, yet?

From Swimtrek arrival
From Swimtrek arrival
From Swimtrek arrival

Our swimtrek group was meeting at 6pm for drinks and dinner.

From Swimtrek arrival
From Swimtrek arrival

Pomegranate mojito. Yes, please.

From Swimtrek arrival
From Swimtrek arrival

The whole point of coming to Turkey was to do this swimtrek. It’s a tour company that runs open water swimming holidays around the world. I was booked on the Lycian Way, Turkey swim and was going to be swimming 5km a day, for a week, with a bunch of like-minded people – other randoms that had also booked themselves on the tour. Breakfast, lunch and accommodation is all included, as well as boat transport and local skipper/captain, escort safety boats, and two swim guides. Just turn up and swim. You’ll need to ensure you have special insurance though that covers open water swimming (it’s considered a dangerous sport along with bungee jumping and sky diving and the like), so you’ll need a Sports Rider insurance option. Then company provides you with recommended insurance, so it’s no problem, and they provide you with a basic 3-month swim training program. Pretty much everything is all provided. BYO swimmers, goggles and towel for a week of swimming and relaxation. We were all meeting for introductory drinks and dinner and the pre-trip safety briefing. We sat down to a meal, a glass of wine, and did all the introductions. There were 13 of us in total and our two guides. Most of the people were British – the swimtrek company is a UK group. There was an older American couple, a Belgium man, two English men, seven English women, and my-Australian-self. About half of us had come alone. Three of the women had come together as friends and colleagues (they were nurses), another two women had come as friends, and the American couple had obviously come together as well. The other half of us, had just come on our own. This was the second swimtrek for one of the guys. And for one other guy, this was his 8th swimtrek!!! Impressive. Clearly, he was addicted! He did one swimtrek at least once a year, and had already done most of the destinations available. Everyone seemed really friendly and nice, and down to earth. There were only three men and 10 of us girls. Ages ranged from 28-57 (I thought I was the youngest one there all week, but found out that one of the girls was younger) and we came in all shapes and sizes. It wasn’t so intimidating. I was little worried that everyone would be super hardcore swimmers and triathletes – because really, what kind of people sign up for a holiday where all you do is swim in the rough, wild ocean! That didn’t stop me from feeling as though I was still a little underprepared. I barely clock up 5km in a week, let alone a single day, and repeat that for a whole week. But I had nothing to fear (except perhaps jellyfish). Our swim guides were cool too – a young Aussie guy (around my age) and a UK guy (somewhat a little older, although by no means old). Both very fit looking. And good-looking too! (More on that later…lol) We went through safety, procedural stuff – about the hazards we could expect – sun protection, chafing, jellyfish stings etc.

From Swimtrek arrival
From Swimtrek arrival

It was gonna be a great week! I was so excited and buzzing and ready to swim in paradise. The next 6 days of blog posts are going to be awesome, so clear your reading calendar. You can read Tolstoy’s ‘War and Peace’ later. Prepare to Get Jealous!

Turkey travel diary: Day 2 – Gallipoli

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Woke up in Istanbul. Early. I had booked myself in for a day tour to Gallipoli. The departure time was 6:30am! Sleep…so overrated. Myself, an American girl and a kiwi couple were all transferred to Eceabat (near Gallipoli), a 5-hour drive away. There were plenty of pit stops along the way. We stopped every hour which seemed rather excessive. This was our breakfast stop, where I picked up a cheese gozleme (a Turkish crepe):

From Gallipoli

It was nice to see some Turkish landscape during the 5-hour drive, albeit from a car window.

From Gallipoli

Sunrise:

From Gallipoli
From Gallipoli
From Gallipoli
From Gallipoli

Arrived in Eceabat sometime after 11am, where we joined a bigger tour group. We had lunch and then we got on another bigger bus for our tour of Gallipoli. A table for two? (No, this is not where we ate lunch at. Just a random photo I took at Eceabat.) A shame I didn’t take this photo on the SLR for a more arty shot.

From Gallipoli

The sheer scale of the Gallipoli Peninsula is overwhelming, let alone reflecting on its place in history. It takes about 3 full days to explore the whole peninsula. We had only about 5 hours.

From Gallipoli

What amazed me the most was how stunningly beautiful it was. Unfathomable how it could have been the scene for such a bloody war. It’s a spectacular piece of real estate, a preserved national park. It literally seemed like the end of the earth. I was captivated by the surrounding water. Amazing colours. The highlights that we took in were: Brighton Beach, ANZAC cemetery, ANZAC Cove (beach), trenches/tunnels, the biggest mass Turkish grave, Lone Pine cemetery, Shrapnel Valley and views of Suvla Bay and a few other spots. We had a great tour guide – a young local graduate of History, super knowledgeable and passionate about his work – always a bonus. I will spare you the history lesson on WWI and just post up a whole bunch of pics (as usual) with some minor commentary. The water at Brighton Beach was stunning, and we were blessed with beautiful weather, although, it gets a little cool along the Peninsula.

From Gallipoli
From Gallipoli
From Gallipoli

I love the layers of colour of the water in this photo:

From Gallipoli

We then went to the site of the ANZAC Day dawn service. I was so surprised by how small that area was! You see it on the news on the TV every ANZAC Day and you see all the people crammed onto that small patch of grass! I was impressed by how many people can fit there.

From Gallipoli
From Gallipoli

2015 will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landing. They’re expecting a crowd of about 50,000 people!

From Gallipoli

Ok, so you might have noticed that a lot of the time, photos of me are generally of my face. That’s because I’m usually taking a photo of myself with my arm outstretched. If I ask people to take a photo of me, that photo usually ends up quite shoddy – out of focus, or bad timing, or people walking in front of the photo etc. Case in point. I asked someone to take a photo of me on my SLR. Don’t people remember the days when you actually had to squint your eye through a tiny little glass square. It seems that without some wide touchscreen, people don’t know how to take photos. Here is one such photo that I asked a stranger to take of me. Shoddy work indeed. Obviously, didn’t know how to work a zoom and we end up with a way unflattering photo of Zac and Aleisha! Henceforth, you’re only gonna get headshots of me.

From Gallipoli

I mean, really! I don’t ask for much. Just a holiday snap. I do not see a future as wedding photographer for whomever took that photo! I don’t know what’s worse, really – someone who takes as bad a photo as that OR people on holidays, or people out in public for that matter that take photos on their iPad!!!! Seriously, the only thing I wanted to do with that iPad was wallop her on the head with it! I guess, each to their own. But did you know that the iPad camera has less than ONE megapixel. The quality is really bad. She shoulda just sketched whatever she wanted a photo of!

From Gallipoli

Beach where the ANZACs landed:

From Gallipoli

The sphinx:

From Gallipoli
From Gallipoli

And then we went for a stroll along the beach.

From Gallipoli
From Gallipoli

Gallipoli, much like any other cemetery, is a very sobering place. There’s a certain irony in how peaceful and serene and beautiful it was here, a spectacular location, yet thousands upon thousands died here. It makes me wonder what their last image would have been before they died – an image of blood, war, terror or that of serenity and beauty. Could they have still appreciated the latter despite being faced with the former.

From Gallipoli
From Gallipoli
From Gallipoli
From Gallipoli
From Gallipoli

I was captivated by the volume of water that surrounded us, that stretched out into the horizon.

From Gallipoli
From Gallipoli
From Gallipoli

It literally felt like we were standing on the edge of the world. And it was a stark reminder that the earth is indeed round. The horizon looked curved. Hard to imagine the amount of force, the amount of gravity required, that pulls the water to the centre of the Earth to prevent water from floating.

From Gallipoli
From Gallipoli
From Gallipoli
From Gallipoli
From Gallipoli
From Gallipoli
From Gallipoli

We then stopped at Lone Pine Cemetery.

From Gallipoli
From Gallipoli
From Gallipoli

Lone Pine is up quite high by this point, and offers amazing views over the surrounding valleys.

From Gallipoli
From Gallipoli

I took a neat photo of the American girl (unbeknownst to her) who was also on the tour:

From Gallipoli

A red poppy:

From Gallipoli

We saw some trenches and tunnels – from which the ANZACs got their nickname as “Diggers” – they dug a network of over 300km of tunnels and trenches.

From Gallipoli
From Gallipoli

In addition, to paying respects to the many ANZAC soldiers, we also visited one of the largest mass Turkish cemetery – around half a million soldiers who died on home soil.

From Gallipoli
From Gallipoli

Some spectacular scenery to take in.

From Gallipoli
From Gallipoli
From Gallipoli

It can get rather windy here, so the trees tell me.

From Gallipoli
From Gallipoli

Gallipoli is a convergence of history and nature – respect its past and appreciate the force of both. 5-hour drive back to Istanbul, arriving some time around 11:30pm where I crawled into bed. The sun had set on another day. Gallipoli photo album. (I took over 500 photos, but have culled them down to just under 100 in this album).

Turkey travel diary: Blue Mosque

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Day 1 cont. (Post 3 of 3) Words. So overrated, right? So here are some pictures instead. Pretty self explanatory, really – The Blue Mosque. I went before closing time, at night, to avoid the daytime queues, and on my way back to my lodgings following afternoon tea. All throughout Istanbul, the skyline is peppered with the minarets from the multitude of mosques that adorn the city. Can’t say I appreciated the early morning calls to prayer that blare out from them everywhere in Turkey. Inescapable. Still, a part of the wonderful tapestry that is Turkey. The Blue Mosque is one of the most majestic landmarks, built back in the 17th Century, its interior lined with thousands upon thousands of handmade tiles. It’s a sacred place of worship, so be sure to remove shoes and cover up. A quiet place for some solace amongst the bustling Sultanahment district. Highly recommend going at night to avoid the tour groups. Need a tour guide? I’m not your girl, but check out this webpage which has pretty much everything you need to know about the Blue Mosque. Entry: Free. Blue Mosque by night:

From Blue Mosque

I’m looking really tired in this next photo. Over 8 hours at work, an 8.5hr flight, a 7-hour stopover, another 4.5hr flight, a few hours later in Istanbul, over 30 hours without sleep. I am definitely fading but needed the obligatory tourist photo in front of the Blue Mosque.

From Blue Mosque
From Blue Mosque
From Blue Mosque
From Blue Mosque
From Blue Mosque

Inside the mosque: grand, tiled ceilings, low-hung lights.

From Blue Mosque
From Blue Mosque
From Blue Mosque
From Blue Mosque
From Blue Mosque
From Blue Mosque
From Blue Mosque
From Blue Mosque
From Blue Mosque
From Blue Mosque
From Blue Mosque
From Blue Mosque

Blue Mosque photo album.

Turkey travel diary: Afternoon tea in Istanbul – delightfully criminal.

memoirsofaleishaLeave a comment

Day 1 cont. (Post 2 of 3) I had just arrived in Istanbul, and after three airplane packaged meals and one free airport meal, I was in need of some real food. The first thing I did when I arrived in Turkey was do an afternoon tea. And yes, on.my.own. When I was in Cairo, Egypt last year, I did an afternoon tea there as well, at the Four Seasons hotel. I made a passing comment on this blog somewhere that I should do an afternoon tea at all the Four Seasons hotels around the world. What a great idea. I’m going to do just that! Henceforth, whenever I’m overseas, I’m going to find me a Four Seasons hotel to partake in afternoon tea at. I’ve already done Egypt, both the Four Seasons hotels in Tokyo, and I can now cross Istanbul, Turkey off the list. The next one will be in Bangkok, Thailand later on this year. I skipped all the million and one things I could have done as a tourist upon my arrival in Istanbul and instead headed straight for the Four Seasons hotel – only a few stars more than my current hostel lodgings! The previous post was merely just photos I took on my way to finding the hotel. I had until 6pm to get myself in before afternoon tea ended, and it was already nearing 5pm. I should mention that the coolest thing ever about the Four Seasons hotel in Istanbul (Sultanahmet district) is that it used to be an old jail during the Ottoman Empire! So cool, it’s positively criminal! The jail was revamped into a hotel back in the early 90s and only opened in 1996. (There is also another Four Seasons hotel in Istanbul on the Bosphorus side). I gotta admit, the hotel was really easy to find because it looked like a giant square fortress. They’ve done a great job of decking it out into an opulent hotel though. It’s colour too, very distinguishing – a Colonel Mustard hue. Due to the fact that it used to be a jail , the architecture of this hotel is very unique – four perimeter walls, an inner courtyard and watchguard turrets. It would be really cool to stay in a room there, sharing quarters where a criminal once lived. Huge novelty factor. In fact, Google Maps still lists the hotel as Sultanahmet Jail (Point A)! What a great venue to do afternoon tea – at a former prison, now a Four Seasons hotel.

From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul
From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul
From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul

Afternoon tea is in the lobby lounge which has 3 separate seating areas – Here:

From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul

Here:

From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul

And here:

From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul

I settled on the latter – a covered patio area. There was more natural light, garden views, and it’s where all the other people were seated. I’m sure the hotel staff thought that I was weird, sitting on my own ordering afternoon tea on a Saturday afternoon. Crazy lady, they probably thought, one of those people whom you’ll find dead in a house full of cats. Seriously, that won’t be me! (Thou doth protest too much I say). Here are some photos once inside the former-prison hotel.

From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul
From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul
From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul
From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul

On the menu were two offerings – traditional afternoon or Turkish tea set. It was tempting to opt for the Turkish one just for something different and a bit more local, but I wanted to stick with the traditional one. The scones won me over. I even splurged and went the Royal option, which included a glass of champagne sparkling wine. Hell, why not. I was on holidays after all. And I had a week of swimming ahead so I could indulge a little without the guilt. I was sure as hell I’d be burning it all off soon enough. I sat myself down and got settled in for an afternoon tea on my own.

From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul
From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul

The afternoon tea setting was very traditional, classic English rose. Very un-Turkish, but pretty nevertheless.

From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul

The huge pot of tea came complete with a tea candle warmer. Bless! That totally made my day.

From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul
From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul

The signature Four Seasons emblem/logo:

From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul
From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul
From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul

The afternoon tea set offered perfect portions for one. Three savoury morsels, four sweet treats, and a scone, with a huge pot of tea (enough for about 5 cups of tea). Tea selection was limited, but so long as they had English breakfast tea, I didn’t really care. Tea for One:

From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul
From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul

Savouries:

From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul
From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul

And sweets and scones:

From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul

First up on the menu was a turkey, tomato and gherkin sandwich. Eating turkey in Turkey. Check.

From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul

Followed by a Turkish bruschetta of sorts:

From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul

And smoked salmon and caper open finger sandwich:

From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul

And then onto the sweet stuff:

From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul

Here is the parade of the assorted cakes:

From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul
From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul
From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul
From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul

And I always save the scones for last.

From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul
From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul
From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul
From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul

A tea party for one. I’m such a loser!

From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul

On the wall behind me were some of the old prison locks. Pretty cool. If these walls could talk, ay. Imagine the secrets and crimes that these walls held.

From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul
From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul

Afternoon tea was very reasonable. Turkey is still a relatively cheap country to travel through. Not a part of the EU so you’re not subject to Euros. The Afternoon tea was only 40 Turkish lira (60 with the champagne).

From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul

I then took myself on a little tour of the hotel, as you do. It’s not a particularly tall building – only 3 or 4 levels high but I went and checked out the views from the Terrace Bar. This is definitely a nice spot to grab a drink. Views of the Blue Mosque, haghia Sophia and even water views of the Sea of Marmara.

From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul
From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul
From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul
From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul

Terrace Bar:

From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul
From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul

Surrounding fortress walls:

From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul

Views of some of Istanbul’s top tourist attractions:

From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul
From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul
From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul

Quite the luxurious hotel. Didn’t get to see the sleeping quarters, but it would be fun to stay a night there in an old jail! I imagine the rooms would be pretty plush.

From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul
From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul
From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul
From Four Seasons Tea Istanbul

Afternoon tea in Istanbul – accomplished.The one and only afternoon tea I did during my two-week holiday in Turkey. Had wanted to fit in one more at another venue, but alas, did not have time. I’m glad I prioritised it on my first day in Istanbul! A criminally delightful venue! Complete album link. Hotel details.

Turkey travel diary: Day 1 – Sultanahmet Photowalk

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Since arriving back in Japan from my holiday, I’ve been sick. Coming down with a cold something. Started off with a sore throat, now a runny nose and headaches. Haven’t been sleeping well since I got back either. Jetlag and body clock still adjusting. Got back late Sunday night and was back to work on the Monday. No recovery time. Temperature also dropped by about 10 degrees between my first and second week in Turkey. And the weather is getting cooler in Tokyo with the onset of winter. Am trying hard to ward off this cold before it gets worse. Already on the tablets and lots of water and peppermint tea to flush out the system and keep hydrated.

Saturday, October 1, 2011 (Part 1 of 3) (Day 1 will be split over 3 posts.) Touched down in Istanbul at Ataturk airport early afternoon (around 3pm). I did a good job of packing lightly. My backpack weighed less than 9kg. I have mastered the art of packing lightly. It only took me 10 years! Made my way from the airport into Sultanahmet – the old city/ touristy area of Istanbul. Took the dirt cheap option of public transport – a train and then a tram into the city. Super easy. Super cheap. Only 4 turkish lira (2AUD) for an hour ride into the city. Alighted at Sultanahmet tram station and made my way to the hostel for the night. Had booked a really cheap hostel for the night.

Basically needed a place to stow my luggage, because I’d be up early the next day at 6am so didn’t see the need to pay for an expensive hotel for what would be a 12-hour stay. Just somewhere to get me through the night and leave my luggage at in the morning. Man, I had forgotten what it was like to stay in hostel dorms sharing with a bunch of randoms. Constant noise, people rustling about and packing their bags at ungodly hours of the morning – 2:30am! Really?! And at any given time someone would be trying to sleep in their bed (made even worse when you’ve been allocated the top bunk!) which meant you had to try and be as quiet as possible and avoid turning on the lights even in the middle of the afternoon. Sheesh… Kebab. (Had to throw in a lame Turkey pun).

Arrived at the hostel, dumped my bags and went out to explore Sultanahmet in the remaining last hours of sunlight. Sultanahmet is the tourist hub of Istanbul. It’s full of camera-wielding tourists (myself included) and tour groups being shuffled about. There’s plenty to see, that’s for sure. The Blue Mosque, Sultanahment park, Aya Sofia, the Basilica Cistern – all within metres of each other. Where to start?! Not to mention all the al fresco dining options. I walked about getting my bearings and taking some photos with the last few hours or so of daylight. Gorgeous weather – high 20s.

Photowalk of Sultanahmet: The Blue Mosque which presides over Sultanahmet:

From Sultanameht
From Sultanameht
From Sultanameht
From Sultanameht

Lots of street food carts selling watermelon, corn cobs and fresh pomegranate juice. I love pomegranates. Fell in love with the fruit in Egypt.

From Sultanameht
From Sultanameht

The Blue Mosque by night:

From Sultanameht

Across the road from the Blue Mosque is the Aya Sofia.

From Sultanameht

Aya Sofia by night:

From Sultanameht
From Sultanameht

Walked along the cobbled streets of Sultanahmet…

From Sultanameht
From Sultanameht

Checked out some local Turkish cuisine:

From Sultanameht

Lots of stores selling Turkish sweets. I was just window shopping at this stage:

From Sultanameht
From Sultanameht
From Sultanameht
From Sultanameht
From Sultanameht

I think Turkish Delight really means Dentists’ Delight!

From Sultanameht
From Sultanameht

 

Turkey travel diary: Departure – Making time fly in Dubai (how to kill time at Dubai airport)

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I really want to skip to the part where I talk about my swimtrek in Turkey, but I’m going to be disciplined and do this properly, and chronologically. Here is the first entry of my Turkey travel diary – the journey from Tokyo > Dubai > Istanbul. Friday, September 30, 2011 Worked during the day. After work, headed to Narita airport for my night flight to Turkey via Dubai. The last time I headed to the airport straight from work was the day of the Tohoku earthquake, on my way to Australia. Needless to say, I was a little anxious about my Friday flight. What other possible natural disaster could hold up my flight this time. No direct flights from Tokyo to Istanbul, unfortunately, with most flights stopping over in Dubai. The flight to Dubai was over 8 hours. And then once in Dubai I had a 7-hour stopover. Ugh. A stopover just as long as the flight itself. But not as bad as one would think. Of all airports to stopover in, Dubai would have to be one of the better ones. I arrived in Dubai at 3:50am (local Dubai time) and had 7 hours to kill. Here’s how I made the time fly. I went for a swim at the airport! That’s right, a swim. Albeit, in a very tiny pool. The Dubai Airport hotel located in terminal 1, has it’s own pool and gym. There is also another stand-alone gym within the airport, which is where I originally thought the pool was. It’s on opposite ends of the airport terminal so I trekked there and back. I certainly clocked up some k’s just walking from end to end and back again of the airport. The pool is a tiny hotel pool but I had it all to myself (mind you it was ridiculously early in the morning to be swimming).

From Dubai airport
From Dubai airport

I did some laps in the pool (it took 6 of my arm strokes to complete one lap – the pool was that tiny!), and then had a DIY aquaerobics workout. After a day at a work, an 8.5 hour flight, and another 4.5 hour flight to go, it was definitely beneficial to get some exercise in. I walked and jogged up and down the pool, did forward lunges, side lunges, jumping and just kept moving in the water. Also got to have me a nice hot shower which was most welcome after a long day of work and flying. It was nice to freshen up. Shower amenities were very nice. Included soap, shampoo AND conditioner. And yes, they’ll give you a free towel and locker to use. And you can buy a really cheap pair of swimmers (about 5USD) if you don’t have your togs handy. Of course, I had my swimmers, goggles and cap in my carry-on bag though! To use the pool will cost you. But it does include a shower and a great way to kill time. Alternatively, you can use the gym if you prefer (again for a fee). For me, it was worth it. The alternative was to sit on my arse for another 7 hours instead. Use of the airport hotel pool will cost you 16USD per hour. And includes use of the shower. I was lucky to score extra time there for free. The guy let me use the facilities for 1.5 hour – which meant use of the pool for an hour, and a nice 30min shower and freshen up. Jacuzzi also available. The Airport Hotel Pool can be found in terminal 1 (departures). Follow the signs to hotel, and walk around the back of the hotel reception area to the gym and pool area.

From Dubai airport

There is also another small gym facility and showers located in Terminal 3 (for a fee). You’ll want to follow the Spa and Health Club signs.

From Flight to Turkey

Alternatively Dubai airport offers free shower rooms with basic soap. BYO shampoo, conditioner and towel though! After a swim and a refreshing shower, I then scored myself a free meal. A little known fact (no one will ever tell you this) – is that if you have a 4-hour or more stopover in Dubai on an Emirates flight (must have Emirates boarding ticket), is that you’re entitled to a meal voucher – nothing special mind you. It gets you either a free meal at McDonalds, an italian joint or a Thai joint. I went the Thai option. Eating – another way to kill more time. You’ll need to present your Boarding Pass at an information booth within the airport. They’ll then give you a meal voucher that should look like this:

From Dubai airport
From Dubai airport

I also did all my currency exchange in Dubai. Funnily enough, they had no Turkish Lira at Narita when I left Tokyo, so I hadn’t been able to change it until I got to Dubai. I got myself some USD (to pay for the Turkey visa and to use at Dubai airport) and a stack of Turkish Lira. Spent some time walking up and down around Dubai Airport. Came across this “special” on the menu:

From Dubai airport

Can’t get me enough anus, I say. Now, originally I thought that it should have read ‘angus’ as in reference to beef steak – Angus – a breed of cattle, but as it turns out ‘white sturgeon’ is a kind of fish – a species of the ‘transmontanus’. Well, there you go. Who said this blog wasn’t educational!? Lots of shopping to be had if you’re so inclined.

From Dubai airport
From Dubai airport

Time for a cup of tea and cake stop at a cafe before getting on the next flight. Not a bad way to make time fly in Dubai. Then onto my next flight – Dubai to Istanbul. I generally hate being short! but one of the advantages of being somewhat vertically challenged…is that flights are generally quite comfortable. I have no problem with legroom. I can often curl up with my legs on the seat. Take that all you tall people of the world! Ahhh…lots of legroom:

From Dubai airport

I do like flying Emirates. The flight crew wear nice uniforms and they have a great in-flight entertainment system – all on demand. Food wasn’t too bad either. Complimentary alcohol a plus!

From Dubai airport
From Flight to Turkey

Inside the cabin, the roof even had nightlight stars to help provide that nighttime ambience (because you know, I had forgotten we were actually in the SKY!).

From Dubai airport

On the Saturday afternoon, I finally touched down in Istanbul, whereupon my Turkey journey begins. So far, so good. Had arrived safely and refreshed into Istanbul.

From Flight to Turkey
From Flight to Turkey

 

Rejection…

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sucks.

I (or rather my entry into the 2012 Tokyo Marathon) have been officially rejected by the Tokyo Marathon committee. I missed out on the lottery. Only 35,000 runners allowed, and they had over 284,000 wanna-be participants. I will not be one of them. Boo. Got the official rejection email today. There is an ever slight possibility that I could get a spot on the second round of offers released in November….but I don’t like my chances.

Need a new goal for 2012. Any suggestions? Maybe a sprint Olympic triathlon (would be my first triathlon) or perhaps a marathon in a different city around the world, or even train for a Sydney marathon

Dream Sea Change

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I’ve just come back from an amazing holiday from Turkey (hence my blog absence) – one week of which was spent doing a Swimtrek where I swam over 25km over 5 days of swimming around Turkey. The. Most. Amazing. Experience. Ever! Veni vidi vici.

It was a great week of open water swimming. Some people pray. Some people meditate. Some people drink. Some people run. I swim. It was an exhilarating experience. A week of sunshine, sea and water. Water is home for me. I also fell in love with Turkey. Leaving was like having my heart broken all over again. Such a beautiful, amazing country! The week of nothing but swimming was very much cathartic. Such a cleansing and purifying experience of being in the ocean and indulging in open water swimming. Some people go to India, Thailand etc for meditation, yoga and Buddhist retreats – for me, this swimtrek was my meditative retreat. At the end of the week, I felt great. I felt fit, inspired and awakened. Not sure how or why. But I felt really different after this experience. Open water swimming is so liberating.

Water is so essential to my being, and although I got a bit abused by the water, I have a very healthy respect for the open water and oceans of the world. When you’re swimming 5km a day in the deep blue ocean, there’s plenty of time to think and reflect. I have spent much of my life traveling. I live for travel. It’s a funny thing that all of life’s experiences happen on land, yet more than half of this earth is water. Even our own human bodies are over 2/3 water. Considering, over 70% of the earth’s surface is covered in water, for me, this was an incredible opportunity to sea travel – to explore a whole new underwater world. It was a new perspective to see things below the surface and peek into an entire world that exists in water.

Words can’t really express this most amazing experience. For me, it was more than a holiday. It was almost a catalyst, or a turning point for change. I felt purified and liberated after the first week in Turkey. Something I was totally not expecting. I expected it to be like any other overseas holiday. You go away, have fun, see new things, take photos, explore a new country and then come back home to reality. It was weird, but I felt different after the first week of swimming around Turkey, in a way I can’t explain. I felt inspired, motivated, but also lost and confused at the same time. There was definite clarity but also a sense of loss. Then something even weirder happened. A few days later after the swimtrek ended, I was in a different part of Turkey and one night I dreamt of my own death. It’s scary to dream of your own death. I was a bit wary for the rest of my trip, especially that day, when I was later on a flight back to Istanbul. I paid more attention than usual to the in-flight safety procedure. Exits here, here and here. Right. Got it. What does dreaming of your own death mean? Really weird state of mind to be in, especially after what was such a renewing week of solid open water swimming. How could I have felt so alive, yet have this cloud of death hanging over me.

On my last night in Istanbul, I met up with my best friend, Em. She had flown over for 24 hours from the UK to meet up with me in Istanbul. I told her of my dream, and she shocked me by telling me what it meant. Dreams are very rarely a premonition. They also rarely foretell of the future. Dreams are what happens in your subconscious and are more a reflection of the present. Phew, what a relief. Dreaming of your own death, she told me, means ‘change’. Wow. How incredibly freaky is that. The fact that it means change, especially after how ‘changed’ I felt by doing this swim trip. It’s like what I felt had been confirmed by this dream. Dreams of your own death means change, renewal. It means a loss of a part of yourself to something new that is about to happen. It’s about transition, and new beginnings. Death of yourself is symbolic to leaving a part of yourself behind. There’s those sayings about, something needs to die in order for something new to grow, one door needs to close for another to open. This is why you dream of yourself dying. Another transition, however, lies in wait.

It is said that dreaming of your own death is symbolic of an inner metamorphosis. And almost always, dreams of your own death are a positive thing! Hmmmm. Change is a brewing. What this change is, I don’t know. It may not even be drastic or even related to job, relationship etc, but simply could be just a change in the way you feel, or even letting go of something in the past, letting go of some feeling or something. I don’t know. But I do know ‘change’ is on the horizon. It’s uncanny that I dreamt of my own death following this incredible swimming journey, this sea change. The title of today’s blog post is ‘Mukai’. The two kanji characters are ‘dream’ and ‘sea’ 夢　and 海. Together pronounced ‘mukai’ – Dream Sea. Extremely fitting in light of my dream and sea journey. The beginning of a sea change perhaps. Here is a really amazing photo (if I do say so myself) of me swimming in Turkey which captures the beauty of what I experienced – swimming towards the light. It was taken by someone else on my underwater camera. He had me swim over the top whilst he held his breath and stood a few metres under the water looking up. He was able to capture this beautiful shot of me swimming towards the light (the sun being reflected off the water).

From Swimming towards the light

Over the next month, I will be posting up a travel diary on my blog here of my time swimming and traveling around Turkey.

Brasserie Le Musee a la Crème brûlée

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So whilst at the NACT yesterday, we had a late lunch at the Paul Bocuse French Brasserie. Talk about elevated dining – literally. The restaurant sits on the third floor of the Art Gallery atop of an inverted concrete cone. And it’s built as a circular restaurant for double awesomeness.

From NACT
From NACT
From NACT

I’m all about novelty, so I was excited to eat there upon a couple of recommendations from some fellow foodies. There’s apparently always a line to get in. And yesterday was no exception. And they don’t take reservations for lunch. Here is everyone lining up taking a seat to get in:

From Brasserie Le Musee
From Brasserie Le Musee
From Brasserie Le Musee

Whilst waiting, I naturally snapped more photos. The line moved quickly enough. Only about a 20 minute wait or so. Enough time to check out the menu and decide what to get.

From Brasserie Le Musee

The restaurant is so cool. And very popular.

From Brasserie Le Musee
From Brasserie Le Musee
From Brasserie Le Musee

We were at last seated for a late 2pm lunch (Lunch is available 11am to 4pm). After seeing the exhibition and taking lots of photos, I had worked up an appetite. Me thinks being hungry is a hobby.

From Brasserie Le Musee
From Brasserie Le Musee

Now, you’d think to eat here would be expensive and fancy and all, but it’s totally not. It’s casual french dining and very accessible. There are two lunch courses on offer. The 2000yen set and the 3200yen. The one and only difference between the two is that the 3200yen course comes with soup. Hard to justify an extra 1200yen for soup, so I was content to order the 2000yen course, and spend a little extra for wine! The lunch course consisted of Rillette, main dish (fish or meat dish), choice of dessert, and tea/coffee/orange juice (choose one). So first up, the Rillette (which is like a pâté) served with bread, and also olive oil. Also a small glass of sparkling wine.

From Brasserie Le Musee
From Brasserie Le Musee

For the main lunch dish: choice of fish or beef. I went the beef. It came out looking like this:

From Brasserie Le Musee

Covered in a sheet of pasta.

From Brasserie Le Musee

But underneath it was some very tender beef.

From Brasserie Le Musee

Probably not the most flattering pictures of that dish. The beef was beautifully cooked. I love it when the meat just falls off. Tami ordered the fish (seabream). I thought this was well plated. There are tiny discs made of potatoes which have been arranged on top of the fish made to look the scales, but really they were potatoes!

From Brasserie Le Musee

For dessert, there was a choice from five offerings. Tami had come here just for the creme brulee. She raves about it. Apparently it’s one of their famous signature desserts. But it wasn’t on the menu. She asked the waiter whether the creme brulee was available and the waiter revealed that it was, even though it’s not offered on either lunch courses. I think the creme brulee is a bit of secret. I considered ordering a dessert off the menu – there were after all, five different options on offer. And for me, creme brulee would not be my favourite dessert. I mean they’re alright, they’re nice and all but meh, creme brulee. I mean it’s translated as ‘burnt cream’. Give me a chocolate gateau cake anytime. Anyway, I did order the creme brulee and oh my god, it was the best creme brulee EVER. It put all other creme brulees to shame. I didn’t know how good a creme brulee could taste until that moment. I was completely blown away. It’s just a creme brulee, right. But no, the creme brulee here is divine. First of all, it came out in a large shallow dish.

From Brasserie Le Musee
From Brasserie Le Musee

My first thought, was ugh, too much. Too much sugar. It’s just going to be sickly sweet. But no, deceptively it wasn’t overly sweet. It was sweet, but only delicately so. The custard underneath was divine. And again only a very shallow base of custard. It was so perfect and full of vanilla beans that you could see. Wow. It tasted so amazing, unlike any other creme brulee. In fact, you’ve not tasted creme brulee until you’ve eaten one of these.

From Brasserie Le Musee

Really, it was most surprising to ME that I would be converted to being such a fan. I was very skeptical that such a dessert could win me over. Wow. And then onto the cup of tea (or coffee or orange juice – your choice) to savour and linger over that creme brulee.

From Brasserie Le Musee
From Brasserie Le Musee

And then some more photos inside or rather ‘around’ the restaurant.

From Brasserie Le Musee
From Brasserie Le Musee
From Brasserie Le Musee
From Brasserie Le Musee
From Brasserie Le Musee

Such a striking atmosphere and wonderful place to eat. They call it an ‘Artistic Dining Experience’. They’re open for dinner as well. And surprisingly very reasonable and good food too. Restaurant details here.