Istanbul : my story and your travel guide

      Istanbul is becoming one of the main tourists attractions in the world, it's becoming harder and harder to find someone that hasn't been to Istanbul, but did all of them really visit Istanbul? Did they get a taste of the city's soul and felt the city for what it is, a bridge between the past and the future? read this article to know if you did actually visit the city for real.

      The most recent statistics reported that Istanbul is the favorite city for 90% of people. lol just kidding, I guess it's just me. some people may ask why and here is my answer: Istanbul is really interesting, especially the diversity, it's rare to see a city that has a mosque or church on every corner and on the other hand find bars or discos just as many, to encounter a huge number of women wearing veils and also many women wearing mini skirts, to encounter religious people as much as people drinking or couples kissing on the streets, a household having a Muslim, Christian and an Atheist! It's a city in both Asia and Europe for god's sake! This is Istanbul, a city having buildings built using the most modern architectural styles and other ones with the most old and significant architectural techniques. Also it's the weirdest because you see Africans, Turkish, Arab, American, Russian, Latino and Indian people thinking that they're tourists but when you talk to them you find out that they're Turkish! I mean WOW! This isn't what I see in my everyday life. That was my favorite thing about Istanbul.

      My story with Istanbul isn't a long one , it started in June 2010 , my first visit was with my family , we didn't see or do much, the only thing we did was going on a tour on a boat through the Bosporus cannel, went by a ship to the princess's Island  and in the last day we found Hagia Sophia by chance, other than that, NOTHING.  As usual , all what women did was shopping and we the guys spent some of the day sleeping and the rest of it eating, I felt that there's more to see in the city but had no clue where to and how to go.

     The second time was with a group of young scouts as a leader to a camp in Ümraniye which is a district in the Asian side of Istanbul or as some people say "The Anatolian Side". In that camp I felt in love for the first time in my life, no I didn't meet the special one dahhh, I loved the city! We went to the most BEAUTIFUL places, we lived in a camp making you forget all about the outside and we just.. lived. The Turkish language is as awesome, it's so nice to hear, I wouldn't have minded listening to people talking Turkish for relaxing, as I heard it's a language full of feelings. I met one my current best friends in the camp, Hamza, an 18 years old Palestinian that was born in Istanbul but attended Arabic schools, he was there to translate basically. After the first week passed we had to move to another camp and the most thing I remember about it was me, Hamza and 2 other friends bringing a Nutella jar with bread into the jungle, set a camp fire and had a magical night with that lovely tasty Nutella jar. Those days were some of the best, the only problem was that I wasn't all free to go where ever I wanted because since I was a leader I had responsibility to maintain. I was thinking about coming back by myself again but didn't think it was sometime soon.

     Last week I went to Istanbul for the third time to spend a week there, I booked my plane ticket not knowing any detail about my trip: where will I stay? what am I going to do there? why am I going? will I survive? I knew NOTHING. For all I know I was going to meet some friends including Hamza and have some new ones. The day of my plane I had an exam that ends at 1:00 PM and my plane takes off at 1:30 PM. I talked to the Dr and worked it out so I can get to airport at time, my father picked me from uni and drove me to the airport. That was how my trip started. I spent my 1st 3 days as a couch surfer in someone's flat (definition of Couch Surfing below). The 3rd day I left and went to meet Ömer, a Turkish choir conductor and music teacher that I got in contact with a week before going and by talking to him I found out that Turkish people are known for hospitality and he offered that I stay with him in case I had no plans for a place to stay in and l didn't so I did stay with him the rest of my trip. I met him in a university in which there was a choirs' festival, the moment I stepped in the building in which they were practicing I felt life going through me, the harmony was indescribable, that was the moment that I realized how blessed I was and how going to Istanbul was worth it, it was just beautiful. Anyways the rest of the days I went to the awesome tourist attractions in Istanbul, had Turkish tea, met some old friends and met some new people that sang with Ömer's choir and I lived with Turkish people, not just as a tourist, and it was really the best experience I could've had this summer. Hamdulillah (thanks Allah) everything worked out to be perfect!

    Thanks Ömer, Hamza and my new Turkish friends, Ezgi, Fatih, Belen for being awesome.







 

Enough with my story:

Let's start planning YOUR trip to Istanbul:

Before going to Istanbul:

1. Which airlines to book your flight with? Look online for charter flights, those are the cheapest but the times could change (I booked with Jordan Aviation and there's Aegean Airlines)                                                                                                    *Update: I found out that if you travel with Turkish airlines from Aqaba Airport it would be cheaper and it will drop you at Ataturk Airport, not Sabiha, which is much better.
2. Download the offline map application of Istanbul "Ulmon", it will help you so much, it has all the places you would search for and the GPS works even when you're offline. And download the map of metros in Istanbul (like the one down there).
3. Where will you stay? Normal people would stay at hotels, but hotels are expensive and experience-less , do you really want to spend a buttload of money for a room you'll use only to sleep instead of spending it somewhere that's worth it? So my method is: there is an international website: www.couchsurfing.org , it's good experience (description down) , if you don't prefer this then you can stay at a hostel, they are cheap and good and you can book online from websites like www.hostels.com .
4. Download an offline English - Turkish translator , sometimes you might need to use a Turkish word or know the meaning of it.
5. Get to know the basics of reading Turkish alphabet: most important thing to know that "C" is pronounced as "j".

What is couch surfing?
Couch surfing is what most travelers use, it's a website that allows you to contact with people willing to host you in their houses and give you a couch to sleep on while you're there and it's free, the good thing about it is not only the free accommodation, it's about interacting with the people of the city and knowing about it from an insider instead, it's like a cultural exchange.

Istanbul Metro map

When you get there:

1. If you landed in Ataturk Airport then just go for the metro, get Istanbul Card , it's the card you can use anywhere in Istanbul for transportation, ships, metro, metro bus, everything. Charge it with 7 TL minimum for every day you're staying. When you get it just head for your destination.
2. If you landed in Sabiha Airport: When you get out go get Istanbul Card..
3. Get on one of the buses going to Taksim, it costs 13 TL..
4. From there it depends where will you be staying, use Ulmon and metro map to get there. for the metro look for the sign (like the one in the picture down). 

metro sign

Turkish Food:

1. Iskender : meat and bread under it with tomato sauce and yogurt on the side with boiled butter spoiled on it. just Google it.
2. Turkish Tea : unlike normal tea, Turkish tea is made heavy (heavy?? Idk) then you add water.
3. Döner : it's the Turkish Shawerma, you can find Döner places every where and each one tastes different, it's up to your luck if you get good Döner or not. And once again, Google it.
4. Kompir : my favorite, it's potato mixed with cheese and you choose some ingredients to add. 
5. Semit : I don't know how to describe this but it has much sesame. Google it haha.

Iskender

Kompir

Recommended places to go to:

For any of them, don't use anyone else's services, just find your way to go by yourself. Use Ulmon to see where the place is and metro map to see how to get there.

1. Aya Sophia , The Blue Mosque & Topkapi Palace : the three of these are in the same area and it's easy to get there, there's a tram to Sultan Mehmet which drops you just there, The Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace are free to enter where as there's a 14 Dollars fee for Aya Sophia but it's not worth getting in there.
2. Miniatürk : it's as the name applies, a small city that has mini models of many of the main attractions in the world, it's really interesting, I loved it there.
3. The Princes' Islands : to get there take a tram to the last station which is Kapatash , you will see a seaport, go there and use your Istanbul card to get in, wait for the ship to come and get in, wait to get to the last Island, you'll know because most people will get off the ship there, if you stay you'll be screwed, happened to me, spend some time there, have lunch and feed the seagulls, rent a bicycle maybe and get back the way you came, through the port.
4. The Grand Bazar :  if you want to get souvenirs , gifts , music instruments or anything , this is the place to go to,  the Grand Bazar is a huge old market in which you can find anything you need for reasonable prices, for the cheapest prices stay out the Bazar building and shop from the shops outside. to get there take the tram to Grand Bazar station. 
5. Taksim Square , Galata Tower and Istiklal Street: if you've heard about the protests happened in Istanbul , then you definitely have heard of Taksim Square , it's one of the main tourist and citizens attractions, mostly people go to Taksim to sit and chat or to shop, and at night it's the Turkish Vegas, not sure but that's what I heard. Galata Tower is near, you can ask people or use Ulmon map to get there, it's gonna take you a while waiting in the line if you're planning to get in the tower.
6. Telefrik : Unfortunately you can't find the exact location on Ulmon BUT it's in "Eyup Sultan Camii" area so you can look for that, get there and you'll find it, easy to locate, or ask when you get there.
7. Vialand Theme Park : it's something like Disneyland , there's a service bus that can take you there and takes off every hour from different places , details , or use public transportation to get to the nearest point then take a taxi.
8. 1453 Panorama Museum : it's a really interesting museum with panoramic 3D views of some of the wars' stories happened in the past in Constantinople and the Ottoman empire, to get there you need to take the tram and get off at Topkapi station, 1453 Panorama Museum is situated in the park close to the Topkapi tram stop.

To be honest I'm tired on writing so when you go there just tell me and I'll help you :p

The Blue Mosque

Miniatürk

Grand Bazaar

Galata Tower

Vialand Istanbul