Delightful Turkey Trip 12th - 21st April 2008 Part 2

14th April 2008 - Day 3

After a scrumptious breakfast at the hotel restaurant, we set off to visit the "Ulucami"(Grand Mosque). We had to wear a scarf over our heads and take off our shoes when visiting the mosque.

Inside the mosque, we can see lots of islamic words written in caligraphic styles. Some of them looked like flowers, others has complicated shapes and motifs. There were some construction going on inside the mosque. The mosque is really huge! I really love to see the ceilngs as they are always very asymetrical and have very beautiful carvings!

Interiors of Ulucami

There's a bazaar not far away from Ulucami - Koza Han - which used to be a silk market in the past. There were many souvenir shops in there, but most of them are selling Figurines, Silk Scarves and Shawls, table-cloths... There was a very nice courtyard downstairs and there were people drinking tea there! We went downstairs to take a look before going back to our 'assembly spot'.

Koza Han

Courtyard in Koza Han

After that, we proceeded to vist the Green Mosque and the Green Tomb. Unfortunately, there were some construction works going on at the Green Tomb, hence, we could only see scaffoldings and huge sheets covering the structure... Oh well! The Green Mosque is just diagonally across the Green Tomb. The mosque got its name due to the GREEN TILES that were used to build the interiors of the mosque.

Entrance to the Green Mosque

Inside the Green Mosque

We were very lucky to be given a chance to go up to the "Sultan's lodge" to take a look from the view of the interior of the mosque from above. The Sultan has to offer his prayers in a separate room because he was afraid of being assasinated. The steps up the "Sultan lodge" was really steep and narrow! I wonder how small-sized the Sultans were in the past??

Anyway, it was very peaceful in the mosque (almost like any places of worship). The mosque was really BIG! There were even rooms on the right to accomodate people who would need to stay over the night!

There was a souvenir shop around the corner. Some of the tour members need to change currencies, while the rest needed to use the rest room. The souvenir shop had very nice decor and most of the handmade plates were very pretty!! So tempting!!!!

Pretty Handmade Plates

Following this, we made our way to a little village called "Cumalikizik" (what a mouthful!!!). The place was very serene and quiet... with rocky & narrow paths, which amazingly, big cars could pass through! We managed to get into one of the villager's house to see how their house looked like... The sofa was left in the open!!! What would happen if it rains? The old man was still laying cement over the the walls, wonder what was he doing?? There was also a huge hammock near the 'kitchen' area!!!

Villager's House in Cumalikizik

After we left the house, we went to the school to take a look! The kids were having dance lessons in the field. The children looked so lovely!! and the boys so mischievious!

After taking pictures with those kids, we left to get lunch. Lunch was quite impressive as we were going to the 'castle area' for our meals! Main course would be BEEF KEBAB!! Slurp!!!

Beef Kebab at "Daruzzuyafe"

We had to make 2 stops in between our journey before reaching our hotel for the night - Hotel Tatlises (Kusadasi).

The first stop was Tan Kafeterya where we had a glass of apple tea each. There was a windmill and also swing on the field of this cafe! So 'holland'!! Anyway, this was our first taste of the apple tea - its really SOUR!!!

"Very Holland" setting

The second stop was at a Petrol Station where we bought 2 bars of chocolate and 2 packets of chips. Ironically, we didn't manage to eat 1 of the packet of chips and had to bring it back to Singapore!! hahaha

At night, Lucia, Ah Leng & I went to explore the surroundings of the Hotel. Initially, Raymond & Jessie came along with us as we thought we could still be in time to shop at the local supermarket!!! Oh well! We didn't manage to venture too far out! Just went to a spot where we could take some pictures of the ships docking near part of the Agean sea area!! If only I am in Greece!! AGEAN SEA!!! SANTORINI!! OHHHHHHHHHH......