Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J, TK whY

[RooFlyer]

Inspired by various AFF Trip Reports concerning Turkey (more recently Amaroo's ) I thought it was time to have a look. I contacted my trusty TA to scope out airfares to Turkey and some itineraries within the country. I also wanted to visit Muscat, since it was on the way.

It took a bit of flight manoeuvring within Turkey but it soon fell into place, but I would be using five, count 'em, five different airports within the country! Also five airlines - Qantas, Qatar, Turkish, Pegasus and Oman Air (WY). My QF positioning flights for the QR itinerary - HBA-MEL and ADL-MEL-HBA were able to be included in the QR ticket at same cost, and using QF code, so full SCs etc. My TA said that WY's business class was very good, and although it was a short sector, which I would normally do in economy, I plumped for the business ticket with them too. One thing that was notably missed was a TK international flight, where I would have got to use the fabled TK business lounge at IST. I had an Avianca Brazil status match to Star Gold, and a Miles and Smiles status match came though just before I left, useful for the domestic legs.

Returning via ADL in time to catch a Stonewaller lunch at Rockford's in the Barossa, which had the added advantage of getting the new QR A350 service to ADL.

So the long haul was pretty simple, but the domestics were less so. Used both the airports that service Istanbul and two airports that service Cappadocia inland.




In this trip we'll have some of the Turkish staples:




As well as some lesser-known gems:




Some Turkish delight(s) and some Turkish bogans evil: )




And we'll end up by or in the water at Muscat, in Oman, which was the holiday-after-the-holiday.

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J, TK

So off I go, starting as usual at HBA. Its a rainy winter's day ... a good time to leave. And one is again reminded of the greed of HBA's majority owners, Macquarie Bank in not providing decent passenger amenities. Never had air bridges, and even though its undergoing an 'upgrade' at the moment, still no air bridges, just making room for more shops. Some times you are walking 120m across the tarmac to the plane stairs, and if there should be arriving and departing passengers on the tarmac at the same time, they will hold one lot up, in the rain, until the other lot cross in front, as happened when we were boarding. The lunch on the J service was nice, as it usually is. HBA seems to be insulated from the coughpy QF J meals that get reported elsewhere on AFF.




A day in MEL, dropped in on my client there, then back out to the airport. I hardly ever have evening flights, so I was looking forward to having dinner in the First lounge. Its all been pretty well gone over, so I'll save you the menu & food shots, but suffice to say with my early meal I asked if there were any 'under the counter' wines available, and my very affable host brought out the Rockford Basket Press to go with my Chairman's Pork.

Onto boarding QR905, departing 10:05pm, a B777-300 with 2-2-2 in Business. Priority boarding enforced, good to see. On board, a quick hand-out of amenity kits, menus and PJs. Drinks orders taken - I think I threw them a bit with my request for their yoghurt drink; others ordering Champagne I think were on their second fill before mine came .

The QR in-seat lay-out is good; plenty of room for stuff and an accessible water bottle holder in the armrest. When deployed (with a 'mattress'/seat cover), the bed was pretty wide and had 'elbow room'. It also seemed longer than most beds; happy with the arrangement all round.





Here is the menu. Wines in their list are Billecart-Salmon Champagne, Drappier rose Champagne, Le Haut-Lieu Moelleux (Loire), Esk Valley Sav Blanc (Marlborough), Dr Loosen Reisling (Mosel Valley, Germany), Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Bordeaux, Kangarilla Road shiraz, (McLaren Vale), Muruve Elite syrah (I think), (Toro, Spain), Carmes de Rieussec sauternes (Bordeaux, France), Dow's 10 yo tawny port (Duoro valley, Portugal)




Having had dinner in the lounge, I had a late supper of just the soup and mezze appetiser. Both very nice. No wine for me :shock: .




I can't remember breakfast - I may not have had any, as we landed at Doha at 4:40am local (early) and I was headed for the lounge.

It was a terrific business class trip - I made the comment to a friend that it was 'exactly what you want business class to be like'. Seat and bed comfortable and places to put things; power point and USB accessible. Service good and responsive. Meals good and good wine selection. Price was cheapest of reasonable alternatives. IFE selection perhaps less extensive than you want it to be - but they do of course have to have a heavy Middle-eastern/Arabic selection.

Arrive Doha and head for the transit security. Hardly anyone in transit area and it all goes quick. Back onto the concourse and that stupid teddy bear and its lamp. Then up the escalator to the Al Mourjan business lounge for the couple of hours transit.

 

[amaroo]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J, TK

iyi görünüyor

 

[amaroo]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J, TK

Inspired by various AFF Trip Reports concerning Turkey (more recently Amaroo's )

Hilarious! When I was in Turkey last year you were touring Peru... fast forward one year, and you're in Turkey, and I was in Peru RooFlyer you better hurry up and show me where I'll be going next year :?:

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J, TK

Yes, it is turning into a bit of a mutual admiration society (and I can't think of two better qualified for said society!!). JohnM should be admitted - I follow him too!

Next year I'm doing southern Chile fjords, western Argentina, Easter Island and Tahiti in February and planning to do Iran in September. JohnM has a lot to answer for.

 

[Bindibuys]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J, TK

I was going to PM you, asking if you were going to do a TR for this trip, have some questions about IST as we will be there end of October.
So BP scanned to follow the adventure.

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J, TK

The Al Mourjan business lounge is enormous. Every seat has a power point and a tablet, with flight and airport info accessible (and internet? not sure). A large pool in the middle and a raised seating area makes navigation from one side to the other a bit of an effort (especially if you are dragging carry-ons), but I managed . There are two dining areas - a 'resort dining' area down one end of the lounge, and a buffet up stairs at the other end.

Surprisingly for such a big lounge, showers are limited. I had to wait an hour for a shower, at 5am!










Boarding the 4 hour, 15 min A320 QR flight to Istanbul (Sabiha Gökçen airport, SAW) was a bit disorganised, but once on board the calm resumed. Although a smaller cabin, obviously, the QR business class again impressed. Easily accessible power and USB ports, places to stow stuff and good room. 2x2 config, reclining only, naturally. Hot or cold towels offered, along with a menu and drinks list (same as international ... I didn't test them to see if they had it all on board!).




Who was Sabiha Gökçen (1913-2001), I hear you ask? She was Turkey's first female combat pilot, aged 23 and is cited by the Guinness Book of World records as the first female combat pilot, anywhere. She was also one of Ataturk's adopted daughters.

Off we went, with downtown Doha on the left. I looked up the flight path on the IFE, and didn't really like what I saw!

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J, TK

Not to worry. We headed north, skirting around Iraq and Syria, passing over some big mountain ranges in central eastern Turkey:




Would be amazing to visit on the ground:




Approaching Istanbul, I'm getting excited.




Into Sabiha Gökçen (SAW) airport. It mainly handles Turkish and LCCs it seems. QR flies half of its DOH-Istanbul flights into here and half into IST. As it happened, the timing 'saw' me flying in here. I was hoping the guy on the right was just a fire trainer!!



I got picked up by Efendi travel (recommended to me by get me outta here ). Good choice. About A$10 more than the suggested taxi fare, but we caught 2 horrible traffic jams on the Asian side of the Bosphorus bridge. Cost of a taxi would have skyrocketed with the waiting time - it took us 1 & 3/4 hrs to Sultanahment in all. I used them on the return trip as well ( a clear ride through)

Here is us sitting on the approach to the Bosphorus bridge, then, blessedly, the courtyard of my destination, the Four Seasons Sultanahment. Another good AFF suggestion, this time by amaroo.

 

[LadyC]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J, TK

Looks like a great start to the holiday! Awaiting the next installment - Turkey is on my list, an ever growing list

 

[get me outta here]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J, TK

I hope to relive my Turkey trip coming along here with you. What a great colour for the hotel.

Not to worry. We headed north, skirting around Iraq and Syria, passing over some big mountain ranges in central eastern Turkey:




Would be amazing to visit on the ground:




Approaching Istanbul, I'm getting excited.




Into Sabiha Gökçen (SAW) airport. It mainly handles Turkish and LCCs it seems. QR flies half of its DOH-Istanbul flights into here and half into IST. As it happened, the timing 'saw' me flying in here. I was hoping the guy on the right was just a fire trainer!!



I got picked up by Efendi travel (recommended to me by get me outta here ). Good choice. About A$10 more than the suggested taxi fare, but we caught 2 horrible traffic jams on the Asian side of the Bosphorus bridge. Cost of a taxi would have skyrocketed with the waiting time - it took us 1 & 3/4 hrs to Sultanahment in all. I used them on the return trip as well ( a clear ride through)

Here is us sitting on the approach to the Bosphorus bridge, then, blessedly, the courtyard of my destination, the Four Seasons Sultanahment. Another good AFF suggestion, this time by amaroo.

View attachment 73097

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J, TK

First to the Four Seasons. A very comfortable hotel and great staff. Like everywhere else I visited in Turkey, I got the impression that tourists were down 50-60% at the moment (those figures were mentioned in a number of places). Certainly there seemed to only be a handful of other guests there. Staff were superb - nothing too much trouble (although, I found that at both places I stayed at in Istanbul).

Room was plush - lovely comfy bed, heavy drapes (plus electric black-out blinds) , good desk for 'working' at etc




Bathroom was marble of course and well set out. The view from my room on the right.




I was booked by my TA who is both a Four Seasons and Virtuoso partner; as it happens the benefits were much the same - a US$100 dining credit, free museums pass and something else I can't recall ATM. These are the inside lounge and bar areas (there are others) - I soon learned that my US$100 may not go that far ... a G&T was almost A$20 !!




I arrived in the early afternoon, so went for an orientation walk. As I and others have mentioned, the Sultanahment attractions are very close. Within a few minutes I was walking past the Blue Mosque and the Aya Sophia




The Blue Mosque, better called the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, is named for the tiles inside, but really they are no more prominent than many other mosques. I think its kept more as a western-friendly, 'marketing' name. It was built in the 1600s with 6 minarets, apparently an error by the architect. A seventh minaret had to be built at Mecca to compensate!

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J, TK

Inside the Blue Mosque is enchanting. With these big spaces, plus the low resolutions pics come out here, photography doesn't do it justice.






The tourist entrance is round the back and inside you stand in a section at the back; LH pic is the outer courtyard; RH pic is one of the massive internal pillars.




Continuing my arrival walk, I come unexpectedly upon several obelisks. Quickly rummaging trough my Lonely Planet I found that these, and the space around them were the remains of the Hippodrome of Constantinople built in about 200AD and renovated by Emperor Constantine in the 300s. It was a chariot race track. The LH obelisk is the Obelisk of (Emperor) Theodosius, who in 390 had it removed from Egypt, where it was first erected by Pharaoh Thutmose III in about 1450BC. The RH obelisk was erected by Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus in the 10th Century. The original bronze covering was removed by later Crusaders.



So within an hour I had come across both the Ottoman Muslim empire and the Roman and Byzantine empire. I knew sooner or later I'd have to come to terms with the history of this place. The Readers Digest version follows.

First settled as Byzantium, a Greek colony in 667 BC. A fter a number of wars between the Greeks and others it was besieged and then over-run by the Romans in 196AD and Emperor Septimius Severus then rebuilt much of it. Roman Emperor Constantine I liked it so much he re-founded it as his imperial city, he called it New Rome and established the Byzantine (or Eastern Roman) Empire. After his death (having converted to Christianity) it was called Constantinople. Constantine had a huge building program. Constantine was followed by Theodosius I and II, the latter constructing massive walls around the city (more on these later).

Emperor Justinian came a bit later and he built the Hagia Sophia as a vast Greek Orthodox Christian church in 537AD; it was the largest cathedral in the world for about 1,000 years and was converted into a catholic church in 1204 and then mosque after the Ottomans invaded in 1453.

The city was conquered by the Crusaders in 1204 and then was the centre of the catholic Latin Empire. After a siege in 1453, Sultan Mehmed II captured the city and declared it the new capital of the Muslim Ottoman Empire and most of the city's churches were converted into mosques (in many cases, without the wholesale destruction of the Christian art). It became known as Istanbul in the early 20th century.

So, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Latin and Ottoman periods. Got it? I needed a walk in Gulhane Park to clear my head; it's next to Topkapi Palace.

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J, TK

My first full day in Istanbul was a big one. Bad weather was forecast for later in the week, so I decided to do as much of the outside stuff today as I could.

A camera GPS track of my trips tells the story. On the RHS a more detailed look at the morning ... a ferry trip on the Golden Horn waterway (the LH waterway in the LH picture) to the 'western districts' of the city then a walk back trough some of the inner neighbourhoods and lesser visited attractions in Istanbul. In fact most of this part of the trip was positively deserted by tourists - I came across only a handful the entire time!! A cruise on the Bosphorus in the afternoon.




The Golden Horn ferry is public transport and you can use your 'Istanbulcard' for it. The card is a winner. You buy it ( two liras or a dollar??), then put Lira on it and get discounted public transport rides. I put 30 lira on it (A$15) and it lasted the entire time I was in Istanbul, with lots of tram, funicular and metro rides (a long one from the airport), as well as this ferry. It doesn't work for the Bosphorus cruises. Multiple people can use the one card (you touch it to a sensor at turn styles; it displays the amount charged and the amount remaining on the card).

Naturally mosques dominate the skyline of Istanbul.




A military hospital in green, and a Greek orthodox church in brick red.




Further upstream are some derelict shipyards and the remains of an old bridge.



I got off the ferry at the top LH point of the track in the RH of the first image above. This is where the great earthen and brick city walls of the city, built by Emperor Theodosius II in the 5th century. They really are massive, and very elaborate. They kept besiegers out for almost a thousand years, until the Ottomans in the 1400s. This point is the best place to see the walls, which elsewhere have been largely dismantled and/or built against. A park next to the walls on the outer side turns into a bit of a wilderness, so I followed a parallel road uphill until a point when a cross road went through the walls.

 

[Major]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J, TK

It's more than 40 years since I visited the Blue Mosque, and it is still fabulous

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J, TK

My first destination at this end of town was the Chora Church/Museum, known locally as the Kariye Museum. I hadn't heard of it before the Four Seasons concierge recommended it, and the area in general, and I'm so glad he did. He also put me onto the Istanbul Museum Card which was good value if you are visiting all the obvious sights in Istanbul and very good value if you also do these lesser-known ones.

The Christian Greek Orthodox church was founded in the 5th century but the main structural shape today dates from about 1081 and most of what you see from the 1300s. The main features are impressive frescoes and mosaics. After the Ottomans conquered Constantinople, the church was converted into a mosque and the original artwork covered over with plaster. Earthquakes resulted in damage to the building on several occasions. It ceased to be a mosque and became a museum in the 1950s, after a period of restoration.

As I think I've mentioned before, I'm basically a heathen, but I love and marvel at the art in these places, especially considering what its had to go through to survive.

And wouldn't you know it - its undergoing renovation again, and is half closed (technically, the Naos and inner Narthex are closed while the outer Narthex and Parecclesion are restored, and open). They have put a tin roof over the entire structure - you can see a big silver flash in the Google earth image.

But inside, the wonder begins. The RH image is of one of the Parecclesions, or side chapels.




One of the many frescoes, left and mosaic of the Virgin mother with child in the dome of the Parecclesion.




Fresco scenes of the Last Judgement (locally called Deesis) and the Resurrection (Anastasis)




Mosaics in the domes of the outer Narthex




Large swathes of plaster has come off but you can easily imagine the original scenes in mosaic. Most mosaics have survived better than this.




Actually, the impression you might get from the images above is that its all a bit ratty. Its not - well worth a visit. Getting there requires a taxi or a bit of a walk from the ferry, but I highly recommend it, to see some beautiful art without the tourist hordes.

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J, TK

This was a walking day, so up the hill and through some backstreets I went to the Mihrimah Sultan mosque, which Lonely Planet said was worth a look. Built in the 1560s, it occupies the highest point in Istanbul. To be honest, in the broad spectrum of mosques in Istanbul, it was interesting but not outstanding. You can easily get mosque-out here .



It had the usual fine paintwork inside the dome, some particularly sumptuous carpets and an interesting 'birdcage' chandelier.






I'll have to remember to go easy with the mosques in this TR as they can all start to look the same ...

Onwards ... to the Fethiye Mueum, some walk away, but heading towards downtown. Like the Chora, it was built as a church (the Pammakaristos Greek Orthodox Church), converted to a mosque (the Fethiye mosque) and is now (partly) a museum. Construction was in the 1100s and renovated/expanded in the 1300s, its another little jewel, described as one of the most famous Greek orthodox Byzantine churches in Istanbul and with the most Byzantine mosaics after the Hagia Sophia and Chora.

From the outside, its remained free of close-in building (unlike Chora).




Inside, again, some wonderful restored frescoes and mosaics illustrating the life of Christ; the RH image at the top of one of the crenulated domes.

 

[VPS]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J, TK

Nearly that long for me too and I had forgotten how great it looked - not so many photos then!! Well written TR - thanks

It's more than 40 years since I visited the Blue Mosque, and it is still fabulous

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J, TK

Continuing my walk in from the west towards the centre of town, I run into a market, a welcome distraction as it was getting hot and I was running low on water. The usual offerings:



But then ... ah! This is obviously the vacuum-cleaner-hose souq . And then, not surprising loomed a mosque.




But not just any mosque (naturally). The Fatih (or 'Conqueror's) mosque, was originally one of the largest Turkish-Islamic structures anywhere, built about 1470. It was damaged by successive earthquakes and then destroyed by one in 1766. It was rebuilt soon after and that's what is seen today, although some elements of the original remain. There is a nice paved square next to it with shaded seating, and gardens either side. good place for a rest! I didn't go inside, as it was prayer time. The RH pic is a statue which has defied research.




Now we are at the cluster of pics in the left hand bottom of the RH pic in post #13. A large section of the Valens Aqueduct, built by Byzantine Emperor Valens in the 4th Century AD. It brought water from the 250km system of upstream canals and aqueducts to the NW, and the water was stored in various parts of the city, including the Basilica Cisterns, which we'll see later.

Its an impressive structure, and I guess if you have as much history as Istanbul you can afford to deface it with some huge promotional banner! This is at Ataturk Bulvari (Ataturk Boulevard, I'm guessing).




Immediately after, there is the Sehzade Mehmet mosque, notable for two things in my mind. It really had some beautiful decoration inside - that geometry is really amazing - and the fact that about 10 days after I was there, a bomb went off right where I was walking when I exited the building and blew some of the windows of the mosque out!

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J, TK

Righto. Far too much history and not enough food and drink for a decent AFF Trip report!

Unfortunately while I love my tucker, the early days of my trips are a bit pedestrian food wise as I tend to keep close to my hotel initially and am tired.

And so it was ... first night dinner was at the Four Seasons. Started out with a nice G&T (at A$20!!) then this red .. can't remember anything about it other than it was nice, and pricey.




A great spicy soup and then an essentially deconstructed kebab. It was really nice




When I passed on dessert, this came out.




Next morning - breakfast.

The first thing that came out was the dips on the left, and the specialty breads. It was described as chef's amuse bouche, which I thought was a bit weird. But lashings of fresh orange juice, and some bircher muesli with lovely berry compote.




I spied menemen which I recalled from amaroo's TR, so I got it. A spicy omelette, which was OK, but ... . On the RH, a pic of the courtyard where you take breakfast.

 

[amaroo]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J, TK

Some great memories in that lot! Looking forward to the rooftop drinkies