W
hen you hear the word Turkey, some might ask about the safety of the tourist in visiting it. But now allow me to remove your worries and change it all to excitement.
Let me share my experience and be one of the living proof on how amazing and safe it is to travel in this country.
My 8 days Itinerary in Turkey
Last May 2019, I had an unexpected chance to travel in this country. At first, I felt scared because it is too far from the Philippines with an almost 12hours flight time then when we arrived in Istanbul Airport I suddenly felt lost because I'm already in the New World’s Biggest Airport which totally drove me crazy.
Day 1-3: Kusadasi/Izmir/Ephesus/House of Virgin Mary
We took our domestic flight going to Kusadasi which is a beach town.
It was so convenient to visit as we went to some famous places like Ephesus Ancient City which is one of the center of the early Christian Churches and one of the Seven Churches of Revelation.
Another famous one is the House of Virgin Mary, when we went there I honestly felt the holiness of the place as I prayed.
Turkish is so fun like when we visited the Leather factory. They organized a mini fashion show where you can try and fit their products and show it together with their professional model in a fun way and then for the audience they gave us an overflowing apple or turkish tea. We also witnessed the celebration of 100th year Independence day. I saw the genuine happiness on their faces and how flamboyant their celebration was.
Day 4-5 Cappadocia: Goreme open Air Museum/Pasabag valley/Pigeon Valley
From Kusadasi, we took a flight going to Cappadocia. It is another world in Turkey which is a must visit because of their famous hot air balloon experience with the stunning view of Goreme Open Air Museum though unfortunately due to the wind condition we were not able to experience it but of course they never failed us, they gave us an alternative activity which is the Jeepney Safari. It is a thrilling activity where you can see the beauty of Cappadocia then we stayed in their unique cave hotel. By the way, it is highly recommended to stay at least 2 days in Cappadocia for higher chances of experiencing the hot air balloon because it is always subject to weather conditions.
Before we left this country, We stayed in Istanbul for about 2 days. We visited the iconic landmarks that have an important role in the Turkish history and culture like Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace and Blue Mosque. ( Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque are under renovation during our visit). When we had a Turkish Tea and saw the aerial view of Istanbul, it was a jaw dropping moment and let's go deeper as we went through some of the underground passage inside the cafe around Hagia Sophia. It's a perk of having the best and cool guide who's friendly and has a lot of connections which allowed us to enter.
Hagia SophiaInside of Hagia SophiaInside of Hagia SophiaTopkapi PalaceHippodrome
We also went to Grand Bazaar. It is one of the largest and oldest Bazaar in the world. Then we visited the Spice Bazaar. You can see and buy different kinds of spices and the most famous one was Saffron. it is also the most expensive spice in the world.
In terms of food trip, Turkey has a bunch of it with unlimited free taste on every shop like the turkish delight, turkish tea and coffee that can be a good "Pasalubong". We also have a side trip around Galata tower. I also observed that souvenirs like ref magnets are cheaper than different areas of Istanbul.
Train in Turkey
The best part is when we had a romantic dinner in Bosphorus Cruise. Having dinner and seeing the Bosphorus suspension bridge which connects Asia and Europe was a very magical and grateful moment that I have experienced. This trip answered me that Turkey is a place where you keep on coming back because of their wide histories and cultures that’s making it more meaningful.
