Category Archives: Experiences

Around the Blue Mosque and the Sea Walls

Continuing our strolling explorations through Istanbul, we popped our heads into Sultan Ahmet Camii, known in English as the Blue Mosque, which is also the starting point for the day’s walking trail which took us downhill to the edge of the Marmara Sea (chapter 6, page 107).

Sultan Ahmet Camii aka The Blue Mosque

Sultan Ahmet Camii, otherwise known as The Blue Mosque

Sultan Ahmet Camii, also known as The Blue Mosque

The Sultan Ahmet Camii is the most famous purpose-built mosque in Istanbul. I say it that way because, in a “keeping up with the Joneses” kind of way, it sits next to the larger, grander Hagia Sophia. Founded by Sultan Ahmet I, he instructed his architect – a student of the famous Sinan – to build a mosque that surpassed the beauty of Hagia Sophia. There are a few nice tales about its construction.. firstly, the young Sultan was so keen to see it completed that he often pitched in himself; and secondly that when it was unveiled as having 6 minarets rather than 4, Sultan Ahmet was accused of being too self-aggrandising because Mecca was the site of the only other 6-minareted mosque. His solution was to pay for a 7th minaret in Mecca.

Sultan Ahmet Camii, as viewed from its courtyard on an overcast day. The other two minarets are just behind us

We got there just after the opening time hoping to beat the inevitable queues from the tour busses as this is Istanbul tourist central. Our timing was perfectly coordinated with said coaches, and from the entrance in the south-west corner the queue stretched the length of the mosque, its courtyard, around the corner and half-way up the other side. We were offered expedited entry with a local tour guide for 40 lira (about £13) but being British we secretly like waiting in line and it only took 35 minutes.

Outside, the dark stone of its distinctive silhouette so iconic in Istanbul’s skyline looks fantastically detailed in bright sunlight, but seemed to make it one with the dreary overcast cloudy sky we had. This lowered our expectations for what we were about to find inside..

Inside the Sultan Ahmet Camii or Blue Mosque. The colours, light and shapes are almost too much for the senses!

Inside the Blue Mosque: the barriers separate the tourists from the worshippers as this is very much a working mosque

The barriers separate the tourists from the worshippers as this is very much a working mosque. I thought the blue Iznik tiles of the first balcony were the reason for the name ‘Blue Mosque’, but it comes from the main dome..

Despite being restricted to the back 3rd of the main prayer hall, this, like so many times in Uzbekistan, was a “wow” moment. The space is huge, and dominated by the giant red carpet on the floor and the massive, beautifully decorated dome overhead. It’s the blue in the dome’s design that gives the mosque its name.

The main dome is decorated with stunning blue and gold painting, and this is why the mosque gets its name

Hippodrome

The central section of the Hippodrome hints at the greatness of this once mighty arena

Just outside the Blue Mosque we stopped for an early packed lunch next to the massive Egyptian obelisk while we read the introduction to the Hippodrome from our guidebook.

Now a narrow park, it was really difficult to appreciate the sheer scale of the once mighty Hippodrome. Even when we read that the courtyard of the Blue Mosque was built on the foundations of the Hippodrome’s seating, we still weren’t able to fully appreciate how big and important this arena was to Byzantine society. In researching this post, I found this reconstructed image..

A computer generated reconstruction of the Hippodrome. The current park is about half the width of the chariot racetrack. The domes in the background are that of Haghia Sophia (source: Byzantine Military)

All that remains of the Hippodrome today are a fountain, 3 central columns, and the foundations of the western rounded end. The largest of the central columns is called, appropriately, Colossus, and having stood next to it in person, to then see it in situ as the middle-marker of the 30,000 seat capacity of the Hippodrome finally gave us a sense of scale.

Columns of the Hippodrome: Egyptian obelisk; Serpent column; Colossus

The columns of the Hippodrome: the amazingly well-aged Egyptian obelisk that looks brand new; the bronze Serpent column which has seen many better days; and the Colossus, once covered in metal

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjrnvDn2tcA]

Sokullu Mehmet Paşa Camii

Tour guide Julie, reading aloud from the excellent Strolling Through Istanbul

Skipping a few of the smaller sights on the route, we arrived at another of Sinan’s mosques, Sokullu Mehmet Paşa. Built in 1571-2 on the site of a former church, we entered through a long outdoor corridor into the serenity of an empty courtyard and an all but empty mosque – a far cry from the bustle of the Blue Mosque earlier!

The lovely quiet courtyard of Sokollu Mehmet Paşa Mosque

We loved the quiet serenity of this mosque, and the 3 reasons why it features on the stroll:

It’s built by Sinan, that automatically gets attention but as there almost 100 of his structures left that doesn’t guarantee a place. The book describes this as “one of the most beautiful of the smaller mosques of Sinan“
The Iznik tiles in the mihrab are exquisite, and
There are 3 fragments of black stone from the Kaaba in Mecca embedded into the walls: one above the main entrance, another above the entrance to the mimber and the last in the centre of the mihrab

Sneaky picture of Sokollu Mehmet Paşa Mosque while the imam was telling someone else off for taking photographs. The fragments of the Kaaba from Mecca are too small to see in the photo, but they’re just below the panel of writing on both the mihrab and the mimber

Namazgah

Namazgah of Esma Sultan. Nice, but what’s it for?

At first glance we weren’t sure we’d found what we were looking for when we entered a small park and children’s play area and spotted an old stone square fenced off in the corner. On closer inspection it was, as our book describes, the last remaining namazgah within the city walls, and one of 3 left in Istanbul.

So what is it? Well, a namazgah is an outdoor prayer area. We thought it was a really interesting thing to see, and it was a shame we couldn’t get closer than the surrounding fence.

SS Sergius & Bacchus

The lovely light interior of the former Byzantine church of SS Sergius & Bacchus

Approaching the sea, but not yet past the defence of the sea walls, we arrived at SS Sergius & Bacchus, which, like many of the mosques in Istanbul was once a Christian church and subsequently converted to a mosque. Our guidebook introduces it thus:

“SS. Sergius and Bacchus were two Roman soldiers martyred for their espousal of Christianity; later they became the patron saints of Christians in the Roman army. These saints were especially dear to Justinian because they saved his life some years before he came to the throne, in the reign of Anastasius. It seems that Justinian had been accused of plotting against the Emperor and was in danger of being executed, but Sergius and Bacchus appeared in a dream to Anastasius and interceded for him. As soon as Justinian himself became Emperor in 527, he expressed his gratitude to the saints by dedicating to them this church, the first of those with which he adorned the city.” – Strolling through Istanbul, p123

Just like Sokullu Mehmet Paşa earlier, we found SS Sergius & Bacchus to be quiet, and we were encouraged to do something we’ve wanted to do in every mosque we’ve visited with an internal balcony – go upstairs!

Us inside the Church of SS Sergius & Bacchus, now known as Küçük Aya Sofya Camii – which means “Little Haghia Sofia”

The late afternoon light through the windows was lovely, we loved the light airiness of the decoration and the luxurious sky-blue carpet which felt decadent to walk on.

Byzantine Sea Walls and the Palace of Bucoleon

All that remains of the Bucoleon Palace, part of the Grand Palace

All that remains of the Palace of Bucoleon, one of the seaside buildings of the Grand Palace of Byzantium

The route then ducks under the railway lines which once carried the Orient Express, and through the old sea wall defences to highlight some of the oldest parts of the city.

The highlight of this section for us was the huge marble window frames of the Palace of Bucoleon, which was part of the original Grand Palace of Byzantium, once the heart of Constantinople, and sadly all that remains of it above ground. Even though little of this palace remains, it gave us a sense of scale and grandeur.

After the Palace, we passed ruins of old gates into the city, a marble pavilion and the foundations of an old church. A lot of the old vaulted sub-structures and gatehouses are being used for temporary shelter, and while we felt perfectly safe wandering along the sea walls, the smell of impromptu toilets did prevent us from inspecting some of the vaults more closely.

The massive vaulted sub-structures along the sea walls, Istanbul

The massive vaulted sub-structures of the church of St. Saviour Philanthopes. I’m just working out if I can get out once I get in; yes I can, and here’s the view from inside. This was the largest open one we found at 4 chambers wide

Grand Palace Mosaic Museum

The entrance to the Mosaic Museum behind the Blue Mosque, not a mosaic in sight.. yet..

The entrance to the Grand Palace Mosaic Museum behind the Blue Mosque, not a mosaic in sight.. yet..

The walk ended just behind the Blue Mosque at the Mosaic Museum, which doesn’t look much from the outside but it’s mentioned briefly in our guidebook, and the reviews we’d read elsewhere highly recommended it.

The first room of the Great Palace Mosaic Museum. We weren’t expecting so many mosaics!

After passing an unkempt garden of old stone columns and capitals, we entered what looked like a temporary shed and found ourselves on a 1st floor catwalk overlooking the restored mosaic peristyle of the Grand Palace.

Thought to date from Justinian’s reign (527-65), and believed to be the floor of the north-east portico of the Grand Palace, the mosaics were uncovered during excavations in 1935 and have since been restored a couple of times.

Collage of mosaics from the Great Palace Mosaic Museum, Istanbul

Collage of mosaics from the Great Palace Mosaic Museum. Clockwise from top-left: most of the scenes are of hunting, either humans hunting animals or animals hunting animals like this Eagle with a rodent; A bear feeding on a deer; the head of a boy at play; a very intricate and colourful section of a border; and two boys with a bird riding an ox

The mosaics are wonderful – we weren’t expecting such detailed work or such an extensive collection. The most recent restoration effort is explained in fascinating detail along with what is known about their history in panels throughout.

It was a nice end to another day of strolling, and something quite different to mosques and old walls.

Galata Bridge to Haghia Sophia

Yeni Cami – The New Mosque

Yeni Cami’s inner courtyard

The first stop was also the first mosque we’ve visited in Turkey – Yeni Cami (pronounced “Jami”), literally “New Mosque”. Originally commissioned in 1597 by the then Valide Sultan (Queen Mother of the Sultan), it was to be besieged by her son’s death, and later fire, then lay derelict until it caught the eye of another Valide Sultan and was finally completed in 1663.

On a grey day, the exterior, though intricate upon close inspection, otherwise blended into the greyness, but we found the interior was anything but grey..

Inside Yeni Cami

Our guidebook wasn’t very taken with the interior of the mosque (“the interior is somewhat disappointing”), however we really liked it – the bright blue tiles of differing patterns that decorate the four main supporting pillars were vibrant, and also completely cover the main focal point of the mosque – the south-east facing wall with the mihrab which indicates the direction of Mecca.

Sirkeci Station – Terminus of the Orient Express

An old engine on display outside Sirkeci Station – the terminus of the Orient Express service. I doubt this engine was used as it’s a bit small..

Sirkeci train station gets a passing mention on the route, but given our love of overnight train journeys we were pleased to learn that this station was the terminus for the Orient Express!

Sadly, the Orient Express stopped running on the 13th of December 2009 so we’ll have to find another way back to Blighty..

Cağaloğlu Hamami

The 300-year old Cağaloğlu Hamami

Further up the hill we arrived at another institution of Turkish life – the hamam or public bath. Our guidebook helpfully notes two things: the Turkish bath is a direct descendent of the Roman bath; and this particular hamam is probably the most beautiful and famous in Istanbul. Built in 1741 by Sultan Mahmut I, the money it took was used for the upkeep of a library the Sultan built in Haghia Sophia.

We ventured as far as the camekân, or reception room before returning to the stroll, but not until we’d made a note of some of the famous people that have partaken of the Turkish waters here: John Travolta, Cameron Diaz, Jenson Button, Brian May, and Kate Moss, to name a few!

The Sublime Porte

The Sublime Porte, very nice but I wouldn’t go as far as to say ‘sublime’

Once the gate that led to the palace and offices of the Grand Vezir where most of the business of the Ottoman Empire was transacted, it now leads to the Vilayet or the government of the Province of Istanbul. Interestingly, our guidebook says that the gate became synonymous with the Ottoman government itself and ambassadors were accredited to the Sublime Porte rather than to Turkey, just as to this day ambassadors to England are accredited to the Court of St. James.

The Alay Köşkü

The Alay Köşkü, great for watching parades, keeping an eye on the state, or picking off your subjects..

Directly opposite the Sublime Porte is a large gazebo called the Alay Köşkü which translates as Review or Parade Pavilion, and is a tower in the walls of the Topkapi Palace where the Sultan could watch the affairs of the Sublime Porte gate opposite.

Our guidebook retells of one Sultan Crazy Ibrahim who used this vantage point to pick off pedestrians with his crossbow!

Haghia Sophia

The walk ends at the magnificent Haghia Sophia, which after seeing the queues outside we decided we’d leave for another day. Though there was time for our first proper Turkish coffee on the way home..

Our first proper Turkish coffee in Istanbul. How do you know by looking at it? It’s the lokum or Turkish delight on the side of course!

Food of Uzbekistan

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We weren’t expecting much from Uzbekistan’s cuisine, fearing that it might be a little like Mongolian food, and although there is a resemblance we found it to be more vegetable oriented, and tasty if similarly heavy on the mutton. That said, most local restaurants seem to have pretty much the same menu and some days we felt like we were eating the same thing again and again.

At the Fayzulla Khojaev House Museum in Bukhara there was an interesting kitchen exhibit including a list of national dishes by season

Bread

The ubiquitous round breads called ‘non’ smell incredible and when fresh you don’t need anything with them (though a smear of butter is not a bad thing). They’re served with every meal and are especially good for mopping up the sauce from a soup or stew. We found that there were small variations in every city we visited, for example, in Bukhara they seemed particularly thick and dense, whilst in Khiva they were almost flat, all crust and very little middle.

Pram trollies of bread for sale in Tashkent’s Chorsu Bazaar

Plov

Plov is the national dish of Uzbekistan. Basically it is mutton cooked with rice and shredded vegetables (chickpeas and raisins sometimes feature too). There are slight variations around the country, my favourite was the Bukhara version with lots of juicy plumped up raisins, but the Fergana version with brown rice was good too. It’s usually eaten at lunchtime and is cooked and served from massive cauldrons especially around the town’s market.

Plov for lunch, served with bread, tomato salad and tea

Salad

‘Salad’ is offered with every meal and the most basic version consists of chopped tomatoes, cucumber and onions liberally sprinkled with dill. In any restaurant fancier than a hole-in-the-wall cafe there were a selection of tasty and interesting salads to choose from, from stuffed slices of fried aubergine to pickled carrots to mayonnaise heavy chopped salads. Tomatoes and cucumbers must have been in season when we visited as the markets were full of perfectly ripe piles of them, we used them as an easy, healthy and cheap addition to a picnic lunch.

Uzbek salads and piles of delicious juicy tomatoes in the bazaar

Somsa

Somsas are basically Uzbek pasties. Although the name comes from the same root as the Indian samosa they are baked not fried. They became our go-to lunch snack with tomatoes and cucumbers on the side. The filling was most often meat and onions but we also had a potato version and a delicious pumpkin version in Samarkand.

Shashlik

Finding a shashlik stand is easy, not only is it one of the most commonly available street foods, but the smoke and the aroma waft down the street. It is grilled kebabs of meat and occasionally vegetables, especially tomatoes and green peppers. The meat can be chunks of beef or mutton, or mince pressed around the skewer. They are served with a big plate of raw onion which we usually didn’t touch.

Doner kebab

The other kind of kebab, doner kebab, is chicken or beef stacked up into a huge pillar and cooked next to a vertical grill with the outer layers being carved off as they cook. It was possible to get the meat in various kinds of bread but our favourite way was rolled with salad, mayonnaise and ketchup in a huge flatbread called lavash and warmed in a sandwich toasting grill. Yum.

Our favourite doner kebab stand in Chorsu Bazaar, Tashkent

Laghman

Laghman is a hearty noodle soup with meat and vegetables and became a firm favourite of ours. The noodles are somewhere between Japanese udon and Italian linguine, and the broth is meaty and flavourful. We also had a dry version where the noodles were fried with the meat and vegetables.

Soups and stews

Laghman was what we found most often but we had a variety of other soups and stews as well.

Clockwise from top left: beef with vegetables; shurpa (soup) was like laghman without the noodles; shivut oshi is mutton served on dill noodles, a specialty in Khiva; ‘bivstroganof’ was a slightly greasy potato and meat dish

Naryn

Cold noodles mixed with horse meat and heavily seasoned with salt and pepper. Much tastier than it sounds!

Golubtsi

When I did a bit of online research about these I found that the name usually refers to a Russian or Ukrainian dish of cabbage leaves stuffed with seasoned mince and rice. The Uzbekistan spin seems to be to use green peppers instead of the cabbage. They were sometimes served in a soup and it was a nice change to have the vegetable as the central part of the meal (although obviously they’re not vegetarian).

Fruit

Uzbekistan’s very sunny summers produce some incredibly good fruit. We had unbelievably sweet and juicy melons, peaches and grapes and they were very cheap – a whole melon cost only £0.40! Dried fruit such as apricots and raisins were good for snacks.

Melons for sale at a market on the road between Tashkent and Fergana

Drinks

In Uzbekistan, drinks can be divided into three categories:

Tea – the drink of choice, made from loose leaves and about a 50:50 split between green and black tea

Soft drinks – on our first afternoon in Tashkent (actually on the way to our guesthouse from the airport) we spotted a familiar looking bright yellow drinks wagon by the side of the road. When we realised it was the rye bread drink, Kvas, which we’d first enjoyed in Sergiev Posad in Russia, we immediately bought a bottle. As well as Kvas, a fruit based drink called Mors is also popular and sold from the same kind of wagons

Alcohol – although Uzbekistan is a Muslim country, there was no stigma attached to drinking alcohol. Beer was our most common choice but we tried the local vodka and wine too – even doing a wine tasting in Samarkand.

Curious and confusing China

Chengdu, China

Aidao Nunnery Lunch

The Aidao Nunnery, small and very tasty!

Having read that it was possible to eat with the nuns at the Aidao Nunnery, we headed there with time to spare before the 11:45 commencement. Not sure of where in the Nunnery it took place, or at exactly what time, we only knew for certain we were in the right place because of the amazing vegetarian smells coming from the kitchens around the back.

11:45 came and went, but just before 12:00 we saw a few people helping themselves to two bowls and a pair of chopsticks, so sheepishly we did the same and followed them into the large hall at the right of the complex.

Vegetarian lunch at the The Aidao Nunnery, Chengdu, China

A budget banquet in a bowl! Our vegetarian lunch consisted of umpteen different and delicious dishes and a bowl of rice

After a short prayer (and a little guidance from one of the friendly servers), out came the food – vat after mouth-watering vat was presented and scooped into our bowls until they were almost overflowing.

The food was delicious, plentiful, some of it was spicy, and there were 2nds, 3rds and even 4ths on offer! Best of all, it cost an embarrassingly low ¥5 – that’s just 50p!

Oil lamps in the Aidao Nunnery, Chendu, China

Beautiful bronze goblets being used as oil lamps

Afternoon tea in the People’s Park

The Shao Cheng Tea House in The People’s Park, Chengdu. Of the 5 tea houses in the park, we chose at random and just happened to pick the cheapest one!

Allow me to preface this with a warning about tea ceremonies in China. There are a number of stories where foreign tourists are approached in the street by 2 Chinese students who, with excellent English, make small talk and then invite them to take part in a traditional tea ceremony. The tourists do indeed receive tea, but are locked into the building until they pay over £100 or more per cup (and we’ve heard stories that run into thousands of pounds or dollars).

There must still be money to be made in this scam as we were approached twice while in Shanghai, the second time the invitation was to the Shanghai International Tea Festival (which does exist, but had finished some 2 months prior). The approach was the same: “would you take our photo please? Thank you, where are you from? etc..”

Locals playing Mahjong in one of the tea houses in The People’s Park

While tea ceremonies are for very special occasions, drinking tea is even more ingrained in the Chinese culture than the British. We have seen so many Chinese tourists wandering around with what look like water bottles full of tea leaves, and they routinely stop to top them up with hot water – indeed, the only drinking water flight-side that we saw in Beijing airport was from a boiler for just this purpose!

As if I need present more evidence, Chengdu’s People’s Park has 5 tea houses. We chose one at random, and were seated at a table next to a delightfully peaceful pond in an enclosed courtyard with only the sound of mahjong tiles and tea cups being placed on the large stone tables.

Waiting for Tea in the People's Park, Chengdu

Julie and I waiting for our tea to arrive

We each chose a different teas from the small, worn, laminated card which thankfully was in English, and soon our tea sachets arrived together with two small cups and a single, large thermos-like canister full of hot water for us to top up our tea with.

Julie's jasmine tea in The People's Park, Chengdu

Julie’s jasmine tea. The price per cup includes a seemingly unlimited supply of hot water, and we agreed the 3rd or 4th cup was just about the right strength

We spent a very enjoyably relaxing 3 hours in the tea house, at which point the tea was just about the right strength. Had we not been seated next to the fascinating Jeff from California who teaches English to Chinese teachers (and reminded me a lot of my Dad – hi Dad!), the hours would have dragged as there’s only so much mahjong you can watch everyone else playing when there isn’t anyone to explain how it works!

Leshan Buddha – the biggest Buddha in the world

The Leshan Buddha, the biggest statue of Buddha in the World (notice the people in the top-right of the photo for a sense of scale..)

The biggest Daibutsuden or Buddha house in the world is in Nara, Japan, and even if it stood at at its original size instead of the current ¾ it still wouldn’t accommodate the largest Buddha statue in the world – the 71-metre (233 ft) giant seated Buddha of Leshan.

A very easy day trip from Chengdu on public transport, we arrived expecting just the main event and found a park of caves, statues and pavilions on the mountaintop that the Buddha is carved into.

The Leshan Buddha, viewed from shin-level

The route starts level with the Buddha’s head, and narrowly twists back and forth as it descends to the small viewing platform at its feet. Niches along the way are carved with Buddhist motifs, and the changing perspective means the queue moves slowly because there’s always another photo to take!

Julie at the foot of the massive Leshan Buddha statue

The passageway out was longer than the descent down, and brought us out at the south gate and an unexpected highlight of the day – the Mahao Cave Tombs Museum..

The tunnel-like cave tombs of the Eastern Han dynasty nobles in the Mahao Cave Tombs Museum

The Mahao Cave Tombs museum is quite small having only 2 rooms of artefacts, but the main attractions are the wonderfully lit cave tombs themselves. These tomb caves date from the Eastern Han dynasty (AD 25-220) and were built to house the remains of local nobles.

Sichuan Opera

The curtain call of the Sichuan Opera in Chengdu

A few years before we set off on this trip, I’d seen a short film about face changing opera, where the performers would change their masks so quickly that it was unperceivable to the watching audience’s eye. Having forgotten the name, I had originally recalled this as being a Chinese art, but when we didn’t find it on our first trip to China, I thought it might have been Japanese. Both China and Japan have an opera style called Noh, and while this does involve mask changing, the changes are done between acts or scenes. Imagine my delight when we arrived in Chengdu to find a sort of cabaret performance that culminated with Bian Lian – the very mask changing performance I had hoped to find!

Bian Lian performers in the middle of their piece

The show we saw is clearly designed for tourists with Chinese and English introductions, a giant electronic subtitle board that almost kept pace with the action, and distinct set-piece acts very much like a mini caberet or variety performance.

The highlight for our hostel-organised group was undoubtedly the Bian Lian. Saved for last, 7 artists came on stage and wowed the theatre with their skill and speed. One, after the typical wave of the arm or slight head turn to trigger the change, almost dared us to see how fast he was by looking straight at the audience and simply giving a little skip – we didn’t blink and we still missed it. Audacious, unbelievable and spectacular.

Bian Lian performer with an extra 5 masks

As well as ‘normal’ Bian Lian mask changing performers, there was a puppet Bian Lian, and this performer with 6 synchronised masks!

¹ What’s the best Chinese dish? Peking Duck of course!

two year trip

Andrew and Julie's Travelling Adventures