Ukhti Anna Ezaha: #13 Ezahaians In Turkey (Day 4

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

DAY 4 - ISTANBUL & BURSA

As usual, in the morning we had our breakfast at the hotel and by 8.30, we met our driver & tour guide for our next journey to Bursa, Pamukkale & Cappadocia.
Our 1st stop for the day was the Panorama 1453 Museum Istanbul -- this museum is all about the history of Constantinople & Sultan Muhammad Al-Fateh.
The best thing was, we got to experience the fall of Constantinople and it was unbelievably surreal! It presents you an ambience where you can live the events told/written about the subjugation of Constantinople in 3D!
While you're ascending the stairs -- you'll first see the blue sky (which I thought was real & that we were going outdoor) until you realize that it was all painting. Once you're there, you'll actually 'inside' the conquest of Constantinople, 0n 29 May 1453. With the musics and the 3D paintings, You'll feel that you were living during that time & that era.
The more you absorbed all the depths within the 3D pictures, the more astonished you get. It was one of the best things I've seen and I recommend everyone to go experience it by yourselves.
After spending about 1-2 hrs in the museum, we continued our journey to Pierre Loti Istanbul to see the breathtaking scenery of the Golden Horn -- we took a few pictures & there were actually graves (mmmm) & cable car around us.

Pierre Loti

it's the ezahaians y'all
Then, we went to the tomb of Abu Ayyub Al Ansari. Abu Ayyub Al Ansari was one of the companions of our beloved Prophet Muhammad SAW, he was also one of the Ansars and he supported Muhammad after the Hijrah of the Muhajirins from Mecca to Medina in 622.
When Rasulullah arrived in Medina, he was offered shelter by majority of the Ansars so to avoid any misunderstandings, Rasulullah let his camel do the choosing. The camel was let to walk freely & wherever it sits and whomever's house is to be chosen as Rasulullah's temporary residence. The camel, then sat near Abu Ayyub's house.

the tomb of Abu Ayyub Al-Ansari ( Al Fatihah)
After the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks, a tomb was constructed above Abu Ayub's grave & a mosque was built in his honor. Abu Ayyub himself, wanted to travel to Constantinople due to the hadith of Muhammad SAW; "You will conquer Constantinople. Its commander is the best and its army (that will conquer it) is the best." The person whom the prophet Muhammad SAW mentioned was obviously; Sultan Muhammed Al-Fateh. Unfortunately, Abu Ayyub Al-Ansari, passed away there.

makam asal Ayub Al Ansari sblm dipindahkan
Right after that, we went to the Suleymaniye Mosque -- which was built on the order of Sultan Suleymaniye & blended Islamic and Byzantine architectural elements. The mosque is also one of the most famous mosques in Istanbul and a must-go.
At the side of the mosque, there was also the tomb of Sultan Suleymaniye & we had a chance to visit it as well.

interior

Suleymaniye Mosque

so hard to take pictures with this boy here

with our tour guide, brother Junaid (my face duhh)

Then, we went to have our lunch at a restaurant at Yusufpasa (couldn't recall the restaurant's name, huhu). It served mostly Chinese food, but the service was pretty slow. Nevertheless, the food prepared was yummy yummy! Hehe.
After filling up our stomachs, we continued our journey to Bursa which took around 3 hours. We took a ferry to go there & we spent about 30 minutes on board.

trump tower, hahaha
When we arrived at our hotel, Bursa Palas, it started to get dark and by 8, we went to have our first dinner in Bursa. Our meal was deliciouss ( bcs everyone was hungrryy but then again the portion was quite big so I couldn't finish it on my own, huhu).

eventhough I'm not a fan of Turkish Cuisine, I must say: I miss it :(

US!
After dinner, we walked to watch the Sufi Whirling Dance. It took us around 20 mins and I was glad that it was cold (unlike Malaysia, I'd be one dead girl, hahaha)
When we arrived at the place, they offered us with cay and we waited for some times before the show started. The Sufi Dance, actually is a a form of meditation (or zikr) which originated among Sufis & was founded by Jalaludin Ar-Rumi.

enjoyin the heat of cay
It was such a wonderful experience, honestly to be in that room there --with the music & the wonderful dance (they were whirling for over 30 mins, believe it or not!, I mean, even the ones watching were already feeling dizzy) I wonder how they did it...
After the dance finished, we walked back to our hotel anddd that sums up our fourth day in Turkey!

DAY 5 - BURSA

By 8, we had our breakfast at the hotel (i tell you, the foods were worse that at Saba Hotel's!!) but mehh, we ate maggi afterwards.
After breakfast, we continued our journey to Mount Uludag. We went up there by a van, and it took around 45 minutes until we arrived. The view outside was spectacular and so breathtaking it was like we were in Narnia (Abah couldn't stop saying that hahah)
When we arrived, the weather was suuppperr coldd and it got even colder when we went up again by an open cable car. You can ask my sister, she witnessed my scream because it was too cold and I couldn't handle it, haha
When we arrived up there, I, especially, ran towards the cafe and went to the heater because, why not haha *laughing emoji* We had some coffee & hot chocolate for a while and then only we went out. Not until 10 minutes outside, we went back to the cafe for the heater and it went on and on like that all the time there,

muka nikmat sbb panas, haha
During our time out in the snow, we had a lot of fun playing, climbing, throwing snows at each other ( Abah was the most energetic one among us, hahaa ) -- it was definitely one of our highling moments throughout our trip in Turkey <3
We went down again then by the open cable car and that time, I went alone! (nothing impressive, really)
A lot of winter sports were provided especially ski but the ski seemed like only for professional and we've tried ski before this in Beijing sooo yeah. Instead, we rented some toboggans -- eventhough only kids were supposed to play with this thing, I still had a lot of fun thoughh ( what? 17 is just a number, hehe) Jimmy, Jihah and I played that thing for over 1 hour (sampai terbaring tertonggeng hahaha)
And then, we took a lil break and continued our activities by riding snowmobiles ( 200 TL per snowmobile & 2 person on a snowmobile ) -- it was quite expensive, yes, but it was really worth it.
We also got the chance to ride it by ourselves & enjoy the wholee view of Mount Uludag filled with thick snow. Not so many people joined this activity, just us and one other family so we kinda conquered the place, really.
We stopped at the end of the point and took some pictures; there was also a professional photographer and he took photos of every single one of us but then again, to even get the CD -- it was again, expensive. Nevertheless, the pictures were beautiful <3

ladies and gentlemen, THE EZAHAIANS!

The Fantastic Four (??)

#goals
Then, we continued our ride ( I actually drove one of those and Abah sat behind me! hehe, it was suchh a wonderful experience :') )
After about 2 hours, it was time to say goodbye to Mount Uludag. We went down by cable car called Bursa Teleferik and it took us around half an hour till we arrived down there. Next, we went for lunch!
Our lunch that day was probably, the most delicious meal I've ever tasted in Turkey andd oh my, I want it again! The name of the restaurant was Iskander Bursa Kebab.
After lunch, we went for Zuhr & Asr prayers at a mosque; Bursa Ulu Camii -- this mosque was as usual, beautiful but what's special about this mosque is that they have a beautiful fountain in the middle of it, The history says that the fountain was actually a gift from the Christians to Muslims, but somehow they forbid it to be done as prayer area -- so the Muslims made it as an ablution area for male.

(not my photo)
After prayer, we went shopping at the Silk Bazaar ( shopping, again!! ) Umi had a lot of fun shopping and choosing scarfs for friends and relatives while her 17- y/o daughter was dying to go back to our hotel ( I HATE SHOPPING )

*insert hipster caption*
Abah & Jimmy bought sweaters as well and by then it started to get dark and then we went back to our hotel & got ready for dinner. The dinner for that night was the usual Turkish Cuisine.
After dinner, we went shopping, again! But that time, BAKLAVA! Umi and abah bought a lot of Baklava and got them wrapped up to bring 'em back to Malaysia. Then, we went back to our hotel and we called it a night.

DAY 6 - BURSA & PAMUKKALE

In the morning, before going to breakfast, me and Jihah had some maggi first ( busted! ) and then only we went down to have our breakfast.
After breakfast, we started our journey by stopping by at Osman Gazi's tomb and it took around 5-7 mins from our hotel.
Osman Gazi, was the founderof the Ottoman Dynasty, The state transformed into a world empire in the centuries even after his death.
There was also the tomb of Orhan Gazi, the second bey of the Ottoman Empire; and he was the son of Osman Gazi and Malhun Hatun.
After reciting Al-Fatihah, we continued our journey for the day. Our second destination was the Cumalikizik village; the history of the village goes back to the Ottoman Empire's foundation period and the historical texture of the village has been very well protected.
We took some pictures and bought some souvenirs. There weren't a lot of people though (throughout our whole journey in Turkey, yes, because tourists would choose Spring mostly to come here)

loves <3
After that, we continued our journey to Pamukkale which took around 6 hours to arrive at our hotel, Pam Thermal. We went dinner at the hotel and that time, the food was slightly different because they were lots of Chinese when we arrived so the food was more to ~~ Asian, yknow.
After dinner, we went to our room, took a shower anndd we went to sleep. That's all for Day 6 :)

DAY 7 - PAMUKKALE

In the morning, we had our breakfast at the hotel and then we hung around by the pool & the hot spring. While waiting for umi and abah to check out, we (the siblings) played at the playground near there (jakun sekejap haha)
Then, we went on our van and met our Turkish tour guide for the day named Doggy and we proceeded to Red Water -- the water was once known for its mineral ( iron & calcium )
We also had the opportunity to taste the water from the tiny volcano and it was.. okay :')

my face! HAHAH
Next, we continued our journey to the Hierapolis Ancient City and the cotton castle. The weather that day was perrfect and they weren't a lot of people so we kind of got the place all to ourselves.
The ancient city is now a tourist attraction and has been declared as World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Doggy took us for a walk and told us the histories and stories of the ancient city. Apparently there were lots of remnants from the buildings but mostly has been ruined due to a few earthquakes that happened there.
The ancient city was so big and obviously, we weren't going to all the places there ( there were tombs, theater, antique pools and others. ) and we got to choose places that we wanted to go.
Gymnasium and library that was used during the old times were unfortunately destroyed ( only some remnants left and underground spot -- Doggy said some people went down there and never returned out, grr)
We went on to look at the antique pool ( in Roman's period, Hierapolis was a health centre and during those years, people used to come to the pool and found their remedy )
After that, we went to buy some souvenirs at the gift shop there. My family (and I, mostly) were attracted to the big theater located around 1 km or so from the antique pool, so we walked there.
Since the path was hilly, we were sweating and we had to take off our jackets for a while (somehow it felt like Malaysia kejap hhaha) and when we arrived at the top of the theater, my, my, how striked, fascinated and impressed we were of the beautiful and historical place. (I mean, if I could, I would've recorded our priceless faces at that time, haha)
Feeling like a movie star in the movie Gladiator, we walked and sat around the theatre ( once again, there was no one else there so, we conquered the place! )
We took about 20-30 minutes there to take pictures and to enjoy the view. I went down there eventhough the stairs were pretty steep and it was pretty scary to look into the locked gates (wondering what would've been there thousands of years ago, that's pretty scary, right?)

tshirt super comfy by @emancloset
go check em out!

oh how i miss this place :'(

boyfriend
Then, we moved on to the beautiful, breathtaking cotton castle of Pamukkale ( the cotton castle is actually inside the ancient city )
There was a small hole-aisle filled with flowing hot water and we walked in there and it was so much fun! Eventhough it was slippery but still, it was like natural foot massage! That place was so out of this world, I mean, Masha Allah can you believe that they're all natural???
Well, approximately 400,000 years ago, modern asia minor experienced a series of devastating earthquakes resulting in a shifting in the valley of the Menderes River and caused for the thermal water lashing out to the surface.
The hot springs began to flow down to the surface of the platue with incredible speed and while these flowed, they simultaneously began to evaporate in the sun, resulting in the formation of terraces and slopes, filled with turquoise water.
The water, is famous for its benefits to the eyes and skin because it contains minerals like magnesium, iron, sodium chloride/salt, sulphuric acid and calcium carbonate/lime water.

daddyyy
These two places ( Ancient City and Cotton Castle ) were the ones that made us think and realize about the history and Allah's power, and they were definitely my fav places in Turkey. If possible, in shaa Allah, I would like to come here again, one day :)
The mineral-floor at the cotton castle was so so cold like when I stepped my feet on it, I was actually doing tap dance, hahahhaa
Couldn't get enough of the amazing view, it was time to say goodbye to Pamukkale and hello to Cappadocia! We went to have our lunch at a buffet hotel-restaurant and then we continued our journey to Cappadocia which took about 9 hours (!!!)
During our way to Cappadocia, there were mountains filled with thick snow around us and we stopped once in the middle of the road to take some pictures but because the weather was sooo cold I was freezing and I couldn't feel my hands, we only spent around 5 minutes and then we went in the van back.

tak lama lagi beku la tu haha

our omg-its-so-cold-but-must-take-photos-first faces
At around 11pm, we arrived at our cave hotel in Cappadocia, called La Maison Du Reve and then we called it a night.