World Traveller: 7 Continents, 90 Countries, 871 Days Overseas
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Turkish Airlines
Date: Monday 08 May 2023
Gate: F8A
Seat: 14A (Exit Row Window Economy Class Seat)
Plane: Airbus A321neo
Boarded: 20:52
Pushback: 21:16 (Scheduled 20:40)
Arrived: 05:23 (Scheduled 04:45)
Duration: 5 hour 7 minutes
Distance: 3,736 kms
This flight was from Istanbul Airport to Manas International Airport (Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan)
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Monday 08 May 2023
Highlights: Egyptian Spice Bazaar, The New Mosque (1665)
Tonight I had a plane to catch to get to Kyrgyzstan and begin my Five Stans of the Silk Road tour but that still left a little time for more exploring of Istanbul.
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Tour Title: Best of Turkey
Tour Company: G Adventures
Tour Leader: Isik
Cities Visited: Istanbul, Gallipoli, Çanakkale, Ayvalık, Selçuk, Pamukkale
Countries Visited: Türkiye
Dates: 30 April 2023 to 07 May 2023 (Duration 8 days)
Tour Type: Classic – Tour Itinerary (PDF)
Journal Entries
Sunday 07 May 2023
Highlights: Exploring less visited areas of Istanbul, visiting Tekfur Palace, Cruising the Bosphorus Strait
Today was the final official day of the G Adventures ‘Best of Turkey’ tour, which really is normally just an included breakfast but today I had booked an extra option the Alternative Istanbul Walking Tour and Bosphorus Cruise which goes for about 8 hours. I had hoped to do this option before the main tour but my flights got pushed back and didn’t have the time so insteaded scheduled for today.
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Saturday 06 May 2023
Highlights: Exploring the Basilica Cistern, Visiting the Grand Bazaar
A 5 am wake up call plus the local call to prayers had everyone ready for today’s early morning start. Leaving after breakfast at 6.15 am we were on the road for a 50-60 minute drive to nearby Denizli Çardak Airport. What we didn’t know is that our 8.20 am flight (see review here) wouldn’t leave until 10.30 am meaning extra sleep in time was missed.
The worst thing about the Istanbul Airport is it is about an hour out from the city, especially the old district that we are staying in. As a result despite landing at 11.39 am it took us almost to 1.30 pm to get to our hotel. We had an included 3 hour orientation walk of the historic district but everyone decided against it in order to do activities that had planned for the afternoon before we lost so much time. We so many people leaving tomorrow this was their last chance to visit particular places.
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Nathan's Insights 