Salam from Canakkale ( Pronounced Chanakale) Its been a long journey after the flight from KLIA with short transit in Doha then a smooth onward flight to Istanbul. This time with only 14 in a group and mostly family members among them . Everybody got to know one another right from KLIA and it makes my job easy . Going for a holiday with a group of strangers can be difficult at times and i have to ensure they get along well and have a great time. In this group, my neighbor Hayati discovered that Azirah and Azizah Rashid are not only cousin to our close friend Azizah but also a cousin of her good friend Norlela Latiff. Then later when i posted a photo of Hayati and Mashrique during my introduction , my former schoolmate and senior in school Wan Faridah commented that Hayati & Mashrique were her neighbors in TTDI before they move to Laman Sanur and become my neighbors.Masyaallah, the world is so small. Azirah and Azizah Rashid are sisters to Mardziah Rashid who travelled with me first to Uzbekistan and soon to Palembang & Makassar. Through her recommendation and of course from Azizah Mohd, my dear friend who are their cousins too , they came to know ASk-Pipah. Its not difficult to warm up to each other especially when everyone is the chatty kind. I travelled with En Azizan, Kalthom and their cucu Jibrail first time to South Africa. We had a great time in Cape Town and the outskirts . They said Jibrail wants to see snow hence i delayed this trip a little later to ensure there are snow in the mountains in Bursa , at least. But i was told its already snowing in Capadoccia and Konya. But off course i am so thrilled as En Azizan is traveling with his daughter too, Aishah , her cute little Khadijah and her hubby, Abdullah Esa. Off course with my school mate Nor Akmawati traveling, it is so much fun . She is the friend that cooks for me Cucur Udang, Kari Ikan Masin and anythings else that i yearn for after i come back from my travel. Imagine sleeping in the same room with your schoolmates during your travel. Stories never end. We talked about life, work, travel and lots of funny stories. She always wonder how i get the energy to travel that often and yet still remain active and alive. Well Akma, you are seeing me live in action now for 2 weeks. Ha ha ha. Please reserve your comments till the last day okay. I hope you will have a wonderful wonderful time with me in Turkey and off course for the rest of the group too. By the way , I learnt my driving from Akmas late father, the well known Cik Gu Mat Zain, who operated a Driving School after he retired. hi hi hi. We flew on Qatar Airways and after a short transit i Doha, it was light load to Istanbul so we moved to the back where we had 2 / 3 seats to ourself and it was a very comfortable sleep / rest for me and Akma too. Akma said i snored a little but who cares. Ha ha ha We arrived 30 minutes earlier than scheduled , immigration was fast and i was excited as we could arrive 1 hour earlier in Edirne but unfortunately there were some problems with the baggage department and we collected them almost 1 hour later. Well that wasnt so good. Worst , when the carousel started to move they had luggages arriving from Hong Kong on Turkish Airlines too on the same carousel. Gi mana dema ni ! However we are happy all luggages arrived safely and all bags intact. It was cold, only about 10- 12 degrees and raining. We drove out of Istanbul to our first city on the itinerary , that is Edirne. We stopped along the way for our Subuh and also light breakfast . As we drove further the rain had stopped and we had a sunny day with little rain in between in Edirne, We started with the visit to the most important land mark of the city that is the majestic Selimiye Camii but not well known among many tourist as its located out of Istanbul and not well frequented by the thousands of tourist that visit Turkey. It was designed by Mimar Sinan, the well known architect that designed more than 400 buildings all over Turkey. He was 85 years old when he completed the design of Selimiye Camii. The dome is bigger than the domes of Hagia Sophia and also the Blue Mosque.. It has a diameter of 35 meters and it weighs 20 ton . Inside the mosque it has proportionate amount of Iznik tile works as well as hand painted Islamic art. It is awesome . Just enjoy the photos in my Album, Edirne. Many of my friends that came here, do really love this amazing architecture both internal and the external. The group had more than enough time at the Arasta Bazaar, that was built long time ago to supplement the income for the mosque. Its is still running at the old location What is worth buying here are the good quality towels which are embroidered, the famous fruity soap, some sweets and candies made specially in this ancient city which was once the capital of Turkey and it was known as Adrianapolis then. After lunch at one of the many restaurants in the old city area, we had some time wondering along the streets. This is my 5th time to Edirne but i discovered for the first time a shop selling one of the best cookies in Turkey. Unfortunately you cant find then outside Edirne. I hope they will grow bigger so we can get them in all the cities. Its is really yummy as they are made of almonds which are in abundance in their country. Almost everyone bought some to bring home . They have lots of Tangerines now and they are very sweet . Still a little grapes left from autumn but lots of pomegranates. When i saw the pomegranates, suddenly i remembered the freshly squeezed pomegranate juice i bought from Empire just before i flew here. Put it in the freezer to chill but i forgotten completely to drink hi hi hi. Then we drove on to Canakkale crossing the Dardaneles by ferry from the small but famous town of Gali Bolu . It is winter and gets dark faster but we were fortunate to see a little of Gali Bolu before unfortunately we did not get to buy pistachios as it was cold and the vendor must have gone home earlier .However , we saw some beautiful sunset from the ferry . We arrived Canakkale early but it was dark so we went straight to check in our hotel and will continue with the tour of the city tomorrow. Have a great week everyone! Will share more later. The wifi in the bus is working very well hi hi hi. ASk-Pipah-Go-Mana-Mana !
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 04:46:46 +0000
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