Motorcycle Tour - Istanbul Turkey Ep. 25
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TravelTranscript
00:00How will we come down after climbing up?
00:02That's the problem.
00:06I didn't think of that.
00:30Let's go.
00:50Assalam Alekum Everyone from Istanbul, Turkey.
00:52The 4th and last capital city of the Ottoman Empire.
00:55On one side of the city is the Black Sea and on the other is the Marmara Sea.
00:58In the middle is the Bosporus strait which separates Europe from Asia.
01:03Today's plan is to explore the city.
01:05We will visit some of its historical and tourist places.
01:08I am not going to explore it alone.
01:10I have Fahad with me.
01:12I posted a story on Instagram that I have come to Turkey.
01:14He DMed me.
01:16So today I am going to explore the city with him.
01:19This is Fahad.
01:21Hopefully in the next 2 to 3 days, we will be able to show you some nice places in the city.
01:27The place I am at right now is called Taksim Square.
01:30There is not much going on here.
01:32It's just normal life.
01:34The life here starts at night.
01:36First, we will visit Hagia Sophia and Sultan Ahmet Mosque.
01:40These are the most visited tourist places here.
01:42After that, we will come to Taksim Square in the evening.
01:45Life will be better here.
01:58Taksim Square
02:11We are starting the day with a traditional Turkish breakfast.
02:13I am standing right next to the Galata Tower.
02:16This is the area where we are going to have our breakfast.
02:18It's called Karaköy.
02:20It's a nice area and famous for breakfast.
02:22It's a 10 minute walk from here.
02:24We asked for a traditional Turkish breakfast for breakfast.
02:27So we got a lot.
02:29What I have in front of me is an omelette, cheese, eggs, cookies, jam and a lot more.
02:36And Turkish tea as well.
02:38We will have our breakfast now and then start our exploration journey.
02:42Karaköy
02:52The food was really good.
02:54Especially the combination of butter and honey.
02:57I tried it for the first time and I loved it.
02:59The name of this cafe was Arada Cafe.
03:02We were looking for some terraces where you can get a great view of the city.
03:07We tried to look for it for a long time but couldn't find it.
03:11Finally we came here.
03:13It's a great place and you should definitely try it.
03:31Sultan Ahmet Mosque is the most iconic mosque in Istanbul.
03:35It was built by Sultan Ahmet I.
03:37Like all the other Ottoman kings, he didn't have many victories.
03:43And this is the most impressive victory of his life.
03:47Or the biggest achievement of his life.
03:51Most of the other kings used to make a mosque out of the money they earned from wars.
03:59But he didn't have many victories.
04:01So he took it out of the treasury and built this mosque.
04:04It took him 7 years to complete.
04:06If you have seen my vlog, I told you that
04:11Sinan, the greatest architect of the Ottoman Empire,
04:15was built by a student of his.
04:18His name was Mehmet Agha.
04:20Right in front of this mosque is Hagia Sophia.
04:22There are a lot of similarities between this mosque and Hagia Sophia.
04:25Let's go inside and then we will go to Hagia Sophia.
04:36Hagia Sophia
04:46This is the interior of Blue Mosque.
04:48It is called Blue Mosque because
04:50they used handcrafted blue colored tiles.
04:55A lot of construction work is going on here.
04:58So I can't show you much of the interior.
05:02Fahad is telling me that
05:04construction work has been going on here for the past year.
05:08I came here for the first time 3.5 years ago.
05:11Back then you could see the interior of the mosque.
05:15So unfortunately I can't show you much.
05:17But I will try my best to show you as much as I can.
05:32Hagia Sophia
05:52You have a temperature, right?
05:54No, no.
05:55Hagia Sophia was a Greek Orthodox church.
05:58It was the tallest building in the city for more than 500 years.
06:03It was believed that whoever had such buildings,
06:06would be considered a prosperous city.
06:10When the Muslims took control of the city,
06:12they plastered the walls.
06:14So you couldn't see the pictures of Christians and Prophets.
06:21But later when it was converted into a museum,
06:23the plastering was removed.
06:25Now you can see the pictures of Jesus,
06:28and the names of Allah and Muhammad.
06:31So this is a mix that you will see now.
06:34Especially if you look at one side,
06:36the area on this side,
06:40you will see a lot of resemblance to the church area.
06:44But if you look at the other side,
06:46you will see the names of the Caliphs written on the columns.
06:50So you will see a mixture inside.
06:55Hagia Sophia
07:11I am standing outside Hagia Sophia.
07:13This building is very important for the Muslims and the Ottomans.
07:17This city used to be called Constantinople.
07:20Because Constantine was a king.
07:24When the Muslims and the Ottomans used to come here to conquer,
07:28they were always defeated.
07:30But when Mehmed came to conquer the city,
07:33he was also going back,
07:35after 28 or 40 days, I don't remember exactly.
07:39He saw a sign that there was lightning on Hagia Sophia.
07:43It was a sign that the Muslims should attack now.
07:47And they will win.
07:49So he attacked and they won.
07:51The Muslims turned it into a mosque.
07:53The minaret was added later.
07:56Before that, there was no minaret.
08:21We are at the Grand Bazaar which was built by Mehmed the Conqueror.
08:24It's one of the biggest and oldest bazaars in the world.
08:27The structure is still in its original shape.
08:30It has survived all the natural disasters.
08:33It was built for the trading of clothes and jewels.
08:37It's one of the most visited places in the world.
08:40It's at the top.
08:42There are around 2.5 to 4 lakh visitors a day.
08:44Let's go inside and explore it.
08:52Grand Bazaar
09:05The Grand Bazaar is huge.
09:07There are almost 4,000 shops and 61 streets of this bazaar.
09:11You will get almost everything you need here.
09:14I am getting almost everything from clothes to jewellery and sweets.
09:19But if you come here, keep one thing in mind.
09:21The people here are very professional.
09:23And they are experts in making you smoke.
09:25You must bargain if you come here.
09:27Apart from that, if you don't want to buy anything, don't talk to them.
09:31Fahad has already smoked with them.
09:33Let's ask Fahad. What happened to you?
09:35I don't smoke.
09:37And he forced me to smoke.
09:39I wouldn't say he forced me.
09:41I was stupid too.
09:43But he sold me a cigarette.
09:45He is saying that if you don't want to buy anything, don't talk to them.
09:49Just keep looking.
09:51They will convince you that you have to buy something from here.
10:02We are his first customers today.
10:09Let's explore the Grand Bazaar.
10:11We literally didn't want to buy anything from here.
10:14But it was cheap.
10:16Let's move ahead.
10:32This is Suleymaniye Mosque.
10:34One of the most impressive mosques in Istanbul.
10:36It was built by Sultan Suleyman in 1550.
10:39It took him 7 years to complete.
10:41It was built by the most famous Ottoman architect, Sinan.
10:47Sultan Suleyman wanted to build a mosque that was as beautiful as the first Jewish temple.
10:57Which was built by Prophet Suleyman in Jerusalem.
11:00It should be as beautiful as Hagia Sophia, the Greek Orthodox Church.
11:05If you look at it from the other side of Marmara Sea,
11:09the view from here is very impressive.
11:12Especially from here.
11:14Because it is at a height.
11:16And the rest of the buildings are a little lower.
11:18So the view from here is very beautiful.
11:20The interior of this mosque is typical of the Ottoman style.
11:35The view from here is very beautiful.
11:53How do we go up and down?
11:55That's the problem.
11:58I didn't think about that.
12:01We have finally reached the walls of Constantinople.
12:07These walls did not allow the Ottoman army to enter for 1000 years.
12:14The Ottomans tried a lot to enter from here but they always had to face defeat.
12:19They had two options.
12:21They could either cross these walls or cross the sea.
12:24If any of you have seen the movie Mehmet the Conqueror on Netflix,
12:29you might have some idea.
12:31In that movie, there was a small area through which you could enter the port.
12:36There were chains on both sides.
12:39As soon as an army ship entered, they would lift the chain and the ship would be destroyed.
12:44When Mehmet tried, he tried a lot to enter through the port.
12:50But he had to face defeat.
12:52So finally they decided to take their boats from the sea of Marmara to the other side of the Black Sea.
13:00And then they would attack from there.
13:02They cut down a lot of trees so that they couldn't hear how they were being carried.
13:08So they used to slip on them.
13:10Then they attacked from there.
13:12The Romans thought that the army would come from this side.
13:17All their positions were ready on this side.
13:20But they attacked from the other side.
13:22And this is how they won.
13:24It was very important for the Ottomans to conquer this city.
13:28Especially it was the dream of every king.
13:31Because there is a Hadith that says that one day we will conquer Constantinople.
13:35And what a great army it will be.
13:37And what a great leader it will be.
13:50We will rest here for a while, right next to the wall.
13:53And then we will move on.
14:20We have come to an area called Balat.
14:22And the kids are screaming and tearing our ears off.
14:25Fahad has brought me to this hippie area.
14:28Is it called Balat?
14:30It's called Balat.
14:32All the cafes, bars and neighborhoods here are actually pretty cheap.
14:37We have come here for a while because we liked the buildings here.
14:42So we thought that since we are passing through here, we should at least visit this area.
14:47But it's good because there are no tourists here.
14:50It's a local area.
15:07We have come to Galata Tower.
15:09This used to be the highest watchtower of the city.
15:12It was used to watch over the enemies.
15:14This used to be the highest watchtower of the city.
15:16It was used to watch over the enemies if there was an attack in the city.
15:20We are going to have some tea here.
15:22We are not going to the top. It's already closed.
15:24I have already visited Istanbul a couple of times.
15:27The shots from the top are quite good.
15:29I will show you the drone shots.
15:31If you come here, you must visit this place.
15:45TURKEY
15:58I have just arrived at the Camlica Mosque.
16:01It's the largest mosque in Turkey.
16:03It's on the Asian side of Istanbul.
16:05It was designed by two women here.
16:08The design is inspired by Sinan, the architect.
16:12They have tried to make some changes to the design.
16:17They have taken inspiration from the Danish-Scandinavian architect.
16:21The mosque has been under construction for almost 20 years.
16:24It was inaugurated last year, in March 2019.
16:27The mosque is beautiful from the inside.
16:30Even though the design has been copied from the Ottoman style mosques.
16:35But because the dome is the highest,
16:38you get a different feel.
16:40Although it looks similar,
16:42you will still feel like you are in a different mosque.
16:4563,000 people can pray here at one time.
16:49The marble used here is of high quality.
16:52You can tell just by looking at it.
16:54If you come to Istanbul, you must visit this place.
16:56Even though it's quite far from other tourist attractions.
17:11Rumeli Ansari Castle
17:21We have just arrived at Rumeli Ansari Castle,
17:23which is a bit far from other tourist attractions in Istanbul.
17:26It took us almost 40 minutes to get here by taxi.
17:28But since the history of this place is quite important,
17:30I thought why not visit it.
17:32Let me tell you about its history.
17:34When Mehmet the Conqueror came here,
17:36his plan was to stop the food supply of Constantinople.
17:39He built a castle on one side,
17:41which is Rumeli Ansari.
17:43And on the other side,
17:45he built some watchtowers or castles of Bosporus.
17:48He put up some chains in the middle.
17:50So whenever a ship came for Constantinople,
17:52they would pick up the chain and not let it pass.
17:54This is how he stopped the food supply.
18:10Rumeli Ansari Castle
18:18We have just arrived at Ayub Ansari Mosque.
18:21In the name of Ayub Ansari,
18:23when he attacked Constantinople with Umayyad Caliph,
18:26he was martyred here.
18:29When Sultan Mehmet conquered Constantinople,
18:33no one knew where his grave was.
18:35His master found his grave
18:37and built a complex here.
18:39There is a mosque here.
18:41Another interesting thing is that
18:43there are a lot of graves in the graveyard.
18:45And they have different shapes on them.
18:47The turbans are shaped like this.
18:50It indicates the tribe or family of the grave.
19:08Taksim Square
19:12We are at Taksim Square,
19:14which is the heart of Istanbul.
19:16All the activities start from here.
19:19But our activities end here.
19:22Because we are starving.
19:24We are here to eat.
19:26The restaurant we are at is called Karachi Darbar.
19:28I have heard a lot about it.
19:30Fahad is a regular customer here.
19:32So I thought let's eat here.
19:34I have ordered biryani for myself.
19:36And Fahad has ordered nihari for himself.
19:38So let's enjoy this.
19:40And then I will give you an honest review.
19:42But before that, I have ordered some fritters.
19:44I have finished them all.
19:46Only one is left.
19:48Karachi Darbar
20:04I think the best food here in Istanbul
20:08is Karachi Darbar.
20:10There is also India Gate.
20:12But I always come to Karachi Darbar.
20:14I was doing arithmetic here.
20:16So I always bring my students here.
20:20We are saying thank you to Fahad.
20:22Because of him, we are here.
20:24And I think I have not eaten
20:26such good food anywhere
20:28except in Pakistan and Europe.
20:30So if you come here,
20:32you can try it.
20:34Hopefully you will like it too.
20:36And I was thinking if the food is so good,
20:38let's say thank you to the cook.
20:40I was taking the name of the cook,
20:42and he came.
20:44The food was really good.
20:46Thank you so much.
20:48We should be thanking you.
20:50You fed us.
20:52Now we will have our tea
20:54and then leave for home.
21:04I have been exploring Istanbul
21:06for the last 3-4 days.
21:08Hopefully you would have
21:10got a lot of information in this vlog.
21:12I think Istanbul is a very beautiful city.
21:14If you get a chance,
21:16do visit Istanbul.
21:18Hopefully you would have liked this vlog.
21:20Before ending this vlog,
21:22I have a request.
21:24I didn't know Fahad at all
21:26before this vlog.
21:28He sent me a simple DM
21:30and I replied to it.
21:32He helped me a lot
21:34in making this vlog.
21:36So I request you to check out his channel.
21:38If you liked it,
21:40please like and subscribe to his channel.
21:42Thank you so much for watching.
21:44See you in the next one.
21:46Allah Hafiz.