MyEXPI: Adventurous maghrib in Amasra, Bartin Turkey

Headline: Mevlana Exchange Student IIUM-Karabük Üniversitesi Türkiye 2018

Topic: My friends indeed

Happen at: Amasra Bartin, Turkey

Happen in: 22nd September 2018

Written on: 23rd September 2018

Yesterday, 22nd September 2018, we went to Amasra Bartin Karabük for a short but meaningful trip together (with other almost 20 representative students from 7-8 countries in world).

Only Allah knows what will happen 10 minutes after this moment at that time. At 7:00pm, we went downstairs heading to the nearby mosque.

Luckily I not ordered the expensive waffle; the price is 12₺ (in our country Malaysia, we can get it only with RM2-RM7). At first, I didn’t know that there’s hazelnut filling in the waffle but it has!

[The unexpected story begins] Along the way going to the mosque, suddenly my throat felt itchy. It’s affect my respiratory system so it hurts me to breathe. Not only that, almost all parts of my body were itching and swollen. My face and arm swelled. I told Ilham that my allergy is really serious (it’s at the end stage of health which is level 4 because I remembered what doctor have said to me; if the allergy affect respiratory system, that’s the last stage and I have to take serious action).

MyIstanbul2018: Küçük Aya Sofya

Headline: Hash Anne Takes Turkiye

Topic: Short information about Little Aya Sofya

Source: (turkeytravelplanner.com, 2018)

Updating date: 8th November 2018M

Assalamualaikum wbt, today I would like to share about 'Mini Aya Sofya'. Basically, it is a mosque located about 200 metres from Hippodrome. 

From Sultanahmet square, we walked 15-20 minutes to arrived this mosque.

This is the view from outside of the mosque

Istanbul's Little Hagia Sophia Mosque (Küçük Ayasofya Camii), a 10-minute walk downhill southwest from the Sultanahmet (Blue) Mosque (map), was built in the 530s as the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian and his wife Theodora. 

Being of the same architectural period, and with a broad dome, it looked like a study for Justinian's great Church of Hagia Sophia, hence its name, which it seems to have taken when it was converted to a mosque around the year 1500. 

Extensive restoration work—interior, exterior and structural—was completed in November 2007 so the sense of noble desuetude that possessed it for so many decades is gone.

Both exterior and interior look virtually brand-new, with smooth plaster and fresh paint. The Ottoman-style decoration inside is pleasant for a mosque, but bears no resemblance to what the building looked like in Byzantine times when gold mosaics gilmmered in the dome and colored marble glowed on the walls.

Some beautiful 6th-century decorative elements remain, however. Note the irregular octagonal floor plan, and the beautiful red- and green-marble breccia columns topped by intricately-carved Byzantine marble capitals. Above the capitals, a band of marble with Greek letters in relief offers evidence of the building's first use.

To find the mosque, walk behind the Blue Mosque to its east side, through the Arasta Bazaar, and continue straight down the hill on Küçük Ayasofya Camii Sokak (map), which goes right to the mosque. You'll see its characteristic flattish dome rising at the base of the hill.

Küçük Ayasofya Camii is a working mosque, so there is no admission fee (though donations are accepted), and the usual rules of etiquette for visiting mosques apply.

Masya Allah see the unique design!

The lamp so fastinating!

Reading area of the mosque!

The look from the reading area heheh!

A girl who wishes to have beautiful heart, pray for her heheh!

Woww, actually we arrived in the mosque at 3pm which is Dzhur prayer time. We have some rest before continuing our explorance around Istanbul.

This is prayer side for women.

The pillars of this little Aya Sofya.

I love the architecture!

This is just reminders for visitors.

Thanks for reading! Hopefully this sharing will benefit you and me. Please pray the best for me, my family members, all my teachers, and friends. Assalamualaikum dear beloved visitors.

MyIstanbul2018: Basilica müzesi

Headline: Hash Anne takes Türkiye

Topic: Basilica cisterns of Istanbul

1. Article by Quil tripping website :

A walk through the underground space of the Basilica Cistern is an opportunity to physically experience a world that existed 1500 years ago.

Twice the size of an American football field, the Basilica Cistern was built in the 6th century AD by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian. An orderly forest of 336 marble columns that are 30 ft high, support an extensive barrel vaulted ceiling. The cistern was built to provide water to the palace and the surrounding buildings, with the source of the water coming from the nearby Belgrade Forest through a system of aqueducts.

During Ottoman rule, the cistern fell into disuse, and eventually, its existence was forgotten. Fortunately for us, it was rediscovered in the 16th century by Dutch historian P. Gyllius. After locals told him how they were able to pull up buckets of water, and even fish, through holes in the floors of their houses, he went in search of this mysterious source, and found it. After publishing his travelogue, the cistern became an early draw for tourists to the city, and now, continues to be a very popular tourist attraction.

Even though the cistern can hold as much as 27 million gallons of water, the water depth today is normally only a few feet. The space is atmospherically lit so that you can see the high vaulted ceiling and also promotes a beautiful reflection of the many symmetric rows of columns. Unlike the early days when visitors had to use a rowboat to access the site, a series of wooden boardwalks makes it easy to walk around and explore the whole space.

The Basilica cistern is across the street from the Hagia Sofia and is part of the UNESCO designated Historic Areas of Istanbul.

2. The second article from this website :

Upon further investigation, he rediscovered a subterranean marvel, the largest of the long-forgotten palatial cisterns of the Byzantine Empire. Fish swam in an artificial freshwater lake the size of two football fields and the vaulted brick ceilings were held up by 336 thirty-foot pillars scavenged from nearby Roman ruins.

Amazingly preserved despite centuries of conflict and siege, the cistern was built in 532 AD by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I to store fresh water for the palace and nearby buildings. Nicknamed Yearbatan Sarayi, or “The Sunken Palace” in Turkish, it is known in English as the “Basilica Cistern” because of its location on the site of an ancient basilica. 

When Justinian undertook the building of the cistern, Constantinople was still in the shadow of the devastating Nika Revolt which took place in January of that year. The Byzantine equivalent of soccer riots gone massively out of control, the revolt took place in the wake of a hotly contested chariot race and culminated in the burning of much of the imperial city, and the killing of 30,000 rioters by Justinian’s troops. The cisterns were built as part of the rebuilding efforts in the aftermath. 

In the past, visitors could rent a rowboat to float past the columns in the dripping gloom. Restorations in the late 1980s dredged the silted-in floor and added lighting, elevated walkways, and a cafe for visitors. There are still fish in the now-shallow water, helping to keep the water clear. 

The two giant Gorgon-head pillar bases at the far end of the cistern are an intriguing mystery. It is suspected that they may have been pulled out of an older pagan temple, where motifs of the famous Gorgon Medusa were used as a protective emblem. It is possible that the placement of these two faces — upside down and sideways, at the base of pillars — may have been a deliberate display of the power of the new Christian Empire. Or it’s possible that the stones were just the right size.

MyIstanbul2018: Hippodrome

Headline: Mevlana Exchange Program IIU Malaysia-Karabük Üniversitesi 2018
Update time: 15th November 2018

MyIstanbul2018: Aya Sofya

Will update later with explanation

Headline: Mevlana Exchange Program IIUM-KBÜ University, Türkiye 2018/2019

Tarikh pergi: 10 Eylül 2018 (Luruh)

Tarikh menulis: 11 September 2018

Assalamualaikum ve merhaba!

How to go Hağia Sophia

MyIstanbul2018: Eyub

Headline: Mevlana Exchange Program IIUM-Karabük University, Türkiye 2018/2019

Tarikh pergi: 9 September 2018

Tarikh menulis: 10 September 2018

Dari rumah sewa yang terletak di Ferah Mah, kami jalan kaki menuju ke tempat stesen bas, untuk naik bus no 11Y ke Üsküdar.

Ni oreo dan air mineral versi Turki berharga 3,55tl. Btw kan, gelak cashier berwarganegara Turki tu tengok kitorang blur dia sebut harga, kami takfaham).

Aku, Ilham, bersama tiga lagi kawan dari UKM Bangi; Mujahidah, Ashikin, dan Najwa, sempat singgah di masjid berdekatan untuk menunaikan fardu Zohor.

Lepas solat, kami naik bus 11Y ke Üsküdar. Darı Üskudar, kami naik ferry Haliç (baca: Harlij) ke stesen paling hujung iaitu Eyub.

Kalau nak tahu, kami macam rusa masuk kampung😂 Hahah! Sebab orang lain biasa je naik Haliç tapi kami, terpegun macam apa dah haha! Memang lawak tapi sebab di negara orang jadi kami takkesah hehe! Lepastu, lama-lama rasa bosan juga sebab penat nak tunggu sampai ke stesen hujung di Eyub.

Info: Haliç adalah feri. Kalau macam kat Malaysia, macam feri atau bot besar lah. Untuk nak naik Haliç, boleh guna Istanbulkart yang mana credit akan ditolak dari kad itu sahaja. Rasanya lebih kurang 2TL ke bawah sahaja.

Tiba sahaja di stesen terakhir Haliç, kami terus jalan kaki lintas jalan semua menuju ke makam Abu Ayyub al Ansari (sahabat nabi yang paling lama hidup if im not mistaken).

Ramailah orang berdoa, baca alQuran di sekeliling atau dalam makam sahabat Nabi ni. Subhanallah!

Sejarah Abu Ayyub al Ansari dari apa yang Kak Teh cerita: dia sahabat nabi yang cuba buka Constantinople (old Istanbul). Tapi tak berjaya sebab dia syahid dalam perang. Sebelum itu, dia ada bagitahu tentera untuk meletakkan jasadnya di kawasan Konstantinople setelah wafatnya Ayyub ni.

Yang lagi menarik, kak Teh cerita: setelah wafatnya sahabat nabi ini, sewaktu sultan Muhammad Fatih lawat makamnya dan ingin menyentuh kakinya, kakinya mengelak. Pastu mestilah sultan Muhammad al Fatih sedih kan? Orang lain dapat pegang, dia takboleh. Rupanya, orang ramai cakap, Ayyub ni malu dengan orang yang akan membuka Konstantinopel ni. 

Sempat jugalah kami ikut para pelancong/ orang-orang Turki ni minum air bukit/mineral dari pokok tempat sahabat Nabi; Ayyub al Ansari dimandikan. 

Mengikut daripada apa yang Kak Teh cerita: pokok ni masih berdiri dari zaman Ayyub al Ansari hidup lagi. Allahuakbar! 

Lepas melawat makan Ayyub al Ansari, kami ingin lawat makam Ahmad Ammar; beliau orang Malezya yang dikuburkan di sebelah kawasan makam Ayyub al Ansari. 

P/s: Tapi bukan memang betul sebelah makam sahabat nabi tau! Sebab memang takde kalau betul-betul sebelah. Kami dah tanya abang dan kakak polis yang jaga kawasan makam tu, dan mereka kata tiada. 

Sedih jugalah sebab misi cari dan ziarah makam Ahmad Ammar gagal😢 sebab cari dari lepas Asar sampai nak dekat Maghrib takjumpa! Gigih tengok gambar, mengecam tempat kawasan kubur beliau, tanya orang takkenal yang pernah pergi makam beliau di Instagram. Bila difikir balik, memang lawak pun😂 Macam orang gila, nak dekat-dekat Maghrib... berkeliaran kawasan kubur orang Turki sebab nak cari makam orang yang meninggal beberapa tahun lepas.

Tapi, kami rasa ada di kawasan situ juga cuma takjumpa gaisss😭 Tiada rezeki, mungkin ada hikmah! Inshaa Allah.

Btw, nasihat untuk yang ada hajat atau keinginan melawat kubur beliau, bolehlah cari landmark ini:

1. Kawasan kubur sahabat Nabi, Ayyub.
2. Lampu isyarat
3. Berdekatan dengan kawasan laut
4. Di kawasan kubur beliau ada kubur yang dikelilingi dengan pagar kayu, tapi kubur beliau batu nisan putih versi Turki yang ada bendera Malaysia Turki.
5. Sebelah kubur Güner Ailesi

Nampak tak betapanya gigihnya kami mencari tapi Allah tak izinkan melawat makam beliau lagi. Hmm, inshaa Allah adalah tu hikmahnya.

Lepas dah give up cari kubur beliau sebab nak dekat Maghrib dah, kami sempat gunakan peluang untuk naik Telefelik (kalau macam di Malaysia, cable car laa). 

Cara nak naik telefelik? Senang je.

1. Beratur panjang dalam 30-50 minit sebab lama dan ramai betul orang nak naik.
2. Istanbulkart (paling best sebab Teleferik ni termasuk dalam pengangkutan di Turki juga)
3. Sediakan kredit dalam Istanbulkart minima 2.60 TL (naik) dan 2.60TL (turun)

Sampai di atas, ramai betul orang. Kita boleh menikmati pemandangan hampir seluruh Istanbul dan duduk bersantai. Masya Allah!

Kami singgah sekejap sahaja dalam 30 minit je. Lepas siap solat Maghrib dan waktu Isyak kami bergerak balik.

Cerita dia waktu balik, Haliç tutup😂 Astaghfirullah. Haha! Maka, terpaksalah kami naik bus. Masa tu dah dekat pukul 10pm jam Istanbul. Naik bas, salah bas pula. Dah sesat! Takpe, rileks! Hikmah sesatkan adalah untuk jalan. Nasib baik sesat! Kalau tak, mesti tak jalan-jalan kawasan Istanbul bahagian Eropah. Walaupun agak berdebar, tapi sikit je. Berdebar sebab rumah kami terletak di kawasan bahagian Asia tapi dah malam, kami masih di bahagian Eropah.

Alhamdulillah, kami selamat sampai di rumah sewa setelah sejam merasai sesat haha! Macam mana? Naik Uber. Sebanyak 54.16 TL satu trip, jadi kami bahagi untuk 5 orang. Info: sebenarnya Uber tidak digalakkan di Turki dan kena banned sebab nanti tiada orang yang naik Teksi.

Wallahu a’lam! Yang buruk daripada kelemahan Izzati sendiri, dan yang baik daripada Allah. 

Semoga pengalaman ini menjadi manfaat untuk awak dan saya❤️ Tolong doakan saya, para ahli keluarga, dan rakan-rakan saya supaya dimurahkan rezeki dan cemerlang dunia akhirat, aamiin Inshaa Allah! Assalamualaikum wbt.