Table of Contents
What began with an unfortunate accident in October 2019, quickly turned into one of our most cherished travel experiences. Turkey, does and will always remain very close to our hearts. As our plane soared away from Turkey’s enchanting embrace, we felt rich — not with experiences of places ‘visited’, but with tales of a journey truly ‘lived’. Sometimes, a broken foot can mend a spirit, teaching you to dance to life’s unexpected tunes.
2 weeks before we were scheduled to fly to Istanbul, Ashwini met with an accident that left her with a fractured foot in a cast. We were worried if Oman Air would let us fly. Airlines are extremely vary of complications due to a fracture. We needed a wheelchair and Oman Air was very clear what they needed to let us fly.
Apart from a brief delay at Muscat during our connecting flight, the journey was uneventful, especially with me wheeling Ashwini around the vibrant duty-free shops at the airport
The flights were tough for Ashwini; Mumbai -> Muscat was a large body aircraft and we had two seats together by the window, but that was just 2.5 hours. The Muscat -> Istanbul flight was a smaller aircraft and we were stuck with a middle and an aisle with cramped legroom. 5 hours of that. We ditched our idea to take a bus / train from the airport to our hostel and took a cab.
Where we stayed
Nobel Hostel had the right balance between comfort and affordability. We chose to stay here for it’s location – right in the heart of Sultanahmet, with all the attractions at a “walkable” distance. This, along with friendly staff and cheese heavy breakfasts made up for the 2 flights of stairs that Ashwini had to climb 2-3 times every day.
Getting around Istanbul
The next challenge was getting around the city without adding stress to Ashwini’s broken foot. We decided to look for a wheelchair and we found a place very close to our hostel that had a decent deal. But it wasn’t as easy or as quick as walking. Cobblestoned paths and up and down the old city roads made it hard to push; the wheels getting stuck in-the ridges. Ashwini had to get down and try to hop her way through at times.
So we took it slow. We couldn’t afford to be in a hurry – that helped us absorb everything we saw. We stopped at every cafe / restaurant we passed, to get a breather and it always turned into grabbing a bite to eat.
The public transport system of buses, trams, metro and ferries were extremely accessible for someone on a wheelchair. We could trust the system and focus on the places we wanted to see.
Our Itinerary
Amidst all the chaos we found ourselves falling in love with the city of Istanbul and the best way to explore it – slow travel.
Day 1: The Blue Mosque & Sunset Cruise on the Bosphorus
We hadn’t done a whole deal of planning so first up was the Blue Mosque which is probably the most prominent structure on Sultanahmet Square. On the way back, we stopped by a restaurant for some tea and got sold on a sunset cruise which wasn’t too far out of budget.
Day 2: Hagia Sophia, Taksim and Dinner by the Bosphorus
Ashwini being on a wheelchair had it’s perks, we had a separate queue for the tickets and entry into Hagia Sophia, which meant we could spend more time looking at the layered history of the monument.
Day 3: Kuzgunchuk, Beylerbeyi, Buyuk Camlica Tapesi & Dinner at Roof Mezze 360
Having spent a while in the European side of Istanbul, we decided to explore the Asia side of the city. We hopped on a ferry to the Asian side and jumped on a bus to Kuzgunchuk – a really quiet low key neighbourhood with colourful shops and houses in every street.
From Kuzgunchuk we took a bus to Beylerbeyi Palace – a well maintained monument with views of the Bosphorus bridge and strait. We accidentally stumbled on to Buyuk Camlica Tepesi with it’s amazing view of the Bosphorus, when searching for a nearby view point that had not yet been opened to the public. We capped off the day with a dinner at Roof Mezze 360 – a rooftop restaurant with views of the Sulemaniye and the Bosphorus.
The following panoramas are just a fraction of the actual views you can get from these spots.
Day 4: Ciya Sofrasi, Moda, & Galatta Tower
A few weeks before our trip to Turkey, we’d heard about Ciya from a Netflix series “Chef’s Table”. Ciya Sofrasi is a vegetarian’s haven. Having lived off of arrabiatas, feta and bread for the past few days, this was something we wanted to savour soon. Our day 4 started off with a ferry to Kadikoy on the Asia side.
It’s days like these that restore faith in humanity. We met a couple while waiting for a tram, after lunch at Ciya. We’d heard about Moda but weren’t sure how to get there. They dropped everything they had and joined us, leading the way. After tea, they took us back to the European side of the city – to Galatta Tower and then dropped us back at our hostel. When we look back, the weariness from going around in a wheelchair, in quite hot conditions had left us exhausted. More than taking us around, their company was the catalyst that helped us get through that day. When we reached out hostel, we couldn’t believe what we had just received – a selfless good deed.
Day 5: Grand Bazaar, Sulemaniye & Off to Capadocia
Both these locations were just a tram ride away from Sultanahmet. Though Sulemaniye was a decent walk from the Grand Bazaar.
Day 6 & 7: Capadocia Sightseeing
The lack of public transport, forced us to rely on tour companies for our sightseeing. Though Ashwini was out of the wheelchair, she couldn’t climb or hike. We kept sightseeing to a minimum and focused more on relaxing. It didn’t help that the hot air balloon rides were cancelled on both days due to windy conditions. We stayed in Goreme and enjoyed a peaceful couple of days.
Day 8: Back to Istanbul & a relaxing afternoon in Balat
Balat was just a bus ride away from Sultanahmet, though we did have to walk a bit. There were colourful decorations, houses and cafes in every alleyway and extremely cute establishments. We did not want to keep the camera down.
Day 9: Basilica Cistern & Adieu
Our last day in Istanbul greeted us with cold weather and windy conditions. We had exactly one item left in our list and that was the Basilica cistern.
Tips for an enjoyable trip
- Slow down your trip – Don’t cram too much into a day. Keep a couple of attractions and react to the surroundings rather than going in with a strict plan.
- Use public transport – Trams, Metros and Ferries in Istanbul are all good to use. You have lifts for the underground metro and the ferries provide a ramp to slide into.
- Get the Istanbul Kart – a single pre-paid card for all public transport in Istanbul. You can top it up at multiple locations and you get discounted prices compared to buying a ticket for each trip.
- Look for experiences that don’t need you to be extremely active – For example we found that a simple boat ride on the Bosphorous costs around 20 euros. It is amazing to do at sunset.
- Ask for help – Most people will understand your situation and try to help you out with directions. Ask for recommendations at your hostel as well.
- Do things you won’t be able to do back home – We had dinner near the Bosphorous and it still ranks as one of our favourite experiences. It wasn’t specifically recommended – we happened to cross it by chance and it turned out be amazing. Cost us nothing more than the price of the food.
- Do day trips where there’s no public transport – Cappadocia was always going to be hard. So we took day trips so that a guide was able to take care of us, while we enjoyed our time.
- If you are traveling solo, stay in hostels – choose one close to the places you are interested in seeing (Sultanahmet?) so you don’t waste a lot of time in travel and beat the crowds. Even if you are traveling as a couple and location is the priority, hostels can keep you under budget.
Best time to Go
We chose to go in autumn and the weather was just perfect. The period from late summer to early autumn would be the right time to go considering it gets occasionally pretty cold, windy and rainy in autumn.
Summers are good and reliable, but can be hot, expensive and crowded. Istanbul being a coastal town has a more temperate and manageable conditions whereas Capadocia gets pretty cold during the evenings and nights.