We’re almost at the end of YQrtw Europe edition. My last stop in the continent is Turkey and I will head to South America afterwards.
Credit: Brooklyn Museum
I’m glad that Airtreks suggested I add Istanbul as a stop because I didn’t realize how wonderful the country is. Just the photo of Hagia Sophia (picture above) has convinced me to see Istanbul.
Mom will be joining me in Istanbul so that makes it even more exciting. My mom’s never been out of Asia before and it’ll be quite a culture shock to send her straight from Malaysia to Turkey.
While mom’s quite open to adventure, she has told me that the hamam (Turkish bath) is a big NO. I replied, “But mom, you’ve went to the onsen in Japan before.” Turns out, for mom, not wearing anything in a public bath is still ok but getting scrubbed by another person is not.
Aside from Istanbul, we will head to Cappadocia for the cave hotels. I want to bring mom to take a hot air balloon ride. The recent hot air balloon crash has made my father nervous about the rides but he doesn’t have to know if we don’t tell. ;)
More reading about Istanbul
Istanbul has suddenly become more popular in my feeds from travel bloggers. Here’s a list of some fun read about Istanbul.
Liz from Young Adventuress has a series of posts about her trip to Istanbul. Check them out, especially the one about Turkish bath, because she’s hilarious.
Steve tells his story about queuing to get into Hagia Sophia. (Thanks for the tip about the museum pass.)
YQtravelling 
haha I’m glad you enjoyed my getting naked in Istanbul post <3
Hello Liz, thanks for dropping by. I love your blog. :)
I want to be squeaky clean… the bath sounds great to me.
Come join me in Turkey! Or we can go to Korea for something similar to the scrubbing.
Thank you for reposting my thread. Much appreciated!