Went on a beautiful hike around Sariyer Saturday. The weather has been staying very nice. It’s cool and a bit overcast with some sprinkles here and there. Makes for a bit dark pictures but feels great!
My roommate, Donatas, came with me so we got adventurous and went off the beaten path. Had to turn back one time because we some how ended up in someones backyard. It was really nice getting off the road though. The flowers were beautiful. The view of the Bosphorous was breathtaking.
I’m really enjoying myself here and hope to share as much as I can of the natural beauty as well as the historical wonders.
This was one of the first open fields we came across after getting out of the
main thoroughfare. I wish camera’s could capture what the eye can. There
was a chain fence I was trying to avoid as well but you get the idea. The field
was lush with yellow flowers and it looked like a yellow fluffy sea that you
could float away in like sleeping on a cloud. It was so nice I had to capture it
the best I could in a picture and hold the memory in my mind.
This mosque kind of popped up out of nowhere as we
continued walking up the road away from town. It’s always
interesting seeing the modern blended with the ancient.
That is one of the things that makes Istanbulenchanting to me.
Just a little ways away from the mosque a group of birds started
flying overhead. I was trying to get a decent picture but the gloomy
sly was making it difficult. I wasn’t able to capture how large a
flock the birds really were. They were flying in and out of just this
one tree. I’ll have to get a close up of these birds. They are very different
than any back in the states. It’s almost like a grey winged black bird.
As we got closer to the top of the hill
this was the view of the Bosphorous
and you can see the mosque from
here as well. I do wish it was a bit less
cloudy. I’ll have to take this hike again
and get some better pictures.
As we were looking at the map to decide the best route around
the city, we came across an off road path that actually showed
up on the iPhone map. It looked like it connected somewhere
good so we decided to go off-road. Don’t worry! If I were alone
I would not have gone this way. There were some homeless
people but mostly women and they didn’t bother us.
There were so many beautiful field flowers…..
….and tree flowers…..
…..so many beautiful views from up on the hill (there are seven hills that Istanbul is build on by the way).
Our starting spot is the red pin at Yenimahalle. We walked along the yellow line mostly but went off road well before the brown line and cut across the brown line walking towards the Bosphorous. As we neared this place on the map (blue triangle pointing in the direction we are walking), we ended up in someones backyard (end of the brown line). OOPS! We back tracked on the brown trail and figured out we were off by one road.
This was the view of the Bosphorous and Asian side of Istanbul from over the barn roof in someones backyard. A man came up to us, speaking no English, and tried to help us find our way back.
We came across this cool creature on the trail to our destination. I tried to find what it’s actually called but couldn’t figure it out. When I pushed its head with a stick (I was gentle) it didn’t curl up or run. It actually pushed back, lol! Tough little bugger! And SO colorful!
Next we came across a sort of switch back area
that took us down the hill and into an lusher
area with running water. We saw this view just
before we turned into the switchback area that
became dense with vegetation.
Mostly everything was green along the trail.
The green and green and more green made
these red berries really stand out. There were
people along the trail picking things and relaxing.
It was nice to see so many communing
with nature!
It’s a bit tough to see but there is a creek here (you can double click the picture to enlarge it then click back on your browser to return to this post). The running water sounds so relaxing amongst the lush surroundings of the forest. We could see imprints of the cattle that walk along here and these white flowers. We kept following it and ended up in a neighborhood, which was another interesting site to see.
The neighborhood started out quite ramshackled.
There is this spot here you can see the divide between
the ramshackled area and the developed area. It was
a stark contrast. It looks like it’s all being improved
and developed though. There was lots of construction.
When we reached the end of the street we
were back at the Bosphorous and in a little
village that was busy with restaurants and
traffic. I really like this view of the old
fortress across on the Asian side.
We stopped at one of the restaurants for some
Turkish coffee on our way back to our little village
and caught this view of the new bridge being built
that will connect the European side of Istanbul to
the Asian side.
All in all, it took us about 3 hours. It was so fun exploring and seeing things from
a different point of view. Yes there are many touristy tours I could go on, many
restaurants to try all kinds of Turkish food in, but nothing beats Mother Nature!
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