住宿心得:Review of Istanbul Green House Taksim

其实当我在寻找伊斯坦堡的落脚处时，我的意愿都是住在Sultanahmet旧城区。但，后来买了早上6点出发到Dalaman Airport的航班，我便决定住在Taksim新城区。原因很简单，因为最容易抵达Sabiha Gocek Airport的方法是乘坐Havatas公司的机场巴士。Havatas机场巴士在欧洲区的最后drop off point是在Taksim，我们30号下午3点抵达宿舍，第二天又要搭早上4点半的巴士去机场，如果住在旧城区就很不方便了。

My initial plan for accommodation is to stay in Sultanahmet area throughout our stay in Istanbul, but since we booked the 6am flight to Dalaman Airport, we need to stay in Taksim area. This is because the easiest way to reach Sabiha Gocek Airport is by taking the Havatas Shuttle Bus. Taksim is the final drop off point in Europe side of Istanbul, therefore it is very inconvenience for us to stay in Sultanahmet area as we need to take the 430am bus to airport. 

可以在一下网站查询Havatas机场巴士的时间表

You can check the airport shuttle bus schedule at HERE.

最后我通过agoda预定了Istanbul Green House Taksim的6 female dorm room，一个人一晚才大约RM52（不含早餐），对我来说是蛮便宜的价格。

I book the room at Istanbul Green House Taksim through Agoda, and the hostel rate was RM52(without breakfast) per person for a 6 female dorm room. 

Green House Istanbul Taksim的官网如下

Official website of Green House Istanbul Taksim：HERE

他家的地图只可以用“简单明了”四个字来形容，
超级容易就找到宿舍了。

Map provided in their website.
Is very easy for us to locate the hostel.

这家宿舍的位置很方便（超级方便！），距离Havatas drop off point只有5-8分钟脚程，距离Taksim Square和独立大街则是10分钟脚程，只不过需要经过一个大斜坡（不到100米）才可以走到大街。后来我发现我之前的second choice宿舍：Bunk@Taksim就和Green House在同一条街上。

The location is SUPERB! It is only 5-8 minutes walking distance from Havatas drop off point and 10 minutes walking distance from Taksim Square and Istiklal Avenue. 

我觉得这家宿舍的员工都很热心。出发前，Talat很有耐心的解答我的每一个问题；抵达后，他们以最快的速度完成check in的手续，为我们推荐行程，还有帮我们扛行李上房间。他们的reception是24小时开着的，所以凌晨checkout，没问题的啦！

The staffs here are helpful. Talat is very patience in attending my question through FB messenger before my arrival, and they helped us to carry the big luggage to our room. They have a 24 hour reception, a good news for us that need to check out at 4am.  

宿舍外观

Exterior of hostel(picture from Google)

交谊厅

Lobby/ common area

伊斯坦堡宿舍的阶梯就是这么小和斜，完全是步步惊心。

Staircases in all the hostels of Istanbul are small and steep

There is no elevator to success, you have to take stairs.

我们的6人女生房就在第三楼。打开门，房间不大，左右两边可以摆下三张上下铺，中间有一张小凳子。门的左边，有个冲凉房，厕所和洗脸盆则在房间外。房间的尾端就是一个阳台，超赞的啦！另外，每一张床都有一个locker，最喜欢的有curtain，让你有点个人隐私空间。房里和交谊厅都有wifi，只是网速还好。

Our 6 female dorm is located at third floor. There is 3 bunk beds inside the room, with one small sofa chair at the centre of the room. Attached bathroom is on the left side of our entrance, while toilet and basin is outside of the dorm. There is a balcony at the end of our room. Every bed have their own locker, and complimentary curtain for added privacy.

官网上的房照，摆设并没有多大的差别，

只是实际上可以看出房间有一定的年龄了。

Pic from official website.

我们4个人的行李一放进去就占满了整个空间。

很喜欢房间的采光，很明亮。

The room was fully occupied by our luggage. *shy*

阳台望出去的街景

Street view from the balcony

我的床位
有3个插头，和一个小板块让我放东西
My bed.
Have 3 plugs to charge my electronic devices
and a small board to place my stuffs.
 

房里的浴室，有热水。

因为没有干湿分离，衣服好容易被弄湿。

Bathroom in the room is small.

The clothes will get wet easily.

 Hot water is available.

房外的洗漱空间，左边就是厕所。

洗漱空间使用了感应灯，so你要一边跳舞一边刷牙，
不然你就在黑暗之中了。

Restroom is located at outside of the dorm.

Make sure you are dancing while brushing your teeth as 

they are using electronic senor light.

干净的厕所

Clean restroom

这就是我在土耳其第一夜的住宿。
想知道住在新城区和旧城区的好处与坏处？
想知道我下次会选择居住在哪里？
答案在下篇章揭晓。
So, that's all for my first hostel review in Turkey.
Pro and cons of staying in Taksim and Sultanhmet?
Where will Go!Mitty choose to stay during my next visit to Istanbul?

Will tell you the answer in my next post. *wink wink*

PS: All the hotel reviews in my blog are not sponsored, I just write out to share my experience. So, if you appreciate my review/s, please click on the adverts available on the top, so that I can have more income to travel and share all these wonderful experience with you. Tq. 

Plan for Turkey Trip 行程策划

警告：这是一篇冗长的博文

Warning: This is a long winding post

如果你有阅读我的土耳其行程博文，你就知道土耳其之旅对我来说是何等神圣的，而我有多么期待这趟旅程的。因此，我真的比平时更认真的去准备这趟旅程，明明就是个12天，4个地区的旅程，我偏偏花了几个月的时间一直重复看reviews，看travelogues来准备此行程。我真的很乐意和大家分享我这次旅行所看到的，和读到的资料，所以就花了一点时间准备今天这篇blogpost，希望可以帮到那些要到土耳其自助游的同学。

Hello all, for those who read my previous blog post, I believe you know how meaningful is this Turkey trip to me and how much I looking forward to this trip. It was just a 12 days trip that covered 4 areas(Fethiye, Pamukkale, Cappadocia and Istanbul), but I read the same reviews and travelogues for multiple times, even spent lots of time to search for tips and guides for the trip. I willing to share all the information I got for this trip with you all, that why I writing this post for those who planning for a Free&Easy trip to Turkey. 

行程编排篇 Plan for Itinerary

多看多阅读游记，马来西亚的游记很少，建议大家到蚂蜂窝去找找看。你看了游记后，就会发现，Istanbul和Cappadocia是各位一定要到的地方，Istanbul嘛，土耳其最大的城市，一定要看；Cappadocia嘛，还不是为了热气球。

其他景点则是有棉花堡的Pammukale，可以玩滑翔伞俯瞰死海的Fethiye，有最完整的古迹的Izmir，Mt Nemrut人头山的日出，地中海的沿岸城市Antalya，旋转舞的起源地Konya，有鄂图曼时期建筑的Safranbolu等等。

其实，我们可以把Izmir和Safranbolu挤入我们12天的行程，但考虑到会变成走马看花的旅程，我们就只是focus在那4个景点而已。

The best way to draft your itinerary is to read more on the travelogues written by others(just like you are reading mine now, hehe~). Based on my reading, I would conclude that Istanbul and Cappadocia are the cities that highly rated as must go by other travelers. Besides these 2 cities, others also recommends to visit Pammukale (Cotton Castle), Paraglide in Fethiye, Izmir (former Greek City), the beautiful Mediterranean coastline at Antalya, etc.

温馨提醒

1）建议你们可以把行程打印出来或是转换成PDF储存在电话里。

2）2016年的世博就在土耳其的Antalya，所以大家也许可以到此一游哦~

Travel tips

1) To print out or save a copy of your itinerary in PDF inside your phone/tablet.

2) Antalya is the host of World Expo 2016, so why not pay a visit to Antalya? 

交通篇Transportation

吉隆坡飞往伊斯坦堡的国际航空 International flight between KL and Istanbul

之前马航有直飞Istanbul，不过今年6月却取消了该航班，所以现在唯一有直飞Istanbul的航空只剩下土耳其航空。

我们是今年5月初买了Etihad航空机票，一个人RM2500，在Abu Dhabi转机。

KL-Abu Dhabi 8小时，Abu Dhabi-Istanbul 5小时。

其实我还蛮推荐大家乘搭中东航空如Qatar，Etihad和Emirates到土耳其的，价格便宜服务又好，这3家航空几乎每年都登上skytrax的10大Best Airline的龙虎榜。根据我所留意到的价钱，如果你临出发前的1年买机票的话，可以以RM1999入手（需要转机一趟）。

Currently, Turkish Airline is the only airline that fly directly from KL to Istanbul.

We bought the Etihad Airline ticket to Istanbul at RM2500 in May, well it wasn't the cheapest deal. Anyway, from what I noticed, you able to get a return ticket(need to transit once) at RM1999 if you got the ticket 1 year before departure. 

The flight duration between KL and Abu Dhabi is 8 hours and Abu Dhabi to Istanbul is 5 hours.

 座位安排 Seat arrangement ：2-4-2

 每个座位前都有个荧幕电视，左边有个USB port让你可以在飞行时为手机充电。

座位上也有耳机（需退还），枕头和棉被（可拿下飞机，我就拿了2个棉被）。

There is a TV screen, earphone, neck pillow, and blanket at each seat.

How good if they can give a pair of in-flight slippers. 

对于一个155cm的我来说，我有足够的leg room。 

Enough leg room for a 155cm shorty like me.

只有夜班机才有的包包。

Sleep tight pouch which is only available for night flights

眼罩，袜子，耳塞，套上就可以睡猪猪了。

还有牙膏和牙刷让你口气清新。

 It contains a pair of socks, eyes cover, ear plug, toothbrush and toothpaste. 

 餐点 Menu.

 飞机餐

In-flight meal

土耳其内陆航空 Domestic flights in Turkey

土耳其的面积很大，可是她的交通系统（尤其是巴士）很完善又方便，所以她也称为“巴士之国”。不过既然我只有短短的12天，又想在土耳其来个深度之旅，所以我决定花钱搭内陆航空！

我现在要很帅的说：小女真的超幸运的，买到了两张超级便宜，便宜过搭巴士的飞机票！

Istanbul-Fethiye，一个人才8欧元（单程），Goreme（Nevsehir Airport）-Istanbul，一个人单程才55里拉。便宜到笑~ 我是临出发前的两个月才买的机票哦~

所以啊，各位如果你们要穷游又想省时间，不妨得空到Turkish Airline，Anadolujet，Pengasus Airline，OnurAir和Atlasjet的网站走走看看，也许你会挖到宝哦！

Turkey is a big country with great public transportation system. Anyway, I able to get cheap domestic tickets for my trip. *Big applause for myself*.

Bought the Istanbul-Fethiye(Pegasus Airline) ticket at 8 Euro per person and Goreme(Nevsehir Airport)-Istanbul(Anadolujet) ticket at 55TL per person. CHEAP not?

Airlines that offers domestic flights in Turkey are Turkish Airline, Anadolujet, Pengasus Airline, OnurAir and Atlasjet

购买内陆机票时的注意事项

1）Istanbul有两个机场，一个在欧洲区的Ataturk Airport，一个是亚洲区的Sabiha Gocek Airport。多数的内陆机都起飞降落于Sabiha Gocek Airport。

2）Goreme也有两个机场，一个是Nevsehir Airport（距离Goreme 45分钟车程），一个是Kayseri Airport（距离Goreme 60分钟车程）。多数的内陆机都起飞降落于Kayseri Airport。

Gentle reminder

1) There are 2 airports in Istanbul: Ataturk Airport in the Europe side and Sabiha Gocek Airport at the Asia side. Fyi, most of the domestic flights based in Sabiha Gocek Airport. 

2) There are 2 airports in Goreme, Nevsehir(45 minutes form Goreme) and Kayseri Airport(60 minutes from Goreme). Most of the domestic flights take off from Kayseri Airport.

 我跟55里拉的飞机合照

Hello Anadolujet

 55里拉的飞机有飞机餐

Inflight meal for Anadolu jet

土耳其的巴士 Intercity Bus within Turkey

既然来到巴士之国，没有乘搭他们的巴士就很对不起此趟行程了。我们一共搭了两次巴士：Fethiye-Pammukale（4小时车程，30里拉），Pammukale到Goreme（10小时车程，55里拉）。

土国的夜巴真的一级棒，除了座位很宽，而且还有巴士少爷为你准备茶水和点心。

只是我们当时乘搭的夜巴开暖炉，热死我了啦·~

We were in one of the countries that offers the best bus service in world, so we took buses from Fethiye to Pammukale and night bus from Pammukale to Goreme. The seat in night bus is comfortable, besides that, bread and drinks are provided in the bus. 

注意事项

1）土国巴士超准时的！

2）一定要买到Goreme而不是Cappadocia的巴士票！

3）一定要买到Pammukale而不是Denizli的巴士票，记得问巴士公司有没有Complimentary Free Shuttle Bus从Denizli巴士总站载到Pammukale站。

Travel tips

1) Buses in Turkey departs on time!

2) Buy ticket to Goreme not Cappadocia!

3) Buy ticket to Pammukale not Denizle. Remember to ask the bus operator on whether they provide free shuttle bus from Denizli bus terminal to Pammukale station.

夜巴士上的茶水和点心

Light snack and drink in Metro night bus

住宿篇 Accommodation

这次我通过了不同的方法预定了我们此趟行程的住宿。

建议大家别单一使用一家third agent来预定完你所有的住宿，因为其他家的也许offer你更好的价钱哦。

我通过Agoda预定了Istanbul的V-go Guest House，Fethiye的V-go Guesthouse和Pammukale的Ozbay Hotel；通过Expedia预定了Cappadocia的Elif Star Cave Hotel；以及直接在Antique Hostel的官网预定了他家的住宿。房间价格我将会在hostel review告诉大家。

I used different booking websites to reserve stay throughout the trip, this all thanks to Hotelscombined.com that helps me to find and compare the cheapest deal for the hotels. Highly recommend you to use this as a guide to look for the cheapest rate for your favorite hotel.

注意事项：

1）一定要看好他们的Cancellation Policy，以及是先付款还是到了才付款给民宿哦。

2）在Istanbul，尽量住靠近Tram Station的酒店。个人觉得，住在Taksim的话比较方便找食物，住在Sultanahmet则容易抵达各大景点。

3）在Fethiye，喜欢海的话可以住Oludeniz或是Calis Beach，要方便的话就住市中心。

4）在Pamukkale，住在靠近棉花堡入口处的酒店吧。

5）在Cappadocia，一定要住在洞穴酒店！住在Goreme地区最方便。

Gentle reminder and travel tips

1) Must read the cancellation and payment policy before placing the booking as different agents have different policy.

2) For Istanbul, stay near to tram stations and I personally think that staying in Taksim have easier access to food while Sultanahmet area has closer access to main tourist spots.

3) For Fethiye, stay in town is convenient but if you love sea, stay in Calis or Oludeniz area.

4) Stay near to Cotton Castle Entrance in Pammukale

5) Staying in cave room is a must in Cappadocia, suggest to stay in Goreme. 

好啦，我觉得这是我可以和大家分享的主要事项。如果你们有兴趣知道更多的话，请到我的Facebook page留下脚印和问题吧，我一定尽力回答。

I think that's all from me, I hope this is useful for those who wish/ plan to visit Turkey. If you need any further information, just leave me a comment here or in my FB page, I will definitely try my best to answer your question. 

Itinerary Turkey Trip 土耳其行程

好久没有用中文发文了，这一次想破例，挑战自己用双语写下我的土耳其游记！
可不可以条件放宽一下，说是双语，可是最主要还是使用中文来记录我12天的行程。
Bello, today I going to challenge myself by writing my Turkey travelogue in bilingual, Chinese and English. Well, I means, this is my blog so I set the rules to Chinese will be the main language in writing these blog posts.

对很多马来西亚华人来说，欧洲，日韩，或是马尔代夫等是你们这一生必去的地方。
对我来说，土耳其却是我此生一定要拜访的地方。
欧洲文明，中日韩历史，马尔代夫的蓝天白云对我来说并没有很大的吸引力。
我反而喜欢土耳其，这个横跨欧亚两块土地的国家，有西方的罗马时期历史，也有东方的伊斯兰教的神秘。真正让我着迷的是，在台湾电视综艺节目上让我一见钟情的蓝色清真寺。
所以说得肤浅点，蓝色清真寺才是让我爱上土耳其的地方。
I would say, Europe, Japan/Korea or Maldives are the most common dream destinations for most of the Malaysian Chinese. But for a weirdo like me, Turkey is the place I named it as No 1 must go country in my life. Turkey is an unique country, it is the only country that split between the Asia and Europe side, and it is the great successor of 7 great civilizations. 
Well, the real reason I fall in love with Turkey is Blue Mosque. 

为什么会开启这段旅程？
故事很长，原本约了朋友A去土耳其，但她被香格里拉迷惑了。所以，我便约了我的BFF陪我去一趟土耳其。认识了10-20多年，这是我们的第一个旅程，也让意识到我有多幸运，我最好的BFF也是我的最佳旅伴。
I feel thankful to have my BFF as my travel partners for this trip. They are wonderful friends, wonderful travel partners, and we were traveling to one of the most wonderful country in the world, I would say it is awesome.

好啦，废话不多。以下是我的行程安排：
So this is my travel itinerary:

Day 1: 
Reach Ataturk Airport at 2pm and head to Taksim by Havatas Shuttle Bus. 
搭了13个小时的飞机加上3小时的转机，终于于中午2点抵达Ataturk机场，乘搭Havatas机场巴士到Taksim。大声呼唤：Merhabak Turkiye！

Day 2: Fly to Fethiye from Sabiha Gocek Airport by Pegasus Airline. Visited Karakoy and Calis Beach
乘搭早上6点的飞机（飞马航空）到Fethiye的Dalaman机场。参观了曾经有1万个人（不是鬼）的鬼城和拥有最美丽的日落的Calis海边。

Day 3: Jeep Safari Tour
私人吉普车之旅，参观了土耳其最大的峡谷，Saklikent Gorge。

Day 4: Paragliding at Oludeniz and take a 4 hours bus ride to Pammukale
到死海参与滑翔伞，乘搭中午的巴士到Pamukkale

Day 5: Visit Cotton Castle and Hierapolis Ruins, Take a 10 hours night bus to Goreme
参观棉花堡（虽然被破坏了，但是还是很美的地方）和山上的古城遗迹（熊熊说这里的古迹保存到很好）。搭乘夜巴到Goreme。

Day 6: Red line tour and Turkish Night Show
私人红线团和报名参加晚上的土耳其之夜。

Day 7: Hot air balloon ride and Green Line Tour. Try the Turkish Bath at night.
热气球之旅和绿线团（超级推荐，must do in Goreme！），晚上去洗个舒服的土耳其浴

Day 8: Fly to Istanbul by Anadolu jet. Head over to Sultanahmet area.
离开地球上的月亮（Cappadocia），飞到Istanbul

Day 9: Visit Topkapi Palace, Basilica Cistern and Hagia Sophia
参观了旧皇宫，地下水宫和圣舒菲娅博物馆

Day 10: Visit Blue Mosque, Prince's Island
终于和我的爱人：蓝色清真寺见面了。过后便到王子岛一日游。

Day 11: Grand Bazaar, Spice Bazaar and Yeni Mosque
这天完全是血拼日，到大巴扎和香料巴扎去扫货，小女顺便参观了耶尼清真寺

Day 12: Back to Malaysia.
伤心的一天，离开我的土国。

Goreme，地球上最像月球的地方。

美景配上浪漫的热气球，一个字，赞！

Hot Air Balloon at Goreme is one of the most scenic view in this world. 

 山上俯瞰这个Fethiye港口的美景。

Panoramic Fethiye Marina view from peak point.

美到无法形容的景色

#nocaption #nofilter 

我的爱人：蓝色清真寺

My beloved Blue Mosque

 圣舒菲娅博物馆，曾经她是个教堂也是个回教堂。

Hagis Sophia, she was a church and mosque, now, a museum.

Accommodations at Taipei

Today, I going to write a review on the homestay in Taipei where I spent my 3 days 2 nights at.
A lots of people will choose to stay in Xi Men Ding or Taipei Main Station during their vacation in Taipei, but hmm, Go!Mitty is a weird person, I was looking for a place that near to Eslite Dunnan Branch(誠品敦南店).  Why? I love to read, and that is the only 24 hour bookstore in Taipei, so, of course I won't miss the opportunity to grab some books from there.

There is not much choices of hostel in that area, some are shared bathroom(I went with my mother) or too expensive. At the end, I found a nice room through 自在客(something like our Airbnb in Taiwan). I sent a message to Elaine(the owner) through Line and she was kind and patience enough to assist me in the booking process. 

Click HERE for their website.

Facilities and Service

SIMPLE AND NICE!

Taipei Easy Home offers 3 types of houses: 白色满屋，绿野仙踪，简约乐活风 and we stayed in 白色满屋 as Elaine told me that the room is the biggest and comfortably fit for four of us. I like the room so much, because it is simple and clean. Wifi signal is strong and there is a washing machine in the bathroom and we happily washed our clothes upon arrival. 
Elaine is a kind lady, she actively message us to ensure we arrived safely and also gave suggestions on the nice places for sightseeing, hotspring and foods. She even allowed us to have late check out.

Location

SUPERB!

It located within the building right next to ZhongXiao FuXing subway(忠孝复兴站) exit 1. SOGO shopping mall is just opposite our home, my favourite Eslite bookstore is just 1 subway station away or 15 minutes walking distance), and the most convenient part is that the airport shuttle bus station is just 1 steps away from our home. Most tourists shop at Xi Men Ding but we actually found that lots of locals shopping at the stores around this area. 

So that all on my wordy review part, let explore this little heaven that I named it as my 温暖小窝 with pictures. 

This is what we saw once we opened the door.
A double bed and a sofa bed.
A sofa, water dispenser and the shelf that we can put our luggages at.
Out of my surprise that, there is a mini fridge. 

The space in front of our beds.

We still have space to walk around in the room

after we set up the sofa bed. Spacious enough!
Bathroom is located on the right side of TV.

Clean bathroom with dry wet separate shower area.

Heater, hair dryer and washing machine are provided.

So, Go!Mitty concluded that, the room worth every single penny you paid for it and I am planning for a solo trip to Taiwan and Taipei Easy Home is in my list if I going to revisit the city. 

PS: All the hotel reviews in my blog are not sponsored, I just write out to share my experience. So, if you appreciate my review/s, please click on the adverts available on the top, so that I can have more income to travel and share all these wonderful experience with you. Tq. 

Accomodation at Alishan

Hmm, I feel so paiseh to upload this post because I booked the hotel through my guide so I forgot to ask about the name of the guesthouse. And most embarrassing part is that, this is an overdue post, 1 year!! OMG! Need to rush all the accommodation parts out so that I can write blog post for my Turkey trip. 

The guesthouse just located the Alishan city centre and just in front of Alishan railway station. Before my departure, I found out that, all the illegal GH in Alishan are forced to close down that why I couldn't book the GH on my own and I seek help from my guide. The owner is kind enough to borrow us big coat, as we didn't bring the enough winter wear for the sunrise trip next day. 

So, this is the Family Room for four of us. 

Room is spacious and basic.

 2 queen size double bed. 

 Bathroom comes with small bathtub and hot water supply.

 

 I like the way they fold the blanket. 

Macam karipap, or some say sandwich.

PS: All the hotel reviews in my blog are not sponsored, I just write out to share my experience. So, if you appreciate my review/s, please click on the adverts available on the top, so that I can have more income to travel and share all these wonderful experience with you. Tq.