Omar’s Trip to Turkey

I was greeted by warm weather, and a sunny day in Turkey. We arrived at the hotel and checked in. Before I could make the most of this trip, I had to collect our woven neck labels from the Turkish manufacturer. I contacted the person who owns the labels and sadly, got the reply that he was closed. After a respectful back and forth conversation on the phone - we came to an agreement that a contact of his would pass the labels to me.

I ordered a yellow taxi, Uber, and headed to the shop - in the backstreets of Turkey. We arrived at the shop and was greeted, after a brief exchange relying on google translate - it was clear to him that I was the person to collect the labels. After collecting the labels, I called my contact and thanked him for his business.

With that out the way, I was free to enjoy the rest of my trip. As you can see from the image attached to this blog, I visited the famous blue mosque in Istanbul Turkey. Oh, what a sight to behold. The outer grounds leading up to the mosque was vast, filled with open space and trees with people enjoying the last few days of Ramadan.

Outer grounds of the Blue Mosque

Leading up to the mosque, around the perimeter, were marble stools for those who wished to do Wudu. Walking up the stairs to the mosque you are greeted with a grand courtyard.

Entering the mosque, I was blown away by the intricate details of the mosque’s ceiling. There was beautiful Arabic calligraphy and sophisticated patterns.

The rest of the trip involved visiting more key locations such as, Hagia Sophia mosque, and travelling around Turkey, utilising the tram and metro to navigate around the city.

For any of you thinking about visiting Turkey, I would recommend it 100%. Keeping up with your prayer is easy as there is a mosque on every corner, plus all the food is halal too making you never have to verify and second guess anything you eat.

Thank you for reading this far, see you in the next blog post!

-Omar