bizarre.bazaars.istanbul

In the afternoon, I walked up the slope in search for the famous Grand Bazaar (Kapalıçarşı, meaning Covered Bazaar). It is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with more than 58 covered streets and over 1,200 shops of which I only scratch a fraction of streets.

Approaching the entrance of Grand Bazaar. It took me awhile to realize that all bazaars are situated at the annex of a mosque.

It is a very bustling but rather chaotic and in fact a bit bizarre for me. The Turks work on some form of system by assigning people to lure you into their shops. Some are gentle but some are really aggressive. The carpet sellers are especially aggressive and every shop I passed by they will ask if I have a minute, if I want to have tea and if I ever paused I will be stuck.

The bazaar opened in 1461, it is well known for its jewelry, pottery, spice, and carpet shops. Many of the stalls in the bazaar are grouped by the type of goods but I didn't even set my foot on the special areas for leather coats, gold jewelry and the like. There are couples of cafes and all I had from the bazaar is a glass of freshly squeezed pomegranate juice.

Then I walked ot Spice Bazaar nearby. It is also sometime called as Egyptian Bazaar, the fact that many spices were imported via Egypt in the Ottoman period, the name "Mısır Çarşısı" was favoured by the public. The bazaar was (and still is) the center for spice trade in Istanbul.

Again the bazaar itself is part of the külliye of (New Mosque) Yeni Mosque that we saw on the first night of arrival at the Galata bridge.

I prefer strolling the Spice Bazaar more than the Grand Bazaar and the fragrance of the spice from a far actually confirming that I am approaching the right place. I bought quite a few types of different tea leaves (Turkish black tea, apple tea, lemon tea and rose tea etc) and spices here. I also tried some portions or rather perfume oil and a single drip on my hand lasts for a long time.

I like here so much that I think I will coming again for another stroll or perhaps portion search.