Will be in Turkey (Istanbul) the next few days. Any travel/sightseeing advice?

[Gentle Typhoon]

I Think this was featured in some Indiana Jones or James Bond movie.. I forgot the name though..

The World Is Not Enough (1999), nineteenth spy film in the James Bond film series, was filmed in Turkey.

The World Is Not Enough (1999) - IMDb

 

[black_magic pk]

Filming locations for The International (2009) -

59th Street Bridge, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA (aerial photography)

Autostadt, Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany

Berlin, Germany

Hauptbahnhof, Berlin, Germany

Istanbul, Turkey

Jüdisches Museum, Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany

Lake Garda, Italy

Lyon, Rhône, Rhône-Alpes, France

Midtown, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Milan, Lombardia, Italy

New York City, New York, USA

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum - 1071 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Studio Babelsberg, Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany

The International (2009/I) - Filming locations

yaah yaah man i just remembered the whole movie, esp the USA female spy being protected by turks, clive owen is also one of my fav action actors

 

[Pride]

The World Is Not Enough (1999), nineteenth spy film in the James Bond film series, was filmed in Turkey.

The World Is Not Enough (1999) - IMDb

Yes this was also shot in Turkey but I was discussing about "From Russia with Love".. The International I didn't see

 

[TechLahore]

Thanks to everyone for the great advice. About to board the plane in a bit. Looking forward to discovering Turkey!

 

[black_magic pk]

have a safe journey....

 

[Jigs]

Thanks to everyone for the great advice. About to board the plane in a bit. Looking forward to discovering Turkey!

Have fun but try to avoid the women because if you meet one you will refuse to leave the country

 

[Bratva]

Tech Lahore, you will celebrate Eid ul Azha in Turkey?

 

[Fasih Khan]

Safe Journey Brother. I'd love to see that country too. Love to see Turkey.

 

[TechLahore]

Have fun but try to avoid the women because if you meet one you will refuse to leave the country

Can't avoid women. So please send me a link to the Turkish immigration forms instead. Might as well fill them out now

---------- Post added at 01:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:42 PM ----------

Tech Lahore, you will celebrate Eid ul Azha in Turkey?

Will try to save as many bakras as possible

 

[T-Faz]

The International (2009)

Last 20-25 min are shot in Turkey.

You do know that the film, The International is about a Pakistani bank called BCCI which had its headquarters in Karachi.

They changed the setting to Istanbul for some reason.

 

[T-Faz]

I want to visit Istanbul too very much so, I have heard great things about it and the place looks amazing.

Sometime soon I hope.

 

[Muhammad-Bin-Qasim]

u should visit panorama 1453

enjoy!!!!

 

[Muhammad-Bin-Qasim]

most of the fun is in sultan ahmet the tourist district anyway... drink plenty of apple tea... get turkish delight from grand bazar... check out the basilica cistern as well... you could easily miss that if you did not look out for it...

if you want to climb the minaret of the blue mosque to get a spectacular view... see if you can speak to the imam Emrullah... he has the keys to the doors to the minaret...

need any specific info... feel free to ask...

 

[TechLahore]

Been here for a couple of days now. Am really enjoying it. Some interesting findings so far:

1) The moment I say I am from Pakistan, I am greeted by the same phrase regardless of whether it is a taxi driver, waiter, shopkeeper or whoever else, "Pakistan Turkiye Kardes! (sp?)", which I believe means "Pakistan and Turkey are brothers". It is usually accompanied by the person putting his hand on his heart and giving me a big smile... very welcoming! I haven't had a single person say anything but good things about Pakistan.

2) When we drove from the airport to my hotel, I noticed many banners with the words "Pakistan" on them. I couldn't figure out what the said and the Taxi driver didn't speak english well enough for me to ask him. Finally, I found someone that told me what they were... all over Istanbul there are banners basically asking people to help Pakistan and to give Pakistan the "brother's share". Given that it is Eid tomorrow here in Turkey, there are also posters asking people to donate the Qurbani to Pakistan. I found this website by plugging in some of the words on the Qurbani banners:

Kurbanda Pakistan ile karde? pay? CNNTurk.com

3) My wife and I have been offered several discounts once we disclosed we were from Pakistan. At the grand bazaar, we got a huge discount on the jewelry and then the cabbie refused full payment... I had to argue with him and on my third attempt he finally accepted.

4) So far, only a few (5 actually) people have communicated well enough in english for me to have a decent and lengthy conversation. I have been asking everyone about the political questions I am most interested in. So far I am 5/5 on people who like Abdullah Gul and Recip Teyyeb Erdogan; it appears they are very well loved. Everyone I spoke to expressed fairly - shall we say - "animated disdain" for Israel. And I also asked three of the five about their feelings re the India/Pakistan situation... two of them basically said the same thing, "we are with brother pakistan" The third actually gave a longer response. He really seemed to know his history. He said that Pakistan has always supported Turkey on everything, despite who was in government and what the issue was and that Turkey would always do the same for Pakistan. Finally, there was one person in the covered bazaar (grand bazaar) who said that he was not rich (shop keeper) but he had donated 20 Turkish Lira to Pakistan... I shook his hand and thanked him. He said he wished he had more to give. And also said that "when Turkey is very rich we will help even more" I thought that was very touching!

I have visited the Military Museum, Topkapi Palace, Beyoglu district, Grand Bazaar, Taksim square/park and various shops all over. The Military museum is phenomenal and I took lots of pics, some of which I will share here.

So far, the two most unforgettable things I have seen are Hazrat Ali's sword at Topkapi and Bibi Fatima's prayer mat. When I saw the latter I just broke down... so incredibly powerful it is beyond description.

At the military museum I saw a large collection of swords and battleaxes with "Nasruminallah-e-wa fathu'n qareeb" inscribed on the blades as well as "La fatah illah Ali la saif illa Zulfiqar". Seeing these things one just feels completely overwhelmed. The sense you walk away with is one of power and majesty. Looking at the historic maps and paintings it just opens your eyes to the fact that up until recently, we ruled the world. Yes, the last couple hundred years have been tough for the muslim world, but for many muslim countries - for example Turkey - a return to glory is close and within sight. Insha'Allah the future holds great things for us! There is an amazing enthusiasm and energy in Turkey and, I tell you, it's infectious!

 

[Kompromat]

It seems it wont be long when i also would have a chance to visit this great nation.

Thanks for sharing your experience.