Turkey Exploration : 2nd day

insyaAllah, on the second day of my trip, we've been to the second capital of the ottoman state long ago that is Bursa, located on northwest Anatolia , Asia or Marmara region. it is now the fourth biggest city in turkey. the journey there wasn't so long, it just took about 2 hours to arrived by bus and a ferry ride. after breakfast, we've start our journey by bus along the Marmara sea and passing the Bosphorus bridge that connect between the 2 region, Europe & Asia . it was the 13th longest suspension bridge span in the world but in the past, it was the forth.

Bosphorus bridge

 On the journey, there was many building and mosque along the highway but just one picture taken because im very sleepy from yesterday's expedition.








Then we took a ferry ride. why? because it is more time saving compared to riding the bus all day that certainly make us more exhausted and tired. the ferry is just nice and a cafe present up on a dock, but if you spent your time on the outside, its kind of freezing because its winter plus with some cold breeze, you need to wear some gloves instead of your jumper and winter coat. the seagull are accompanied us through the strait while waiting to be feed with some bread from the tourist.

 after about more or less 1 hour on the ferry, we continue our journey on the bus again. some beautiful scenery along the way with green forest on our left & right, something that remind me of our God that creates all of this in only 6 days, Allah the greatest, like He says in the holy Quran :

village above the clouds

 " It is Allah Who has created the heavens and the earth, and all between them, in six Days, and is firmly established on the Throne (of Authority): ye have none, besides Him, to protect or intercede (for you): will ye not then receive admonition?"

( as-Sajda : 4)

  alhamdulillah, arrived at last. the first thing we seek was the place to ski, frankly speaking, all of us was very excited trying to play ski, well, this is the first time ever for us, the first experience since there weren't any snow in our homeland. after preparing with the equipment, mentally n physically ready, we went to the hill & start skiing, with full of confidence and  no-knowledge about skiing, most of us ended in...disaster..hahaha..
what a mess..but, with full of spirit & without feeling giving up, we try again & again. some of us, succeeded, but still need more to be improve & learn.

semangat lebih :p

short break after having several failure

equipment bunker

 well, as a Muslims, responsible as a servant to God must & should be done on time, we stop to pray in uludag mosque for zohr and asr.

holding the ice with bare hand.

 next, when the night fall, after we've made our night maghrib n isya prayer in ulu camii ('c' pronounced as 'j'), the biggest mosque in Bursa.in the middle of the mosque, there were a cute fountain for ablution. then, we have a little feast in the city, they said that there were special kebab called bursa kebab that serve with kebab meat above the bread and spiced with some sauce above all of them, it was so delicious, and we visited the long market named okcular carsisi. actually, it is a market to produce weapon for the army in the early years of the ottoman empire as it was one of their capital. these market produce weapon like arrow, sword, n many more. as the time travel, rifle, guns, gunpowder are produced there , but nowadays, these market sell ready-made item such as cloth, shoes, and the most important is that, they also sell quality silk-made cloth with a low price.

the long market

the most delicious n saving budget
 at kofteci yusuf  restaurant

bursa kebab

Ulu Camii 

and, the final for the day, we stop for our dinner in Kofteci Yusuf restaurant in the middle of the city. this restaurant gave us bread n sauce plus either coffee or tea for free but the other..sorry..not all are free..hehe. after being full n sleepy, we start our journey to other historical place called Pamukkale.

well, it seems that we just spent only one day in bursa, so, there aren't many places that can be visited throughout in that very short time. but it was worth it. alhamdulillah.