Merhaba Turkey!
For the year of 2022, our company retreat destination is to Istanbul and Cappadocia, Turkey; Istanbul is a major city in Turkey that straddles Europe and Asia across the Bosphorus Strait. Its Old City reflects cultural influences of the many empires that once ruled here. There are various famous buildings in Istanbul which display a plethora of legends lived by its great ancient rulers. Cappadocia, which means ‘the Land of Beautiful Horses’, is famous for fairy chimneys, rock formations in the region that could not be find anywhere in the world, fabulous hot balloon rides, underground cities, cave churches, and houses.
On 29th May 2022, from both East and West Malaysia offices, our CEO together with Eco-Ideal staffs and families departed from KLIA to embark on a 7 days 6 nights retreat to Turkey. The flight took about 11 hours to reach the New Istanbul International Airport. We arrived in Istanbul early in the morning and departed to the hotel, we had a short period to freshen up and started our day with a tasty brunch and explored the city. We started our first day visiting the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque, Blue Mosque and strolling along the Hippodrome area. Then, we had a company dinner at one of the famous restaurants in Istanbul, the Seven Hills Restaurant serving fresh seafood cuisine with a rooftop terrace, having a full 360° view, looking at the majestic Hagia Sophia, the magnificent Blue Mosque and the Asian side of Istanbul across the Bosphorus river.
On the second day, in the morning, we are free to roam the streets of Istanbul, having Turkish breakfast, sight-seeing as well as light shopping. At noon, we departed to the airport and took a flight to Kayseri, which is in the Cappadocia region. We continue our journey for about an hour to reach our hotel in Goreme. We arrived at our hotel rather late, therefore, ended our day with a short briefing for next day activity and good night rest. Early morning the next day, we were pickup at around 4.45am by the hot-air balloon operator, taking us to the take off site. There, we experienced the hot-air balloon preparation and finally taking off at around 5.45am, cruising over the photogenic landscape of Cappadocia as well as having a spectacular view of hot-air balloons floating in the sky. Once landed, we ended our hot-air balloon tour with a celebration and each of us was given a flight certificate. We returned to our hotel at around 7am to freshen up and having a short nap before starting the full-day tour in Cappadocia.
On the same day, after breakfast, we were greeted by our guide, Mr. Hassan, and also his driver and we were brought to the tourist attractions in Cappadocia. To list, we visited the Goreme Panorama Point, Uchisar Castle, Pigeon Valley, Goreme Open-Air Museum, Aladdin’s Cave (Traditional pottery and ceramic shop) and lastly the Devrent Valley, also known as the Imagination Valley. As for lunch, we had the Pottery Kebab and other delicious Anatolian cuisines, which are famous in Cappadocia.
On the fourth day, at noon, we departed to Kayseri Airport for a returned flight to Istanbul. After arriving at our hotel in Sirkeci, we had our own dinner and had a good rest after the trip.
Next day, we had our day-tour in Bursa, accompanied by Mr. Mustafa, our tour guide and his driver. Bursa is one of Turkey’s most important historical cities and is full with monuments, mosques, and other tourist attractions dating from the early years of the Ottoman Empire. There, we were brought by our guide to the Cumalikizik Village, which is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. After lunch, we visited the tombs of Osmangazi, the founder of the Ottoman Empire and his son, Orhangazi, the conqueror of Bursa. After that, we visited the Grand Mosque of Bursa as well as the famous silk market, Koza Han for shopping. Before returning to Istanbul, we were brought to the Green Mosque and to the once Ottoman Sultan, Mehmed Celebi’s tomb.
On the sixth day, we headed to Topkapi Palace. The palace compound was very huge to explore. We experienced and observed the architecture and various type of cookware, utensils and other royal collections embedded with history and culture of the Ottoman Empire. After completed the tour in Topkapi Palace, we headed to the riverside where we took the Bosphorus Cruise Tour. The cruise travelled from one point to another, passing the city structures, both the European and the Asian side. After completing the tour, we had time for ourselves going to the Grand Bazaar for shopping as well as the Spice Bazaar and bought some Turkish herbs and spices, not forgetting the Turkish Delight and Baklava as souvenirs for our families and friends back home.
As on our last day in Turkey, we checked out from the hotel in the afternoon and headed to Taksim Square. There were a lot of shops, restaurants and street performances walking along Istiklal Street which connected Taksim Square to the Galata Tower. At about 5.30pm, we gathered and had a company dinner at a restaurant located just in front of our hotel before departing to the airport, saying farewell and appreciation to the hotel personnel for their warm hospitality. The 7 days journey was amazing; full with eye-opening and cultural-rich activities. We had a great experience during the retreat and looking forward to many more of such trips in the future. Besides having fun, this retreat bonded us together, stronger than ever, as a team of Eco-Ideal Consulting.
Hoşçakal Turkey!
June 2022
