A 4-day staff sensitization trip facilitated by Rickshaw Travel Ltd
By Purity Wawira, Rickshaw Travels Kenya
We are most grateful and feel indebted to the Founder and Chairperson of the Rickshaw Travel Group Ms Prema Lalji for making it possible for us to go on this very exciting and eye-opening trip to Turkey. Also, we are most thankful to our Executive Director, Mr. Binoy Zachariah for giving us the opportunity to join our colleagues from Tanzania on this trip. A vote of thanks also to Ms. Pooja Lalji and Ms. Lavina Kripalani for you’re their tireless effort in arranging all the approvals and documentation at a time when global travel was and still is trying to come to grips with the Corona pandemic.
Simply, and straight from our hearts to you all, Thank you very much.
Using some of the experience gained and lessons learned on this trip, we feel motivated and will endeavor to work even harder for Rickshaw Travels.
The entire team
The Trip — the sights and the scenes
From the moment our plane touched down at Antaturk Airport, Istanbul, at 11:40 am on Thursday, 29 October and the time we left on Monday night, 2 November 2020, it seemed like one long celebration of its own kind in Turkey.
We went on a familiarization tour for the benefit of both ourselves and the company. I must admit it was our first time in Turkey and boy, what an exciting tour it was!
Being our first time to visit the country, we were fascinated by the exquisite spirit the City of Istanbul seemed to exude, the sights and the scenes. Many destinations had their own theme and the city had its own spirit whether natural, cultural, leisure, etc. I would say we found the City of Istanbul a city that seems to have its own vibrant pulse.
We did a lot of walking to the market; walking on the seaside near the ships and boats hub. The seaside is quite a vibrant place, with all those ships, carriers, and touristic boats in the same place at the same time the place had its beauty and peace. The huge Ottoman mosques on the top of the neighboring small mounts overlooking the Bosphorus adds to the cultural ambience of the place.
Turkish people are a very hospitable the only challenge we faced was the language barrier, but its good we also mastered the art of sign language.
Everywhere we went, we made sure to meet and talk to everyone, introduced ourselves and we gave out our business cards.
The entire Rickshaw delegation to Istanbul, Turkey 2020
On our third day, we visited Hagia Sophia (pictured below), a distance of about 3 kilometers from our hotel. Like everything in Istanbul, it was a nice walk. Built in the year 14 AD, Hagia Sophia has a fascinating interior with all the mosaics and ancient depictions kept intact. It was great just being there in that memorable place.
The legendary Hagia Sofia Mosque
Among the many places that we visited in Istanbul were…
- Pierre Loti Hill: where we went by cable car and from where we were able to view the fantastic golden horn view. Pierre Loti—real name Julian Viaud—is remembered as a real Istanbul lover. The historical café at Pierre Loti is the perfect point to have a perfect view of the golden horn.
- The Spice Market: Built in the 1600’s and sometimes called the Egyptian Market (because a lot of imports from Egypt used to be sold there), Spice Market is one of the most popular places and tourist site, not just in Istanbul bit in the whole of Turkey.
- Hippodrome Square: Located in the Sultanahemt area in the so-called Old City part of the City of Istanbul, the Hippodrome Square is preserved as a tourist site. It is famously known as the arena for public arena mainly for chariot races. The Hippodrome of Constantinople, as it is still historically known, was also home to gladiatorial games, official celebrations, protest marches, torture grounds for convicts, etc.
- Topkapi Palace: A museum with a wide collection of porcelains, treasures, religious artifacts, etc. The palace is remembered as the first great imperial palace of the Ottoman dynasty.
Panoramic view of a section of the City of Istanbul from the hotel room
