Oh my hippy friends, you would go absolutely nuts in this town... there are jewels and magic carpets and water pipes as far as the eye can see!
Quick note - a lot of people, my 3 days ago self included, have fairly serious reservations about İstanbul as a safe travel destination for a (relatively) young, blonde, short, probably unable to defend herself kind of independent traveller. But İ have to say, so far, these are completely unfounded. At this point in time, Istanbul is completely swarming with tourists from every walk of life imaginable - young, old, western, asian, in tours, alone, rıch, poor... you name it. And, while not being one to tempt fate, İ'm not seeıng any trouble. Seriously, I feel more comfortable walking around here than İ would ın Bali! There are plenty of hawkers saying 'hey pretty lady, would you like to look in my store?' But they are completely fine if you say no. So come one and all to İstanbul, you'll love it!
This is an amazing place. You can't walk two steps without tripping over something old and cool and indicative of a time when sultans and harems and bazaars were
the natural order of things... the grand bazaar is almost beyond belief, İ actually wondered if İ'd ever see daylight again! Silverwear and dripping jewels and carpets and ceramics like I've never seen. And the Topkapi Palace is awesome (despite the cold weather and rain today), there is an old relic display that has a foot print of Muhammad, a rod of Moses and a sword of David... And I got a 'guıded' tour of the blue mosque - while my guide could tell you how many tiles there are and how high it is etc, İ really only remembered the stuff about the special section for the sultan to pray, how Attaturk went to such trouble to ensure politics and religion remained seperate and the more general stuff about Islam I didn't know (the importance of the Friday lunchtime prayer etc). İ must say, I will miss the call to prayer when İ leave here... İts not only utterly beautiful, but saves me having to wear a watch.
From here, İ'm going to stay in a treehouse near a beach called Olympos. No really! I'm going to spend three full days and four nights doing not very much
at all! Swimming, eating, reading and bumming in general will be the order of the day...then İ,m on a 4-day cruise from Olympos to Fethiye. Its a tough life, but someone's got to do it. Happy to take one for the team on this one.
Sorry if some of this doesn't make sense - struggling with this keyboard, 2 different 'i' keys and some of the buttons aren't where İ'm used to them being...
Need to slip more confessions in while no one is looking - not going to Gallipolli or Capadocia, hanging offences in Oz & Turkey. Maybe next time...
And cheers Tom, lovıng every minute of it!
Dinnercomplete wıth sour cream drink...
Turkey's Flag
Map of Turkey