Day 7: Bulgarian/Turkish border to Istanbul

Train

Jumped out of train at Turkish border at 1am. Somehow got a visa and visa stamp. Got back on train and fell asleep. Train got delayed somewhere. From 8am I was looking out of window trying to get my first glimpse of Istanbul. Nothing but fields for hours. Got bored and had a shave. Train eventually rolled in at 1.45pm. The Bosphorus express was a misnomer - the 6 hour delay meant a total journey time of 26 hours.

Istanbul - first impressions

Istanbul as amazing as I remembered. Checked in at hostel and enjoyed afternoon sunshine in the Hippodrome a public square between Blue Mosque and Aya Sofia. Probably the best public square in the world. I'd starred in an impromptu football game here ten years previously. I'd left hotel at midnight with Scouse Phil to take photos of bats surrounding Blue Mosque in the dark. Locals were playing football in the Hippodrome, using Egyptian obelisks as goalposts. We joined in and Phil scored the only goal with a toe poke from three yards. He was then engulfed by eight very sweaty men. Lovely.

No football this time - even late into the night the area was busy with thousands of coach parties and organised trips. Not sure why but these trips seem to turn otherwise intelligent people into complete retards. They seem to rely on their guides for everything so when guides aren't there, and they need to engage brain, they find that brain is dozing or never made it on plane from Texas.

Despite the crowds its still an incredible place. Guidebooks describe sitting in the hippodrome, hearing the call to prayer from 100s of mosques around the city as being highly evocative. True but what does it evoke? For me it evoked a mass of contradictory oriental images - sensuality, opulance, opium, belly dancers, dervishes, eunuchs, shisha, bazaars, carpets and kebabs. These oriental images are of course nonsense, created by 19th century westerners to subjugate and belittle the east, but I felt a buzz of excitement nevertheless. The big adventure was about to begin.

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