Days 8 - 10: Istanbul

Great hostel. People from all over the world (not just Aus), mix of solo travellers and small groups all loving Istanbul. Bartender called Volcano tells many a tall story about his success with the ladies. He has a pink waterbed so they're probably true.

Historical Stuff

Five or six world beating sites within walking distance of hostel. Aya Sofia is a museum nee mosque nee 6th century Byzantine cathedral with grand domes, minarets and stunning 11th century mosaics. Blue Mosque is breathtaking. 17th century, six minarets, countless domes, tiled in blue. Inside is other worldly with an aura that surpasses the grandest cathedrals. The beauty and aura lie in simplicity. Cathedrals are stuffed full of paintings, statues and icons, drawing attention to saints, marytrs and biblical stories. Mosques are uniform, containing nothing but tiles and equisite calligraphy. This seems to focus attention on what building is all about - worshipping an all powerful deity that sees all.

Topkapi Palace, the centre of Ottoman power for some 300 years, is also round the corner. The complex is huge, with harem, eunuchs quarters, relics rooms and stunning views of the Golden Horne, the Bosphorus and Asia. Relics room contains wonders such as the beard of Mohammed, the sword of David, the staff of Moses and the saucepan of Abraham. The latter is surely a Python creation?

Archaeological museum also pretty darn cool. Treasures include a 4th century BC sarcophagus depicting Alexander's victory over the Persians and his successes in a lion hunt. Original paint can still be seen on most of scenes. Up there with the charioteer at delphi and Hadrian's statue of Antinous as my favourite classical work of art. I'll make a definitive list with Mike in Syria - we're going to have so much fun.

Food

Loads more historical stuff to talk about but imagine you're getting a bit bored of all that. Street food in Istanbul is great. Decided to spend all my budget on museums and eat as little and as cheaply as possible. Roasted corn on the cob, onion bread (like pizza but with onions instead of cheese/tomato), pretzel bread things, mussels with lemon and fish sandwiches. Seafood freshly caught and served on stalls by the Marmaris. Istanbul is a huge port so not sure how clean sea is but fish tasted good.

On last day I had a bit of a wander away from the tourist areas and found myself on a road with over 2km of wedding dress shops, all lined up next to each other. Hell on earth. Not many tourists up here but it was still as full of hawkers selling all sorts of crap that nobody in their right mind would want to buy. Unemployment is high in Turkey so if people can scrape together $10 a day selling walking talking plastic dogs, good luck charms and luminous eggs they get by. No idea who buys it - if anyone gave me any of that crap for Christmas I'd never speak to them again.

Great fun on the roof terrace every night having a few beers and shishas. Met some Americans who are spending two years at American University in Cairo. Will hopefully meet up with them and they can show me round.

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