Blogs from Turkey, Middle East - page 461

Got a goodnight's sleep, apart from when all hell broke loose at about 4.30am to call everyone to prayer. I was going to need it as what followed was the journey from hell. The Grand Bizarre was absolutely awesome. It's a complete labyrinth of dark passageways, crammed with things to buy. It was a shame that we didn't have any money or room in our backpacks. You could spend the whole day in there and still not cover all, although this wasn't helped by the fact that we got totally and utterly lost. We also checked out a large underwater cistern, which was more interesting than it sounds, and we rode the ferry across the Bosphorus to the Asian side. This was more to say we'd been there than to see anything serious - we literally ... read more

Geo: 41.0245, 28.9881... read more

Day 35 - Friday 17th March The coach left at a few minutes before 6am. We were given seats at the back. The coach managed a pretty impressive speed and the driver was excellent. The scenery to the border was still snow covered mountains and small poor looking villages of mainly mud huts. The road was virtually empty of traffic. At the border everything was unloaded from the coach and our passports and health certificates were scrutinised by the Turkish side. The Iranian border guards declared that Michael's visa was invalid which was annoying as all three (Michael, Heather and mine) had been issued at the very same time by the Embassy in London. After a lively discussion, they eventually stamped the visa and let him through. The customs area checked our luggage and added "camera" ... read more

Day 33 - Wednesday 15th March The long train journey from Istanbul continued. From first light onwards, the scenery had no character whatsoever - it was just unchanging desolation - rocks, little vegetation and occasional villages and lots of snow. However the sun was shining through the train window bringing some welcome warmth. The train was full of salesmen - soft drinks, tea, water, grapes, bread, perfume, rings, belts, clothes, scarves and oranges - not sure what quality the food would be. There were also several beggars asking for money. Outside the window adjacent to the corridor, crowds gathered. For nearly all of the journey there were people just staring at our every move - completely fascinated - it was disturbing. Eventually we hung a ground sheet against the window to block their view. It worked ... read more

Day 32 - Monday 13th March. Up early this morning as I need to report my missing travellers cheques to American Express. It was snowing quite heavily as I headed out at 8.30am and caught the bus to Taksim district - the bus was packed. The Hilton hotel was 5 minutes walk away and opposite the Tourist Information Office. I had to complete a long complicated form and then sign in triplicate. They would check with Head Office and tomorrow afternoon they would let me know whether new cheques would be issued. I walked back to Taksim square and then caught the bus to Sultanhamet and found the Post Restante. The next problem was to overcome the loss of the student cards - so wrote a letter to UK student office in London to ask for ... read more