Istanbul

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Not too much to report I’m afraid.

We were up early and had no drama on the Royal Air Maroc flight to Istanbul. On arrival at 1430 local time, we were pointed to the ticket counter for the train to town and proceeded to purchase our tickets. It was a long trip into Aksaray. I was surprised that the city was so big – we were going at a reasonable speed through the suburbs and it felt as though the buildings were flying past the windows forever although, in reality, it was less than an hour. We disembarked at Aksaray, walked a block and caught a tram the final distance to Sultanahmet in Old Istanbul.

Using the Lonely Planet, we tried to get accommodation at Nayla Palace Pension only to confirm that a favourable review in the guidebook has a tendency to inflate rates. We lugged our backpacks for a few blocks, eyeing up and checking out several places, before settling on the Orient International Hostel – it would turn out to be a good choice. The bar on the fourth floor had YTL4 500ml Efes beers and the staff were genuinely friendly with a particular thing for Kiwis and Aussies it seemed. Matty, the young bloke who seemed to be the everything-boy at the hostel could have been an Aussie – he’d picked up his accent from the hostel’s guests more than his own culture.

We hardly had to walk further than a few blocks for dinner at Doy Doy Café where we had a plate of mixed meats, salad and Turkish pizza (pide) for less than YTL20. It was a little touristy but offered great food at cheap prices – all we could ask for.

We enjoyed a few more Efes’ brews with the staff from the hostel while listening to Crowded House, Salmonella Dub and Dave Dobbyn – these staff members knew their market.

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