The road to Istanbul

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I finally arrived in Istanbul late in the evening on Monday the 24th March, after a whistlestop transit across Central Europe.

I'd seen snow on everyday exept the last, camped outside a service station in Belgium, eaten Brattwurst in Munich, taken the Sound of Music tour in Salzberg (just for my mum, honest...) got drunk on Schnapps in a jazz club in Zagreb, crossed Macedonia in 3 hours, bush-camped on a beach in Southern Greece and spent 7 hours at the Turkish border-crossing trying to get in. An uneventful trip then.

I'm woken on my first morning in Istanbul at 5.45am and instantly reminded it's a mainly Muslim country by the early call to prayer. (Alledgedly, Turkey is secular, but they obviously didn't tell anyone). I don't mind the sound, and kind of got used to it in North Africa. The hostel I'm staying at is pretty central, so wander the short distance to the Blue Mosque, which forms part of Istanbul's famous skyline. It's an amazing building, but jam packed full of tourists, so I take a few photos and leave quickly. I wander through the back streets and have my first kebab of the day (one of many during my stay, be assured) at the local spice market, along with a pot of apple tea, which is truly delicious.

I continue my walk and stumble upon the Grand Bazaar, once a large covered market for locals, but now Istanbul's biggest tourist trap, selling everything from humourous, "The answer is Raki, but I've forgotten the question." t-shirts, to shisha pipes and many, many, many rugs. Needless to say, I didn't stay very long. I headed back to the main square and got my ticket for the Hagia Sophia (pronounced Aya Sofia) - originally built as a church in about 530AD, but extended and redecorated in the Muslim style by the Arabs in the 15th century. What an amazing building! The main hall is vast, and houses an enourmous dome, most of which was unfortunately covered by scaffolding...

This morning, I rose early once again so I could spend all morning at the Topkapi Palace - the huge building of the Ottoman Sultanate, used by the Turk Sultans for the last 500 years. It contains all the usual royal drapery, arms, treasury, boudoirs etc, but also houses some of Islam's greatest 'relics', including hairs from the beard of the Prophet Muhammed (p.b.u.h)!, the arm and skull of John the Baptist (don't ask), and the original door from the Kubbha in Mecca.

I leave Istanbul for Cappadocia and the Goreme valley first thing tomorrow morning, so my evening's entertainment is to cruise the Bosphorus at sunset. Must be off, time and tide wait for no man!

P.S. I'll link some photos to this entry when I get to a virus-free computer!

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Photos

Obligatory arty shot
Snow-covered trees in Salzberg

The Von Trapp House
The one from the movie, anyway.

The Blue Mosque
Most impressive building on the Istanbul sky-line

Minaret
Detail from the Blue Mosque