Day 12-14 Plovdiv to Istanbul

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Day 12 Plovdiv to Istanbul

We were up for another 0800 start for our trip to Istanbul. No trouble crossing the borders, it only took 2 hours all up, which is quite efficient from my experience. There is a huge shopping centre and really nice buildings now on the Turkey side - definitely not there last time I came through (just 2 years ago)!!

Now in Turkey, we headed to Istanbul. The traffic was not anywhere near as heavy as we thought it would be and we made good time. I think we arrived at the hostel around 1700? After getting oriented and hauling all our stuff off the bus the girls all squeezed in to an 8-bed dorm room. We have a new coach once we leave Istanbul - AIR CONDITIONED!!! Also I hear the new coach is a 27-seater, so enough room for everyone to get a bit of sleep if they need.
We are sorry to see Gettis go though; he was our Latvian driver for the past 2 weeks. Our first real goodbye as we heard from Jana and she will be joining us on Friday, as will the new passenger. Jana spent 3 days recuperating in the Belgrade hospital, and her father flew in from Germany for a surprise visit to check up on her, which she really appreciated.

I took a walk with Norma when we got to Istanbul to get some money and it turns out our hostel is not that far from the hotel that I stayed at last time I was in Istanbul, so at least I wont get lost!

Our first night we had a meal at the hostel, on the rooftop terrace which had beautiful views of the Bosphorus Sea and Asia in one direction and the Blue mosque and Aya Sophia in the other direction. Stunning. And it was nice and cool in the evening too with a slow breeze also keeping the mosquitoes away. The food was great although I couldn’t eat any of the meat because it was all spicy. Might as well get used to skipping it before we get to India.

We had a few drinks up there, and a couple of water pipes. Sean was really keen on this. He’s quite funny to watch and listen to. I don’t think he realises what he is saying half the time. It’s hilarious.


Day 13 Istanbul (Day 1)

Our first day in Istanbul. Breakfast at 0830, even though I wasn’t doing the walking tour with the others at 0900. I spent the morning relaxing completely, which was great. Went for a walk down to the local bazaar in the afternoon with Norma but didn’t buy anything. I need another proper shirt for Iran, I think.

We decided to eat in the hostel, up on the roof again. Jana joined us and it was great to have her back, then Gettis came up to eat with us and brought some Latvian liquor ( which was...interesting) and gave his “goodbye speech”. Then shortly afterwards Joanna arrived, our new traveller who is joining us now all the way to Sydney.

Everyone was teasing Sean about the ‘ladyboy’ who tried to pick him up in Plovdiv (which everyone else found absolutely hilarious at the time), which he didn’t appreciate, but it was rather funny. He tried to get another free shot from the waiters, and they brought him out a white drink in a cocktail glass. You should have seen his eyes light up “free cocktail - yeah!” and then he almost spit it out when he took a drink - “hey, it’s milk!”

After quite a few drinks 6 of us headed across the river to Tacksin, an area where there were a few pubs and clubs open late. Truthfully, it wasn’t that great, but it was good to have a chance to get a bit dressed up and go out for a change.

We made it to the pubs but missed the clubs as both boys got a bit too drunk and we all headed back at 0330. Ironic that it is the 2 Irish boys who couldn’t hold their liquor so well...


Day 14 Istanbul (Day 2)

A much later start today after a late night. The only reason everyone was up at 0930 was because breakfast only went until 1000. They boys were a little worse for wear, although a couple of the girls weren’t talking much either!

Today, I went down to the Grand Bazaar with Jana and Jo. We bought an extra shirt for Iran for when we need to cover up a bit more. We caught a train across the river but it was a bit hot and we didn’t stay long before coming back.
Jo and I decided to relax upstairs with a couple of beers and wait for the others to come back.
Not sure what the plan is for tomorrow but a 0730 start so we wont be doing too much. Although we can always sleep on the coach tomorrow...

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Photos

Sunflowers
A bit of colour

Istanbul 1
AJ, Sean, Ali, Stephen, Gettis, Heather, Jana, Norma, Lynn

Istanbul 2
View from the roof - Aya Sophia at sunset

Comments

[Leanne]

Hi Amanda Thanks for the updates on your trip, sounds like you are having a really great, interesting trip, good on you. I would love to be there. Autnie Leanne