Khe Sanh versus Mosque music

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The alarm went off at 5.15 which was shattering. Then we had to pack, which once again Beck took responsibility for. I was grumpy from lack of sleep, and we ended up catching the train without a ticket. Luckily when we got to West Ham the attendant was understanding and we bought train tickets for the City airport. We had to change at Canning Town, but before we knew it we were there with time to spare.
The currency exchange didn't have any Turkish Lira, so we settled on some breakfast before doing some duty free shopping/looking. We bought two books to read, 'Touching The Void', which we've seen the movie of, and 'It's Not About The Bike', Lance Armstrong's autobiography.
It was time to go through the security gates, and on the other side we were both suitably impressed. There wasn't any big crowds, there was comfortable leather seats, and the whole airport had a relaxed feel to it. Our carry bags managed to get through alright, and then we walked out on to the tarmac to catch our little Swiss Air jet. There were plenty of other Aussies and Kiwis on the flight, and the journey went smoothly, although a lady fainted which had me worried for a bit, but they sorted her out pretty quickly.
We landed in Zurich, Switzerland for a quick stop, so we have cheated and notched another country. Our parents knew we were going to Turkey, but weren't expecting phone calls from Switzerland. Made us feel like real jet setters, although we are starting to understand how Tom Hanks felt in 'Terminal' with all of the time we are spending in airports.
Back on the plane heading to Istanbul we caught glimpses of the Swiss Alps which were very impressive. By the time we got to Istanbul the lack of sleep had kicked in and we were very tired.
The view out the windows of the plane on this trip, and others we've had over Europe I've noticed that the Earth looks old/tired. There is always a constant haze from the air pollution which is ever present, but sometimes worse than others. The history of Europe is great, but at a price, the environment.
The airport was deserted at Istanbul. At customs we had to buy our visas. You could pay in Turkish Lira, pound, or Euro. We paid with everything we had £20 and €10. I thought we had scammed an ok deal, but when I worked it out later on I realised we'd been ripped off a little bit.
We got money out in the millions of liras (!) which was strange. Beck had done the homework for us with step-by-step directions on how to get to our hostel. The airport on the other side of customs was also big and deserted, as we followed the signs to the train station. There was another guy walking in the big open area carrying a box, and no matter where we walked he seemed to be invading our personal space. At the ticket booth I didn't have a clue how to ask in Turkish for tickets, as I haven't learnt a single word yet.
Turkish is different to the other European languages we have encountered so the language barrier remains up. We were given coins instead of tickets which went into a slot and let us through the barrier. I could tell Beck was feeling quite uncomfortable as we were getting a few stares, and the man with the box had also joined our carriage. I was still putting it down to coincidence, but when a guy came and sat next to me, after saying something to me while waiting for the train, I had my wits about me. Especially since there were plenty of spare seats in our carriage. We made it to our stop without incident however, and then we had to catch a tram to Sultanahmet. It was the same deal, a coin got us through the barrier to a fenced off area where we waited to catch the tram. A couple of people kindly asked if we needed help, which was great and they confirmed we were at the right stop. The tram was absolutely packed and Beck was definitely uncomfortable. It was off-putting being stared at, and I started thinking about what they were staring for. Was it because it was a novelty thing? Because we both had blue eyes? Since we were in the Middle East, would we be perceived as Australian (in my 'Mooks' top!), or could we be seen just as Western, or even American? After a while I decided to pick my target and stare back, which seemed to work ok, as after a little while they would avert their eyes.
It was good to get off the tram, and we headed off to our hostel. The area we are staying in is meant to be where most of the touristy things are located, and some of the mosques look amazing. We went into the wrong hostel at first, but the guy was really helpful and directed us to where we needed to go.
Rounding the corner into the street where the hostel was located we were greeted by a full blown party in top gear. It was a bit of a shock to say the least being so tired, and being on our toes in a strange new city. For some reason I still felt uncomfortable at the hostel, probably because I just wanted to find somewhere quiet to sleep.
The manager (?) greeted us and explained that we were actually staying in his friend's place next door. I raised my eyebrows but the room was quite decent and had a toilet and shower as well. There was some slight confusion between myself and the manager about the accommodation for the boys, so I rang Chriso who was just getting on the plane in London, but we decided to sort it when they arrived.
At this point we were so tired that we just crashed on to the bed, but it was a very light sleep that was often broken because of the unfamiliar setting, and also at one stage because of the sounds of the nearby mosque versus Khe Sanh being belted out from the party on the street below. It was quite surreal.
After a while we realised we weren't going to get a decent sleep so we forced ourselves to get up, which was easier said than done. We headed further down the street away from the party and had dinner. Dinner was ok, although it was a bit more expensive than we expected, but it was at this point that we started to feel settled. The young waiter taught us how to say thank you in Turkish (pronounced tea-sugar-edarum).
We didn't join the party after dinner, but instead we headed upstairs to our room to wait on the call from the boys announcing their arrival.
It wasn't long until the call came, and I thought the boys were at the hostel we had mistakenly gone to earlier, when actually they were downstairs. So I directed them the wrong way!
Beck and I headed out to find them which didn't take long. We spotted them at the end of a dark street with footy in tow which Chocolate kicked in our direction. Beck duly took an impressive mark, showing off the benefits of having three brothers.
It was great to see the boys, Razi, Az, Chocolate and Chriso. By all accounts they had a fairly trouble free flight over to Istanbul, although they did say that the vodka was quite strong.
The plan was to have a couple of beers and then go to bed, but.....
It proved to be too much fun catching up with the boys. The place we were staying at had a little bar that was pumping out all the old crowd favourites. The place was full of Aussies and Kiwis and just when the party was rocking it's hardest the lights went out completely, and didn't come back on. It seemed that many of the places on the street were in the same position, but we managed to find a bar upstairs across the road that hadn't been affected.
There was still plenty of Aussies and Kiwis here as well, with many wearing footy or rugby jumpers as well, and there were locals as well. The main attraction in the bar was a belly dancer who was young and in good shape, and wasn't shy in approaching any of the guys that came into the bar. None of the boys were prepared to dance with her, although Mad Az charmed her as only he can by suggesting they had a similar gap between their front teeth! This girl seemed to be a contradiction to the conservation nature we had observed in Turkish culture up until now.
The locals seemed more than friendly and while Chriso and I held up the bar the others shared banter with the locals. Chriso had fallen asleep at this point so I bought him a fire-water to perk him up. That it did and we proceeded to ring people back home, but we didn't manage to get a hold of anyone for some reason. We did however leave a message on Ginko's phone that we got on the wrong flight and were now stranded in Belgrade.
While this was going on we missed the locals treading the fine line between having fun and being friendly, and taking the 'mickey' out of us. There was too many 'Aussie', 'Aussie', 'Aussies' coming from the locals, and when one of them threw a bucket of ice water over Az that confirmed it. Az makes friends anywhere and everywhere with his huge smile and genuine interest in people, so when this happened we were straight out of there and back to the hostel.
The party had re-started at the hostel, but now it was downstairs. It wasn't as packed as earlier, but we all made up for the drop in numbers that's for sure. Unfortunately the camera was dropped during the festivities. All nights have to come to an end at some stage, so when Chocolate gave Chriso a goodnight kiss it wasn't long before we all staggered off to bed.

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