Istanbul

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Last day in Turkey - truth be told I’m really pleased that the tour is over - the past few days have been very testing, especially with the tour guide being very ordinary since leaving Gallipoli.

My room-mate for the tour, Peter, came back to the hotel at about 5am this morning - I will be very surprised if he managed to make the check out - he was a real mess!!

Made a trip to the Grand Bazaar this morning - I didn’t stay long as it was raining and I am coming down with the flu. Also I really can’t stand the pestering and the pressure to buy things - it’s just not my style, but at least in comparison to London there is some interested in the customer here!!

I caught a shuttle bus to the airport - what an experience. It was more like a mad, dangerous roller coaster ride - on seats that weren’t secured to the floor of the vehicle!!! Mad Turk drivers!!

Entering the airport was an interesting experience - I had to go through three different x-ray screening points, and that was just to get to the check-in counter. I suppose it is understandable given that in the week prior to my arrival there had been a couple of terrorist events in Istanbul.

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