Incredible Istanbul

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Geo: 41.0245, 28.9881

We crossed the Turkish border slightly further south than the usual route. Just to see if a smaller checkpoint would cut down the wait time.... the truck before had been compounded for 2 days in previous years! Luckily, in relative terms, we sailed straight through. This sailing however, involved 5 different people, checking, taking money, stickering, stamping and checking again our little, red passports. I can't say any of them looked like they had any satisfaction in their work and evil eyes must be part of their job description! On our way to see the third little man, we had to walk through a large fenced compound. As we were escorted through, we were stared at by all the locals, as if we were illegal immigrants!! Brilliant. I am sure we didn't look that mucky?

On the road again to our first Turkish bush camp, none of us were really sure what to expect. To me, it was where the trip really began. Here for 3 weeks, rather than 3 days, we could really see the country. Turkey has never been on the radar before for travelling around, so let's see what happens!!

Let's just say we did not get off to the best start in the world. The site of said bushcamp, can only be described as a dump. Clearly the local fly tipping site, where the local teenagers come to ride their dirt bikes, goat herders graze their animals and rock is taken from the hillside as hard-core for building. Delightful! I managed to pitch on a little mound, perfect Laura tent size; many camped in the mini valley.... I did not fancy being washed away when it rained! On our little exploration of our temporary home, we discovered a few skulls of less fortunate goats, sofas, tyres, household waste and other such wonders. It was going to be a long night. This was the first camp that we cooked on fire too. The girls hated being thrown in at the deep end, but at least there was plenty to burn. We had some marshmallows to mark the occasion. And then it was early to bed to sort out what kit we needed to take to the hostel in Istanbul, as the truck was to be left in a secure compound for 3 days. During this time we would have to go visa begging at the Iranian embassy and therefore money belts were donned to carry passports and money around the huge city. Having had mine stolen in the past, I fastened it around my bra strap, so no one could swipe it off me without stripping me of my bra too!!

The city, on the banks of the Bosporus, spans two continents, with a mixture of ancient Roman walls, extravagant mosques, high rise modern skyscrapers and everything in-between. The skyline is indescribable! When we arrived at the truck park, the heavens opened. Drowned rats were we by the time we reached our hostel... The Orient Hostel, on one of the main strips in town. We were staying in a 30 bed dorm in the bottom of the building. Unfortunately, we were early and so the inhabitants of the previous night had yet to stir. So we dumped our bags and headed upstairs to the bar for a coffee whilst we waited for the rain to 'do one'! The guy in the reception was most helpful, supplying us with maps and instructing us the best way to walk to 'the grand bazaar' where Iranian clothes needed to be purchased that day. Once the rain had abated, we set off on our first big Turkish adventure.

Weaving through the streets towards one of the most famous markets in the world, we passed luxurious 5*hotels (€400 a night... little above budget!), the blue domed mosque ... the most famous in the city, endless Turkish delight shops and tourist traps... but our mission was our Iranian getup and failure was not an option. Tourism could wait.

The bazaar certainly lived up to its name, it was blooming enormous. You could see how people got so lost in it. The old section was undercover, with elaborate ceiling decor of deep blues, ochres and terracotta. Jewellery shops and rich textiles filled this section. With a little help from a friendly local we were pointed in the direction of the clothes wing. This was outside, with narrow side streets meandering off, both left and right every 5 mins. The atmosphere in this maze was unreal. Such hustle and bustle. Everyone with somewhere to go, something to buy, someone to meet. People trying to transport goods, on wooden trolleys to their stores through the people filled, sloped streets ... rather them than me. We must have been bounced to about 15 different people before we found our perfect tops. They were as they were supposed to be. Dark coloured, to the wrist and knee, with little embellishment and a high neckline. We paid about £9 for them after some amazing bartering by the girls! Kitted out, it was definitely lunch time. Shopping is a hungry business!

We found a small kebab house, with, what only can be described as playschool sized tables and chairs on the street! I had, what I think was a beef and cheese kebab? Although I think it's best not to dwell on what rat meat it may have been. The guy that ran the place, obviously had a successful business, and was king of his castle. His English however, was not so good .... mix ups between cheese and chicken ... possibly sounding similar in Turkish? After being suitably filled with Turkish street cooking, the group split up. Emily and myself headed back to the hostel with all the shopping bags to claim our beds, put on some cooler clothes and go for an explore along the beach!!

The weather was glorious now. We walked for a km or two along the wall that edged the clear blue waters, passed old gentlemen having tea on the rocks and then decided it was time, once we hit the ferry port, to adventure our way back homeward. Luckily, we both had a good sense of direction so this wasn't too much of an arduous task. En route, we were harassed by many restaurateurs, trying to entice us in with 'the best kebabs in the city'. We managed to 'we've just eaten' and 'no, thank you' our way out of the majority. All except one. He had a roof top terrace... with the best view of the city of course.... and when we said we couldn't go up to eat now as we were in a group of twenty, his eyes lit up! He suggested we went up to take a look, to report back to the gang ... would have been rude to say no... Whilst looking through their 'extensive' menu, we were supplied with some apple tea, which was yummy and I have to give him his dues... the views were incredible! After we thought we had blagged the free stuff enough, we headed back to our own roof top terrace to sample some Turkish measured beverages! And what measures they were!! We were supplied with blankets to keep us warm whilst we enjoyed some free (we were on a role!) Sheesha - an interesting experience.... once the weather turned to rain however, headed inside dancing the night away in the bar, having dance offs with the barmen... we whipped their arses!

We woke reasonably early the following morning, probably because there were 30 people stirring in the room at the same time. After a swift and healthly breakfast of a grilled chese - we know how to live it up on a budget, we decided to don our headscarves and head to the 'Blue Dome Mosque'. The largest and most famous mosque in the city. As we marched through the baracades of street sellers trying to get us to buy postcards, guidebooks and pastries (the latter very hard to resist as it smelt so damn good!) we entered the tranquility of the walls of the place of worship. It was breathtaking, the feet of engineering taken to build it is amazing. We joined the back of the queue, waiting like good British people to enter. Shoes off and scarves on we were allowed to enter. I am not sure what I expected, but it wasn't it. Non the less it was stunning in all respects. The chandeleers were very low slung, hanging from wires from the very top of the domes. The ceiling was elaboratly painted and the chaos inside of people wanting to look round was a little manic. It was all prety much open, so allowing the more people to pray when the call to prayer echoed around the city. There were separate sections, screened off for women to be able to pray and take their scarves off. I think people were a little shocked at how segregated the women were. On the way out we also visited one of the old sultans tombs. It was really surreal and not what i expexted at all.

After David shouted us all lunch in a restaurant on the outskirts of tourist hell, we took a long walk along tthe seafront again to the bridge. It was made more excitting by the watermelon that was shared as we went and more entertaining when a man owning a restaurant offered to have 4 of us as his wives, offering David flying camels for us. When David refused, the man stated that he would have to smoke alot of weed to get over us! Hilarious!!! A quick fish sandwich on the bridge where people where fishing above our heads off the bridge and then back to the hostel, for a chilled night of diary writing and cards.

The spice market and a ferry to Asia were Monday's main adventures. The Iranian Embassy was closed as it was a public holiday so the visa mission would have to wait until the following day.... which meant we had the whole day to ourselves. The Spice market was definitely one of those things that you smelt long before you saw it. Undescribable but hypnotic. It was chaos inside, with people filling the passageways inbetween the stalls. Each selling simlar things and offering free samples to anyone that looked interested..... so interested we looked!!! So much so that by the end we were actually turning down free Turkish Delight. We learned that you could make it out of Honey rather than sugar which was even more stunning than the normal stuff! We also sampled lots of different dried fruits.... dried straberry and kiwi were top of my list, and peanuts covered in caramelised seasme nuts - amazingness!!! The market was not as big as I expected it to be, although the majority of them as stated previously were selling similar so I guess there wouldnt be much point in it growing any furhter.

Time for Asia..... never having been to Asia before this was all very exciting for me. We caught the erry across the Bosphorus, which was a stampede experience in itself. The 'otherside; was not all that much different, although the prices were half of what the tourist side was. We headed to find lunch, through the fish market (not smelling and nicer than the Leicester fish market!) to a little streetside cafe, which was inhabited by many locals having thier lunch, whch we thought was only a good thing!!! We had chicken kebabs (we were a ittle fed up of mystery meat by this time) and it came with endless pittas, rice, salads and pickels, all for about £1.80! The guy did not speak alot of English and all he did was laugh at us when we tried to pronounce the words in Turkish! At least we were trying! The route back, took us via a huge sweet shop filled with marzipan fruits of all shapes and varieties. We couldnt resist and so bought one each and enjoyed them back at the port, where an army band was playing in celebration of the Children Day festivities!!!!

On return to the other side, we went for a drink at another bar .... traiters were we! and then played cards on our rooftop terrace until it was time to sort out our lives for the embassy in the morning and return to the truck, which we all missed so much!

We all donned our Iranian numbers in the morning and made our way across the city so we were at the embassy as soon as the doors opened. A 4 page form awaited us and a bill of 150 Euros, but this was 70 less than what they paid last year, so definitly not complaining!!!

Then it was time to say goodbye to this amazing city which we spent so little time in. I will be back, with an empty suitcase to fill up with Bazaar goodies and Honey Turkish delight!! Most definitely be back!!!!!

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