Istanbul to Bozcaada

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We landed at Istanbul airport last Thursday (24/6)and progressed through the formalities to find that the collection service from the pension had not appeared. This meant an immediate introduction to the Turkish public telephone system - which seemed exteaordinarily expensive simply because the cheapest phonecard cost 20000000 lira. Using currency with such big numbers takes some getting used to, I have made some sort of cock-up every day so far.

We stayed 5 nights in Istanbul.

It is probably more noteworthy what we didn't do than what we did do. We didn't go to the Topkapi palace. We didn't go around the Blue Mosque or the Aghia Sofia even though all of these were on our doorstep.

We did take the tourist ferry up the Bosphorus (£2.60) towards the black sea where we just had time to climb up to the local hilltop fortress for an excellent view and have a donor kebab before catching the ferry back.

Much of our time in Istanbul was spent wandering around the main street of Divan Yulu, particularly behind the Grand Bazaar where the streets were teeming with life. The first couple of nights we ate in Tourist restaurants but as we got more used to the city we found some places where the Turks like to eat - cheaper and more authentic.

Our visit to Istanbul also coincided with an important NATO conference attended by George Bush, Tony Blair etc. Security throughout the area was highly visible. On the Sunday the main port at Eminou was closed, as were all public buildings. Fortunately our pension had a rooftop terrace, so we relaxed there while watching the battleships in the sea and being buzzed by low flying military helicopters.

On Monday the port was open (we took the trip) but the main area of Sultanahmet was sealed off. We had a one & a half hour walk trhrough the backstreets to bypass all the roadblocks and get back to the pension.

On Tuesday we took a bus (£8, 6 hrs) to Canakkalle and booked tickets for a tour of Gallipolli(£13). This was an interesting day touring around the battlegrounds & cemeteries and learning how many lives were lost for so little return. Sadly typical of the First World War.

This Thursday we moved on to Bozcaada, on the Aegean island of Tenedos. This is a picturesque harbourside town overlooked by an oversized medieval fort. (We went around the fort today. There is not much evidence of its ancient origins as it has been reconstructed in the 60s and 70s).

This is a Turkish tourist island and we haven't come across any native English speakers in our 4 days here so far. We shall be staying here a few more days. Its a good place to veg out. The beach is nice enough and we are enjoying working our way through the snack bar menus and practising our Turkish vocabulary (and working on our tans, of course).

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Photos

Gallipoli
Veteran gives Linda a spent shell