Pix from Turkey

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I have to say, the Turkish take on what it means to be Muslim is very different to other countries. There is no throwing down prayer mats in the streets whenever the call to prayer is heard 5x day as Su has seen done in Egypt (the Turks generally feel such displays of devotion are ostentatious), that prayer at home is very acceptable, that gays are acceptable, that women don't have to wear head-scarves or burkas, and that women have equal rights to men. We've enjoyed learning about it as lived in Istanbul. The change is attributed to The Father of The Nation, Mustaffa Attaturk, who decided many decades ago to look to the west for Turkey's future. Hence the Turkish language is in the Western alphabet not Arabic script.

The age of civilisation here is simply too hard to really appreciate although when we walk the cobbled streets in the old city or grab a crystal handrail in a sultan's palace, we do wonder how many centuries of life we are touching.

I few photos are loaded for your pleasure. The one of the little door is actually the entry to out tiny motel - to get in and out you have to knock on the window of the cafe. Weird, frustrating but not as safe as we expected because one night someone with an access card tried to get into our room, which was on a safety chain thank goodness. The tiny lift in the building started only from level one, so you had to tote luggage up a semi-circular staircase from ground level. Reception was rarely manned so the lovely folk in the Blu cafe on ground level adopted us.

The handsome young man with Dick is our very knowledgeable, considerate guide, Ahmed. It takes four years of university study to become a fully registered guide for the whole of Turkey. It's a career and Ahmed is already fully booked for the Gallipoli centenary in 2015. He specialises in WWI history and couldn't quite understand why we didn't want to visit Gallipoli while we were in Turkey.

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Photos

Istanbul
The view from the fire escape outside our room in the Blu Hotel in the old city. There would have been another three or four little hotels in this tiny street.

Istanbul
Looking up at the hotel fire escape towards our room. The cafe underneath became our favourite watering hole.

Istanbul
Hard to believe this is the main and only entrance to the Blu Hotel! You certainly couldn't come and go freely but after Dick kicked up 'bobsie-di' about the system then chef from the cafe gave us his personal key.