Ayasofya - this is us with no sleep after a 19 hour bus ride

A storm cloud over Turkey

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April 27th 2011
Welcome to Istanbul... it's freezing here! When I left off we had taken a 19 hour overland bus from Macedonia to Istanbul. We arrived early in the morning exhausted and slightly out of it. When we checked in to the Orient Hostel, we didn’t know it… but we were getting screwed over. Through a combination of getting overcharged by hostel bookers and a scummy guy working at reception (who ... read more

Middle East » Turkey

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Modern Turkey was founded in 1923 from the Anatolian remnants of the defeated Ottoman Empire by national hero Mustafa KEMAL, who was later honored with the title Ataturk, or "Father of the Turks." Under his authoritarian leadership, the country adopt... ... read more