Turkey - Istanbul

So .. I arrived at Istanbul airport and was initially pretty underwhelmed with my lack of welcome party - not a tout, a taxi or auto rickshaw driver in sight and no one yelling out "MADAM, MADAM, YOU WANT TAXI ... AUTO MADAM??" ... very impolite indeed Turkey! I realised as I was standing in line at the visa que in Istanbul customs, that my visa for Syria, which can only be issued in your place of residency was incorrect (rookie mistake, should have noticed when I first got it months ago), and that it expired 3 months earlier than it should have. Basically I had to decide to either risk sending my passport off to Canberra, have the Syrian embassy fix it and post it back, or I had to head to Syria immediately and then back track back into Turkey. I decided to post it via DHL courier, cost me a lazy $200 .. VERY unimpressed. Im still awaiting its return from Canberra, but I am assured it will return!

Anyway, first impressions of Istanbul - it is a very stereotypical European, cobbled stone pathways, a mix of designer and of local shops, women covered head to toe in Burqa and others in Lee jeans, healed boots and stylish jackets wearing makeup. I instantly missed India. I like the 'big bang' of a country, the stuff that makes you go "fuck thats amazing/ sad/ overwhelming/ interesting/ new/ full on etc" ... I was sitting on a local tram which could have been Yarra, no graffiti and not a peice of litter in sight. The quiet is welcomed, but missed.

I head to a backpacker strip in a place called Sultanahmet, check into a dorm room at the Sultan hostel for 30Lira a night (about $10 a night) ... I realised the belt's gonna have to be tightened since my budget for an entire day including all meals, accomodation, taxi's and entrance into sights was about $8 a day for India! I can only book in for a couple days because several groups were going to be rolling in any day from Australia for Anzac Day and head down to Galipoli. I toss up whether to head to Galipoli myself, its the 21st April and seems wrong not to. But I fucking HATE war and cant understand nor support it in any shape or form. I rang Grandad in the end to see if he would like me to go on his behalf. He instantly says yes, he would love it .. so without hesitation I organise a local bus to Eceabat, the nearest town to Galipoli and then book myself into a one day tour of Galipoli for the Dawn Service (its the only way youre allowed in the region on Anzac Day, with a tour group).

The 2 nights before Anzac Day in Istanbul were fucking disgraceful and worthy of a story of their own ... as tour groups aimed at 18-25 year olds (well outside my age bracket now!!!) roll into town, groups such as The Fanatics (those sports tour groups) and Contiki etc start filling the streets with board shorts, thongs, stubby holders and beer, boys singing sports theme songs and many an aussie flag .. this bizarre and mostly embarrassing form of patriotism was only just tolerable until the sun went down... then the boystrous fun turned into revolting inappropriate intolerable behaviour. 20 year old boys punching on in the streets, boys lying on the cobbled stone paths spewing up, copying and mimiking the call to prayer coming out of the local Mosque, girls vomiting everywhere outside the bars and general embarrassing behaviour .. I'm told they were celebrating Anzac Day .. Im sure the diggers would be reeeal proud. Fucking idiots.

Anyway after a few days of sight seeing, I head down towards Galipoli to pay my respects for Grandad and Gramps at the Dawn Service... and then will head down to see the ruins of Troy or Epheses whilst I eagerly await the return of my passport to the Istanbul hostel in about 2 weeks time.

Pictures - The first 2 shots are of the Spice Bazaar Market place, selling spices and tasty Baclava! Also spotted a really cool blue and green eyed cat! The next 4 shots are taken from inside the 17th Century Blue Mosque, really beautiful, the next one is a shot of the outside of the Blue Mosque and a black and white shot of me from inside too. The next one is of some traditional laterns from the Grand Bizarre Markets. The next one is of the Basilica Cistern, an amazing underground well measuring 140x70 metres, built in 527. Kindda spooky and really cold down there as you'd imagine! The last 2 are of Tulips which were part of the Tulip Festival in Istanbul .. they were EVERYWHERE and just amazing to see ... I'd like to thank Zyrtec and Claratyne for enabling me to be with 10k of them!