Gallipoli to Istanbul

Blue Mosque
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Gallipoli to Istanbul

We caught a local ferry across the peninsula to the town of Canekkale, and after a short, yet interesting visit to the ruins of Troy, we continued our journey along the Mamara Sea, passing through the massive city of Bursa, and on to Istanbul. How can I describe Istanbul? An intensely sprawled out mammoth of a city, full of history, intrigue, chaotic beauty, and strong impressions. Saltanahmet, the main tourist region, is home to a wealth of Ottoman architecture and gigantically impressive Mosques. We visited a massive underground cistern (Yerebatan Saray), built in the 4^th century, supplied with water by the nearby Belgrade Forest, and used to supply the city with water.

Mosque and curios Cat
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Strikingly, however, Istanbul is not what I expected. It is far more modern, and apart from the brilliance of the Ottoman architecture, it is by most accounts, a very westernized city. My father, for instance, hoped to buy a leather jacket from here, as Turkey is famous for its leather products. He envisioned getting it cheapy-cheap from a local riding a camel, who had killed his other camel to make the jackets and to feed his family (or something to that effect). Hunting everywhere, we went to the great Covered Bizarre of Istanbul, the largest covered bizarre in the world, expecting to find likely camel merchants, but instead all we found was Gucci, Dolce Gabanna, cheap Chinese gimmicks, and very expensive leather jackets. But, in the end, he bought one for a little more than he hoped, but of very high quality.

Istanbul Sprawl
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Sadly, my parents left us on the 8^th November, leaving us to fend for ourselves. Fond memories of our trip together will remain locked. As we needed to sort out the Battlebus’s front right knee (commonly known as suspension), we stayed a couple more days in Istanbul. We then headed South, stopping briefly in the capital, Ankara (nothing great to see there), and then onto Cappadocia.