Turkey - Istanbul

 1974

Monday, 1st April

Went into Edirne after breakfast and met our guide who took us to see two mosques which were very beautiful but a bit damaged by earthquakes and Greeks. He then took us to a shop where they sold leather coats and the proprietor bought us tea. We didn't buy anything which I think annoyed everyone. They were just as expensive as in England but a bit better quality and better made.

He took us to another shop where they were making men's suits but we refused to go in. We said goodbye to our guide, gave him some cigarettes for his trouble and made a hasty departure. We then paid at the Mocamp and started off to Istanbul. It rained heavily and Istanbul was horrible. No road signs, car horns never stopped and terrible congestion everywhere. How we got through on to the bridge over the Bosphorus I can't think. Father's map helped a great deal. The bank was closed there so we couldn't change any more money. The bridge was very pretty even in the rain. We camped a few miles out of Izmit in a large garage forecourt. A large dog looked rather menacing so we didn't venture outside the van much. The road was very good all day except for one stretch.

Our Edirne Guide

Mosque in Erdirne

2025

Saturday 7th June

The train journey lasted 15 and three quarter hours.  It was easy to sleep but unfortunately we were woken at 12.30am to have our passports checked going out of Bulgaria and then we were woken at 2am at the Turkish border.  Unfortunately the Orient Express had beaten us to it so we had to wait ages, then we had to pack up EVERYTHING and carry it over to another platform to have passports stamped then luggage scanned in a small shed whilst the train was being searched.  We were finally able to get back to sleep at 4am.  We met some interesting fellow travellers on the train and we took the metro from the outskirts of Istanbul to the centre with them. We bought metro tickets which we believed were for 3 days but they turned out to be for just 3 stops!  All the Turkish people we met were friendly and helpful.  The streets were heaving with people, I have no idea where they were coming from or going.  There was quite a large police presence too although everything appeared peaceful.  Our studio apartment is right at the top of a main street building which has its entrance through a restaurant.  Thank goodness there is a lift!

The three skylights at the top are our apartment windows

Sunday, 8th June

We explored a little of Istanbul today.  We used our Istanbulcard which can pay for trams, ferries, metro, funicular and even public toilets.  We just have to keep it topped up.  The crowds were insane and the queues to major sites put us off visiting.  In a weak moment we went into a carpet shop, oh dear, I’d quite forgotten how shops and haggling works in Turkey and beyond.  Life here is so different to Bulgaria and the other countries we visited where we were able to look in shop windows without being enticed in!  We didn’t buy a carpet we absolutely don’t need but it did remind us of our 1974 journey where we did buy 2 carpets in Iran and still love and use them today.  (See below).  In the evening we had an online game of bridge with our friends Chris and Caroline using Zoom.  Oh the miracles of modern technology!

1974

Thursday 11th April

The day started with a thunderstorm and we got stuck in the mud trying to get on to the road. It rained on and off for the rest of the day. We drove to Mashhad and while we hesitated as to which road to take, a Persian stopped in his car and said he'd help us and show us around if we helped him with information for an imminent trip to England. We followed him into the town and he took us to have tea at his carpet emporium. We expressed interest in the carpets so he told us all about them and which were good and bad buys and the different types. We put a deposit down for two of them. We gave him Neil's mother's address for a possible temporary place to stay. He then helped us to buy meat and vegetables and put us on the right road to Afghanistan. We drove as far as Fariman where we stopped by the road for the night beside a heavy goods checking post.

2025

Monday 9th June 

Today we had booked a tour called “The Taste of Istanbul”.  Hasan took us on a ferry to a part of Istanbul where he grew up and where fewer tourists visit.  There were just 6 of us, two from New York and two from Mumbai and us.  After a walking tour of the area we were taken to several little restaurants to try local dishes.  It was a hot day so we came back to our apartment to rest in the afternoon.  In the evening we went out for a meal but there were lines of coaches and buses full of riot police so we decided to eat in the cafe downstairs as we were a bit concerned about what might happen although nobody else took much notice of them.