Turkey, Istanbul

Entering Turkey is a step that we consider a milestone of the journey. This is because we enter a country with a different culture than what we are used to. Our first impression is formed by driving to a camping 60 km from Istanbul and placed at a very beautiful spot at the coast. We immediately notice that the people are extremely friendly and the owner of the camping spend quite a bit of time suggesting places worth seeing.During this entire time we could see the head of a humanoid doing something in the cold water. When he suddenly decided to come out of the water, I think even Richard must have been impressed by all the gadgets he was carrying. If anyone knows what he might have been doing, please let us know…

Left:Helpful camping owner showing Lina nice places in Turkey. Right: Mysterious man flushed out of the sea. /Pentax

Next morning we drove into Istanbul. We where all struck by the beauty of this enormous city (20 million). Following recommendations from the Lonely Planet we checked in at Bahaus Hostel at a place called SultanAhmet. This hostel turned out to be one of the best we ever stayed at, even before our trip. The entire place is very, very cosy and the view from the terrace overviews the Bosporus in one direction and the beautiful blue Mosque in the other.

Sultanahmet area with view from Bahaus hostel. /Pentax

Outside the hostel a local kebabman presented the first generous trade offer to Lina and Richard. He would happily swap his “wheels” with their Landy. I guess that there will be occasions when they will regret not accepting the deal :)

Man who wanted to swap wheels. /Pentax

The last day in Istanbul we decided to cross the water and visit the Asian side. Here Richard and Lina met a man who proudly stated that two kids is just a starter as compared to him self who have 16. In fact, having the kids around us attracts an enormous attention wherever we go and funny enough everybody think we have two pairs of twins. Having twins in Turkey is something very special and honourable, apparently. A bit less pleasant for the kids is that everybody pulls their cheeks, in particular Tuvalie and Luka find it annoying.

Father of many kids talking to Richard and Lina. /Pentax

The last nights at the hostel we became friends with “Nedzo”, the owner. He is a fantastic character who has travelled a lot. He kindly advised us on “must see” sites in the west part of Turkey. In fact it is not only seeing new places that is going to be an new experience according to him, but also meeting people even more friendly than what we have experienced this far. We don’t know if that is possible and with this in mind we set of to Iznik, the first town on Nedzo’s list.