Istanbul

It felt good to be ending our trip in Istanbul. Making it to the point where Europe merges with Asia felt like a tidy spot to stop. We met a Kiwi couple, Emma and Justin, who had cycled a similar route to us across Europe and were now living in Istanbul. They had also met Amin and his friends who run the bike rental shop in Sarajevo and stayed with Amin while they were there. They had loved Sarajevo too. Emma and Justin are keeping busy with work and study until it gets warm enough to continue on through Asia and back home to NZ. They are still planning a route but it sounded like it would be a lot more challenging than what we had justdone. They are keeping a blog and we are looking forward to following their progress at Rolling Tales. Good luck guys!

As for us, the only planning we had in mind was how to sample as many varieties of Turkish delight as possible!

We stayed in a Hostel on the less touristy side of the Golden horn in a area called Beyoğlu that includes the Galata tower. We were following advice from other travellers who found the tourist district a bit busy to be based  in all the time. It's sound advice if you're spending longer than a few days in Istanbul as you still have close access to the sights but avoid the hard sells and higher prices of the Sultanahmet area. Beyoğlu is also a bustling art and cafe/bar area of Istanbul with the super busy shopping street İstiklal Avenue at the top of the steep hill. Our hostel (Neverland) was great for us, being relaxed and with a cafe down below that was a good place to drink tea and meet locals and other travellers.

I don't think I'd ventured into a mosque before coming to Istanbul and was a little worried that my lack of knowledge of the customs would make for a bit of an uncomfortable experience. The mosques in the tourist areas are expecting sightseers however and when prayers are not on will guide you through so to avoid making a faux pas. It felt pretty relaxed inside anyway with kids running around and people chatting. The huge blue mosque in particular had a lovely interior that felt light and serene. The fact that mosques only use patterns to decorate their interiors gives them a different feel to Christian churches. Most Christian churches tend to be rich in figures of angels and saints looking out from the walls and stained glass which gives a strong sense of history. The feeling we felt in the mosques we visited felt more meditative and lighter. Perhaps someone brought up in the culture would have a different reaction being more familiar with the symbolism of the intricate patterns but to us it felt a lot less heavy than the old churches we had visited so far on our trip.     

The call to prayer varied a lot across the city. The locals don't appear to notice it as it starts up but we never really got used to it enough not to stop and listen for a while. In some areas the singers were amazing and it echoed around the buildings or trees and was haunting and beautiful. In other areas (like just outside our hostel room) the speakers on the mosques are turned up too high and have blown so what you hear sounds more like a Dalek singing. Still pretty cool sounding but a bit jarring to hear at sunrise.

Underground inside the ancient Basilica Cistern - once a water filtration system for the main palace of Constantinople.

An upside down Medusa head at the base of a pillar inside the cistern.