Kecik Istanbul

... so everyone funnels through this bottleneck. It is also said that these Soviet apartments had such small bathrooms that you had to back into it if you wanted to use the toilet.

General odd bits:

Almost all the tree trunks in Uzbekistan are whitewashed up to about 3-4’ above the ground. This is to prevent damage to the trees from insects.

One of the dishes you get at a fancy dinner ...

... the locals, ignored and sometime accepted.

It shows that ifyou are to be see everythingthat is around, you should go see, feel, listen to the crowd,so you can smell and hearexperience first hand,look at the faces, hear the shouts,as they leave the hopeful mouthsand the loitering loutsall with a purpose,and you should go out there leave the beaten trail, see the slums, wherethe minarets are frailand the muezzins calland people still answerone and all.

... we wanted to go (he seemed even more lost than us).

In the end, we fıgured thıngs out and feel quıte happy wıth our respectıve tıcket purchases. We leave tomorrow and are lookıng forward to spendıng a nıght ın a hostel buılt
ınto rock caves and explorıng the pure natural beauty that ıs Cappadocıa.

Wısh us luck!

Erın and Andrew

... restaurants, I headed back up to Taksim Square and then down another street in the direction of the hotel, The Villa Zurich. Back to the hotel and then to the cafe next door for a beer and then back to the room for a nap as the jet lag had finally caught up to me. Dinner was just down the street a a very neat cafe, the Smyrna Cafe that was an old antique shop that was converted into a cafe. Very long and narrow, I felt I was entering some one's living ...

... restaurants, on benches, on the cement walls that are scattered around the park. The food and drinks are laid out in preparation for the instant that the call to prayer begins. In some areas, a drummer will go around beating on a drum at 4:30am to wake people up so they can eat before the sun rises. They will not be able to eat again until the sun sets. When I was in Turkey five years ago, they celebrated Ramazan during the month of November. It must have been much easier to fast ...

... it dominates the whole town, and they should limit, or eliminate highrise to keep it that way. The town ends abruptly in agricultural land, canals, and the start of a divided motorway. Because of the convolutions of the border, the main expressway used to run through Tajikistan when they were all part of the USSR, which has now been changed, so head up a relatively new road through rolling hills with grasslands and some ...

... and less touristy - much more easier to navigate than the first 2 rows! By now we were starved so we popped out in the rainy cloudy day and found a nearby local restaurant that was full of locals (good sign) and had a bay marie full of yum Turkish food -- one of the dishes was just steamed veggies and we both just pounced on it -- starved for veggies!! I also has a rice and chicken dish which was great as well... I did ...

... had seen better days so there was a certain amount of faded grandeur to be seen. The second island we docked at, Burgazada was clearly cat island, as there were at least two dozen of them waiting at the wharf to greet the incoming ferry. The next stop was our first destination, Heybeliada. This was dog island - we were greeted by an assortment of a dozen or so dogs. Well, I say greeted but only if you count lying in our path as a greeting. Heybeliada is ...

we awoke around 8 am and headed out of the house around 9 am to collect on some money from one of erol's family friends; he had sold some of the tokers' antiques for commission and erol was looking to collect. the guy wasn't there, but instead we walked around the shore near erol's old house for a little bit and embraced the view... once again, it was amazing. we then drove through the financial district to old istanbul, where ...

... downhill stroll (about 20 minutes) to the Galata Bridge (the card game is named after this landmark) and the nearby Spice Bazaar. Here you can take Bosphorus trips or quick crossings... If you are more energetic, walk accross the Galata Bridge to the Galata Tower side and look for the small underground 'tube' to Tunel. Five minutes (and about 5 cents) and your up ...