Pension Istanbul

Sunday 25th May 2008                 Sydney-Singapore-Dubai-Istanbul             Go over to Adam's about midday, but he's ...

... take 2 hours to get out of Istanbul and the ferry takes forever to arrive, load and unload all the vehicles. So when I left Istanbul at 11am ... I arrive at Selcuk at 2am. Called up the wonderful people at Australia and New Zealand pension, and its ...

... late so we had an apple tea and chilled before it showed up and we piled on for  the 4 hour ride back to Istanbul.   We stopped again at a roadhouse for dinner then continued on -- the fields along the way were covered with yellow flowers ...

... to push a bit to get on the coach that would take me to the International terminal so I could check my bags through to Istanbul.    I did forget to go through security and have my bags secured so had to go all the way back... ...

... we took the stairs to the very top level and finally made it outside - checking out all the fantastic views that we had of Istanbul!  The lookout area is pretty skinny - not much room to move around but you can walk the entire 360 degrees around ...

Hi everyone,       I have arrived in Istanbul safe and sound. Since I arrived at 2 pm the customs was quite slow, it took me a while before I got to our hotel. Too bad it is already 4 pm, not much time for ...

... owner and one of the workers there gives me a packet of tarts for a gift. We've barely spoken as he doesn't speak English, but they think Selah is delightful. The Shuttle pulls up, we load up, and kiss Istanbul goodbye. Goodbye Turkey, we love ...

... similar to Wildroses Velvet Fog beer. It was great. Today I woke up to catch a bus to Bandirma and then a ferry to Istanbul. Unfortunately I heard conflicting times for the ferry one at 330 and one at 630. Naturally I planned my traveling to arrive for ...

... saw the Dolmabahce clock tower nearby. We passed some very trendy looking waterfront areas, including the most expensive nightclub in Istanbul (the Reina), the most expensive hotel in Istanbul (500-10,000$ a night), a sad looking floating restaurant, ...

... couple who'd just ridden the ferry from Sebastopol to Istanbul. They had planned to find a very cheap hotel or wild camp in Istanbul, but ultimately settled on looking for beds with us. We tried a very cheap pension fırst, which involved extended ...

We left Athens after a high-speed drive to the airport, making the short flight to Istanbul on a decrepit Olympic Airlines plane...it's pretty clear why nobody wants to acquire them.  The first thing that struck me about Istanbul was its ...

... our names called at passport control - one by one by one-  we finally made our way to our cute little pension in the heart of the tourist district in Istanbul. Great city, good food, nice friendly people, and a million things to see and do. I also ...

... Hungary. Get your tickets early because the paperwork is long and all done by hand in quintuplicate!! Istanbul... //////////////////////////////////// Very huge. Metropolitan. Lots of big green parks all over town, filled with families and kids ...

... Toronto and twice a minute being approached by a shopkeeper wanting to sell you a case of maple syrup. A back and forth in Istanbul might go something like: "Hello sir, today business is terrible. I eat only bread." as the carpet man good-naturedly ...

... so no visa yet: we shall have to go through the procedures in Egypt.). Anyway, our experience in Turkey in general and Istanbul in particular has been quite positive: the country is beautiful, quite modern and there are plenty of things to ...

day 2 in Istanbul and already feeling like a local - getting recognized and a waive from the mussel guy on the street, a free beer on the house, and starting to throw around a little turkish in conversation. went to topkapi palace today.  huge ...

arrived in istanbul at midnight (finally!) after two long flights and almost no sleep but pretty still pretty amped up - nothing a few beers and raki (anise flavored liquor) until 3am could not fix up right away. woke up a bit late on tues, had a ...

... city to while away the time before our flight... Ok a couple of tips for those heading to Turkey... 1}  Have hotel/hoistel/pension booked or somewhat picked in advance as the touts at the bus station can be a bit agressive and it's better to not ...

... we were celebrities. Our light skin and light hair gave us away as foreigners, yet we were continually greeted with kindness. Istanbul definitely has a strong Muslim feel to it. There don't seem to be many women around and those who are out ...

... sleep in before having our last terrace breakfast in the sunshine. Then we walked down to the Basilica Cistern, the largest of Istanbul's underground cisterns that was built during the 6th Century (c. 532 AD). The cistern is huge (about 140x70m) and can ...