things in istanbul are going well. lots of things to see and do. spent a lot of time just wndering about thre markets etc.
spent yesterday at the Topkapi Palace where the sultans used to live, which was pretty cool. Great building/ took a guided tour around the harem which was impressive = fantastic decoration on the walls sat on the Balcony of Life or something with great views over the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn
some of the artefacts which were on show where splendid = they have the beard of the prophet muhammed and the hand of john the baptist! impressive!
switched hostels to somewhere a bit more central - the place i was in before was pretty miserable and a bit expensive/ am now in the oz backpacker hub and its a bit livlier
met up with an austrian and a german who knew some locals so we went to a tea bar and smoked a water pipe and all that stuff then went for a turkish bath which was very purifying after wearing the same scants for 3 days. joke.
doing ok its a scorcher today so will get my shorts and knotted hanky out my bag/