Talking Turkey - day 5 of 6

When you pull the lever by the red arrow

it rotates the hygiene film on the toilet.

At least it wasn't the ejector trigger.

Awesome Harley Davidson bike at the hotel.

I prefer this to those with high handlebars

Entrance (one of many) to the Grand Bazaar

It certainly is huge. I had to take care only

to explore a certain part so I didn't get

lost and miss the boat later!

There are dozens of intersecting corridors

mostly selling leather goods, jewellery,

carpets and various clothes

Love the partly-overgrown buildings

Get it? GET it?

Istanblue - Istanbul - Blue Mosque

Puns of the Orient

Blue Mosque from afar - actually easier

to get a picture this way

At last I get all six minarets in

Hagia Sofia mosque taken from the Blue Mosque

Approaching the Hagia Sofia

Up close - I like the older feeling from the outside

of the Hagia Sofia - looks more worn, more

ancient and generally awesome.

Best Western Sofia

- handy for tourist areas

- would not be so handy for work

Ali Baba and the Forty other tourist shops

I sit here for a few minutes for a snack, before going left down the hill to the tourist place. At the office, I wait for the minibus to the boat. Meanwhile, a family come in a drive a seriously hard bargain for an all-day tour somewhere. I almost feel sorry for the agent, as the power of the punter's mighty dollar makes itself felt.

All aboard! This is actually the neighbouring

boat, but is very similar to ours.

Lots of boats - ready to sail.

We start to move north along the

'european' side of the Bosphorus

Time to eat:

I am shown to 'my' table, where they try to match

up diners according to the hotel they are staying

at, which sounds a nice plan. Sadly I am the only

person there staying at the Sheraton Maslak.

At dinner I notice Rubik's tealight

Later I notice something fishy.

Fortunately, it's a fish.

Delicious

As the sun sets I try to get more pictures

Bokazici bridge in blue

Mystery castle structure

- I had no idea this was here.

Later I find out it is called

Rumelian Castle

We approach a second bridge

(Fatih Sultan Mehmet),

then turn south along the Asian shore

Strange entertainment - but fun

Mystery building

Folk dancing and belly dancing

Not easy to get a picture in the dark

Shiny! I this is the old

train station on the asian side

Last panorama before the trip ends

All shore! Quite a nice trip, though sadly

it then takes one whole hour to reach the

hotel via minibus as the centre of Istanbul

is completely jammed with traffic

at midnight - another first!