Istanbul

We had a 7.30am transfer from our hotel in Tel Aviv to the airport, which unfortunately didn't turn up so had to hurriedly organise a taxi. This was rather stressful as we had been told security at Tel Aviv can be very time consuming and we needed to be there 3 hours before our flight. Cost us 200 sheckles (almost $100) too which we will take up with the company. On arrival in Istanbul the transfer to pick us up was late/ didn't have an identifying sign and is an area that Intrepid need to improve on. The tours themselves are of a good quality.

The trip from the airport to our hotel took over 2 hours mainly due to the traffic being at a standstill around the main touristy areas of Istanbul which is where our hotel is located. The Saturday was a free day for us so we wandered down to the waterfront and caught a cruise on the Bosphorus which was pretty cheap at 60 lira each (about $6). Wandered back to our hotel via the lovely park near Topkapi Palace and AyaSophia. For what was supposed to be a relaxing day we did a heap of walking.

Sunday is the day we meet up with the tour group - 8 of us, all Aussie - 2 from Lismore, 3 from Melbourne and 1 from Adelaide. The hotel / guide surprised me with a birthday cake so that was nice. We walked down to the hippodrome and went into the Blue Mosque. That was a bit of a disappointment though because it is under renovation so had scaffolding etc. covering the beautiful tiled walls. Consequently we didn't take any photos and will have to use our pictures from when we visited several years ago. We did go into AyaSofya (the other Mosque nearby) and have a few pictures from there.

Finished the day with a welcome dinner in a Greek Restaurant in Turkey overlooking the water - go figure!Read more