Turkish delight

Being independent travellers again was a welcome change after 32 days travelling with others. Tours definitely have benefits, with the opportunity to travel with interesting others being a highlight. But having ones time organised on a daily basis is less appealing. And indeed the tour itself had in fact felt like 3 separate tours, with different guides with their own styles. We had to work hard to retain that sense of being "along the Silk Road" (as opposed to just going to interesting places.

Istanbul is the magical city where East meets West, with the Asian and European sides clearly demarcated by the Bosphorous, a narrow, natural strait. The cultural influences of the many empires that once ruled here is especially evident in the very compact Old City, which makes seeing the sites very easy.

After dragging our suitcases along steep and narrow cobbled streets, then up 5 flights of stairs to our AirBNB, we settled in to our home for the next 4 nights, acquainting ourselves with our hosts Sui and Ibriham and their 3 cats. The sweeping views of the Bosphorous from our top floor apartment were breathtaking, with the construction cranes in the foreground only marginally impacting on the quality of the experience.Read more