turkey; cappadocia to istanbul

{Sunday November 3}

We got up at 5:30 this morning so that we would have time for breakfast before we leave at 6:30. The guy at the restaurant told me I can't take anything out of the restaurant when I tried to fill my water bottle with tea, but then he said that he just has to say that because there are cameras and he let me take it. 

We left the hotel at on time at 6:30. Some of the others put their luggage on the bus too so that they wouldn't have to carry it on their flight. We have 830km to go today; Dr. T says it's 12 hours but I don't think it will take that long, especially since half of it is on a main highway. 

Landscape en route to Istanbul

We stopped around 8 for a quick bathroom break, and then stopped again shortly after 10 for a snack and a little longer break.  We stopped at a bakery where they were making all kinds of fresh breads, and got a plate of assorted bagels and buns. And of course.. cucumber, tomato and olives. Our driver needs to have half an hour of rest for every four hours of driving, so we spent a little longer here. I also had to use a Turkish toilet at our second stop.. The novelty has worn off. 

Shortly before 11 we passed Ankora, leaving us about 500 more kilometers to go.  By 11:45 we only had 355km to go, so I think we are making good time.   The traffic in Istanbul will be very unpredictable, but given that it's a Sunday afternoon hopefully it will be fine. 

Landscape en route to Instanbul

We stopped around 1:30 when we only had about 200km left to Istanbul. Mom and I shared a pizza for lunch which was very good. After we were well done lunch, past our half hour, it became evident that there was a problem.  Dr. T spent a long time back and forth on his phone so I'm not quite sure what the problem is, but the driver says "problem, Istanbul.." ..whatever that means. It's 3pm now and here we sit. So much for making great time!

Shortly after 3 we were able to get going again. Apparently the travel agency has been very unorganized, so Dr. T had to pay for gas out of his own pocket because the agency wouldn't send any money. 

By 5pm we were about 30km away from the heart of Istanbul, following the sea of Marmora and driving through the industrial outskirts of the city. 

We crossed over the Bosporus bridge, and just like that we left Asia behind and we were back in Europe. We had a bit of traffic getting Into the city, but around 6pm we stopped to figure out where the hotel was and we arrived at the hotel shortly after 6. 

Corner store; Old European City - Istanbul

We dropped our things in our room (quite nice again!) and then went for a walk around the area.  It seems that every store we pass sells turkish delights, and teas or nuts.  We are in the old city on the European side tonight. There are quite a few little shops around, but some of them were starting to close. 

We headed back to the hotel and met for our farewell dinner at 8pm. It was at the hotel restaurant; we started with a vegetable soup, then we had a salad with lettuce, cabbage and pickled beets. Our main course was smashed lamb meatballs (delicious) with potato wedges, rice and a grilled tomato. For dessert we had rice pudding. It was a very nice dinner with a great group of Canadians that we have shared in this adventure with.

After dinner we went to our room to get some things packed and prepared for our flight home tomorrow, and then headed to bed.  Out of the 13 people on our tour, mom and I are the only ones that were fortunate to fly direct with turkish airlines; everyone else has a stop-over and will be leaving earlier than us. 

J. 

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