insane. its rare I havent blogged despite being well into my trip. Short recap: spent a couple of days in Berlin absorbing the history and landmarks, and chilling with my best two mates from London. I am writing at this present moment from Istanbul, which is not the capital of Turkey contrary to popular knowledge (its Akana). Im staying in Sultanamet, which is the old part of Turkey and where Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, Aya Sofya, Bascilia Cistern are situated. Its also the haven for backpackers.

its surprisingly expensive here. tourist entry fees are a hefty 10 euros for the standard places. So, I havent been venturing in. I guess there is also less of an incentive since I have visited them before. the weather is quite hot. not to the extent you want a shower every half hour, but hot enough to want to wear a tank top but not wanting to because of the added unwarranted male attention. I thought moroccan men were repressed, but turkish men arent any better. they want to talk to you at every opportunity possible. a common 'tactic' they like using is sort of slow down until you catch up to them and start intiating a convo - "where are you from". usually I counter this by slowing down even more to the point of nearly stopping and going into a shop or crossing the road and walking on the other side. other men are most persistent. Im just wondering if they are this extreme in istanbul (which I think is becoming increasingly europeanized), I dont want to think about the situation in syria. I made an effort on this trip to bring only long sleeve tops and long pants. by the end of the day, I am dying for a bath.

speaking of baths, I went to the best hamman so far. I think turkish baths are superior to arabic ones. well, at least the one I went to today was beautiful - marbled steam room, running hot and cold waters, and your own private room to lie down and store your stuff. it was luxurious. after my virgin hamman experience in morocco, I have become addicted to this way of bathing. sure, its a cultural clash seeing naked bodies moving around and lying down, but the experience is so cleansing and rejuvenating. I never feel as clean as I do about a few hours at a hamman - all that steaming and exfoliating. oh, I mentioned in my last london post about Porchester Baths - man they were amazing too - a rare gem in London indeed.

oh the food. how can I not have mentioned the food until now. turkey is the home of baklavas, donor kebabs, turkish coffee, apple tea, pide bread, kofte etc. yum, yum and more yum. I cant help but have multiple meals because there is always something I walk pass that I want to try.

in the one day, I experienced the vast range of transport in Turkey - the ferry, metro, bus, tram. I took the ferry early in the morning at 6.45am from Harem which is on the middle east side of istanbul (think instanbul as though it is cut in two, which it essentially is, separated by the Bosphorus river. the left side is connected to the european continent and the right side is connected to the middle east). anyways, my flight touched down in Sabiha airport, which is in the sticks, at 2am. my options were limited: camp out in the airport or venture out. i chose the latter after wandering around the departure hall and finding the seats had annoying arm rests which made it impossible to lie down. So, i caught a bus out to Harem which is a small port. However, the ferry doesnt run 24 hours, and I had to wait from 3.30am till 6.45 am. not the most pleasant part of my journey. the frustrating thing was I couldnt buy any food or drink because I had no local currency. there weren't any money exchangers in Harem, and for some odd reason, prehaps due to early hours, none at the airport.

I feel a post is not complete without a rant, so here it goes: lonely planet sucks. well at least my "Middle East" LP does. seriously deficient in all areas, and compromisingly shallow. it ridiculous. i end up having to ask or google most of the information. for instance, it didnt even mention the airport I flew into hence I had no idea about getting out of the airport. I can go on (which I have in my notepad) but I wont online. I better go. it late and I want to make an early start. vague plan for tomorrow is to hit up the grand bazaar, find this hookah place I have been recommended and by a shisha to ship home, eat more, visit Topkapi Palace and a boat ride along Bosphorus river.

leave you and love you!