Hitching Back to Istanbul

After our hitch hiking success in Armenia and Georgia, we couldn't resist hitching our way back across Turkey to Istanbul. Hitching can be a little tough, though, like when you get stuck in the occasional rain storm or have to hike your way 5 or 10 miles to the edge of a town, but we loved it anyway. Hitching is really quite a good way to connect with the locals, and we were picked up by people from all walks of life. Despite its stigma as being dangerous (and you do need to look out in any part of the world) we didn't have any safety issues. Most people who stop were salt of the earth, and a total delight to share a ride with. Rusty was particularly proud when we finally succeeded in securing a ride in a big rig...


In addition to enjoying some more of the best Bakhlava in the world (we pretty much developed an addiction), we were pleased to see enjoy some more of Turkey's best on our way back across Turkey from the east to the west. We made pretty quick progress, but still took a few breaks to stop off for a short time in Amasya to see a beautiful fortress on a craggy cliff along a river and to drop by Saphronbolu to see its old town. The highlight, however, was Istanbul. We began our visit by exploring the Blue Mosque, one of Islam's most significant buildings.

Inside the Blue Mosque below:

Adjacent to the Blue Mosque, the Aya Sophia (pictured below) is another mosque with scale and decor beyond anything we had imagined.

We spent an enjoyable afternoon wandering around Turkey's crazy/hectic Grand Bazaar. It's an incredible collage of smells, sounds and colors.

Istanbul is shared by the continents of Europe and Asia, with a narrow ocean passage between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea called the Bosphorus, acting as the official dividing line. We decided to enjoy a "two continent" day while we were in Istanbul, so we took the ferry across to the lavish Dolmush Palace, one of several amazing Ottoman palaces we visited.

Once again, we couldn't resist snapping a photo of an interesting vehicle... a motorcycle with two front wheels caught our attention... We thought it worth sharing with you.

While we were in Istanbul, we discovered that the flight we had booked to our next destination had been canceled. Not to worry, our hitch-hiking thumbs are now well experienced to make the next leg of our journey over-land.