The exchange rate for Turkish lire was 2.84 lire to the pound and diesel cost £1.36 with petrol £1.60 per litre.
After arriving at the Orient Hostel in the old part of Istanbul and finding that we were to sleep in the cellar room which had fifteen pair of bunk beds making a total bed space of thirty bunk beds. As we were a group of twenty-two, Seamus having joined us for the rest of the trip, we picked our bunks (I had a bottom one) and hung around waiting for the rain to stop, which it eventually did at 1100 hours. That night and every night I slept in the hostel with my money and passport under the bed.
Three of us males went to the Grand Mosque with the ladies as an escort where they bought clothes suitable to be worn in Iran, the next country to be visited. We had a good run around being told to go to different places but they did end up with a headscarf, long top and loose fitting trousers and having bartered well ended up paying half of what the group paid on the similar trip last year.
Once the important shopping had been done we then split up with the ladies going shopping again and I did the rounds of the turkish delight shops, of which there were hundreds. After free samples in many I did not want to eat any more The turkish delight here is much different from that in the boxes in the UK and tasted better too.
The weekend was a Festival of Children occasion and in the square near the Blue Mosque there were groups of children from as far away as Russia and Indonesia singing and dancing with a very appreciative audience including some of us. By now the day had warmed up and the sun was out showing off the flowers of which there were lots of tulips. It appears that tulips have a meaning for the Turkish people as during the Ottoman period only the very rich could afford them as they were very difficult to grow. It was suggested that they did not come from Holland in the first place! There were lots of local people and tourists around enjoying the music and just walking through the park. There were lots of cats to be seen, wild, well fed and very friendly, walking up to people for a fuss. It was said that the local people liked cats and did not chase them away as I would have expected.
In the evening we all sat on the roof and watched the sun go down. The others, (not me, honest), smoked an apple smelling nargile, which is shown in the photographs (it is like the Egyptian hookah).
After arriving at the Orient Hostel in the old part of Istanbul and finding that we were to sleep in the cellar room which had fifteen pair of bunk beds making a total bed space of thirty bunk beds. As we were a group of twenty-two, Seamus having joined us for the rest of the trip, we picked our bunks (I had a bottom one) and hung around waiting for the rain to stop, which it eventually did at 1100 hours. That night and every night I slept in the hostel with my money and passport under the bed.
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| The bunk room |
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| The street where we lived |
Three of us males went to the Grand Mosque with the ladies as an escort where they bought clothes suitable to be worn in Iran, the next country to be visited. We had a good run around being told to go to different places but they did end up with a headscarf, long top and loose fitting trousers and having bartered well ended up paying half of what the group paid on the similar trip last year.
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| Lunch after a hard morning shopping |
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| The results of the shopping showing left to right Vicky, Jackie, Janet, Stephanie, Libby. Rebecca, Laura, Emily, Polly, Helen |
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| Mounds of turkish delight |
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Children singing and dancing at the Childrens Cultural Festival |
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| Flowers in the square |
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| The Blue Mosque |
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| Libby and Stephanie |
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| Stephanie |
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| Stephanie, Laura and Emily |
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