Important things first – we had our first bath for months and months 🙂 We got ourselves a great deal on wotif.com for Istanbul which turned out to be a one bedroom apartment with a proper bathtub for the same price as a hostel. We’re loving low season in Turkey and all cold and luke warm showers have been erased from our memory. The location was great too. Just behind the Blue Mosque in Sultanahmet, the old quarter, but not too close that the daily morning prayer would wake us up before dawn. When travelling in Muslim countries this is always a major factor when looking for accommodation. Though by now we’re kind of used to the regular prayer times and we can even sleep through the stereo version. Well almost. Continue reading Istanbul →

In Iran James was “Miiisster James”, I was sometimes “Miisiis” but mostly not addressed by my first name. In East Turkey all foreigners seem to be simply “tourist”. As there aren’t many around we stick out. Wherever we go, we hear blablaba tourist, blabla tourist and wish we could understand some Turkish or rather Kurdish since East Anatolia is predominantly Kurdish. Most people are friendly and helpful but we felt not as open as what we’ve experienced just across the border in Iran. Maybe that’s because of their somewhat difficult standing in this country or maybe because it’s one of the more conservative areas in Turkey. Trying to say a few words in Kurdish rather than Turkish to acknowledge the locals’ ethnic background definitely opens a few doors. Nevertheless we feel welcome and it’s absolutely safe to travel around since the truce between the PKK and the Turkish army. In fact if it weren’t for the army presence everywhere and passport checks on public transport, we maybe wouldn’t have even thought of the violent conflict that used to be in this part of Turkey. Continue reading “Something something tourist something” →