Every country should have a coup

Wow. When we agreed to give our friend Yas a lift to Istanbul to drop her off at her dad's place I thought it would be fun. But I never realised it would quite lead to as great a few days as we've had. On top of this a week ago I wasn't even sure we would be able to get into Turkey, let alone wander freely around Istanbul enjoying the Mosques and the markets.

We are now in a convoy of three cars having added Team Rub-a-Dub Dub, Three Men and a Tub; three other lads from Bath driving a Nissan Micra with a bath tub on the roof. We drove down yesterday from halfway down the Black Sea coast in Bulgaria, through the Turkish border and got to Istanbul at about 7pm. After driving across the Bosphorus river and into Asia we eventually got to Yas' dads house at about 8:30pm.

The scene that met us was unbelievable. I had heard the view was good from the house but an explanation can't do it justice. Hopefully the photo slightly shows what it's like, and I will try to add a video later. On top of this every few hours the Mosques across the city start playing the call to prayer, which is played loud enough for all 17 million people across the city to hear. To play this out for everyone to hear is incredible and I've never heard anything like it, I could never imagine anything even close in the UK. Granted though it's slightly frustrating at 7am!

What a view

Today we went into the centre of Istanbul, saw the Blue Mosque and Haggia Sofia before having a kebab and mooching around the Grand Bazaar and spice market for a few hours. The whole centre of town is one of the busiest places I've been and the sheer volume of things you can buy is outrageous. As it was all I got was a small present for one lucky person, and a new found appreciation for everything Turkish. Finally, we finished the day with a traditional Turkish Coffee; small but extremely strong!

Blue Mosque

Turk Khavesi

The people in Istanbul have probably been the most welcoming of anywhere we have been, and to top it all off all public transport whilst we have been here has been completely free; presumably coup related so if you can I'd recommend anyone to come here as soon as you can. Just make sure you stay at a house with a stunning view of the city and a fantastic host!