Lift Off

Okeedokee so, here's blog post number one from the road... arrived into istanbul yesterday!Seems to be a pretty groovy place so far. Last night when I arrıved, I went for a walk around the old part of the city and generally arsed around knockin brewski's into me for a while. It's warm but not unbearable... Had a good sleep last nıght despıte the fact that some halfwit aussie robbed my bed and I had to sleep on a bare mattress. (I'd forgotten about the joys of budget travellıng and dormroom banter)...I decided to start this trip as I aim to continue so I'm going super mega budget for now. (Last time I went away, I spent most of my travel budget in the first two months and I'm not going to let that happen again.... although I wouldn't take back a single one of those buenos aires steaks....mhhhhhhhh.... drooooool!).

So when I got to the airport last night, rather than my usual taxi (I get a taxi to the bathroom in dublin) I took a combination of metro, tram, bus and walking to get to the hostel. It took about two hours and several little diversions. While I was walking along, they did the 'call to prayer' thingy (mcchhchchcalllllllahahahahahahmccccallallalahahaha.... allahhhhhhhhhhmchmchmch), which is a bit mad altogether ... no doubt there'll be more on that in later posts. And all that with my 22kg rucksack on my back and 9kg backpack on my front. By the time I got to the hostel, I was sweating like a blind lesbian in a fish market, but the water was off so I couldn't have a shower. Fear not though, cos I am ridiculously well prepared and have a complete kit for 'no water' cleaning which I was chuffed to be able to use on my first night.

Soooooo, aaaaannnyyway... what else is there. Got up early this morning and had a super-mega-cheapo brekkie of .... bread with honey... (Honey's actually very tasty, I always thought I didn't like it for some reason). Then I had a look at the blue mosque today and have been generally walking around the city... I've just crossed to the north of the city and walked up a big hill and am now shagged altogether, but I'm going to persevere until I get to Taksim Square where all the action is supposed to be.

May Allah be with you all...

Ur man in Istanbul... C

PS: Actually, I'm on the western side of istanbul and haven't gone to the 'Asian' side yet. And seen as the trip is going to be 'Asia', this really this isn't part of it, it's more like a 'precursor' or an 'amuse-bouche'... haha