Wed, 23 Apr 2003

author Liz	location Commons Wood Caravan Park, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England
posted 09:00 BST 05/05/2003	section Europe2002/Asia/Turkey ( all photos )

The Tour Starts ( 38 photos )
On Wednesday, the tour really got going. After breakfast, we went down to the lobby and then got on what was going to become the rather infamous Bus Number 5.
We started out by meeting our guide, Kaan, and then we had a drive through a small part of Istanbul, having various sites pointed out to us, before we stopped at the Hippodrome. This is a long narrow stretch of park and gardens near the Blue Mosque, and was once a giant stadium where chariot races were held. All that remains now are a couple of ancient obelisks and a section of the top of the wall that used to separate the chariots as they raced.
Next, we walked across the road and into the outer courtyard of the Blue Mosque. We were told of its history and then taken around to the tourist entrance where we removed our shoes and the girls donned blue headscarves. It was nice to have something wrapped around my head to keep me warm, because it was very cold once we got inside the Mosque!
It is called the Blue Mosque due to the large amount of blue patterned tiles covering the interior. When were told more interesting information about the Mosque as we stood inside, but it was hard to soak up its beauty due to the huge crowds of tourists everywhere.
After a rushed look at the inside of the Mosque, we went out and then across to Aya Sophia. Along the way, we came across some ornately dressed men, carrying big metal urns on their backs. When they bend forward, juice pours out of a spout and into the cup they hold. Tim and I had come across these funny little men the day before, and for a small fee, they'll give you a glass of apple juice and let you take a photo of them.
Apart from them, there was also the usual myriad of men selling postcards, hats, whistles and any other touristy rubbish they could get their hands on.
The next part of the tour was going into Aya Sophia, but as Tim and I had done that, we went back to the nice outdoor cafe in Sultanahmet Square and enjoyed a Turkish tea and coffee in the sunshine for an hour.
We met up with everyone and the bus then drove us to the Grand Bazaar, where we were free to wander on our own for an hour or so. Tim and I ended up buying an onyx chess set after some haggling, so that should come in quite useful as we travel around in our van. We also bought a couple of salad rolls from a deli. The rolls had salami on them, and I think this was the probable cause of a bout of food poisoning we both suffered over the next few days.
Once again we all got back on the bus and were driven down to the water where we boarded a ferry for a cruise on the Bosphorous. We tried to sit outside, but it was too cold, so we found a spot inside and admired all the nice views from there.
We went past the Galata tower, which seemed a lot higher up than it had appeared from the top, and then out onto the Bosphorous, up along one side up to the second suspension bridge, and then back along the other side. One of the guides provided some commentary, and it was nice to know what we were looking at.
After the cruise, we went back to the hotel. By now I was feeling pretty sick, so we ended up staying in for the night, apart from a short trip up the road for Tim to get some food (I didn't feel like eating anything). Unfortunately, both Tim and I spent the rest of the night being quite sick, but at least we weren't alone, as it turned out most of Bus 5 also had food poisoning.

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