Istanbul

Friday 17 September

The young ones have gone out for the night, with Mac who leaves tomorrow. Hopefully when they get back at 4am there will be less drunken snoring than the other night, especially from Spots who sounded like he was using a straw to slurp up the dregs of a drink; had to put me earplugs in. Pesky kids :')

A busy day today, once I got up. Breakfast at the hostel, then on the tram with Spots and Sarah as far as Kabatas. Walked up steep steps to Taksim Square. The guys walked around Taksim and I went to find the Indian Embassy. Managed to get lost a bit, despite Chileans directions. Picked up application forms but didnt wait around to ask questions; too many people. The main thing was finding out where it was for when i am ready to apply. And the same for the Uzbekistan Embassy, since I knew it was a long way out of town. So after a bit of waiting around, finally found a helpful guy at the bus stop and he put me on the right bus to Istinye.

Bus a bit crowded at times but a great view of the Bosphorus River, bridges and sailing boats. After about 30 minutes the driver told me we had arrived and i jumped off. It was llike a small fishing town, with small cafes a peaceful vibe and no tourists. Asked a few people and they directed me up the steep hill to the embassy, which of course was shut. But got some info from a guy outside who spoke good English. Went to the internet cafe and they told me stuff and I found the bank that I will have to go to as part of the visa application process.

Finally, rang the embassy when i got home and they said that if i have all the necessary papers, they can process it the same day. For the Uzbekistan visa I need to get a Letter of Invitation, which you get through an on-line company, and should take ten days. The Indian visa usually starts from the day you get it which is why I am not getting it yet. Anyway, so, I booked my flights from Istanbul to Tashkent to Delhi. Slightly scary in terms of making it all happen and also at over $700. But glad i have got the process under way. Of course, all this meant not much sightseeing but i certainly know my way around a bit now, and will have almost 2 weeks in Istanbul when we get back from our tour of the rest of the country.

We have had the dorm to ourselves the last few days, but tonight a Chilean lady arrived. She reminds us of our Chileans and is sweet. She works in IT for a bank and can't understand how we could have had a 10 month holiday when she has worked all year for this 3 week vacation.