"Sitting, waiting, wishing" (Jack Johnson)

We departed the amazing camp in Bulgaria early in the morning as we were expecting hassles at the Turkish border - the first real border crossing of the trip. And it was lucky that we did, because the hassles did eventuate. In the end we were over 5 hours at the border, including several hours in no mans land between Bulgaria and Turkey, during which time we had lunch and provided much entertainment for the passing cars. A car full of kiwi overlanders stopped to check out the truck and chat about their time in Turkey, and a couple of other people took photos of the truck etc (we are getting used to being the freak-show wherever we go!). Caught up on some reading and chatting, and used our euro coins to pay for the rather revolting loos (although they were about a million times better than the ones on the Bulgarian side of the border!). Eventually we had the go ahead to proceed, only to be then told that they wanted to search the truck. So it was all bags off, all lockers open and the tarpaulin off the roof. In the end the search appeared to be more from a curiosity point of view than anything else! A bit of a "oh, look how they have done that" than a proper search. But eventually we made it through the border, with the traditional sounding of the horn to celebrate. A couple of hours driving through Turkey brought us to the city of Istanbul. In the two days that we have had in Istanbul I have seen the Blue Mosque, Aya Sofia, the Basilica Cisterns, the Spice Market, the Grand Bazaar and Topkipa Palace, and I have eaten a fish sandwich on the waterfront, and shish kebabs at night. We caught a local ferry across to the Asia side (and back again!). It has been a pretty full couple of days, and the weather has been amazing which has put people in a pretty good mood! A couple of drinks at night, and a little bit of acoustic music from Crofty and Maura, and it has been a very successful visit to this busy and vibrant city. The Blue Mosque: