Last Day of Turkey - Mustafa Strikes Back

I'm sitting in the Terrace bar of our Hostel in the middle of sunny Turkey whilst Joe - as predicted is sunbathing on the roof! These three days have been absolutely insane! The flight was pretty interesting, loads of Turkish families kicked up a massive fuss as they couldn't sit together so me and Joe, English gentlemen as we are, gave up our seats and had to sit apart. Whilst Joe was sleeping, I spent the entire journey chatting to an amusing Turkish couple, who thought that we were absolutely mad to be going to Istanbul on our own, and kept asking me whether we had cousins there! At this point I started to become a bit worried, a feeling that multiplied when we arrived in the airport and were shepherded into a queue entitled "visas." I think some of the guidebooks were mis-informed when they dubbed Turkey "free of corruption" as they charged everyone random sums of money for a stamp which allowed you through passport control, and the mass of armed guards into Turkey! Typical easy-jet, they had flown us to the Asian side of Istanbul, apparently not the nicest place, so we hopped on the nearest bus out. When we arrived in Taksim square we shared a taxi with a couple of jesters, Gideon and a scottish guy called Graham who looks exactly the same as the Scottish guy in Notting Hill! We spent the evening on their hostel's rooftop playing Backgammon and drinking the local beer which is surprisingly expensive! Despite the unsettling beginning, our first impressions of Istanbul were good! After a breakfast of cheese, tomato and cucumber! Me and Joey went sightseeing. Too much to write on here but highlights were the paintings of the Joe Powell look-a-like - Sultan Mustafa in the Topokapi palace who had an absolutely massive nose and was green! Also, everyone seems to think Joe is a Turk, letting him into the Blue Mosque during prayer time, usually strictly no foreigners, and complimenting him on his great English! The Turkish girls in the club we went to last night seemed to share this general feeling of appreciation towards Big JP which led to some general debauchery as Joe "immersed himself in the Turkish culture" haha!! Last night was sweet! A crew of backpackers went on a cruise on the Bosphorous, then smoked shisha and drunk beer on a bridge as the sun went down! Then some Americans who have been here for ages took us out in a less touristy district, and me and Joe taught them all how to drink! Needless to say, we woke up pretty late this morning with some pounding headaches! Today we went to the Grand Bazaar which was hectic but allowed us to buy everyone presents! I feel like I'm writing an essay so must be off, love to all and Joey says Yaekshimash! Athens tommorow after a 14hr train ride so wish us luck! xxx