Vietnam Pt. 2

The bus journey to Da Lat

Our bus ride to Da Lat was through some stunning scenery, however it was also incredibly windy and our driver wasn’t forgiving with the speed he took the bends at. We had one stop, thankfully well timed as I felt like if we’d continued on any further, my stomach would have joined us in experiencing the mountains. We arrived in Da Lat and were at once relieved to feel the cooler air and lack of humidity. Our hostel wasn’t far away, so we ladened ourselves up with our packs on our backs and little backpacks on our fronts and set off. We shortly became a little confused as to where we were at, however a local soon jumped to our rescue and we continued on our way. 50m from our hostel’s door the combination of broken footpaths, packs on my back and front and weariness resulted in me on the ground with my ankle twisted and my knee which I had cut open in Croatia reopened.  Mike convinced me that lying on the ground having a bit of a cry wasn’t the best idea and begrudgingly I got up and hobbled the remaining few meters.

The next morning with my ankle somewhat rested and reducing in size we decided to hit the sights of Da Lat. First off was the “Crazy House” which really is crazy. Hang Nga, who designed and owned it was the daughter of the former president Truong Chinh, and as a result did not have to comply with any planning regulations. The outcome is a labyrinth of staircases, wooden animals and buildings which mix Vietnamese architecture with a style similar to Gaudi. It’s really a house that has to be seen.

Crazy House

We continued up the road to the summer palace of Vietnam's last emperor, Bao Dai. In our eyes the “palace” was a very drab Art Deco house which looked as though it hadn’t been touched or dusted since the 60s. Feeling a little down about travelling, we figured we’d go and check out the flower gardens as Da Lat is known as the flower city. Unfortunately these were not quite what we’d hoped for and apart from some impressive hedge dragons and deer there wasn’t much else to see.

We made our way back to our hostel rather disheartened. Our day did pick up though when I checked my emails and had one congratulating me on being accepted into the Post Grad Teaching Diploma at Auckland University, all the stress of organising references, doing assignments and having interviews while travelling with temperamental internet had paid off.

The following morning we walked along one of the canals running off the lake to see a waterfall. Unfortunately it was another disappointment as instead of a waterfall, we were met with some smelly, dirty water trickling over some rocks and with a lot of fibreglass animals on the banks. Interesting tourist attraction...

Some of the many things we've seen on the back of motorbikes

On our way back into town I lost my footing and ended up twisting my ankle again, this time worse than the first. Once back at our hostel Mike went on an ice and chocolate mission, returning with some frozen peas, New Zealand ones in fact, that cost over £2 and were as hard icy block. After a lot of bashing we had an icy block and a few mushy peas, though nonetheless it was cold. We rested up for the afternoon and caught a bus to Nha Trang the next morning, hoping for our disappointment to fade. The trip through the mountains down to the coast was rather sketchy as we were diving through thick mist and one point came round a corner and stopped just in time to miss colliding with a broken down truck.

We arrived in Nha Trang, a beach town, just as the rain was starting – I had only the previous day commented on the fact that we hadn’t needed our raincoats... The rain didn’t look like it was going to give up so we donned our coats and went for a wander. We got as far as the cathedral, which was closed, before deciding to give up, escape the rain and rest my ankle.

By the time we went out for dinner our road was beginning to resemble a river and it was still raining. Throughout our meal people were constantly having to move to avoid the drips, and just as we were finishing eating a loud creak and a crack were heard. Suddenly the staff were moving everyone out of the main eating area which had a tarp-like retractable roof, to under the permanent one. It became apparent that the cracking had come from the wall brace which was being pulled off the wall by the weight of the water pooling on the roof. One of the chefs climbed on to a table and stabbed a knife into the material, resulting in a torrent of water descending over him and into the restaurant.  Certainly not your everyday eating experience. Walking back to our hostel we waded though ankle deep water wondering what we’d wake up to.

The beginning of the flooding.

The next morning we’d organised to meet up with Jenny, who Mike went to school with, and Ash and Scott, a UK couple she was travelling with.  Making our way to meet them was interesting as it had continued raining through the night and in parts the water was over my knees. We had an enjoyable morning camped out in a cafe watching the eccentric owner abuse anyone who was driving down the flooded road sending waves of water into the shops and houses.

Knee deep!

The rain was on and off at this point so Mike and I figured that although we wouldn’t be chilling on the beach we’d still try and see the sights of Nha Trang. We walked/hobbled along the beach for 4km and visited some beautiful Cham towers that sat on a hill at one end of the beach. The rain started up again and feeling hot, sticky and a bit deflated we returned to our hostel. We met up with the others for tea and ended up at a bar with free and very cheap drinks. Unsurprisingly this resulted in a rather big, yet cheap night out.

Cham towers Nha Trang

Feeling rather sorry for ourselves we had a quiet following morning. Myself and Mike checked out a large Buddha in the early afternoon and then met up with Jen and Ash and headed to the mud baths on the outskirts of town. The whole experience was rather odd but good fun. We were first shepherded to some very powerful showers and the taken to a large bath which filled with warmish watery mud and we were left to enjoy it. After a while we were told to have another shower and then walk along a pathway with water shooting out of both sides, massaging us. Following this we had a warm pool of water to lie in and then moved on to the swimming pools. The whole experience was supposed to leave you with soft skin, I’m not sure if it did but it was a great way to spend an afternoon.

Our new look post mud bath

Buddha above a Pagoda.

 At 5.30am the next morning the five of us were aboard a train heading up the coast to Da Nang. Nine hours later, after passing though some amazing landscapes and attempting to get some sleep we arrived in a wet Da Nang. From here we still had a 30min journey to Hoi An and spent it hoping that perhaps the rain would subside. Unfortunately it increased and just as we arrived in Hoi An the heaviest rain I have ever seen was coming down. Thankfully just next door to our hostel was one of the many small eateries selling the local fresh beer which only lasts 24hrs and as a result is sold for 9p/18c.

The following morning, equipped with a to do list, myself and Mike went exploring Hoi An. First up was finding a tailor to make Mike a suit and copy a few of my favourite tops that are now falling apart. Although every second shop is a tailor we were determined to find one which had good quality workmanship and also didn’t charge though the roof. Thankfully, with some help from trip advisor, the second tailor we visited seemed to fit the bill. We were each pulled in 101 different directions; Mike had to choose the style of suit, material and lining and what colour shirt he’d like. At the same time I was on the back of a motorbike being taken to a fabric shop inorder to find some material for one of my tops. Once back at the shop we were both measured and told to come back at 3pm the following day. Hoping we’d chosen well we set off to complete task number two, booking a cooking class for the next morning, something we’d both been looking forward to for the whole trip. 

Tailors.

We hired bikes for the rest of the day, cycling around town and catching a ferry to a local island. Intermittent rain put a bit of a damper on our spirits so we headed back for a bit of a rest. I ended up having a quiet night in but Mike went out with the others and even ended up in a Vietnamese club called Golden Dragon, complete with a man dancing in a fully sequined suit.

Fresh herbs at the market.

We woke early the next morning and headed down to the restaurant eager to begin our cooking class and learn how to make some of the food we have both fallen in love with.  We started off being broken into small groups and taken on a tour of the local market. Here our guide explained the different types of rice noodles, we tasted local fruits and were told about the medicinal properties of the different herbs, a very rewarding hour. Over the following three hours we were taught, cooked and ate a cabbage soup with shrimp dumplings, some fresh spring rolls, a Vietnamese pancake, marinated chicken skewers and a green mango salad. This food was some of the best I’ve eaten since being here and thankfully we have the recipes so will be able to enjoy the dishes again. Although stuffed from all our cooking we just had to try some of the lemongrass icecream from across the road and we weren’t disappointed. 

Making fresh spring rolls.

We had our first fitting at the tailors at 3pm so filled the time in between doing some of our Christmas shopping and picking up a few bits for ourselves. At 3pm we nervously headed to the tailors, fingers crossed that we’d chosen well. Both of us needed our clothes taken in here and there but we were pleased with the results and were informed that if we came back at 10am the next day they’d be ready. At our next fitting my tops fitted perfectly and Mike only needed his trousers shortened slightly. After a few more visits, and an extra shirt, we were very pleased with our clothes, fingers crossed we’ll still be in a year.

Looking dapper.

 With the sun finally shining we thought we’d finally get round to seeing the historical side of Hoi An. For a few thousand dong we bought a ticket which gave us entrance to five sites, ranging from merchants houses to museums and pagodas. We were once again rather disappointed as the Museum of Trade Ceramics consisted of only a few broken plates and very little information and the merchants’ house was more of a tourist shop. Hot and sticky and for a few seconds actually wishing for some rain we got ourselves a beer down by the river and chilled out. 

Hoi An's water front

That night we had dinner, and the best food I’ve had since being here, at a little place across the road from where we are staying. We then headed down to the historical part of town to admire the lanterns. Hoi An is very pretty at night as it is the one place where local authorities demand shops and businesses have lanterns on their facades, resulting in some very pretty little streets.

Today the sun was shining once again and myself and Mike rented a scooter and went to check out some of the sights a little further out of town. First up was the local beach where we had a lovely refreshing swim and then sat under the palm trees drying off and watching the world go by. We then took our little bike a little further afield to the base of some mountains and My Son, a Cham settlement. Unfortunately My Son was bombed during the war and restoration work has only slowly been happening in the last 20 years. We were both however extremely impressed by the beauty of it.

On the beach in Hoi An.

The Cham towers at My Son.

Tomorrow we’re sadly leaving Hoi An to continue up the coast, weighed down with a significant amount more. Not long now!

Vietnam Pt. 1

Getting from Egypt to Vietnam was a pretty epic journey. Beginning on Tuesday afternoon, we took an hour long taxi from Dahab to Sharm el Sheikh, an hour long flight to Alexandria in the north where we had a three hour stopover. Unfortunately, none of our flights would connect, so we had to pick up our luggage, go through passport control and check in again at each place we got to, which ate into valuable stopover time.  From Alexandria, we had a 3 hour flight into Dubai, on which we got a couple of hours sleep. 

In Dubai, we had to change terminals which we thought would be pretty straightforward, but due to the size of the airport, we had to take a taxi there which took us almost half an hour. I was very happy however because I got to see the Burj Khalifa; the tallest building in the world which stands at a whopping 829m tall. I’m a bit of a geek for large scale engineering.

We got to our flight on time for our final leg of the trip into Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), where we flew with Emirates on a big Boeing 777, replete with huge screens in the back of every seat, a library of 100s of movies and TV shows and most importantly for me; lots of leg room! This was a very welcome change to all the budget flights we had been getting used to.

6 hours and a few movies later, we touched down in HCMC, sorted our visas and haggled down the price of a taxi to our hostel. Our first impressions of HCMC were very overwhelming. There were a million and one motorbikes clogging the streets, horns constantly blaring, music thundering out of every shop and what seemed like every LED and neon sign known to man were flashing in our faces. It also happened to be Halloween night, so there were lots of costumed people on the backs of motorbikes to look at. We checked into our hostel, grabbed some dinner and fell into bed, absolutely spent.

An example of a relatively tame intersection in Ho Chi Minh City

One big difference between Egypt and Vietnam was the humidity. It was pretty much the same temperature in both places, but in Vietnam it is much more humid, so we were both sweating buckets by midday. We were both suffering from a little bit of jetlag, so had a slow day. We went for a walk and took in the Reunification Palace, which was the scene of some pretty important events in the history of Vietnam, hence its name, however it was incredibly boring and had no architectural flair whatsoever.  We also had a quick look in Ben Thanh market, which is the city’s main marketplace where I bought some of the almost obligatory Vietnam beer singlets.

Over the following days in HCMC we ate lots of pho (rice noodle soup) and drunk lots of Vietnamese iced coffee (a nutty flavoured coffee sweetened with a bit of condensed milk) which is quite nice and very welcome on such hot days. We also dabbled in a bit of the local beers, which works out at about 30p/60c per bottle.

One of the downstairs displays in the War Remnants Museum

We visited the War Remnants museum on our second day, which, in parts, was very grisly. Photos depicted the shocking massacres of the Vietnam War, forms of torture, misplaced children & families and the brutal effects of Agent Orange. There were even preserved foetuses that had been deformed through their parents’ exposure to defoliants. We left the museum a bit shaken up.

The next day we took a trip out to Tay Ninh, where we visited the most important Cao Dai temple of Vietnam. Cao Dai is an interesting religion which borrows facets from Catholicism, Hinduism and Buddhism, using all sorts of familiar and contrasting iconography. The temple has a vibrant, almost psychedelic colour scheme and is filled with the smell of incense. We watched the beginning of their midday prayers and then headed off towards the Cu Chi tunnels; a site where one of the most extensive tunnel networks of the Vietnam War were once buried. Now it’s mostly just mock-ups that remain and we were shown round by our very camp and enthusiastic guide Kong.

The bizarre Cao Dai temple in Tay Ninh

After HCMC we travelled south to the Mekong Delta and its largest town Can Tho. There are lots of well-known floating markets on the Mekong and our hotel offered some very cheap private tours. We got up at the crack of dawn and were whisked away by motorbike to the river and our waiting guide. We jumped in a little boat that had a scooter engine with a propeller attached to it hanging off the back and off we went. The markets were quite a way down the river, so while our guide drove the boat, she also made us some amazing little trinkets out of reeds. Throughout the trip we received a diorama with a rose, two little crickets and a big heart in it, 2 big crickets, 3 bracelets, a ring each and some earrings for Ilona.

The markets themselves were quite cool. Dozens of boats of all sized anchor around each other, selling their wares, examples of which are displayed on the ends of long bamboo poles. Our driver picked us up a pineapple, which Ilona ate despite her allergies (she felt rude to refuse it) and proclaimed it to be the best pineapple she had ever tasted! Our tour also took us to a rice paper factory, which was very interesting, some small delta villages and some rice fields. Tired and sunburnt, we made it back to our hostel just after midday, convinced that it was mid-afternoon.

Our chill river cruise.

We didn’t stay in Can Tho or the Mekong for very long, instead we headed back up to HCMC for a couple of days to see some things we didn’t get round to seeing the first time round. On our first night back, we were at a roadside cafe having a beer when I saw a familiar face walking down the street towards us with a very shocked expression. The face belonged to Jenny, a high school friend of mine. What a small world! She had been travelling throughout south-east Asia and happened to be staying just around the corner from us. We briefly chatted and planned to catch up the next night over dinner and beers, where we learned that she and her two friends Scott and Ashley were heading north to Hanoi along nearly the same route and in pretty much the same time frame as us, so we may have found some travelling buddies!

On our last day back in HCMC we visited a couple of interesting pagodas, getting there by both cyclo (a bike rickshaw) and xe om (motorbike) which was a fun, but in parts frustrating experience, as our drivers took us to the wrong place twice and we had to walk for ages to try and find the last pagoda.

Driving Miss Daisy 2.

After HCMC we headed north to the beachside town of Mui Ne. Mui Ne basically consists of one road following a 12km stretch of beach, with hotels and resorts on the beach side of the road and restaurants and shops on the other. Our hotel was near one end, so to tackle this we hired a motorbike and spent the next couple of days riding up and down the beach, visiting centuries old Cham towers, sneaking into a resort’s private beach via a half-hidden bush track down a side road, exploring some of the surrounding fishing villages and the huge red sand dunes down one end of the beach. We saw some pretty amazing stuff that we never would have been able to see without the motorbike, which was one hell of a lot of fun to ride. 

One of the little petrol pumps for motorbikes on the main road.

On the day we left, we walked up what was called the ‘Fairy Stream’, just up from our hotel. It was a shallow sand based stream that went past some pretty cool rock formations, forest, sand dunes and hidden cafes. After that we headed back to our hotel and got picked up by a little cramped bus for a very bumpy trip into the highlands and the town of Da Lat, where we planned on spending the next few days.

Egypt

We both awoke excited about moving on to the next stage of our travels and also having a week with Ruth, my aunt, and Lewis, my cousin. However our day of traveling to Dahab in Egypt didn’t go as smoothly as we would have liked. We first encountered problems at the check in desk in Istanbul where we discovered that we would need a visa for Egypt. As we are both traveling on New Zealand passports and hadn’t encountered any other countries where we needed a visa, the thought hadn’t even crossed our minds. The women on the check in desk thought we could get one on arrival and we agreed with them, hoping this information was correct. Before being allowed onto the flight we once again had to have this conversation, the whole time hoping that they wouldn’t turn around and tell us that we would not be let on. Thankfully we were, however we spent the whole flight worrying about getting these visas as we only had an hour stopover in Cairo. Our thoughts were distracted from visas on our descent into Cairo when we flew over the pyramids, pretty awesome seeing them from the air. The plane landed and we were all shepherded onto a bus and transferred to the terminal, myself and Mike were first off the bus and sprinted along the corridors, spying a sign and arrow saying ‘on arrival visas’. Relief flooded through us and we handed over some money, grabbed the stickers and continued running with no idea how far we had to go until we reached the domestic transfers and then our gate. Thankfully it wasn’t far and we arrived at our gate with 30min spare. Unfortunately our problems did not stop there as our plane sat on the runway for an hour before taking off and once arriving in Sharm el Sheikh, somehow our bags and a few others were going around on a luggage conveyor belt behind a glass wall and it took the airport security a while to let us all though. You have no idea how frustrating it is seeing your pack and not being able to reach it.  By this point we were also worrying because we still had an hours drive to Dahab and could not get in touch with Ruth or Lewis to let them know that we were running late.  Thankfully as we drove through the desert Lewis rang our driver and contact was made.

Ruth and Lewis were waiting for us in a little sea side cafe opposite from the dive center where Lewis works.   We went and dumped our bags and went out for tea at yet another little sea side cafe. It was fantastic catching up with them and hardly felt like a day had gone by since we’d all been together in Edinburgh. Although in the 4 months Lewis had been in Dahab he had managed to grow an amazing mane of blond hair.

The view from our room out across the desert.

A restless nights sleep followed as we were both bitten alive by mosquitoes; the following nights all began with a thorough spray of our room. However we woke ready to see Dahab in the light and swim in the clear blue sea. The main strip of Dahab pretty much consists of cafes on the sea side and dive centers and souvenir shops on the opposite. We set ourselves up opposite Lewis’s dive center on three wooden sun loungers that were to become ours for the next week.  We spent the day snorkeling, lying in the sun, drinking freshly squeezed juice and eating lovely simple food. As the sun began to drop we returned to our room for a shower and then headed to the pub to meet Lewis, who had finished up his day at work taking people out for dives, and had some cheap beers and G&T’s. A relaxed dinner followed and then it was off to bed, ready to follow much the same pattern for the subsequent days.

Ruth and Lewis making the hard choice of what to have for dinner.

The view from our possie towards Mike's freediving group.

Mike was keen to test his limits so enrolled in a freediving course where he learned relaxation and breathing techniques and managed to hold his breath for 3 and a half minutes on land before heading into the sea and diving to 12m, the limit for free divers who hold their 1 star qualification. The following day Mike messed about by himself testing himself further however was keen to learn a bit more so had a casual dive with one of the instructors that Lewis works with and here dived to 16m.  He was having a few problems equalising his ears so was unable to go any deeper although had the air for it. While Mike was diving to the bottom of the ocean I continued reading, chatting with Ruth, watching camels stroll though the sea in front of us and snorkeling; where I was lucky enough to see a large sea turtle!

 

Lewis hard at work.

On Ruth’s last evening we rented quad bikes and went out into the desert at night. We road through the dust, losing Mike at one point as his bike cut out, until we were away from civilisation and  could truly experience the stars. Unfortunately it was a full moon so the stars were not as clear as they normally are however it was still fantastic experiencing the silence and isolation of the desert. We continued on to a Bedouin camp where we stopped and drank local tea around the fire, looking out for shooting stars. 

Having tea at a Bedouim camp.

It was hard saying our goodbyes to Ruth and Lewis, not knowing when we’d next be seeing them, although we’re trying to convince Lewis he should come and dive at the Poor Knights Islands, however we were excited about starting on the last month of our trip and exploring Vietnam.

Istanbul

After one of the best night’s sleep both of us have had in a while, Ilona and I woke up to the excitement of exploring Istanbul, one of the largest cities in the world. First thing we did was to check out the Grand Bazaar (after some Turkish coffee of course). Here we found where Istanbul keeps all 14 million people who supposedly live in the city. It was a complete assault on the senses, all the colours, sounds and smells overpowering you, while hawkers from every overly-laden shop are jostling for your attention with “yes pleeeez”, “hello, hi, yes!” and “pleez, come and I will help you spend your money!” . They are all very polite about it, and never seem to constantly harass you after you walk past. 

Inside the Grand Bazaar

 We picked up some loose pants for Ilona to wear into mosques from a wholesaler who seemed to supply all of the other shops in the bazaar and had a good look around all the shops selling much of the same souvenir trinkets and nick-nacks. Continuing on, we walked down towards the Bosphorous and came across a small mosque that we had been recommended by the proprietor of the cafe we went to that morning. Even now, we can both say that it is our favourite of all the mosques we have visited in Istanbul, even including all the huge attraction mosques. The tile work was incredibly detailed and the small size, coupled with the plush carpeting created a very tranquil setting.

One of the smaller mosques we visited.

Later that afternoon we found the Egyptian spice market, which was a similar scenario to the Grand Bazaar, with shopkeepers yelling all the time, hawkers trying to attract you to buy the exact same thing as the other guy in the next store along, only saying that his is better. 

We soon found that the Turks are very into their sweet treats, with dozens, if not hundreds of pastry/sweet shops all over the city, selling Turkish delights of every variety imaginable, any conceivable variation of baklava and numerous other sugar based foods. 

Dinner that night consisted of a 5 lira (£1.75/$3.50NZD) kebab from a food cart on a street corner, which was very, very tasty. We got talking to some Australian guys who were on the bus into Istanbul with us and they ended up inviting us back to their hostel bar for a couple of drinks, which we took them up on. I tried shisha for the first time (which I didn’t like) and Ilona and I socialised over a couple of beers with people from New Zealand, Australia, England and Turkey.

Happy Ilona has her coffee.

Day 2, and we both got our obligatory coffee again, before checking out the blue mosque, one of Istanbul’s most famous mosques and named after the thousands of blue hued tiles that line the interior. The place is huge, though teeming with tourists. Very few people were praying, most likely due to the hundreds of tourists flocking the place. We got their just before lunchtime prayers, and the security guards were trying to usher everybody out in time. We had seen enough and emerged to the building crescendo of calls to prayer filling the air. Five times a day, all the mosques play a call to prayer from their PA systems attached to their towers. As there are so many mosques throughout the city so close to each other, they all start to overlap each other and create an almost incomprehensible wailing that seems to fill the air and slip into every nook and cranny of the city. When you’re in a busy place like a market or bazaar, it just adds to the sensual overload and can make any claustrophobic person go wild.

We had kebabs again for lunch and crossed the Bosphorous to get to the Galatea Tower, which gave us great sweeping views of Sultahnamet and the Sea of Marmara. Feeling overwhelmed with all the crowds, we made our way back to our hostel, stopping for beers and a light dinner in a cafe situated over some Byzantine era excavations.

One of the recommended escapes from Istanbul is the Princes Islands, which are a 2 hour ferry ride away. We went on Wednesday morning and hired some bikes, which are the most effective form of transport around the island as there are motor vehicles, aside from service and emergency vehicles. Riding around the island was very hot, and our search for a suitable beach to swim at was in vain, so we headed back to the port for a fish kebab, ice cream and coffee, before getting the ferry back to the mainland and getting street kebabs for tea again.

Sunset on the boat back from the Princes' Islands.

Thursday was a day of errands, Ilona completed a literacy assessment for her teaching diploma, we went to the post office to send a few things and then to sort out a tour company to take us to Gallipoli the next day. With that all sorted, we visited the Istanbul Modern, which had some interesting and some completely ridiculous modern art. Our favourite being a video piece called ‘Beirut’ which was a looped video of fluttering hotel curtains with a peaceful soundtrack, contrasted with sounds of war in some points. Sounds a little silly and boring, but was actually quite powerful.

Friday was our big day out to Gallipoli, starting at 6:30 in the morning and hopping on a 5 hour long bus ride to Eceabat on the Gallipoli Peninsula. We had a guided tour around the main battlegrounds and memorials which are all far smaller than I had originally imagined them to be. ANZAC cove itself is only 50m long from end to end. The landscape on the peninsula was stunning, with rolling hills covered in green scrub, and dotted with numerous white memorials rising from the trees. 

ANZAC memorial.

We visited Brighton Beach, ANZAC cove, North Beach, Lone Pine Cemetery (the main Australian memorial site), the Turkish memorial site and Chunuk Bair, which is New Zealand’s memorial site. Our guide was really well informed taught us a lot about the main battles, significance of each point we stopped at and how the entire campaign played out. We didn’t arrive back to Istanbul until nearly 11 that night and fell asleep absolutely exhausted.

The weekend had come and once again, we started our day with coffee, and then had a peek into the mosaic museum, where 5^th and 6^th century mosaics had been discovered and restored. We wandered a bit more and found an artist workshop and cafe Ilona wanted to go to, where we had another coffee in a quiet little courtyard. We then went to a pub that was playing the All Blacks game, paid way too much for drinks (my fault) and had to relocate to another cafe as they were having problems with their reception. The new cafe had a nice little corner that a bunch of Kiwis and Aussies took over to watch the game, which wasn’t the best, but quite exciting towards the end, resulting in a diplomatic 18-all draw.

We had been told that we needed to go and have a traditional Turkish bath, with massages and scrubs, but when we went for one that afternoon, we found that they were ridiculously expensive, so went to get some cake instead.

Sunday saw us start with coffee yet again and then off to see another mosque, which was quite stunning, yet again. We wandered down to the waterfront and found a small boat that was selling fresh fish kebabs for a fiver, which we just had to have. Walking along the waterfront a little more, we came across the bigger establishments selling the same thing, but for nearly double the price; a convenient stroke of luck which we kept congratulating ourselves about. 

One of the biggest tourist draws in Istanbul is the Hagia Sofya, which is an enormous museum directly opposite the Blue Mosque that started life as an Orthodox Catholic basilica until the Turks invaded the Byzantine Empire in the 15^th century and converted it into a mosque. It was secularised in the 1930s and became a museum shortly after that, preserving all the amazing mosaic work and architectural innovations inside. The main dome is huge and covered in gold mosaics, surrounded by smaller half domes that give it the illusion of being even larger. Pictures don’t do it any justice at all, as the sheer scale of the building needs to be seen in person.

The impressive interior of the Hagia Sofya.

Monday was our last day and we took it pretty easy, finally getting round to seeing the Topkapi Palace where the Ottoman Sultans held reign over their empire. It was a huge complex, and despite the crowds, quite serene. We had our final dinner at our favourite street vendor and then off to bed, all excited for Egypt the following day!