The Smartraveller website advises: "to exercise a high degree of caution in Turkey because of the high threat of terrorist attack. Terrorist attacks can occur anywhere at any time in Turkey. In recent years, terrorist attacks have occurred in tourist areas and locations frequented by foreigners who have been killed and injured. Provinces in the southeast of Turkey, including those in the border regions between Turkey and Syria, Iraq and Iran, hold an unpredictable security situation."
These borders are about 1200 kilometres away and with the amount of tourists Turkey gets each year only a few people are affected. Nevertheless it doesn't hurt to pay attention to our personal safety especially with two children. Furthermore, violent protests continue with three now confirmed dead and many thousands injured. We are in the old city and all seems fine here.
We arrived in Istanbul at 7.15am after only a couple of hours kip on the bus. Immediately we were harassed. One fellow with fresh stitches running down the length of his face insisted pushing our bags to the taxi. The taxi didn't know where the hotel was despite me giving him the address prior. Finally we found the Hippodrome but it was a restaurant not the hotel and our taxi had gone. The Hippodrome is a square where many places are named after it. I walked the streets for ages and asked a dozen people until finally finding it. We couldn't check in until 1pm. We have been on the road since 11am the previous day and were feeling quite ferrel but it gave us the opportunity to have breakfast, explore the Arasta Bazaar, compare possible tour prices and walk the streets.
We also visited the Sultan Ahmed Mosque or as popularly known, the Blue Mosque for the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior. It was built from 1609 to 1616, during the rule of Ahmed I. Shop sellers stand outside striking up conversations that they hope will lead to a sale. They can be very persistent when it comes to looking at their wares.
Deciding on a place to eat is tricky as every restaurant (and there are many) encourage eating at their establishment. It takes so long as they all won't take no for an answer. Having said that, our brief experience thus far has seen friendly people who are helpful and like a chat. We ate dinner on a rooftop cafe overlooking the Marmara Sea. Just beautiful and so were the waiters. One made Tilly a rose from paper whilst another gave and showed her how to use a Turkish yoyo. I think the spelling of it is tophatch.
Tomorrow we will spend the day at the Grand Bazaar.
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