I can’t do it. Too much to sort through. I’m including one shot from the island today, but I’ll tackle the rest… later. I know this is a dangerous habit, but so it goes. Anyway, lately:

The pattern of only managing an update every-other location continues. Today’s neglected wonder – Safranbolu. A lovely extremely well-preserved Ottoman town, just down the valley from a modern university town, which is itself just down a larger valley from an Ataturk-created steeltown. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a smelter before, but somehow I recognized it on the way by (heaps of coal laying around was a hint). The complex was huge, most of it in rust-covered corrogated steel siding connected by sketchy looking covered walkways, and all of it belching various colours of smoke/steam/something. Stark. But once past that, the towns were lovely. I enjoyed my time there, and extended my stay, though not as much as a Korean girl I met in the hostel. She wasn’t exact about how long she’d been in town, but weeks at least. She’d fallen so in love with the place that she couldn’t leave, though her time abroad was limited. It was heartening to meet someone so thoroughly taken with their current residence.

Also of note: Beautiful restored aquaduct, a ride from a friendly Turkish tourist/ mechanical inspector, lots and lots and lots of cheap turkish univeristy food, and of course more tea.

But now, now is Istanbul. I’m surfing with a delightful man on an island in the Marmara sea, and my previous host was in a suburb quite out of town, so I actually haven’t managed that much of the city proper. My first moments were perfect, though. My bus arrived in the mini-downtown area of Kadikoy, a hub on the Asian side of the bosphorus. The place was alive with neon and people and store-owners calling out and buskers and this fantastic energy. Kadikoy is full of cafes (Starbucks included), bars, restaraunts, but also cheap market-like stalls selling everything from fish to bracelets. It’s a wonderful mix of what I might think of as classic Turkish vendors and tiny kebap stands and modern glitz. I returned here several times, to take ferries or just eat and drink and wander.

My surf had been unexpectedly detained, and so was not at our meeting point. After trying repeatedly to decipher the Turkish payphone system, I asked a fellow waiitng-at-the-obvious-meeting-point-person, via hand gestures, if I could use his phone to call my friend. He obliged, my surf explained the situation, and then said I should take a cab. After he explained to the gentleman who’s phone I borrowed where he wanted me to go, the guy walked me to the cab stall, gave complicated directions to the confused-sounding cabbie, and sent me on my way. All of this without looking the slightest put out or even surprised. It was perhaps the best first interaction with a stranger in a massive city (god it’s big. The view from teh island shows most of the coastal length, vanishing on both sides into the haze) that I’ve had.

So that worked out nicely. The neighborhood of my first host could have been lifted directly out of Vancouver’s downtown. Pretty christmas lights, condo buildings of a very similar style, dozens of huge expensive clothing stores, wide sidewalks and big trees,  ludicrous fashion and shoe-stores dedicated to small children,and a Starbucks on nearly every corner. The only nod to Turkey are the simit (like german pretzel, kinda) stands and folks selling some manner of lottery ticket from small wooden tables. It was strangely comforting in it’s total familiarity, for a moment, though I obviously didn’t spend much time there.

Did the touristy thing one day, and the Hagia Sofia is indeed worthy of its reputation. something about the place is just innately peaceful. It’s beautiful, and though I hesitate to use the word, I think I can safely call it sublime. The blue mosque was also worth a stop, but that was almost all I managed that day. From the island where I’m now camped, it seems a long way into town, so I spent today walking around and generally lazing. It’s sleepy here, though summer brings tens of thousands of people every day, which sounds entirely hellish. Tomorrow it’s off to a surf near the university, which should be an interesting perspective on this interesting city.