Countdown: 4!

Istanbul: Friday, 28th March, 2014

Well, I leave Istanbul this morning, for Gallipoi, with my phone/Internet issue still not resolved.

Ahmet joined me, on Wednesday, on my mission to get an Internet SIM for my iPad. We discovered that, instead, I needed a SIM for my iPhone to which my IPad could then connect wirelessly. So, I paid 75TL for a SIM card, 55TL to register it with Turkcell and 120TL to register it with the Tax Office! (Cousin Turkcell proved correct about the exorbitant charges.) I'm told my phone, which was locked soon after I entered the country, will be unlocked in a couple of days. (I hope Cousin Turkcell is not correct in saying it can take a month.)

I have an App on my iPad called Maps With Me Pro and it shows me where I am on the planet with good detail. I think as long as I have good Internet access, it will be very helpful in keeping me on the right path. I hope I get to find out. Without that, I only have my compass. Ahmet reminds me that I also have my intuition. Hmmm..... Better, I will have fellow trekkers, so I may just be a dependent, tag-along walker. No, no, no - my phone will be unlocked very soon!

Spent a lovely day yesterday on the island of Heybeliada. It's an hour away by ferry and cost just $3 for the round trip. It is one of four of the Prince's Islands that I could have visited, and the one recommended by Ahmet. The islands are all quite hilly and well populated but there are no cars on them, and never have been - except for municipal vehicles. (The only overweight person I saw was the postman, who rode a motor scooter.) They have horse-drawn carriages for tourists, and bicycles; and people have electric tricycles to cart their shopping home. Old people also have a sort of mobility scooter, apparently, but I didn't see one.

It is so relaxed and peaceful on Heybeliada - such a contrast to Istanbul. Old ladies sit on chairs in the street, chatting and enjoying the sun and the view; confident cats cruise town; kids claim the streets for their games; the smell of horse manure and hay pervades. I wound my way up to the top of one hill, believing I was going up another. (My confidence in my intuition is thin....)

Looking past the hill I thought I was on, to Istanbul

 

 

 

Elections are on Sunday

 

 

A nursery, on the footpath

 

Had planned to go and see the Whirling Dervishes with Lalitah, Utsav and Dilek in the evening, but tickets had sold out. I decided not to join them in an alternative plan; so, after a lovely dinner in a nearby restaurant, I came home and packed.

 

Now on the bus, headed for Gallipoli. Will post this while I can.

 

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