The last few days I’ve been more of a tourist than working. I finished up my work in Bishkek then visited with friends. Even though I haven’t lived in Bishkek before there were friends there that I had met in Dushanbe. One family, the Junisbais, are there in Bishkek now too and I caught up with them.
On Monday I finished up my souvenir shopping. Then I relaxed in the afternoon at a chaihona (teahouse). Kate happened to have a copy of “Kabul Beauty School” and I read a few chapters in that throughout the day. I went to bed early because I had to start out at 4am the next morning.
By 8:30am I was in Istanbul Tuesday. I navigated my way to my hotel and was there early enough to make breakfast even. I always stay at Side Pension in Istanbul. It is right at the heart of the tourist part of the city next to the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque and it is not expensive at all. Since I’ve stayed there 2-3 times now I know my way around the area pretty well.
After breakfast I headed out to shop. I wanted to stop by a store I always stop by to pick up some dress shirts. It is a little store near the grand bazaar that sells all sorts of European brands that are manufactured in Turkey. I always find a few great shirts there at good prices.
My goal was to purchase a few hanging lamps/ candle holders too so I went around the grand bazaar and found a few that I liked. Then I wandered down to the Egyptian spice bazaar and the Bosporus. I love being on the water there and so I hopped on a ferry and rode to another point on the Bosporus for lunch. Then I headed back to the hotel to stow my things and shop a bit more. After a relaxing dinner on the terrace overlooking the Bosporus I headed back to the hotel to turn in early, since I was again heading out at 3am.
An added bonus to this trip was that my route took me through Amsterdam with a 6 hour layover. Since a friend of mine, Nico, lives close by we met up for brunch. Since the Amsterdam airport is connected so well by train, there was the added treat of going to Utrecht, where Nico studies, for brunch and to look around. It was definitely a welcome break form the monotony of airport layovers to jump out to a small Dutch town. We had enough time to get tea and stop by to get French fries as only they do it in the Netherlands… with a peanut mayonnaise sauce.. I then jumped back on a plane and ended up in Indianapolis just in time for bed.
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