The Mad and the Bad

A subdued start in Istanbul coughing and sneezing our way round the sites as Anne-Marie was getting over a cold and I was just beginning one. It is still with me and seems to have settled for the ride to Syria. The weather didn’t cooperate either, being rainy and cloudy for much of the time. We trudged round the sites and saw what we could in the week that we had. Aya Sophia – the huge Byzantine church turned mosque turned museum underwhelmed; It is the world’s third largest dome but the insides are bare save for the huge Islamic banners mounted in each corner, a kind of ‘up yours’ statement that seems to be SOP when the Faith conquers other nations.

On the third day I was given a tedious but necessary warning to watch my money at all times. I paid a taxi driver with a YTL 20 note and he told me I had only given him a One YTL note. I was ill, tired and though I was certain I only carried YTL20 notes, indeed had never seen a One lira note, I gave in and handed over another twenty. Moments later we were in the old Byzantine church now known as Kariye by Turks and was in rapture at the mosaics on the walls and ceilings, some of the best extant examples of Byzantine iconic art. Heaven, and a great start to the trip as the next 6 months are spent in the Islamic world.

I fear I will have to vent occasionally on the matter of religion as although I have chosen to ride through Muslim countries, I won’t be discussing the topic of religion with the locals along the way! So apologies in advance for any un-PC remarks which you run across. On the whole we found religious art to be far more beautiful than the secular variety. In fact the two palaces were pretty tawdry, as they so often are in many countries (save my own!). We first traipsed round the 19th century Dolmabahce palace in a guided group (we had no other choice) – ‘the chandelier weighs 4 tons and comes from England. The carpets are French and are 120 square metres’ and so on from our bored guide, and then had to wait for 20 minutes before being guided through the harem. Much as I was curious about what the Sultan got up to while his empire was disintegrating, hunger got the better of us and we gave up the wait in favour of a good lunch by the Bosphorous on a rare sunny day. Later we had a second chance to see a harem when we visited the far larger Topkapi palace. Some nice tile work but the rooms are all bare now, not so much as a broken hash pipe or worn-out sweaty cushion lying around to indicate the Sultan’s former conquests. A French-speaking tour guide led his group into the room I was in, promising quelque chose sensationel to his flock, so I paused a moment to listen but left none the wiser as to what was so great about the harem. We had a lot more fun in the rooms where they kept religous artefacts, queueing among the faithful to see remnants of The Prophet’s beard while enjoying the Call to Prayer. Moving stuff…

And now Antalya, with good prospects of a start to the ride tomorrow. Michael is in great spirits but the flesh is not so strong; he’s had a bit of food poisoning and suffered a little friendly fire in his sleep, poor soul! Luckily for me I slept through it.