Travel notes 2021

9.2 Kms, Aug 28, 2010 The bus to the next town climbs straight up a steep hillside through some rough and tumble neighborhoods with half-finished cinderblock homes. There something very different about this place. Gone are the high-rise apartments. Gone are the classy shopping districts. This place feels more like a rough neighborhood in Mexico, not a suburb of Istanbul. The Traveler starts to walk down the hill, and soon finds he is not alone. A crowd of children are following him as if he were a modern day Pied Piper. In other towns, he's gotten little more than a passing glance from people. Here it seems that everyone is watching him. Down below, the Traveler notices several large factories, belching out dark smoke. Smoke that these folks have to breathe every day. Finally, at the base of the mountainside, the Traveler finds a park to sit down in, to try and figure out what's going on here. What is this place? Why is it so different? It will not take long to find ...

6.2 kms, Aug 25, 2010 The city of Istanbul itself actually spreads out for about 60 kilometers east of the Bosphorus, and 100 kilometers to the east of it. To the north it is bordered by the Black Sea, to the south, the Sea of Marmara. Despite it's enormous side, much of Istanbul is very lightly populated. Almost all of its population is crammed along its southern shore. Here, the sea of highrise apartments stretch on almost endlessly. Along the way there are many "cities within a city", with their own downtown, religious and commercial "soul". Hopefully the Traveler will be able to explore a number of these sub-cities. He gets off the train right on the shores of the Bosphorus. The glorious sights of Old Istanbul are right on the other side, just a short ferry ride away. But today he is going to experience Asia for one last time. He also has someone to meet: David, an old friend and fellow traveler is now working as an English teacher here in Istanbul. I...

Day 6: Istanbul in Ramadan 31.6 kms, Aug 27, 2010 The city is just waking up the next morning as the Traveler heads as into the more traditional shopping area… He reaches another of Istanbul's iconic mosques, Suleyman Mosque and goes inside. Here he finds it was once more like a miniature city with a school, living quarters and all kinds of stuff going on inside the mosque complex. The 5 to 10 feet high tombstones in the graveyards are quite striking, looking like a forest of carved stone. He continue on down to the river that separates the southwestern and northern neighborhoods. Across the river is a sharp contrast, with a row of gritty hardware shops and dilapidated boats off to the left, a sharp contrast with the regal beauty on the other side. But heading up the hill, the neighborhood quickly starts to improve again--in fact, along these steep hillside alleys, the Traveler discovers Istanbul’s “music district”, with dozens of little shops selling all kinds of musical in...

29.5 kms, Aug 20, 2012 Today, the Traveler finds himself alone once again. And he's determined to reluctantly bid the "heart" of Istanbul goodbye, and start making his way west... on foot. It's a hundred kilometers just to reach the edge of the city, so he obviously will still be discovering Istanbul for several days of walking. But it's not the Istanbul that tourists are drawn to... it's the Istanbul of the 21 st century. There's a cool little castle jutting out into the sea and then... there it is, once again, the magnificent Wall of Istanbul, with a flag blowing on its final tower. Never get tired of seeing this amazing wall. But a s soon as he exits the Istanbul Wall for the last time and sees the highrise buildings on the other side, he has a wistful realization that he will never see a city quite like this one again. But almost immediately the Traveler finds himself in a neighborhood, Zeytinburnu that feels likes it's own city, with cozy narro...