My Love Affair with Istanbul

I fell in love with Istanbul. It's one of those hot love affairs - eight days and I must seek respite. Even though I did manage to avoid most of the tourist sights. Well, actually all of them that required a fee, me being me, the original cheap-skate. No, really. I just hate paying $20 to stand in line with 100s of people gawking at bright shiny things. It's just not my style. And seriously folks, I'm trying to see if it's possible to walk around the world for under $50/day. So far so good. I'm doin' it, except when I add in my airfare, then it bumps it just over the $50/day mark. Not bad, eh? I'd like to get it lower but it's hard. In spite of my tight budget I did find some things to forever love about Istanbul.
The colors . . .

The Grand Bazaar

The ferry ride on the Bosphorus . . . .

The beautiful mosques . . . .

Hiking in the Belgrade Forest . . . .

Prince's Island and the Turk students having a picnic . . . .

Eyup . . . .

The other travelers I met . . . .

Ugur and the Harmony Hostel . . .

Cappadocia. For the past few days I've been in Cappadocia. Once again, I look at the tour posters and find out where all the tour groups are going then I head in the other direction. Consequently, I have had some magnificent hikes, seen some amazing landscapes uncluttered by tourists (except for the few solitary birds like myself) and visited some still quiet and remote ancient ruins. I hope those following my blog can sort out my photos. I'll have to give a slideshow when I get home. Just uploading my photos is time-consuming and it's difficult to find time to blog so I must just do it quickly on the run. I'm hauling my heavy laptop around with me. I had thought to send it home with friends I was meeting in Istanbul but I've decided it's worth its weight because it allows me to upload my photos off my camera and keep a decent journal.
I'll be here in Goreme for one more day. Next stop: Safranbolu, an old Ottoman Empire city. More photos soon, I promise! :o)