Istanbul

Back in İstanbul after a RIDICULOUS bus journey. I started in Savur on Sunday a 10am and took a 1 hour minibus ride to Mardin. Of course I hadn't planned out my journey and I was just hoping that there would be a bus to Istanbul...and wouldn't you know it - there is. I was supposed to leave at 1pm but the bus was late and we left at 2pm. After stopping, oh I don't know, somewhere in the range of 7 times in an hour, we filled the bus and we're off. I already understood that the trip would be 18-21 hours and I'm ok with this b/c I really have nothing but time. So we start late, no problem; we stop frequently, also no problem; but then one of our drivers (we have 2 and 3 flight attendants) gets into a fight with one of the passengers - ok, small problem. Actually I have no idea what happened, but it was 7am and we are close to Istanbul and all hell breaks out at this bus stop.The next thing İ see is the passenger running after the driver with an orange construction cone...İ should have taped it b/c İ would have won the $10K prize from America's Funniest Home Video. Holy shit, I'm still laughing.

But what's not funny is that this spectacle adds at least an hour onto my journey. I get into the Istanbul bus station or rather JFK airport around 12pm. The bus station is crazy - there are least 150 platforms with buses coming and going from every direction. Did İ mention pedestrians do not have the right of way here? Yeah, good to know.

3 more buses and 2 hours later, I am back in Istinye with Sercan and Jim. Tıme passes easily with these two and we are constantly laughing, talking, sharing... they have become my dear frıends, and the next thing you know another week ın Istanbul has passed. I am headed to Edirne tomorrow for a few days, and, get ready for this...I'm crossing the pond on Tuesday and headed to Toronto for a month ın Canada. When I bought my ticket, I thought I would have been a little more emotional about ıt, but surprisingly, I wasn't. What really choked me was the price of the ticket.

I'm on my way...