Turistas Go Home

There is no better way to separate yourself from a population of locals than take a guided tour, especially when you're wearing headphones to translate; it is a basic law of nature. So we proceeded to take a two hour tour around Istanbul, and yes we were most definitely wearing translation equipment. I will admit it was a good way to have a quick view of the city and a little history sprinkled on top. For instance, one hotel in Istanbul "has had many famous people stay, including Agatha Christie." or one of the region's many cultures to inhabit the area were Martians. At least that's what the tour said.

Part one of the tour ended at the Blue Mosque and the earlier built Hagia Sophia, both very impressive displays of power and technology. For the second part, we crossed the Bosphorus into the Asian side of Istanbul, rode around and came back. It was alright, it was also my first time in Asia. That brings the total of new continents visited this trip to 2 for me (3 of 7 now.

The "Polis" presence here is pretty amazing; patrols with dogs here and there, motorbikes and cars carrying two officers drive by every now and then, saw one armored personnel carrier in front of the station, and no trash cans in crowded areas to prevent bombs. They seem to know what they are doing. As night fell though, helicopter patrols were flying shinning their spotlight as if it were a beam of guilt, and when it fell on me i felt like running. I thought better of it, I wouldn't even run for health here... too guilty, too strange, too much of a foreigner to do that.