Turkey 🇹🇷 ~Istanbul “Yep, Still Here”

• October 27, 2020
• By Pen
• 4 Comments

Today, we had plans to go up on hill called Pierre Loti. It’s a French area. I googled the directions, only to discover this area was closed! Why? All I could discern was the Muslims and the French are not seeing eye-to-eye at the moment. Not wanting to get in the middle of that, we obviously went nowhere near the area, probably closed to outsiders for good reason. The views overlooking Istanbul from this Hill is suppose to be quite nice, but we did not see for ourselves today. We had waited to go there to see if the marine layer of low clouds would clear up. It was not going away, so we decided to go for the exercise anyway. With this marine layer, it looks smokey, so it’s just not great weather for vista shots. The good news is, I think I have found another French area, actually a district, known as a cultural center. It is an area dedicated to the French history in Istanbul. This “French Street” as it is known, is not anywhere near the Pierre Loti Hill from what I see, and there is nothing indicating it being closed. We still have time to see this before we go.

Plan B was to take the ferry and cross the Golden Horn to enjoy the Karikoy area again; this time in daylight. Its like making plans to go from Europe to Asia in about 20 minutes. How cool, indeed! We wandered around the streets, then sat for a mineral water break (iced coffee is not very good in Turkey) and we people-watched. I saw the sweetest thing while sitting there, too. An elderly woman came to the cross street in front of us and needed to go downhill. The streets can be quite steep in some areas. She had a cane and was very feeble. She managed to get the attention of one of the staff at a nearby restaurant. She must have asked the young many to help her down the roadway. One of the staff took her temperature (they are devices that are pointed at the back of our hands). She must have been fever-free, because the young many gently folded her arm in the crook of his arm and he slowly walked her down to the bottom of the hill. Now that young boy was raised right! Youth is a wonderful thing, because when he was done doing this wonderful deed, he ran all the way back up the hill, to get back to work.

Daryl got a scissor cut, and I did some shopping. Since we can’t get back to India, (due to closed borders), to get our stored luggage and winter clothing, we need to be buying a few things in preparation for the cold that is coming. We had not planned to be anywhere cold, for the winter, but because Thailand is also closed, we won’t be wintering there; or Bhutan, Myannmar, and Bangladesh …. COVID19 foiling our plans again. We are learning not to make ANYMORE plans; at least not more than one country away at a time. It’s not worth the struggle or disappointment. Hopefully we can all look forward to the day, without COVID19 being front and center.….Sorry, not sorry, I digress… Anyhow, we had a lovely day around Istambul. This place never gets old to us. 

I had been down in my back 🙄 for the last few days, really struggling. (kitty snuggles made things a little better) Anyway, now that I am feeling better, it was good to get out of the room and enjoy some exercise and adventure. Before we left for the ferry, we stopped at KFC to take some chicken back to our digs. Yes, KFC is cheap and is actually very good here, as well as all over the Balkans and non-EU area of our road-tripping this summer.

Tomorrow morning we go back to the Pakistan Consulate to (hopefully) get our Visas in our passports. My inability to get out and go was both a blessing and curse, because we were suppose to be at the consulate yesterday to get our Visas, though making appointments are not done, there. Everything is walk-in. The good news is our Visa designation starts our 30-days in Pakistan. Given that we are not going to arrive in Pakistan till Saturday, we really did not want to lose six days of our precious 20 days, right away. By going tomorrow, we only lose four days. Of course I had called the consulate and left messages to make sure they knew we were still coming, but not till Wednesday. Regardless, I will feel much better when we get this last visit done at the Consulate and it is successful. So far it’s just been stressful!

We are being optimistic, and have purchased airfare for Friday night. ($530 pp). (We saved about $300 by traveling Friday night instead of Wednesday night). We arrive in Lahore, Pakistan at 5:30AM on Saturday. I have also tentatively arranged a mobile PCR testing appointment for Thursday morning, here in Istanbul at our hotel. This will be so easy, as the unit will come to us, and we are given results a few hours later by email. ($56 total). Super convenient and cheaper and faster than the hospital and even more affordable, because of the $20 we won’t have to spent on a taxi! While we are allowed to enter Pakistan, we must prove we do not have Covid19. We have 96 hours from the time of testing, to arrive in Pakistan, before the test is invalid.

I am slowly beginning to make some plans for our time in Pakistan. We are very excited, as this country is very rarely seen by tourists. It is also quite beautiful and scenic. I will need to get to the bazaar after arrival to get a few outfits for this ultra-conservative country. I’m glad it won’t be overly hot, because I’ll be covered, head-to-toe, again.