Leaving Istanbul Sept 16

We made our way out of Istanbul, passing some of the 1200 mosques and many other buildings of interest. We passed by pink train station where the Orient Express completed its journey from Paris.

Istanbul has 12.5 million people in it. There are 72 million in all of Turkey.

We crossed the Mamara Sea over another suspension bridge and were on our first leg of the day journey to Ankara.

Again our expectations were surpassed by the sights we saw. Before actually getting out of Istanbul we drove by a beautiful white palace which is where various rulers have lived and Ataturk lived his final years there.

We drove on a 4 lane highway and were amazed at the excellent quality of roads for the whole 500+ km. Nearby Izmit the highway went through 3 large and well lighted tunnels with glimpses of the town in the valley below.. I believe that is the town where both Hannibal and, later, Constantin died.

A little further along we went through another very large, modern tunnel, it was 3km long.

The landscape was wonderful. Farmland and cornfields, lots of trees. Farther along the landscape reminded us of the Okanagan – except that the valleys were so wide and often green with produce. It was interesting to see that the farmers, shepherd, and workers mostly dress in the old Turkish style – pantaloons, colourful and heavy jacket and a head covering.

When we passed villages and towns we realized that almost no-one lives in a single dwelling house. Apartments/condos are standard housing. They seem to have thought out how to build them so that they don't look like rows of tenements but have space and greenery and are placed at different angles to each other. Each apartment building has a style of its own to bring variety to the scenery.