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October 8th, 2010 | Asia

Rained out in Istanbul…!!

Its raining hard in Istanbul...!!

It is no longer raining in Istanbul… It is now pouring…!!

Thunder can be heard rolling around above the clouds every few minutes, and a deluge early this morning, saw many of the narrow streets flooded… Despite this, people are still thronging to see the Blue Mosque, situated just a few hundred metres from my hotel…

I borrowed an umbrella from the supermarket owner around the corner and walked through puddles of water and dodged running streams that flowed down the hill and past the front of the hotel…

The Mosque is simply one of the most impressive structures I have ever seen… It is far bigger than I expected it to be, and people stood shivering under their umbrellas, waiting to go inside to see the interior of this famous place of worship… The Mosque gets its popular name from the blue tiles that cover the interior walls…

It is able to hold almost 10 000 worshippers at any one time, and was completed in 1616, after seven years of construction…

The Sultanahmet Mosque, also known as the Blue Mosque, is one of the most impressive places of worship you will ever see...

The Obelisk of Theodocius... A long way from where it used to stand in the Karnak Temple in Egypt...

I took one look at the long line of folk waiting to get in, and decided that a walk around the exterior would do for me…

The rain poured down off the roof, splashing up off the marble floor of the massive courtyard, and wetting the legs of the waiting tourists… It was raining so hard at one point, that the umbrella was almost useless, keeping only my head and shoulders dry…

In the open area across the road from the Mosque, stands an obelisk that was removed from the temple of Karnak in Egypt where it had stood since 1450 BC…!!

I immediately recognized the granite as that having come from Aswan, where I had spent a week waiting for the Big Fella to arrive from Sudan…

It brought back fond memories of the days I had spent there with the Kaab family, and while rain poured down around me, I stood silently watching the tourists gathering around the obelisk to read the inscriptions on the brass plaque in front of it…

This single piece of granite, originally almost 30 metres long, is only half the length of what it once was, having been damaged during the long trip from its former home in Luxor, Egypt…

It was moved here to commemorate the reign of Emperor Constantine II, but only arrived here 30 years after his death… It was erected here in the Hippodrome of Istanbul, in 390 AD by the Emperor Theodocius.

Eventually the rain drove me back to the hotel… My shoes were soaked, and my jeans were wet up to my knees… I spent the rest of the day fretting about the weather, wondering if I should begin my ride to Georgia and Armenia in the morning or not… I had a limited amount of time on my hands, and seven countries I wanted to visit before I crossed the border into Iran…

Simon and Monika experience a bit of the "white stuff" in Eastern Turkey... Photo by Simon and Monika Newbound.

I hope the Big Fella proves as "unstoppable" as Simon and Monika's GS 1150 and GS 650 proved to be...!! Photo by Simon and Monica Newbound.

Judging by the few emails I have received from fellow travelers, I am going to be flirting with the “white stuff” long before I make the attempt…!!

These two photos were sent to me by Monika and Simon Newbound, holders of the World Record for Endurance Riding… They did some riding in Eastern Turkey last November, and the conditions they rode in then, made me reach for strong drink…!!

Check out their website here…

This amazing couple have ridden their BMW’s across the globe and clearly have a huge appetite for adventure…!!

No, I wasn't out clubbing...!! The Indian Embassy is through that small door on the left... Really...!!

I spent most of yesterday visiting the embassies of India and Pakistan, where I discovered that I would have to get a transit visa for Pakistan when I got to Tehran, and in order to get my Indian visa, I would have to leave my passport with them for a week…!!

I could not afford to do this for the time being, as I need my passport for my ride to Georgia and beyond…

The friendly lady at the Indian Embassy agreed to begin the process of getting the visa while I was away, and arranged to have my visa ready when I returned to Istanbul on the 19th of October…

Racing through the wet streets of Istanbul... The taxi driver took my request to get to the Pakistan Embassy quickly, very seriously...!!

Despite my misgivings, I actually used the tram system here and managed to remain within the precincts of Istanbul without getting lost…!! I have a serious aversion to taking buses and trains in countries where English is not the first language…!!

I once hopped on a train in Paris, and ended up on the Belgium border, instead of at my hotel which was just a few kilometres from the station…!! What should have been a ten minute train ride, turned into a 12 hour round trip through the French countryside…!! I arrived back at my hotel at 4.30am the next morning with an almost terminal case of the mutters…!! But that was in my younger and more vulnerable days…

I vowed then to stay well clear of public transport in foreign countries, and rather allow myself to be ripped off by taxi drivers instead…!! I find this a far better proposition than ending up hundreds of miles away from my intended destination…!!

I did not push my luck too far today though, and used a taxi to get me back to Sultanahmet…

And yes, it was about ten times more expensive than the tram, if you must know…!!

©GBWT 2010

5 comments to Rained out in Istanbul…!!

  • Charmz

    Pity about the weather, but you might as well get used to it…there will be alot more of it very soon as winter approaches. Get out you warm woolies!

  • Mark Behr

    After a ten year drought that saw the dams of Brisbane collectively fall to 16%, we have had three weeks of constant rain (a record) and all water resources are overflowing… so … we know how you feel at the moment.

    Your English teachers would be proud that you are still able to quote from “Great Gatsby”. Have fun, like you did in your “younger and more vulnerable days”.

  • Ian Gemmell

    Hey stranger! Very long time no hear. About 30 years to be more precise. Looks like you are having an amazing time. Enjoy the ride and keep in touch. I’ll keep checking back to see how you are getting on. Cheers Ian.

  • Hey Ian…!! 1979 to be precise…!! Long time indeed…!! Thanks for hooking up… Enjoy the ride…!! R.

  • Ian Gemmell

    1979! Makes us sound like a bunch of aging Hippies! Maybe you should trade in the BMW for a Harley.

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