Conquering jetlag We were surprised to have slept till 0615 despite the 6h time change from Seoul.  [Edit: It turned out that we adjusted to local time straight up as we had no issues on subsequent days too.] We had an early breakfast soon after it opened at 0700.  Looking up my notes from my […]

Aqueduct of Valens I took Ming to Topkapi Palace around 0900 and left her to it.  I had only visited last year, my third visit in thirty years. There was a sight that I hadn’t seen since my first visit thirty years ago though and it was the Aqueduct of Valens.  I wandered there from […]

Basilica Cistern Yerebatan Sarnici or Basilica Cistern is a short walk from our hotel.We had seen the queues before and noted that there is an online queue which is often without anyone.So we booked last night and made our way there after 0900. We breezed straight through and down the steps into the cistern straight […]

I love taking the public ferries to Istanbul’s islands.  Like Hong Kong’s Star Ferry, it’s a cheap way of getting a seaborne view of the city.  The schedules seem to have changed and I couldn’t find a suitable departure from Eminonu to Princes’ Islands. So, I decided that we would leave around 0900 to Kadikoy […]

Ayasofya Today I start showing Ming around in earnest, starting with the Ayasofya.  We headed out straight after breakfast around 0900 and found a long queue for the Ayasofya.  As it is now a mosque rather than a museum, entry is free but suspended during prayer hours. A security man suggested that the queue would […]

Flying to Istanbul I woke at 0530 and walked to Trg Slavija at 0610 for the 0630 bus to the airport.  I had hoped to catch the bus at a nearer stop to my hotel, which was supposedly the retired railway station, but wasn’t able to locate the stop. Finally, today, I found the bus […]

PCR Swab With remnants of Paris time in my body clock I fell asleep at midnight.  But for some reason I woke at 0145 super alert.   This is so unlike me.  After sitting up till about 0300 I took half a pill and slept till 0800 After breakfast, my priority was to 5 mins away […]

Why I’m in Istanbul I came to Istanbul because Covid-19 PCR tests here are ridiculously cheap and fast.  With my entry into Malaysia and Sarawak on consecutive days, longhaul flights and an overnight in connection, there was the possibility I’d end up having to take two separate tests for the two entries.  A free stopover […]