Author: JT

Istanbul: slept in… need coffee

So much for an early start today. Missed my included breakfast on the view rooftop terrace. Though I did wake up a few times earlier, and hear the 5:45am call to prayer.

Now I need to grab some breakfast/lunch and meet a local friend of a friend for coffee in 90 minutes to get some 411, and hopefully some pronunciation help.

Did I mention last night that there is Starbucks here, inc. at the airport? I know, not the best coffee, but it’s comforting and consistent for my particular order. And I read in the guidebook that finding a good cup of coffee is surprisingly difficult here (and Turkish coffee is less common than you would think).

Side note for quick impressions: lots of stray cats here.

Istanbul: Quick first impressions

Modern sensibilities with old heritage buildings, with the streetside cafe charm of Europe.
People aren’t too pushy.
Public transit is good (even if they do use cheesy plastic tokens)
Cold. I actually put on a sweater and toque (not to mention socks and shoes :-(
Food will be good (had a refreshing fresh-pressed pomegranate juice for TL5/US3, to go with my pita chicken doner TL4/US2.50 (I only needed a snack, not a meal, after all that plane food).
Lots of stray cats.

Thought I’d get some more out tonight, but I’m wiped and will likely have more to say in the morning since I’ll probably be awake early.

Timezone here is GMT+2, so I’m 6 hours ahead of eastern timeUS/Canada, and 9 hours ahead of pacific time (at least until daylight savings ends in the US/Canada on Sun morning (since daylight savings ended here last weekend)

Arrived in Istanbul

Long 10.5 hour flight from Chicago in a cramped set. Sleeping pills helped for half of that. Good food and service though. Lots of free movie selections on seat back tv, but I didn’t watch any. Must get an aisle seat for return flight.

My hostel (private ensuite room, nice though a little dark) is close to the Blue Mosque (I can see one minaret from my window) and I’m looking forward to breakfast on the rooftop terrace which has views of the Bosphorous.

Now, first things first: a light dinner and a US-to-euro plug adapter (I forgot my multi-plug-adaptor at home, oops) or there won’t be many more blog entries!

New resto in downtown Las Vegas – Heart Attack Grill

No, I did not eat here (esp. not after my vegan veggie burger at lunch)

The (buxom) waitresses are dressed in nurses outfits, and the patrons put on hospital gowns over their clothing.

Say no more!

So how much did it cost?

Ignoring my international flights ($1500) and other pre-trip costs (e.g. visa, vaccinations, travel gear/supplies),
my average daily expenses while in India were approx $42 per day (inc. trains, which admittedly I could have done in cheaper classes).

Indian Rupee (INR)
INR 1 = US$ 0.0256147
US$ 1 = INR 39.04

(update: as of mi-Dec 2011, the exchange rate is US$ 1 = INR 52.74, i.e. the rupee has gone down 25% in value vs the dollar in 3.5 years)

Delayed Delhi belly – doh!

I thought I had escaped 2 months in India relatively unscathed, but I returned with a gurgling belly, then spent the last 24 hours with diarrhea and some vomiting (in between fits of sleep the whole time). Welcome back!
And a big thanks to Susan for taking care of me!
I seem to mostly be over it now (on Sun)…

Update: or not! I was still very much under the weather until Tue morning, sleeping most of the day away… and even now on Wed morning, I’m not back 100%

Delhi for the day, leaving India tonight!

I can’t say that I like Delhi. It’s exhausting. I’m ready to go home.
Something positive: the Metro works. In 2 years it should go out to the airport too (they are expanding the system for the 2010 Commonwealth Games here).

While food is expensive here (and a 12.5% VAT on top), rooms are cheap for a capital city – I snagged a small budget room for Rs250/$6.25 for today (from 8:00 to 22:00, where checkout is normally at 12:00).
I can get a taxi to the airport tonight for Rs200/$5 (1 hour!).