Thursday, May 12, 2011

day 13 - end of days

We took our third overnight bus of the trip last night to return to
Istanbul. Let's just say that some overnight buses are ok while others
aren't after a good experience with Metro between Pamukkale and
Göreme, we had a terrible experience with them coming back to Istanbul.

So far I've been a bit disappointed with the Lonely Planet for this
trip. They were pretty inaccurate for accomodations in Göreme as well
as very incomplete/inaccurate with top sights, tours, food, etc. What
gives? The book is only two months old!

My take on Instanbul would include the following: best area to get
food is behind the New Mosque by the post office. The Grand Bazaar is
an overrated tourist trap. It lacks any authenticity anymore
(especially compared to the 15 year old LP we came across) and is way
overpriced. The merchants there aren't even willing to bargain to a
10% markup over normal prices outside the Bazaar on things like
magnets. Obviously we got our magnets somewhere else since no one
seemed interested in doing business at fair tourist prices.

Other random thoughts:
Favorite mosque is the Little Aya Sofya
Favorite site: The aquaduct and around, or the Bosphorus
Least favorite site: the Genoan Tower

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