LINKS

Day 16

Still Tourists In Istanbul





We've  moved hotels from the one in the city to the Novotel Istanbul (left), the official rally hotel half way between the city and Ataturk airport.

I was a little worried about traffic as we had struggled with fouled up spark plugs after the slow going into Istanbul yesterday, but we had no problems today.



Took the hotel shuttle bus into town this afternoon and did a bit more sightseeing.
 
                           right: Istanbul's "Blue Mosque"

We are continually amazed at the number of people about on the streets. There are thousands of people everywhere.  Istanbul does have a population of some 14 million so I suppose you should expect to see a lot.


Mark at Taksim Square, and outside the Blue Mosque
A taxi ride back was a bit hair-raising as well.  We found ourselves travelling amongst the rally crews who had stayed at Eskisehir last night and I think that may have been inspiring the taxi driver.  He passed everything at warp speed and had several near misses.  It provided some entertainment for the rally crews.
There is to be a meeting at 8:00am tomorrow to give us an update on what stages they will be running in Europe.  We are expecting transport again tomorrow to get to Sliven in Bulgaria.  We are hopeful of some stages in Bulgaria
Next: onto Bulgaria













































































































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