Kurdistan Trilogy: Part 1

I only had one night in Istanbul, but it was enough to see what an incredible city it was. The size of the city became apparent after my bus trip from the eastern edge of the city to the city centre took over two hours. Being used to driving through rock, rock and more rock, what struck me was the amount of water and forest, along with the completely different style of architecture. Arriving at Taksim Square I then had to find myself a taxi (unfortunately I picked one with a dodgy meter which seemed to inflate standard prices by ten) to my hostel in Sultanahmet, the old city and tourist capital of Istanbul. I then proceeded to be labelled insane by the hostel manager, who turned out to be extremely nice and helpful, for only staying in Istanbul for one night. He was, of course, quite right.

Having only one night in Istanbul made it difficult to know what to see, so instead of trying to take in as many spectacular tourist attractions as I could, I instead decided to sit by the sea for a good hour next to an old man who had stopped to rest during his walk home. I did, however, also manage to fit in a good look round the famous Blue Mosque, and enjoy some Baklava with some friends I had met in Palestine.

Seaside just outside Sultanahmet

The spectacular Blue Mosque, or 'Old Blue', as one might affectionately call it.

The inner court of the Blue Mosque

Inside the Blue Mosque, enjoying some quiet time

Old Blue by night

Call me crazy, and many people did, but I decided to get a bus from Istanbul to Dohuk, my next destination, in the north of Iraq. Unfortunately for me my ipod self imploded the evening before this 25 hour bus journey (and, suspiciously, revived the day after I arrived in Dohuk...), so I was left with good movies with bad Turkish overdubs, acres and acres of scenery and The Count of Monte Cristo on Kindle. I was amazed at the poor quality of the overdubs, particularly for the film Looper. Joseph Gordan-Levitt sounded like a Turkish James Earl Jones, and Bruce Willis lost all charisma with the absence of his 'I know more about everything than anybody else around here' tone of voice. Far more well chosen were the voices for Skyfall - Judi Dench even managed to sound a little bit posh.  

During the trip I found myself crossing highways to find inconspicuous spots in order to save the lire locals charged for toilet stops along the way, more out of principal than any sort of budget restraints. I also began to fade dramatically, mourning the death of my ipod, and getting extremely agitated at the overflow of noise from the headphones of people around me. Hours 8-13 were by far the worst. After that you sort of accept your new life as a bus passenger and begin experiencing a slight numbing feeling, and could probably carry on for another 25 hours for all I know. An unceasing journey however was not my fate, and I knew we were getting close to the border when we entered into the Kurdish region of Turkey. I knew, furthermore, that we were in the Kurdish region of Turkey when the roads began to break apart, potholes emerged from all angles, and townships began to take on a much simpler village look. It was clear Turkey invested no money toward infrastructure in this region, for the rest of the country was very well developed. Kurdistan, of course, has its own long and arduous history, as complicated and sensitive as Palestine. I just knew a whole lot less about it. I guess now was a good time to learn. 

I emerged from my Theoden slumber at the Iraqi border, at which I was the only person not from Turkey or Iraq and thus the only person who had no idea what he was doing, having to rely on the irritated and extremely vague pointings of pretty much everyone - passenger and border official alike. Eventually I successfully got the stamp I needed and proceeded to enter the safest area in one of the most dangerous countries in the world; Iraqi Kurdistan.