Leaving T'bilisi and trying to get to the small town I was aiming for in Turkey near the Iranian border took longer than I thought it would and it meant that I had to spend a night in Kars which wasn't so bad as one of the guys working there resembled Manuel from Fawlty Towers, that made me chuckle.
I made it to Diyadin the next day to meet Gokce who I've not seen since we worked together in South Carolina back in '05! It was great to catch up but slightly strange to find a city girl working as a teacher out in the sticks.
After 36 hours sat up on a bus then waiting to check in at the hostel my feet swelled up to a mammoth size which meant I spent the first day in Istanbul in bed. The second day included seeing some sights but after losing my iPod there was some time down at the police station making a report for the insurance. It's a cool city though and I definitely think that I'll go back there in the future.
I'm writing this blog from on board a bus heading to Sofia from Istanbul which means I'm entering country number 13. Almost home!
Sorry to hear you've lost your ipod - are you missing it very much? Your 13th country! It will be lucky for you. For some reason I thought your friend was a guy, how is her name pronounced?!? Best wishes and keep rolling :-)
ReplyDeleteWith your feet swelling, how's your skin been holding up?
ReplyDeleteTravelling without the ipod is difficult but at least it lasted this long. Gokce is pronounced Gock-chay.
ReplyDeleteSkin has held out really well, just continuous lifting plus my skin is quite tough.