Istanbul Good Fri 6 April 2007

We discover a random unsecured wireless network accessibly only from one corner of the roof of the hotel so we sit in the sun overlooking the Bosphorus and Sea of Marmara chasing an ephemeral connection which is just about strong enough if you lean over a parapet. The journey seems to be unravelling at a pace as we learn the car is now not due to arrive until 21st April and wont be available until 24th at the earliest. However the people from Maersk are very helpful although they foresee substantial problems with customs with talk about needing residency permits and all sorts of bureaucracy. At this rate we might send it back to Pakistan and try again. We talk to a customs agent but they think its all too hard too so we check the customs website and find the regulations which appear quite straightforward – famous last words –although it all depends upon getting the Carnet back which was last seen in Pakistan and which we are promised will be couriered to us in ‘the next few days’

Meanwhile we go in search of insurance from the Turkish AA (or TTOK)which we eventually discover is housed in the outskirts of the city in a car repair district, and which turns out to be a 2km walk from the metro. On the way our camera is stolen on the metro so we aren’t in the best of moods. They don’t speak much English at the AA but eventually tell us we need a tax number before we can buy insurance, but instead of it being available for 4 months thru Europe is only valid for 15 days outside Turkey. The prospect of wandering into a Kafkaesque Ministry of Tax Numbers on Monday morning and coming away with a tax number strangely doesn’t appeal so it seems we may be on the internet for a few hours tomorrow looking for alternatives. It did occur to us to make up a number but we couldn’t find out how many digits they were supposed to have. In the interim we’ve hired a car for two weeks from Monday so will be roughing it in a Reno Cleo – which is not as sexy as its sounds.

Back across the Galata bridge over the Golden Horn, on a sunlit evening to find dinner (or is it lunch?) at Hamdi, a roof top restaurant, with more grilled meat. There's a tulip festival in Istanbul, which is the home of tulips apparently, so we take lots of pix for the blog, (despite not having a camera).