The stumbling block was the photos and I'd left Ali watching the truck.
No time lost though as Chinese Consulate is only open Mon-Wed-Fri, 09:00 - 12:00, so application wouldn't have been made until Friday anyway.
So, another 5am start to cross Istanbul and camp near the old town. And closer to Taksim.
Behind the Sports Club on Kennedy Cd. 50TL per night with electricity (not required) and washing machine (took forever).
Fenced, and only motorhomes, which made it better than the unfenced car park about 500m East with no facilities at 30TL per night.
We happened to notice a few ships waiting for ....
Did I mention that yesterday while collecting paper from Aus DFAT I walked through the lobby of the Ritz Carlton and picked up a map plus useful tourist info.
In a former life I've spent more than a few days in large international hotels so looking daggy wasn't an obstacle.
In following the map to the station we passed these partly inflated balloons and broken bottles.
The unfenced car park.
But nothing we could find of the fortresses that we expected after visiting the Dardanelles.
New directions for photo studio. At least they'd done it before but 15TL each was a bit steep. Just as well I trimmed the beard.
We needed a bank statement showing more than $5,000 available funds.
The Turkish keyboard and Chrome browser meant my password wasn't recognised by the bank.
I'd taken my netbook but I think the password for the agent's wi-fi wasn't known.
We went for a couple of apple teas at Starbucks across the road.
The problems didn't quite end there.The bank "print" button didn't work on some pages - needed a workaround after a sip of apple tea.
Then back to the office to print out the pdfs I'd created.
It didn't seem to matter that the address on the bank statement (daughter Jennifer) didn't match the address on the visa application (our home).
Even though it isn't reliable its all we have.
A light moment when agent said she would email us! Durr!
A not so light moment when suggesting leaving a message at our hotel - difficult as we are touring in our hire car for the next week!
A week is a week! We'll return late next Friday. 8 days.
So a walk through Taksim Square. Center of recent rioting. New home of heavily armed police.
Life apparently goes on.
Nice lady at train station made phone call and handed receiver to me.
Catch a number 17 bus!
So we found a taxi.
We thought we'd catch a tram back from Taksim Square but the station was closed.
So we decided to walk the 8km back.
We have a week after all!
Navigating is relatively easy, just walk down hill.
About 1580 - 87.
The mosque complexes include some of madrassahs (schools), tombs, sabils (fountains??), hamams (turkish baths), hospitals, etc.
The smell of fish suggests some success.
Istanbul main roads have been surprisingly easy (just don't stray into the narrower streets as we did).
Its remarkably pedestrian unfriendly.
We think we heard a couple of Dutch people call it the Dutch Bazaar.
Echoes of spice islands perhaps.
For some other reason they are full of people.
Uphill.
I knew that!
The tramlines have other uses than trams.
A quick route for wheelbarrow transport.
Running a bit, he escaped before the next tram.
No graffiti?
Come to think of it, we haven't noticed graffiti anywhere.
Its been such a distinctive feature of transport in some other countries.
We are near Beyanzit station.
From the outside.
A Turkish Bath is not on our agenda.
Some older (1530) graves and sarcophagae outside.
The attraction for us was somewhere to cool under the trees. With only a few people.
And a view of the Sultanahmet (Blue) Mosque and Complex.
Originally a cathedral built around 537 converted to a mosque in 1453 and to museum in 1935.
It was the world's largest cathedral for about 1,000 years.
Wondering why it is called blue.
Perhaps due to some obscure Australian influence.
Perhaps its like our "midnight blue" Mercedes car that my family disparagingly call "grey".
The roof looks painted.
The lower levels are tiles. Blue tiles.
And the tinted (blue) windows for illumination.
The women had a quieter, fenced off, place.
I can't even begin to comprehend.
Or perhaps I can comprehend how cultures are formed and religious institutions function but its all a bit alien.
Istanbul is about where east meets west.
We carried our shoes in the provided plastic bags.
Found somewhere to discard them (the bags, silly) at the other end.
Its still not blue!
So now we decided to head downhill again.
Topkapi Palace (40 TL entry and a Gallic Shrug from a French fellow traveler to describe its attraction) will have to wait for another day.
As will the aquaduct and the old city walls.
We are in "old Istanbul".
I recall staying a couple of days in this area in 1978.
With the train that apparently doesn't connect well to the tram or the bus.
We can hear the traffic.
Until, that is, we crossed the railway line again.
Shooting ranges.
Though it seems most people preferred fishing or picnicking.
The ships have turned around with the tide.
Or maybe the wind as we can't imagine much tidal flow between the Black and Mediterranean Seas.
Tired but happy that we will hopefully have Chinese Visas in a 8 days.
We were later surrounded by motorhomes.
We also solved how to phone the visa agent ourselves. We added the code for Istanbul, which our (Estonian numbered) Travelsim needed. Another plug for Travelsim, it works, and their help is first class.
It seems as if we have had a few days of one problem after another, the Chinese Visa problem compounded by internet, bank and phone problems.
All solvable after a mental cup of tea. Hopefully things can only get better from here.
The UK motorhome on the right in the background belongs to a Kiwi couple, Sue and Dave. They are about to leave Turkey after 6 months. They successfully applied for Turkish residency but the "how" they described confirmed that it wasn't a realistic option for us to solve the Chinese Visa problem in Ankara.
