Overland Istanbul to Cairo. Part 1: Istanbul -
In January 08, we began a great adventure in the world , a journey that we see to distant lands and exotic places I dreamed of.
In a journey that you have to start somewhere, we chose Istanbul, on the edge of Europe. I do a lot of
travel planning and research in recent weeks preparing for our next great getaway and
that got me thinking back to the first. So, here are the first people of this week adventure that changed my life completely. Istanbul had long been on my list of dream places,
it always seemed so exotic. I'm sure it comes from watching
From Russia With Love as a child, see
James Bond "spy" in the Hagia Sophia was enough to weave into my dreams .
I looked at where we could travel from Istanbul. has discovered there were
a night train to Aleppo , flowered in Syria
an overland journey that eventually lead us in Cairo and the land of the Pharaohs.
January in Istanbul is cold enough , in fact, we have seen
snow in all the countries we traveled through the Middle East until we reached Egypt.There were many ice and cold, but clear skies and fewer tourists made Istanbul
a magical place to explore .We had seven days wandering its streets and winding seek its gems
Sunday before our train left. 
We stayed in a hostel,
only the second time in my life, I had slept in a dorm with strangers {the other was a night in Edinburgh with some friends} so really feel
thrown into the deep end of backpackers! we shared the room with two {unconnected} French couples,
picnic evening we spread over the floor dorm room
m ' immediately warmed to the idea of traveling together. I loved Istanbul Hagia Sophia was one of the most amazing buildings I have ever seen in my life , and it is just so old.This beautiful church
stands for more than 1500 years . Unbelievable!
The Blue Mosque, the Underground Cistern Basilica, the Tower of the girl, they all had me gushing with joy. Just see the skyline with its many domes and minarets of a ferry on the Bosphorus filled me with joy to travel.
He was just as exotic as I dreamed it was. The Hagia Sophia 
- Inside the Hagia Sophia scaffolding almost discreet.
- Hagia Sophia
- the fountain outside ablution, from when the building was a mosque.
- A beautiful golden mosaics
Just in front of this old church / mosque / museum is beautiful
Sultanahmet Camii, the blue Mosque .We catapulted our way
in slush one day to drag our feet off our shoes and enter this ornate sanctuary shaped blue dome.
The interior was incredibly beautiful, his many half-domes decorated with thousands of small colored tiles.
Topkapi Palace Topkapi Palace is a beautiful day, there is so much to see!of
exquisite beauty rooms in the Harem of fascinating sights in the
Treasury . Here you will find a large diamond with a great history and
forearm and hand of John the Baptist , dedicated gold course.
The palace is in a well place, looking across the Golden Horn and
sparkling Bosphorus with its ships and cargo ferries
- Topkapi palace entrance
- Entering the Harem
- an incredible rooms in the Harem
is a nice way spend a few hours
away from the bustle of the city with its extensive collection of objects from the Middle East
- The Istanbul Archaeology Museum
- Museum of Archaeology
the past sails travel
great palaces on the banks of the river then an hour later arrives in a small fishing village,
Anadolu Kavağı on the edge of the black sea.port us
walked to the ruins of an old castle before taking a return lunch in the village before catching the boat back to Istanbul.
to keep warm, we found cozy bars where we sat by the fire sipping tea with apple warming , our dormitory of the hostel was so cold the bars provided if needed heat.
I loved walking on the Galata Bridge and walk up the hill to explore the Galata area, always busy and a change from the old town where we were.
our week and we settled into the lifestyle of hiking on Sunday arrived and we made our way into the light of morning calm, soon to
the first ferry of the day that would take us across the Bosphorus to the Asian side of Istanbul and
Haydarpaşa train station .
Istanbul had never been so beautiful and exotic as it did this morning on the river. The sun just came and there was morning fog through which the domes and minarets gleamed.
I will never forget this magical show. Unfortunately our cameras were packed safely for our trip to the station, so none of us took pictures so here bedtime shooting sun instead. 
our train,
Bulls Ekspresi {} the express Bulls, waiting at the platform when we arrived.
We were greeted in the sleeper by the Syrian transport staff and found our cabin. He was so cute, if a bit tired and worn.
there were two beds, a table and a small sink, and it was very comfortable and warm. friends We quickly with three other foreigners in the car bed, a Canadian, an Australian and an American, and
super nice Syrian guy who greeted us on the train. 
Within 36 hours it took to cross Turkey, we learned a little Arabic, Syrian drank coffee and watched the landscape change since European distinctly biblical. We had a delay in the evening when
train came to a jolting stop. We crashed into a truck on a level crossing! No one was hurt,
, it was much less dramatic than it sounds , we were not exactly running along the time. We had to wait for hours but for a replacement engine.
We arrived at the Turkish border in the morning sun, Sean Aussie somehow managed to get
a tour of the engine border Syrian, he even had to pull the whistle.
How jealous were we! Now the adventure really began, we had arrived in Syria ...... - Overland Istanbul to Cairo. Part 2: Aleppo and Hama, Syria
- Overland Istanbul to Cairo. Part 3: Damascus and Palmyra
- Overland Istanbul to Cairo. Part 4: Jerash and Petra, Jordan
- Overland Istanbul to Cairo. Part 5 :. Nuweiba and Cairo, Egypt
- Overland Istanbul to Cairo. Part 6 :. Aswan, Luxor and Alexandria, Egypt
Most of the photographs in this post were taken by Chris Hodgson , he had a much better camera than me at time, which is why I present myself in a lot of photos!
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