Istanbul to Bursa

We left Istanbul in the capable hands of tour director Aran, a good guy. 

He is a little hard to understand, but the complicated English turn of phrase he uses grows on you. You just have to wait a little longer for the meaning to filter through. To be arnast ladeez an genlemen sometimes it doesn't.

But, no matter please is ok.

We drove onto a car ferry and crossed the sea of Marmara with a beautiful warm still day looming. The toilets were a little dodgy, but we are going to be having the same issue throughout the trip so as Roger Voudouris said " get used to it." The drive was to take us to the city of Bursa, which was the capital city prior to Istanbul, and take in the mountain village of Cumalikizik. 

The trip helped us to adjust to the travel on the bus, with Michele and me ending up in the back seat by virtue of arriving last. A couple of South African ladies sat next to us and were very friendly and Cath, Riz, Annie and David were seated nearby..so happy days. 

Seat rotation was explained in painful detail. It appears that this is the key ingredient in a successful holiday, so we listened intently so as to pick up the nuances of this sophisticated custom. Apparently the idea is to move your position within the bus each day, so that as many people as possible get to experience the enormous variety of seats that the bus offers. Starting with your original position, you will take up a new position at the commencement of each day. You do this by moving forward two seats on the left side of the bus and backwards two seats on the right side of the bus. This will give you a new position each day. I can't wait for our first move tomorrow morning... I can see our new seats as I write and I can feel the excitement building already.

The little village of Cumalikazik was great. It is an old style village built on the side of a hill, busy with little market stalls and people going about a life style that is long gone. The people here seem very friendly, despite having 39 camera wielding tourists rampage through the town. It amazes me. I am sure there are many Turkish jokes at our expense behind our backs. Good luck to them.

We drove on to visit two mosques in the city of Bursa.The first was very busy and very hot but it gave us a look at the locals at prayer ...Friday being the main day of ritual many were gathered outside in communal worship.

We then visited a caravanserais dating back to the 1300s that is still operating as a market. It was beautiful and busy. We bought some silk scarves and ties and enjoyed the little interchanges with the shopkeeper. Retail is an art form here. She seemed very satisfied after the transaction, like a sporting contest had taken place. It had, I suppose. We were happy too. I wonder who won?

We then went onto the Green Mosque. It was really impressive. It was quiet, cool and in a really picturesque setting and it was exquisitely decorated with Mosaic tiles and patterns. 

We drove onto Bursa and into our luxury hotel ...it was huge and located on the side of a huge hill overlooking the city. The view was breathtaking, but it seems here there is always a smog cover that mutes the scene and dampens the colours a little. But I no complain. We had another delicious Turkish meal...the food is fantastic...and finished the night with drinks on the balcony overlooking the lights of the city and a fireworks display. (I think it was to celebrate David's recovery from the diarrhoea bug).