Last night I decided to go for a walk in the local area. I am staying in the rad light district and I have done this before without any problems. :Last night felt kinda weird? I had a real uneasy feeling about the place. I decided to trust my gut and came home and watched Japanese TV I cant explain it, it was just different.
This morning at breakfast there was only a few of us. For such a big place I expected more people. It turns out you can rent the rooms by the hour...if you know what I mean. You bet, I am staying in a brothel again. The daily rate is OK, without the extras.
The plan for today was to go see Anit Kabir, which is Ataturk's mausoleum, and then to Kocatepe Camii, which is one of the biggest mosque's in the world. I set off about 8 and walked toward the train station cos the Anit Kabir is the other side of it. After a while I thought I was going the wrong way so changed direction. Again after a while I thought I was going the wrong way and it turned out the first time I was right, not wrong. I turned around again and by the time I got back the sky was looking dark so I decided to go home and get my umbrella and rain coat.
Take two I headed to the traino again, this time I went to the station cos I had to get a ticket on the train tomorrow to Istanbul. I got that for the 9.20 train tomorrow. So now I had to get the other side of the rail lines. There was no obvious crossing so I consulted my map and it looked like left was the shortest way. I must have walked 2km trying to find a way across the train lines. When I fornd a crossing there was a sign showing the way to where I wanted to go. Great, I thought just keep following the signs. While still walking I came across a really nice looking mosque, Maltepe Camii. It had amazing stained glass windows.
Back following the signs, Just for a change it is ALL up hill. Finally I found the place but still had to walk half way around it to get to the drive way. It had only taken about 4 hours and the rain had set in by now. It really is huge. There must have been50 busses there by the time I got there. Surprisingly I was the only with person there. The busses were for school kids. The place was swarming with 5-7 year olds. What goes with school kids? School teachers! They are all the same all over the world. Barking orders at the kids while they totally ignore them. OMG soo many teacher all barking orders? Just after I got there the Turkish secret service came along and said the place was closing. There was going to be a ceremony and the place was closing. Thankfully most of the kids left but I stayed just outside to watch. I think it was a Korean ceremony and they layed a wreath then left. The place opened again. I don't know where they came from but now the place was full of high school girls which was nearly as bad as the teachers. I got a look inside but the lines for the museum's was too long.
I was tired, my legs and feet sore and the rain had set in so I headed home.This time I went the other side of the traino and it was much shorter so I was home in just over an hour. By the time I was home the sky was blue and the rain had cleared up. Go figure.
Tomorrow I am on the train to Istanbul