Day 47, 20 August 2012, Sharm el Sheikh to Cairo, Cairo to Istanbul, Turkey - Just loving EgyptAir. Once we got away from the pernicious slackness of On the Go's Jordan operation everything went swimmingly. Due to it being only a 2 hour flight to Turkey we are using actual cash instead of points to pay for it. And so, were in cattle class. However we could just about do in-flight yoga in our exit row seat and the onboard meal was superb - sort of lunch at 4.30 pm in the end due to a departure delay. Made it to Turkey and did the necessaries - ATM for cash (Yee hah! first try!) Duty Free purchased (the bar was completely empty after being well utilised in Egypt and Jordan). Picked up by the lovely folk from Cordial House Hotel in the Sultanahmet (Old Town). Usually we go hell for leather when arriving into a new town but almost 7 weeks in we decided it was time for a rest day or two. We spent the evening strolling around the block and getting our bearings. Both being cat-people we have seen them absolutely everywhere since we left home and have a daily challenge to spot "Cat of the Day" for the first time. Earliest so far was at the Nuweiba ferry terminal at 3 am. Today was the latest at about 9 pm at the little park near the hotel. Cats everywhere, no one's tried to sell us scarves for hours and it's only 28 degrees. Positively nippy after where we've been. Postcards were 10 for 50 cents so James was in his element. Currency now Turkish Lira or TL. 1TL is around US$0.55 Sweet dreams. Istanbul-proper can start tomorrow.
(Hagia Sofia by night pictured)