Day 48, 21 August 2012, Grand Bazaar (closed), Hot shave experience for James, Juice bars and browsing - Finally leaving the hotel, we strolled to the local shops for a fresh grapefruit juice. Debated the benefits of buying a chinchilla fur coat (what can I say - it was an air conditioned shop....), walked to Turkey's famous Grand Bazaar to find it closed for the Eid festival. Bliss - able to take a photo of the main entrance without a soul in sight. Met a jew...

Day 48, 21 August 2012, Old Town Istanbul by Night - Sultanahmet Blue Mosque by fountain light (pictured), Hagia Sofia, Hippodrome and Obelisks, roasted corn, baklava, ice-cream, tea house and chicken kebab. Not necessarily in that order - Forgoing the company of others after almost 2 months with organised tour groups was a relief. The group in Africa had two functioning morons. The group in Egypt had one who combined the attributes of the previous pair - with ...

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 4.3...