Now here in Istanbul after an eventfuljourney from Sofia, which included being locked into an underground room at a service station by a little old lady while she went in search of change. Fortunately I was rescued after 15 minutes. Finally arrived in Istanbul just before dusk and, as we were driving along the Bosphorous we saw about twenty dolphins playing in the water. A nice introduction to the city. Have seen many mosques and am now suffering from "Mosque Foot". Treatment involves sitting in the sun drinking a beer. There's a total eclipse tomorrow, so we'll be watching that and then the day after, we'll be heading for Goreme in central turkey' where we'll spend a couple of days walking and ballooning before moving on to the north coast and then across the border to Batumi in Georgia.