A Brief Stop in Istanbul.

Sawsan and I ran into each other outside the international terminal at Istanbul airport at around 6 pm local time yesterday, searching for the hotel shuttle bus stop. Sawsan had flown in from Paris and I from Boston. The airport was very busy with 90% of arrivals funneling through the non-Turkish passport control line. It took about an hour to get through the formalities and walk outside. I had an opportunity for some people watching and  enjoyed the mix of east and west cultures mixing together. All the officials I encountered at the airport were very friendly. A comfortable hotel a 15 min drive through busy traffic and after check in Sawsan and I compared the contents of our backpacks, we are each carrying about 15 pounds and already agreed that we have far too many toiletries and I forgot a comb! Sawsan's luxury item is banana grams and I think mine might be Orhan pamuk's novel Snow. Woke up at 3am local time and watched the sunrise. Today we are flying and taking buses to the start of the Lycian Way.