Day 162: Rest day in Istanbul

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Too much walking

For some reason it always hurts a lot more to go for a little walk on rest day than to ride 100km on the other days. Anyway, we saw some stuff.

Istanbul is like the missing link between India and western Europe. You can see the lineage from the cities of Jaipur, Ahmedabad etc, but the small shops have almost all been swept away and a large amount of infrastructure has modernised the city.

Rail and foot traffic get a funky new bridge

Rail and foot traffic get a funky new bridge

Back streets

Back streets

Suleyman mosque - best when you look up

Suleyman mosque - best when you look up

More ceilings - intricate stuff

More ceilings - intricate stuff

Outside the Grand Bazaar

Outside the Grand Bazaar

Lunch in a quiet oasis

Lunch in a quiet oasis

The Basilica Cistern, built in the 6th Century by the Romans to maintain water supply

The Basilica Cistern, built in the 6th Century by the Romans to maintain water supply

They reused a few bits of stone when they built the cistern — and they weren’t too bothered which way up they put them

They reused a few bits of stone when they built the cistern — and they weren’t too bothered which way up they put them