(Note: This is a repost from a blog posting on http://letstalkcigars.com/mjg/ on 2/16/2007)

No, this isn't an old Bob Hope/Bing Crosby screwball comedy. No, this is all about a fun-filled trip to the surprisingly large and cosmopolitan town of Eskisehir, Turkey.

Myself and my travelling companions decided it best for newbies Tom and I talk the bus to get a better feel for the country of Turkey by taking the bus rather than the train.

Now, these weren't just your ordinary bus like you'd find sounth of the U.S. border in Baja. No sir, these were big old Mercedes buses in comfortable sets with a flight/drive attendant along to serve us tea, Nescafe, snacks and water.

We left Istanbul from the bus station on the European side of the city around 11:00 local time.

After purchasing our tickets, which was complicated by the fact that the folks behind the ticket counter were not understanding our attempts to speak, and I'm sure mangle, the Turkish word for reservations, we passed through the terminal to the bus staging area out back and was delighted to see the most modern camii (mosque) we'd seen so far on this trip. And trust me, we've seen quite a number. When people say that Turkey is a predominantly Muslim country, they aren't kidding. There are sizable mosques almost every 3rd to 5th block. Across the street from our hotel, between us and the Blue Mosque was a tiny one that, although lacking in square footage, made up for it with a tall primary building (obstructing part of the view of the Blue Mosque) and a minaret with loudspeakers for the call to prayers. This was helpful to get up on time as they went off at around 5:45 or so and were loud enough to wake me out of a dead sleep. But I digress...

On the way out of town, we stopped off the main highway and down a gorge to pick up somemore passengers. Then it was time to settle in for the drive to Eskisehir. But wait, we've got another stoop to make, this time at the Harem station on the Asian side of the country. For those of you in the know, Turkey is the only country that straddles both Europe and Asia. The Harem station is, it appears, right at the ferrry terminals as well as the Asian spur of the railroad. You've heard of the Orient Express? Well it stopped in Istanbul on the European side of the Bosphorous River.

While the bus stopped to take on passengers and to allow people to hit the tuvalet (toilet) I took advantage of the time to run over closer to the docks and get a picture of not only the Blue Mosque and Santa Sophia (left) and the newer, downtown portion of Istanbul. I was very impressed by the variety of public transportation available to all the residents of Istanbul, but also Eskisehir. I hustled back to the bus, so it wouldn't leave without me and spotted every network engineer's nightmare and had to stop and take a picture (below).

Yes, all those lines are exposed phone lines to all the various stalls and businesses around the station. Yikes!

This was to be the last stop for awhile so we sojourned on towards the midway point, which was basically just a roadside gas station with a restaurant and some shops attached. This view is looking out across the valley to the east from the back of the rest stop area. This is very spectacular scenery but it didn't last for long as we pulled out from the bus station, we found ourselvers headed towards a very dark, black cloud cover. you can see in the image at right part of a rental area available for use by those getting married or other celebrations that require a dance hall.

Given that things were getting progressively darker throughout the day enroute to Eskisehir, I don't have any more pictures for this part of the trip.