Escape up the Bosphorus

EASTERN PROMISE: The Bosphorus Bridge connects Europe with Asia in the ancient capital of Istanbul.

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We wait on the edge of Istanbul for the number 150 to Garipce. The bus, when it comes, is an old one like from my childhood. And it complains constantly as we lurch through the folding hills above the Bosphorus. Occasionally the land parts and we glimpse the mercurial strait of wind-tossed water below, dividing Europe and Asia and coursing between Istanbul and the Black Sea.

For many tourists a day-trip out of heady Istanbul means island-hopping the Princes’ Islands. Instead my wife and I are weaving up the European shore of the Bosphorus. Istanbulites drive up on weekends, unwinding and eating at villages that hug the water’s edge. We’ve come midweek to avoid the crowds. And by the looks of our fellow passengers – old men, mothers, all Turks – it’s an idyllic day-trip that remains off the tourist to-do list.

We drop out of the hills into tiny Garipce. Half-hidden in a sheltered Bosphorus cove, its name is Turkish for “strange”.

via Travel | Turkey Istanbul Bosphorus | Stuff.co.nz.