The seventies Hippy Trail 12

10-6-1974
Istanbul, Turkey

Hiya People,

I have just come back from the post office where I was delighted to pick up three letters from you. It was a real treat. I just arrived in Istanbul yesterday after a long journey from Tehran which took me about three days. I told you last week that I would be working in Tehran but I guess I did not, hey? I was not getting any work and the city was really giving me the creeps, so I decided to split for greener pastures. It is a really ugly place and I did not like the people. I hope you have not written there yet but I have left a forwarding address there anyway.

What I am planning to do now( ha ha I could do anything but this this is the latest one) is go to Austria, or Germany, Holland, or even England and work for a few months, then go to France and surf because I am dying to go surfing again. I met this guy in Tehran who said he saw perfect surf near karachi in Pakistan but this was at the time of the monsoons and would only do it for about two months of the year and the rest of the year it is dead flat.

I would really like to go down to South Africa when I get enough money and might trek through the Sahara and Central Africa and Lake Tangyanyika to Kenya and then down to Jeffreys Bay and maybe meet John somewhere. Or I could follow the Nile up through Egypt like all the great explorers Speke and Grant and company. Who knows? It would be a really great trip. I am glad you sent me John's address. I am going to write to him also today.

Istanbul Turkey

Istanbul is a really nice place and is really old with big beautiful mosques and narrow twisting cobblestone streets and lots of bazaars. I am planning to go to the Grand Bazaar this afternoon and it is supposed to be really far out with about four hundred little shops selling everything. They are far superior to any supermarket and much more fun. The people here are incredibly friendly and polite.

From Tehran I caught a bus to the Turkish Border and from there I got a lift with a few other people in the back of a truck over a bumpy dusty truck to Agri, about 150 kilometers and I was was glad to get out of it. With us was this seven foot tall Sicilian guy who had been a mercenary in the Belgian Congo and was covered in tattoos of machine guns - "kill" etc written over his hands and he had his front teeth missing and he was really ugly. You really meet some characters on the road.

Erzurum Turkey

At Agri I caught a bus to Erzurum which is situated high in the Alburz Mountains and there is still some snow on the mountains even though it is summer. I bet it is beautiful in winter. ( Continued on next page ...)

Istanbul Resources

In Istanbul you can find a heap of cheap places to stay around the Sultanahmet area. The Spice Bazaar down by the port is a great place to visit. The water taxi across the Bosphorus is the best bargain and is way cheaper than any cruise. The Orient Express Railway Station has got some whirling dervish action going on.

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