I am onto my fourth day in Istanbul, having a great time seeing all the sites - there are some pretty amazing things see here. I have been back to the Grand Bazaar three times for differing reasons and just when I thought I was getting my bearings, I went there a different way today and through a different gate - it then took me about 15 minutes to work out where I was.

I have visited the two major mosques (one is now a museum). While I was in the Ayasofya Mosque I took a photo out of an open window on the first floor. When I was going through my old photos from 15 years ago I realised I had taken the exactly the same photo that time as well - very strange.

I finally got into the Blue Mosque today (there most famous). Kevin (the guy I first met in Slovenia) and I had tried to go three times so far, twice it was closed for prayer and other time the line was so long we new we would not make it before prayer. Today it is raining and went I went there the queue was really short so I finally got to get in.

The down side of Istanbul is that my camera got stolen yesterday while I was walking through a crowd in Taksim, someone took it out of my jacket pocket. I am still trying to get a police report down so I can get some money on insurance, but it is pretty hard to find an English speaking police officer to help me out. Initially the Tourist police went to the restaurant to look at video footage and they were really helpful, but I need to go to a local station to get a report written.

The positive side is that I copied all my photos to the laptop the night before, so have only lost a few photos I took at the spice market.

Yesterday we moved to a hostel over the river on the other side of town, there was another person we had met in Slovenia staying there, so we had a big night out for there last day of this part of their trip. I am also catching up with an old English friend tomorrow who now lives in Istanbul and it is easier for him to get here.

Takism, the area we are staying now is a crazy place. It is where all the bars and live music is located, if you wondered around last night you could have been in any big city in the world, it was very surprising.