from istanbul

The long and short of it is, everything did work out. And again, you probably know everything you want to about our trip, thanks to Lance, who not only uses his internet time more efficiently, but also spent a couple of days in Riga by himself. We figured out how to register our visas in Kazakhstan, and then received an e-mail from Gina and David Hebley, who let us crash on their floor for the remaining two days in Almaty. Needless to say, it was nice to eat good food, sing hymns, help with "English Club", teach Sabbath school, and have a tour guide for the mountains. Then, upon arrival in Novosibirsk, we purchased tickets to Moscow that left just 2 hours later. It couldn't have worked more smoothly.



Arriving in Moscow was like running into a huge sign that said "WELCOME TO EUROPE!" The monumental buildings, frequent ATMS, subway system, and easy-to-find hostel were a welcome change from Almaty. I finally decided to buy a 1 GB card for Lance's camera, and was therefore able to take a couple hundred pictures in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Riga (although I stole this picture of St. Basil's from his MySpace page). Although Moscow was fun, it really didn't compare to St. Petersburg. Nice temperatures, the astounding state Hermitage museum, impressive cathedrals, venice-like waterways and delicious doner kebabs were only slightly dampened by the large number of mosquitos that plagued out hostel. Riga is very nice as well. Our hostel was one of the best of the trip, cheap pastries abound, and the old town is beautiful.



And now it's Istanbul. The city's culture reminds me of Kuala Lumpur, probably because it's Muslim. I like it. A lot. Stepping out of the tram near our hostel, I was completely unprepared to stumble across the Hagia Sofia and nearby Blue Mosque (which looks similar, but newer). I can easily say that they are the most awe-inspiring buildings of the trip so far. It was chilling to go inside the Hagia Sofia (called Ayasofya in Turkish) and see in real life what I had seen in textbooks before. Good food abounds: kebabs, baklava, turkish delight, etc. are found on almost every street.



Tonight Aaron and I head to Bucharest, Romania. Since we'll be traveling for 24 hours on seats, I'm glad the hostel we plan to stay in sounds amazing. Besides that, I'm sure Romania will be one of the most beautiful legs of the trip.