My connection with Istanbul is a special one. Eight years ago it was the starting point of The Wander Year, my first long-term travels in Asia. I’ve been wandering a lot since then and even though this is my third visit to the city on the Bosphorus, I still enjoy it.

While in Istanbul, we’ve also applied for a visa to Uzbekistan. Unfortunately, it’s not the most helpful consulate here, nor the fastest. Processing time is one week. A bit long, so we’ve asked to forward our application to Tehran where we should be passing through in the next week or so.