Strictly speaking, I'd never been to Asia before. Even when I visited Russia, I never crossed the Ural Mountains and thus never left Europe. However, for this trip, I wanted to make certain that we stepped foot in Asia. To that end, we boarded a ferry that would take us to Üsküdar on the Asian side of the Bosphorus Strait.
The ferry afforded us a great view of the Galata Bridge (the seafood restaurants were all lit up at twilight), and Süleyman Mosque.
The Asian side is mostly residential. So, commuters cross to the European side each day to go to work. The ferry business is very important. In bad weather, the ferries don't run. And that means a nightmare commute across one of two bridges. The Bosphorus Bridge (shown above) is six lanes of car and bus traffic. Trucks must use the larger FSM bridge farther up the strait. The Turks are already working on a tunnel under the Bosphorus. Someday, a metro will connect Europe and Asia.Also pictured here is a tanker vessel. Navigating the Bosphorus Strait is no joke. Bridges, narrow widths, sharp turns, two different currents (southbound freshwater at the surface and northbound saltwater below), and an enormous amount of boat traffic have all been factors for accidents caused by unfamiliar (often foreign) captains. Now, only local pilots are allowed to operate tankers through the Bosphorus Strait.
Welcome to Asia. This side of Istanbul was less cosmopolitan but not less intriguing than the European side. Plus, there wasn't another tourist in sight. It was a good chance to get off the beaten path for a change.Less than twenty-four hours ago, we were in Africa. Less than twenty-four minutes ago we were in Europe. We really are world travelers.
Üsküdar is right across the Bosphorus from the Dolmabahçe Palace we visited this morning.
Just across the street from the ferry dock was a mosque (Mihrimah Sultan Mosque, built for Süleyman's daughter). Its beautiful ablution fountain was in the middle of the street between two directions of traffic.
We didn't have anything on our agenda for the Asian side. We just wanted to poke around a bit and say we'd been to Asia. There was a grocery store just past the mosque, so we stopped in for a little shopping.
The store was small by American standards, but they had an excellent selection. We bought some bread and cheese for later. The locals probably thought we were nuts to take pictures of their store shelves.
Well, we've seen enough of Asia. Back on the ferry to Eminönü...
