We took a much needed rest day in Istanbul and it was worth the wait. An amazing city blending old with new and east with west (according to my guide book)/. We decided to split up for the day, John got a clean blade shave by a 70 year old man with hearing aids and not a word of English. John L and Ronan ended up smoking water pipe and playing chess in a cemetery while Eoghan photographed the gold market. Gearóid visited his firend Besim and the pro-democracy group “Good Civilians” who were interested in our stort and offered great support and time! This morning we met with TRT the national TV station and it looks like one of the broadsheets will also cover our story. Turns out that the president Erdrogan’s comments  to Shimon Peres at the Davos conference have been immmortalised. “One minute!” .. everyone knows it ..”Bir Daka!”. It become our teams catch phrase. Our van was parked in a busy street overnight and it was amazing to watch small crowds gather round and ask questions, about us, Gaza and MAP. One gentleman from South Africa made a generous donation upon hearing about the charities work there, it was boost for us all.  Today we head to the foothhills of the central plateau, its going to be a difficult climb but the end is in site and energies are still high. Gráinne us busy organising our schedule for when we arrive in Palestine .. hopefully it will all go smoothly. Thanks for all the support so far. Stay tuned! G”