Turkey 11 : From Asia to Europe..

Ever wondered where did Asia ends and Europe begins??

Where is that damn racist line that divides slit-eyes from large eyes with long lashes....flat nose from sharp nose...hairless chest from sexy hairy chest? Thank god for the not hairy chest though.

Well, the answer is this...


A river running through Turkey....one lone river that cleverly divides the East from West...Asia from Europe....


Not too clear but the yellow sign says "Welcome to Europe".

To get to the next destination, the Blue Mosque, we had to travel from continent to continent!!




You might think that, this is just one river and that there must be little or no difference at all on both banks....WRONG!! Crossing this river marks a significant cross from Asia to Europe. The buildings on the European side have taller, and significantly more buildings, of European Architecture of course...


Asia side have shorter, lesser buildings...less organized and built sporadically....


Old couple dating out under the sun....how sweet...but you don't see this on the Asia side....

The difference don't just lie with the buildings...even the people dress differently, drive different cars, acts differently! And to think that both side is separated by only one river...like crossing from Penang and Seberang Perai. Amazing and intriguely interesting.....


All this...European side. Asia side mostly have kebab shops..

How, why the government do this is a mystery I'd like to keep and never find out. But once again...the stark difference is so...amazing!! As if the one river acting like an impregnable invisible wall fortified by the stubbornness of communities wanting to retain old values and of communities wanting change and globalization.

The buildings, cars, lifestyle, clothes, culture, social norms....I almost expected the roads to changed from driver's side right, and driver's side left somewhere in the middle of the bridge.

This really is a cross from Asia to Europe.