Notes from the road — faith, heritage and the Türkiye behind the guidebooks.
We are taking thirty people to Erciyes in December and half of them have never been on skis. The enquiries that produced that number were not asking about price. They were asking for permission.
Nine hours and thirteen minutes of daylight on the shortest day, four to eleven degrees, and a wind that cancels the Bosphorus boats. What winter in Istanbul actually does to a programme — and why we still sell it.
The crowds go home, the queues vanish, and the palaces are half empty. A short case for seeing the Queen of Cities in the one month nobody recommends.