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Day 43: It’s a short boat ride from Istanbul up to the Black Sea via the Bosphorus Strait and a popular and inexpensive day trip.

We clambered on board the ferry at Eminonou at about 9.45am for 10.30am departure. Getting there early was important to ensure that we had a seat on the deck with a good view.

Once we were underway it took just under two hours to reach the turnaround point, a small town on the Asian side of the Bosphorus.After lunch we climbed to the small restored castle overlooking the town and enjoyed excellent views north to the entrance to the Black Sea. It was great to come here to see for ourselves the ultimate goal of the Gallipoli campaign - free passage of Allied forces through the Dardanelles, up to Istanbul and through the Bosphorus to the Black Sea.

We could have taken the same ferry home at 3pm but decided to make our way back by local bus - one to an intermediate village, famous for its yoghurt and honey (we tried some and its reputation was well deserved) where we also watched old local man selling bird seed for children to feed the pigeons.

Another bus back towards central Istanbul and a commuter ferry hop back to Eminonou and we made it back home in good time.