fright in istanbul

A fright in Istanbul

What is this Bilderberg Group thing held on the third of June in

Istanbul, Turkey? Luminaries attending included Henry Kissinger; Henry

Kravis of KKR; Marie-Jos�e Kravis of Hudson Institute; Vernon Jordan;

Etienne Davignon, Bilderberg Group President; Her Majesty Queen

Beatrix of The Netherlands, daughter of one of the founders, Prince

Bernhard; and the King and Queen of Spain . The article I read raises

question on whether there is going to be a One World Government where

powers go to the hands of the chosen few. The idea seems scary enough,

reminding me of this classic, Animal Farm.

Talking about Istanbul, I would rather travel back through time to

December 2006 when I backpacked there with some friends, visiting

among other places, Brussels, Amsterdam, Paris, London among others.

Istanbul, once known as Constantinople, is dubbed as one of the great

romantic cities in the world besides being Turkey's cultural heart. A

sprawling city straddling the Bosphorus strait, this city boasts of

the world famous Blue Mosque, sultan's harems and bargains in Kapah

Carsi (Grand Bazaar).

Ah! Talk about being scared. During this trip, we stayed in a hostel

where we met three young fellow Malaysians, engineering students in

Germany who were there for their semester holidays. They were supposed

to tour the whole of Turkey but unfortunately one of them lost his

passport. Instead of visiting places of interests, like the

archaeological site of Troy, a well known UNESCO World Heritage Site,

they had to instead take a bus to Ankara, the capital of Turkey to pay

a visit to the Embassy of Malaysia.

Losing a passport is definitely a scary experience for any traveler

especially one

who travels on his own!

Travel Tip: Take great care of your precious passport!