Kanha Memories

So, here I am more than eighteen months later, revisiting our wonderful week-long MNS trip to the Kanha Tiger reserve.  It was a first visit for many of us in that group, and at the same time, we had a Kanha "veteran" - it was his 15th/16th visit I think!  

Many of my friends thought I was a bit nuts - who would visit central India in the height of summer?  It will be hot, and dusty we were warned.  " Oh ange thair kadikadhe", was another common concern of various Madrasis!  Yeah, right we were going to see tigers and wildlife and sal forests, not bother about what we ate, I said loftily.  Secretly though, I packed a suitcase full of food - Amul Masti, Tang packets, Mansukh snacks, and milk for my ten year old son!  As a result, I skimped on the clothes I took, which did not work out well, as you will see.

The route we took was Madras-Nagpur by overnight train.  Nagpur-Kanha by road. The road is good and though we took some six hours going, on the return it was less.

15 April 2007: 2pm in the afternoon and we set off for Central Station to catch the Jaipur Express for Nagpur. Madras in April (or for that matter all of India) is hot, and we hope that our AC waitlisted tickets will get confirmed. (We had confirmed sleeper class tickets, so there was no worry of us not making the trip, thankfully.) Just a hope that we could travel in cool comfort. Very not-green of us I had to admit - there were some more passionate members than us travelling in the regular sleeper.

We did get AC nevertheless, and sank in to our seats with a sigh of relief. Our smaller group consisted of my husband and son, plus two good friends Raji and Sheila. It was one of our first outings with MNS and the trip helped us get to know the other members and their families. All in all, I think we were some 25 members of various age groups, and each with our own idiosyncracies and interests.  We were a motley bunch!

The evening on the train passed by filled with games of Uno, gossip, excitement and puliyodarai and chips. A good night's sleep, and a railway breakfast arrived. As also the first "disaster". As I listened avidly to the conversation around, I contrived to spill the sambar all over my lap! Oh no, one of my only 3 pants taken for the trip!! At this point, my husband quickly got engrossed in his book, my son scooted to the upper berth muttering, "I'm out of here", and I burst into hysterical giggles. It was left to my good friends Raji and Sheila to retrieve the situation - some napkins were produced and water, and the mess was cleaned up as best as we could!

After this, it was almost time to get off, and disembark we did at Nagpur in the midday sun of central India, rudely welcomed to reality! Vijay very helpfully procured some lassis for us, and then we found three Qualises awaiting us. As also Rannu!

Rannu, the dada of Seoni!

Smiling face, colourful shirts, paan-stained teeth, unruffled by anything.  That was Rannu, the boss of our taxi service, constantly on his cell phone, organising his drivers and cars with his can-do attitude.  

We reach Gopalganj to find threatening clouds, lightning and thunder, and no tarpaulin for our luggage.  So we stop at the roadside, some more phone calls are made by Rannu - mysteriously, his phone works, but not ours! - tarps are brought from some house, and there you see himin the picture above,  fixing it.  Anyway, we wait for a little while, he makes another call and then informs us that the rain which was coming down in Pench, further down,  had stopped, and we could proceed!!

Our Qualis had our little clique plus Vijay and Dhruva.  Further drama on the way,  We stop at Seoni because Dhruva needs money from the ATM.  (I thought to myself, he must be very brave and have great faith in ATM technology to be attempting this here!)  Sitting in the car, we could see him arguing with the guard outside.    I was quite sure his card had got stuck in the ATM!  Then Vijay gets down to go to his aid, we see him combing his air, twirling his moustache, putting his arm on the guard in a friendly manner.  More movements inside the ATM.  Vijay and Dhruva re-emerge - and guess what, they had the money and the card!!  The problem was that the security guard had put off the ATM, and was reluctant to put it on!  So, after testing the efficacies of the ATM system in far-off Seoni, we set off again.

Its a lovely drive, through Pench tiger reserve, and then the rolling plains of Madhya Pradesh.

 16th April, 7-15 pm:  We arrive finally at Kanha!

By this time, it was dark, and there was nothing to be seen.  Checked in to the MP Tourism dormitory - we had booked the whole dorm - and then trooped off for dinner at the mess next door.

In hindsight, staying at the dorm, pictured on the left is probably the best way to see Kanha.  It inexpensive at Rs 100 per bed per night (incl food!), was clean, with common bath and toilet facilities at the rear of the building which were in good shape.  

According to me, the nicest part was that it was within the park.  if you click on the Kanha map above, to the west, you will see the Kisli Gate, which is where this dorm is located.  So, at night, we could hear the calls of the jungle, we heard alarm calls of cheetal, and one night even a leopard call quite close to the dorm.  There was a water hole just across the road from the dorm - a lovely place to sit in the afternoons, just to watch the birds come and go.  One day there was a group of wild dogs frolicking here, another day some sambhar deer came to have a soak in the water, and there was always a flock of roller birds and storks to keep it lively, with brainfever birds in the trees around us.
April 17th:  5-45 am:  Joseph and his canter bus!

Another interesting character at Kanha was Joseph, the resident what - manager, fixer, administrator, driver?  I could never figure out.  But so helpful and friendly.  One thing he did unfailingly was drive this bus/Canter.  It took all 24 of us on a trip around the park.  After one such ride, we decided against it!  While it would work out decidely cheaper, it also made a hell of a racket, could not go on all the park roads and also offered limited visibility as compared to the open Gypsy jeeps that are available and seen below.

Anyway, Joseph took us in this canter to the local market one day where we were acquainted with mahua - the local intoxicant - , then he showed us the one spot next to the Mess, where a BSNL signal was available, for all those needing to make calls, even gave us his phone to make these calls,   helped coordinate our meals and was always available for a chat.

Early morning "q" awaiting entry into the park.I found Kanha a very well run park, the guides were well-trained, the drivers were disciplined, and rules were for the most part obeyed.  Morning ride times were 6-10 am and evenings 4-6.  If the drivers did not get out within this time, they were severely penalised.

There was a bit of mayhem if a tiger was spotted when everybody went a bit berserk, but for the most part it was an orderly and enjoyable experience.

Much to my surprise, the mornings were lovely.  At 6 am it was nippy and we all had some dupattas handy to use as shawls, but by 8 or so, it became warm, and by 10 it was hot.  We lucked out with the weather in that we had thunderstorms every other night, which kept the temperatures and the dust down and the nights were cool. 
Early morning lightThe sun falls on the lovely sal forests.  I could never get bored of these forests.  Each day they looked more beautiful, than the previous, with the morning light casting different "moods" almost on the forest.
... And the forests were filled with the chatter of tree pies, an occasional shama, pigeons and langurs.

A forest camp
And the facilities!
The central campsiteThis was where there was a little canteen where you could get samosas and tea, where the guides would get information about where the tiger shows were for the day.  there was also a good museum with lots of information on the flora and fauna of the region.

Tiger country... the meadows
Shravan Tal


Sunset views
Morning and evening, for six days we went on jeep rides in the forest.  Waking up at 5am, no TV, no newspaper, clean air, good company, sumptuous food.  Even my son managed to make all the morning rides.  The map below shows our regular routes - the brown Kanha area in the centre.  The "You are Here" reflects the Main camp location.

Circular road, Shravan Tal are all the flat lands, but some of the roads are hilly, and so provide a view of the forests below.  We travelled all the way to Bamnidadar - at the right hand bottom corner - one morning.

More on the tiger show, Bamnidadar, barasinghas, as I write!

Continued in Kanha Memories:The graceful and handsome barasinghas.

The vultures at Kanha

During our 2007 summer trip to Kanha, we saw these four vultures on the sal trees, as they sat and waited patiently for the tiger to leave its kill in the dry grassland below.

Through our binoculars, we could see the vultures very clearly, but our cameras were not powerful enough to get a better shot.  (Those little black specks in the photo on the left!)

We had heard how vultures have become a rare sight in India, and so we were all the more excited by our sighting.  There they sat looking like the Jungle Book crew, and I would not have been surprised if they had broken into a "So what are we going to do now?" conversation!

Our jeep was filled with greenhorns, and when we returned to the dorm to share our sighting, there was much disbelief, as other senior members were quite sure we had seen some storks and mistaken them for the vulture!  Our picture was not conclusive, but the profile - not a stork surely.  Our "honour" was restored when the Kanha guide who came with us confirmed to them that yes, they were vultures!

Sadly, we were the only ones on that trip to have spotted these birds.
These vultures could be extinct within a decade, because of the diclofenac... not a happy thought.

Vultures, Diclofenac, Rabies, and Ecological unravelling

Vultures, Diclofenac, Rabies, and Ecological unravelling

How absolutely depressing.....

We did see a few vultures in Kanha, you know. Sorry for this weak defense.

And the dogs in the cities are growing by the month... Istanbul had a dog problem in the seventies and eighties, it appears.... But they seem to have gotten rid of that problem (I wonder how?), since we didn't see a single stray dog when we went this year.

Corvus splendens - the splendid crow!

We - Indians I mean - have always held the crow in high esteem, and it seems that the Westerners' are now developing a new found admiration for these birds they consider a nuisance.

Take a look.

The only thing is that intelligent crows are likely to see through Joshua Klein's attempts to train them dont you think?

Another one is initiated...

... in to the pleasures of birding in Madras.

Vaishna Roy visited the Guindy National Park, Nanmangalam
and Pallikaranai.

Read her report below:

Outlooktraveller.com

Charlie finds a feeding black kite in Bangalore

It takes guts…a feeding Black Kite

Some gory and fascinating pictures of a black kite in Bangalore's Nandi Hills.

A bit of a ramble from Madras, but what the heck?!

Asian Openbills at Nelpattu

Lining a bund enroute to Nelappatu

I had written about the Pelicans at Nelapattu earlier, but had ignored the OBS, or Asian openbills for some reason... i was obviously more excited by the pelicans than the OBS.

I remember that early December morning when we saw these OBS sitting on a bund, looking rather morose and meditative.  They reminded me of old fishermen sitting by the pier, each lost in their thoughts and memories but drawing on the comfort of each other's silent company!

Around the corner in the fields, we had a closer encounter with these birds.  They were more busy than their bund counterparts, actively looking for snails - that's what they are fond of - in the marshy soil.  

The bills dont quite close, and it is obviously an adaptation to help their feeding.  Like  a set of pliers, the gap helps them to clamp on to their prey maybe?

The grey plumage of their upper body indicates that they are in non-breeding mode.  Those feather become whiter during breeding.

On reaching Nelapattu, we saw them nesting there, along with the pelicans.  They are rather prolific it appears, and they are classified as "birds of least concern" - not endangered by any means!

I hope that status doesn't change for these long-legged, serious birds!

Green.view | Staying the courser | Economist.com

Indian conservationists strive to convince politicians of a small bird’s existence

Green.view | Staying the courser | Economist.com

 AP Forest Dept picture

The article is about the Jerdon's Courser, a small, brown wader that comes out in the night, is very, very  rarely seen and every Indian birdwatcher of repute and age has a story to tell about trying to see one or having seen one!

Considered extinct for a while, then "rediscovered" in 2003,  by Bharat Bhushan, who is an MNS and BNHS member,  the little bird's cause has been taken up by the BNHS - kudos to them - who seem to have successfully changed the course of the planned Telegu-Ganga canal, to avoid this bird's territory.

The paragraph from the article which I like best is this -

With many troublesome conservationists—and righteous judges—India has guarded its magnificent wildlife perhaps surprisingly well. Though poor, densely populated and home to many threatened species, it has lost only a handful of animals in recent decades: for example, the Asiatic cheetah, Javanese rhinoceros and Sikkim stag. And it has lost only two species of bird: the pink-headed duck and Himalayan mountain quail. Like the Jerdon’s courser, the forest owlet was also ruled extinct before it was rediscovered. A fish, the Ladakh snow trout, may have similarly have re-emerged from the abyss.

This gives India a better record in conservation than many countries. Yet its wildlife is nonetheless in dreadful jeopardy: from a poor and fast-growing population, eating into India’s remaining forests and marshes; and also, increasingly, from infrastructure projects, fuelled by strong economic growth. The IUCN now groups India with China, Brazil and Indonesia, as countries with the highest number of species facing extinction. Many will no doubt slip more quietly into that long night than the Jerdon’s courser.

A pat on the back for all the hardworking  environmentalists?  

Listen to the call of the courser

The Pulicat Flamingoes

The Pulicat dance troupe!

Yes, there are flamingoes, thousands of them, just north of Madras, and I am quite ashamed to say that I saw them in a New York zoo before seeing them at Pulicat.  I have lived for more than twenty years in this city, blissfully unaware that these lovely birds lived and bred in our backyard.

Strange looking birds.  Light pink, long graceful legs, huge flocks, a sinuous movement as they walk across the shallow waters, so ballerina-like.  But that beak...... there's nothing graceful about it, according to me anyway.  Its large and bulky, and seems to be just added on, like one of those Photoshopped oddities!

They are useful to them, though, the beaks I mean.  Since they feed on saltwater shrimp and such like and use their beaks to filter-feed.  They will be in the "pink" of health the more shrimp they eat.  That's what they get the beta-carotene from, which keeps them pink!  So if you think the ones in the zoo are always pinker, you're probably right - they get more pink food in their diet.

Dec 2007.  We took a boat from SHAR road to get a closer look, but the closer we got, the faster they edged away from us, making sure that we couldn't get any closer.  At first they walked away, in a slow deliberate fashion, then some nervous ones spread their wings. At one point, they decided enough was enough and took to the skies, and what a lovely sight it was!

My husband clicked away, and came up with these lovely pictures.  It was a dull day with the sun well hidden, the water a bleak grey, but dont these birds really stand out in the dullness?

(You can click on any of these pictures to get a full-page view.)

Dont come any Closer!
OK, we're off!My mother opined that a flying flamingo is much more beautiful than a walking one, and I have to agree.  Where are those colours of dark pink and black when they just stand? Their long necks and legs form a lovely line in the sky, and even their beaks kind of fit in, giving a curve to their silhouettes!

An early flier is high up in the sky.  Take a look at the beauty of the airborne trio in the right foreground
The flying flamingoes bump into a flock of duck

Balaji by some coincidence seems to have also visited the flamingoes in December, though he and his friends were lucky with a  bright, sunny day.  There are some lovely pictures on his blog as well!

My son filmed the flamingoes on our handycam, and if you are willing to take a look at some footage that shakes and kind of goes off in all sorts of directions, see the video below!  You will also get an idea of what lots of flamingoes means really.  The whirr you hear is the sound of the strong wind that day, and if you have sharp ears you will also pick up the calls of the flamingoes.  They make quite a racket - well there are a lot of them.

Why do I like to go and see these and other birds in their habitat I wonder.  My brother (as a typical older brother), thinks I am a touch insane.  Why dont you just go to a zoo, or better still watch them on Nat Geo or Discovery, he grumbles.  

Is it the uncertainty of not knowing what I am likely to see?  Or the joy at seeing them free and unrestricted?

Another visit to SHAR road  and Annamalaicheri is overdue I think...  What say?  I should also write about Annamalaicheri, that fishing village on Pulicat, from where we took many a sortie and even had a Delhi birder traipse across the flatlands holding the hands of one of the fishermen, much to the latter's delight I'm sure, since the birder in question was a lovely lady!!

Mamandur revisited

Not by me, unfortunately, but by other lucky MNS members, who went off to the Bungalow on the hill.

The Bungalow (thankfully) looks in good shape, though a dorm seems to have also been added. The rate seems to be Rs 500 per head per bead for "fooding and lodging"!

In these days of vanishing forests, good to hear that the forest still continues to exist and flourish.  Mamandur is not a mammal/cat kind of place, but more a birding and nice-quiet-place-to-enjoy-nature type place.  From all accounts that continues to be the best description.

 The undisturbed huge anthills

 Iora I think

Rat snake!

This group seems to have had several snake encounters, which we didn't!  This rat snake was in a stagnant pool of water in the dry riverbed, and was after frogs.

Here's Sripad's description:

Then for a second I thought I had seen a head come out of the water I looked through my camera got a shot and immediately zoomed in to have a look, it was a Rat Snake!!! There was a Rat Snake in the small pond filled with Toads……after I alerted everyone about my find we waited for everyone to give their comments the snake by this time interrupted by our load voices and ugly faces went into the water and came out only after a ten minute wait. When we waited for the snake to come out the second time we watched the ecosystem around the pond there were Damsel flies and butterflies sucking up minerals from the wet soil around. As we waited for the snake to show its head we watched the pond for entertainment and we got to see nice toads with lots of character.
When we thought the snake won't show up again the snake resurfaced and as though watching an alien from another planet all of us watched the snake with awe and me being a great fan of the snake clicked away like crazy. I did manage to get a few nice shots of the snake.

Damsel butterflies

Angel and Sunshine in Delaware

Angel
Sunshine
Chitra - you know the one who went to Orang - well, she's flown the coop - left her "responsibilities" in Chennai and gone like a migrant winter bird, to Delaware.

No, I'm not envious of her vamoosing like this, and no I'm not drooling at the banana muffins and buttered croissants!!

She is leading a rather interesting life right now, staying with an aunt and uncle who are part of the Tristate Bird Rescue.They look after rescued birds and seem to have several in their own home. Here is a description in Chitra's words:

Its warm in the 70s/80s and you'd think the windows will be open to let in the warmth and breeze, but no, we are couped up in the closed a/coned atmosphere as neither the birds nor the orchids can stand the outside temps! We humans don't count!
There are two parrots, one cockatoo and one parakeet, all flighted and allowed to come out of their cages during the day. Angel, the African grey, can talk, whistle and sing. He is the only one that recognises me, and whistles cheekily when ever he sees me and allows me to feed him. Beaker, the cockatoo and Sunshine the Sengal parrot have so far repulsed all my efforts to befriend them and have gone so far as to bite my fingers!
There is an old age home (a bay window with a net) where a number of old and decrepit finches live along with a bourke's parakeet, and one budgie. Yesterday Angel decided to hang upside down on the net, frightened one poor doddering old finch which escaped from the cage and flew into the kitchen. It took me and my brother the better part of 15 minutes to catch it, but not before we crawled under tables, between legs.... etc! There are two white doves and three more parakeets down in the basement.

Then, the other day they had to bird sit some chimney swifts..... They fell through the chimney (well where else did I expect chimney swifts to be?!), and were thus orphaned.

They have to be fed mealworms every hour. My aunt and I had our first feeding session about 15 minutes back. I think it would be easier to eat the mealworms ourselves even though they are such gross creatures than feed a bunch of stubborn swallows. Unlike their names some of them absolutely refused to open their mouths and here we were holding juicy worms to their mouths and making cajoling sounds.
But the smallest of disturbance to their tranquil clinging and they set up a chorus of (difficult to describe) cries - a bit like the cicadas going of in the Nilgiris - only much closer and ringng in your ears.
I think I am going to dream of mealworms tonight.
They are terrribly soft and cuddly now though they have very sharp claws /nails (I don't think they are called talons!) Swifts can only cling.. swallows can perch too. One jumped out of the basket yesterday and tried to cling to my kurta, didn't get a hold and started to slide down when I caught it. It dug all 8 nails into my palm and wouldn't let go. Had a hard time putting it back into the box.

... More updates as they come.

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Bugs on my mind

I came across an article in The Economist on Bugs as a great source of protein.  

The article reports that insects, are the best converters of feed into protein

So, are you facing inflation and food shortages? Well, eat those bugs! They already do in 113 countries. Insect farming is also on the agenda.

Can you imagine the change in the menus - Cricket 65, Roach Manchurian, Tandoori Ants...? Sorry, it doesn't sound appetising does it?

Just when I was "digesting" that piece of news, came further news putting insects in the spotlight. An Insect heist was reported! A Czech scientist (entomologist to be precise) was arrested for happily collecting beetles and bugs without permission, and as far as I can make out, is still languishing with his associate in a jail in Darjeeling. To add to his woes, Darjeeling has been shut down in the Gorkha agitation, and so there are no courts working to even grant him bail.

I really wonder what Dr Petr Svacha was doing? Do you think he would've gone around collecting insects in a wildlife park, without permission, in any other country? He cannot, not know the rules, can he? I mean, its not like a tourist going and seeing a fascinating shell or bug or butterfly and taking it home is it? Or is it that he was taken for a ride by the famous Indian bureaucracy? All very mysterious, if you ask me.

And his associate Kucera seems to have a website where insects are for sale! According to The Himalaya Beacon, he was not here officially.

Jan Šula is the head of the Entomology Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences in České Budějovice, Petr Švácha’s employer:
“Petr Švácha is a world-recognised specialist on sawyer beetle larvae and I think that explains what he was doing there. He does everything for science, even investing his own time and money. I think intentional wrong-doing is out of the question. Of course, if they had been there officially this kind of thing could never have happened. On official trips you have cooperation from local specialists and so on. If they had been there officially this could never have happened.”

Hmmm...

I got this!

My in-laws brought this book for us, from the US!  I almost whooped with joy on seeing it.  The bird sketches are large and dramatic.  There's a little write-up about each bird.  And the bird calls are fabulous.The bird songs have been compiled by The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. There's more about North American birds on their site.

There are birds from all the continents.  For Asia, there are several of the birds I've seen - Brahminy Kite, Crested serpent eagle, Mynah.  And my favourite is the fantail flycatcher. I had heard it in Melghat, and now I can hear its lovely musical call anytime I want to!

So, what is a "call" and what is a "song"?  The crow obviously doesnt sing, and I supppose neither does the pigeon.  But the oriole sings and so does the pheasant and even the brown-faced owl.  Get it?

Lucky me, huh?!

Ants!

Coinciciding with my picking up the "Ants" book, from Bhanu at the MNS AGM, I returned home and came across this colony of ants in my bathroom door, making further inroads into the masonry, and looking like they were under mass migration.

Fire ants are they?  I was so intrigued that I ran off, got my handycam, and took a quick movie (rather shaky), as I'm no good at this.

Apologies for the amateurish clip - I am no pro - and I was just so intrigued by these ants.  (Never mind, that they probably will end up in my clothes and I will get bitten for my troubles....

The book is fascinating in a horrible way, if you know what I mean. Great pictures, and the writing is so readable. Amazing creatures from all accounts, though I dont know if I "like" them.  They take slaves, kill off any other female ant beside the queen who goes and lays eggs....

The book is definitely worth it, and reads like a gory story of colonial rule!  Its called On A Trail With Ants:A Handbook of the Ants of Peninsular India. You can check out excerpts from the book here.

And the authors are Ajay Narendra and Sunil Kumar M.

Istanbul Diary - Bosphorus views

Depending upon the weather, the waters around Istanbul take on different shades of blue or grey.

Luckily for us, the day we took the cruise on the straits was a lovely sunny day, with the waters that beautiful blue that stays in your memory.

Subsequently, we took a couple of ferry rides across to the Asian side, but then it was a cloudy day, and everything was tinged in grey, like this picture, at the southern end of the Bosphorus, at the mouth of the Golden Horn, where you can see the Topkapi watch tower, poking out of the trees.
This picture is in the Golden Horn actually, with the Eminonu waterfront drawing up.

Below, is a panoramic view of the Golden Horn,and if you click on the image and see it in full size, you will see all the suspects - the Topkapi, the Aya Sofia, Blue Mosque to the left, and the Sulemaniye mosque in the background to the right.  The tower in the centre of the picture is the Tower of Constantine (under renovaton during our visit), and the mosque in the foreground on the waterfront is the Yeni Camii.  The Galata bridge is right in front.  To the left, around the Seraglio hill, and in the background, is the Sea of Marmara.  So, the Bosphorus straits would begin from the left foreground

We took a tourist "cruise" down the Bosphorus - no, not a fancy one with gourmet food and wine, but one of those boats with an enclosed cabin, and an upper deck, and a guide who points out the sights.  I think our guide was somewhat left-leaning, as he pointed out the playfields of the rich, with some sarcasm.

In hindsight, if we had taken the local ferry boats, we would have probably managed the whole ride much cheaper, and we could have probably gone much farther north.  These tourist cruises take you to the Fatih bridge and then you return.  Also, the one we took started from Karakoy, rather than Eminonu, so you dont get to see the Golden Horn at all on a tourist cruise.

Once you are in the straits, "Europe" is to your left or west, and Asia is the eastern shore.

The European sights

Dolmebahce PalaceThe new palace of the Ottomans, which probably bankrupted them.  Was also used by Ataturk I think, as a state HQ, on his visits from Ankara.  
Crumbling and neglected
As well as new and spankingThe Bosphorus has strong currents.  On the surface, the water flows from the Black Sea towards the Sea of Marmara.  But below, there is a current flowing in the opposite direction.  In ancient times, these strong currents discouraged the setting up of settlements on its banks, with populations preferring the safer Golden Horn.

The Bosphorus Bridge with the Ortakoy mosqueI read that in the 6th century the Persian armies needed to cross the Bosphorus, and tied their boats together to forma a "bridge", in order to cross over!  This modern Bosphorus bridge was built in 1973.

The Ortakoy Mosque, up-close
The club where the F1 crowd party.  Notice the curtains, which are drawn for privacy during such dos
Ataturk's Yacht - not bad for a socialist!
The lovely Rumeli HisariThis fortress has an interesting history.  Can you imagine, that the whole thing was built in 4 months in 1452?!  This was in the time of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror, who took over the city from the Byzantines in 1453.  He used the fort to choke off supplies and reinforcements coming from the Black Sea to the city of Constantinople.

The fort comes just before the second Fatih bridge, across the Bosphorus.

Fatih Bridge and the Asian shore

The Asian shore

Anadolu HisariAnd adjacently opposite the Rumeli, on the Asian side is this fortress.  This is older than the Rumeli, and was built by Sultan Bayezid in 1390, to give some control of the Bosphorus.  So, after Rumeli was built, they had controls on both sides of the Bosphorus.

Florence Nightingale was here
The Beylerbeyi Palace

Semsi Pasha mosque at UskudarUskudar is one of the oldest settlements on the Asian side.  We took a ferry across one morning, and it appears that now it has developed into a posh suburb, with large, well-guarded properties lining the shore.

The picture below shows how the Uskudar hill has been built up.

The Leander tower

Back at the southern mouth of the Bosphorus. This little tower has been a watch tower, customs house and also a lighthouse at various points. Now, its just symbolic and marks the entry point into the straits.