Day III- cheers!

We stumbled along, groping with the LP map around what was unequivocally Backpacker Central.

From the Spice Bazaar we had walked to Eminonu to catch the tram, entered it on the wrong side of the tracks and had an official tell us to jump them to the other side, and finally were back in Sultanahmet. This is ‘our’ area, but we’re staying a little away from this hub of pensions, hels, hotels, travel agencies, even The Four Seasons. Yet none of this seems at all like a market or like the complete and noisy chaos it should be. Maybe that’s cause it is only about 6.30pm- most people will still be out taking in the sights, not trudging back to their rooms or bars. Yet. We eventually locate Cheers!, right next to The Backpacker Bar, and go into the former solely because it is called a big favourite with backpackers in the LP. In the event, it doesn’t really matter- it is too early for either to have any people. Cheers! has one guy who probably runs the place, and another who looks like he is 16 and straight from a German punk-heavy-metal club. Shockingly, there is death metal blaring.
Of course that changes soon enough, as we sigh into our chairs on the tiny first floor which we have all to ourselves. It must be quite a place when it is full (which it might be in a couple of hours), but we quite like this as well. At 5Euros a beer, it doesn’t seem cheap though, but the beer is big and the place is quiet. We can look out and see the boards for names we had read so many times- Sultan Hostel, Orient Hostel…
The beer is refreshing and soothing and tasty, but soon we leave to pick up our bags from the Hotel and make our way to the Otogar or Bus Terminal. We’ve decided to not take the Metro company shuttle that leaves way too early at (report 7.15) for a 9.30 bus, and taking TTP’s trusty step by step guide, we are off.