I’ve been thinking and realising that trying to blog every day is taking up a lot of time, and is unsustainable. It will become more (or less?) so as I head further into areas with less connectivity. Also, at the moment almost everything is going on the website, so what can I write in a book? I’ve got to hold some things back or no one will buy the book when I’ve finished the trip and written it!
I am therefore going to do fewer day updates, and instead do more ‘section updates’, with multiple days recorded in the same post and in less detail. As I’ve made it to Istanbul, and have plenty of time waiting around for visas, I will however complete the day updates to here.

I think also I can declare stage 1(a) of the trip complete and a success, with many learning outcomes for stage 1(b)!