#13: [20-Jun-18]

#11: [12-Apr-12]

#10: [18-Mar-12]

#7: [05-May-07]

#6: [19-Sep-06]

#8: [29-May-05]

#5: [29-Mar-04]

#4: [21-Mar-04]

#3: [06-Dec-03]

#12: [08-Jun-12] (incomplete)

#9: [03-Jul-08] (incomplete)

#1: [30-Dec-01] (incomplete)

#2: [05-Nov-02] (incomplete)

23-Oct-2018 -- This confluence point is between Europe and Asia. The unique position should be enough to aim for it. My friend Jin had never heard about the confluence point hunt and questioned the meaning of the whole activity. But she willingly came along in the beautiful and calm weather. We took a ferry from Eminönü on the European side of the Bosporous to Karaköy on the Asian side. There we found a handful of small boats, but only one of them had a crew on board. His language skills were not among those we mastered, but we somehow managed to agree on a short trip at the price of 300 Lira (52 US-$, 45,50 €), without bargaining.

The Garmin showed that we wanted to go straight North-West for about 2 km. He nodded and set off straight North. At first we thought it had to do with the substantial traffic of ferries and with larger vessels going in and out of the Black Sea. Finally we understood that he thought we wanted the trip as a photo expedition. Motives like Aya Sophia and the bridges were obviously what he was used to bringing tourists out to see.

The current was strong and it was difficult to get to the exact 41N 29E. After a few attempts we settled on 42 meters and returned to Karaköy.

This was Jin’s first confluence point visit. Her question about the meaning of this activity still lingers in the air. Over the past twelve years I have been to around 160 confluence points in around 30 countries and have never asked myself why I do it. Sometimes I go for it because it has not been visited yet. Other times because I happen to be in the neighbourhood. Or the confluence point is in a challenging place or with a special natural environment, e.g. 19N 101E, 42N 74E and 51N 71E. One other aspect is the interesting people I meet, those who sometimes help me reach the confluence point.