First Stop - Istanbul

Janet has made it to Istanbul, first stop on way to Djibouti, and is now on the next flight after a 12 hour layover. Wanted to post this due to the news out of Istanbul being a little dicey today.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35850625

Now for some info on Djibouti - it's a relatively small country, a little bigger than New Jersey. The population is 800,000, of which over 600,000 live in the capital, Djibouti City.The rest of the country is basically desert - and that's where Janet is going.

Djibouti is conveniently located between Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Yemen. Only three of those countries are currently dangerous, so I guess one out of four isn't bad.

There's a massive military presence there. The US has 4,000 military, and uses it as the hub for air missions in the Gulf region and it's reported to be the base for drone missions to Yemen and Somalia.

The French also have a base there (Djibouti is a former French colony). The Saudis and the Chinese are also moving military to the country. Going to be interesting bar fights, that's all I have to say!

More once Janet gets into Djibouti and gives a report.  Here's a view of downtown.