Istanbul, Oct. 4 -- There is something fascinating about cities on the crossroads of cultures. While empires, religions and personalities might have clashes, cultures have a way of intermingling, of seeping into each others' nooks and crannies. What is born is a palimpsest. Kathmandu is one such city and Istanbul is another, straddling Asia and Europe.

Istanbul, once the seat of two world-spanning empires, bears the burden of history, something that is impressed upon us by the very hotel I stayed at. I arrived at the Pera Palace hotel in the afternoon, after a 45-minute drive from the new Istanbul Airport. From the outside, the Pera Palace is a squat, neo-colonial building just across Old Istanbul, separated by the Golden Horn. (Side-not...