DAY 71 'KOS WE'RE GOING SAILING We take the BLUE STAR FERRY, a huge vessel on a three hour journey from Rhodes to Kos. We arrive and take a taxi to out lodging for the night. The apartment is 13 km out of Kos town and it sits across the road from the beach and has a really nice swimming pool. However there is no manager on the premises and we have no idea what to do and what room is ours. The people staying there said that they were given a room number and the key was left in the [View Full Entry]

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DAY 67-70 We depart this morning on the 8:30 hydrofoil from Fethıye to Rhodes. The trıp takes about 90 mınutes. Our time in Turkey has been amazing and surprising. Good Bye Turkey!! ISLAM Since we are leaving the Muslim countries we want to include some basic information and observations. The word Islam is an Arabic word meaning peace and submission. Islam is one of the Abrahamic religions, as are Judaism and Christianity. Some of the prophets of Islam includes but not limited to, Abraham, Moses and Jesus. The Muslims believe in: One God, The Angels, The Prophe [View Full Entry]

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DAY 62 - 66 We arrive here from Pamukkale at around 9:30 PM and have to wait 30min. for the shuttle bus to take us to the V-Go Hostel. We did not make reservaations and the only thing available is a dorm room with 3 other women. A young Canadian man offered us his room which was a double bed. We took it since is was so late and figured that Angie was too tired to toss and turn like she usually does. We were assured that they would have a twin single the next day. But after a long [View Full Entry]

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DAY 62 This morning we had a great breakfast again. Angie had French toast and scramble eggs and more toast and Francine had cereal, fresh fruit and yogurt and Vegimite on toast again, much to Angie's disgust but definitely glad she is not eating this stuff. The main ingredient is yeast extract. And it's suppose to have lots of vitamins and minerals. Today we are off to Pamlukkale, so we board a bus for the 3 hour trip. We arrive at about noon. We have to find a bus right away that will take us on to Fethiye at around 5:00pm. [View Full Entry]

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DAY 60 This morning we board the ferry at 7am. We head across the channel of the Dardenelles to Canakkale on the mainland. Our bus is at 8am and we head off south to Selcuk and the ruins of Ephesus. We arrive in Selcuk at about 4pm. We were given a brochure on a hostel to stay while in this area. The bus office, just happens to be the place that call the hostel and we get a free ride since the place is 2 KM out of town. We arrive at Atilla's Getaway Hostel. It looks lovely, there is an [View Full Entry]

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DAY 58 FREEDOM!! No more following orders, no more having to wait for others, no more hassles. We are on our own. We get up when we want and eat when we want! We eat breakfast with the last couple still remaining in Istanbul, Ray and Wendy who are staying to visit with their daughter.. Then we take a taxi to the bus station and off we go to Eceabat. On our travels we pull into a bus station along the way for a break. There is a bus next to ours. We get out to stretch our legs. Angie goes [View Full Entry]

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DAY 56 GOOD MORNING ISTANBUL! The porter comes around waking all of us about 30 minutes before embarking at the station. We arrive on the Asian side of Istanbul, Turkey and leave the station and proceed directly to the ferry that will take us to the European side of Istanbul. We are finding it hard to multi task. We're trying to struggle with our bags, take photos and hurry about to be where we need to be. But the first views of Istanbul are amazing. Leaving the ferry we have a short walk up the hill to our hotel. We are [View Full Entry]

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DAY 54 This is the most unusual place in the world. The valley is filled with dome like towers that command the landscape. We take an early morning walk through Love Valley. You will see in the pictures the reason for the name. However the locals have a more descriptive name for this valley. There are abandoned cave homes throughout the area. The valley is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Most people have been relocated to more modern homes. But there are still about 3 families that still live and farm in this valley and in their cave homes although [View Full Entry]

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DAY 51 Today we crossed the border from Syria into Turkey. We were warned that this could be a lengthy process with the Americans being the ones most scrutinized. The truth is that things went very smoothly for us Americans and everyone else but for May from Malta. No one at the border seemed to know what to do with a Maltese passport and it took time to locate the “special” stamp and to get a refund for money given for a visa. The border crossing included walking to several buildings to get a health check, pay departure tax, buy a [View Full Entry]

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DAY 49 First thing after breakfast heading on a 10 minute walk down the hill to Krak de Chevaliers. It is the most famous medieval citadel in the world. It is an amazing castle within a castle. The small original castle was built by the Kurds and then enlarged by the Arabs then became the castle it is today when the crusaders occupied it in the 1100's. It has 13 huge towers and could accommodate 5000 soldiers. It was a place where Richard the Lion Hearted fortified himself along with the Knights of the Round table with the parts of the [View Full Entry]

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