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. We check 3 places and take the one that was 5 TL cheaper and offered us a shower when we return from the springs. It is just a short walk to the base of the ... read more

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 to the bathroom. Francine notices people looking at the front of the other bus. The windscreen is badly cracked and there is dry blood all across the front and two bloody hand prints on the ... read more

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 they have strict guidelines to follow due to it being a heritage site. On the way back into town, we stopped at the local market for fruit and Francine bought some special tea that had ... read more

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 table still intact. The castle was never taken by force because it was protected by being built upon a steep mountain top and had an outer and inner defense wall. The Sultan Beybars recovered the ... read more

DAY 45 Today we say goodbye to Jordan and head off to Syria. INFO Syria has a coast line on the Mediterranean. It is bordered by the countries of Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and Israel. Syria is a dictatorship. The previous president (Hafaz) was a true dictator and ruled with an iron fist. In saying this he also brought stability to the country as for thirty years prior to his rule there had been many coups. Not long before his death the President's eldest son and heir, which he had been grooming for the role was killed in a car accident. He then hurriedly commenced grooming his second son, Bashar Al-Assad (which means the lion) to take over as President. He has made some major changes to Syria for the better, including opening up the ... read more