Day 6 - Riptide 1 DT 0 - Surfer Safari Day 6 started with another semi early wake-up as we had to catch the morning waves with Alfredo, who is the Peruvian version of Gene Wilder from the original Willy Wonka. We headed to the hostel to get fitted for our boards and rash guards. Good news, we had a dedicated photographer as Amy could not participate due to doctor’s orders. After getting our gear we headed off in the back of a truck about 20 min to the same beach Chester and Kirsten had surfed a year earlier. We proceeded to get our not so quick, quick dry lessons on how to stand up and where to put your feet. Then off into the ocean we headed. Little did we know we would spend most ... read more

Day 4 - Tortuga - A day at sea (5 Aug 2010) Day 3 ended with the girls arriving safe and sound around 10:30. Once everyone got settled we sat down to chat and have a few beers. Only the bedrooms have A/C, so Kirsten not wanting to waste energy shut Maija and Jenn’s bedroom door to keep the cold A/C air in the room. Unbeknownst to her the door locked automatically. After a fun night of catching up, everyone ventured upstairs to go to bed. But oh no, Jenn and Maija are locked out. No problem, there has to be a key here. So we find a cup of keys in the junk drawer. As Kirsten starts to try them all, she realizes it is not good when pieces of metal begin to fall from ... read more

Day 2 - Chester and Kirsten nil; Volcano one (3 Aug 2010) We woke up at 6 am and prepared for our big hike. We ordered sandwiches and 3 liters each of bottled water the night before so we had something for the trek. We were suppose to get our own guide, but ended up sharing a guide with a kid who just graduated from high school in South Africa. We took probably a 10 mile drive to the base of the volcano, which took the driver 30 minutes to navigate the roads, free-range animals and children walking to school. At the base we started the hike that was just over 1,000 meters of elevation to a beautiful lake at the top of the volcano. It really seemed like our guide and Ricky, the high school ... read more

Day 18 We were able to sleep in a little on day 18. We packed up our stuff and headed to the airport to fly from Cappadocia back to Istanbul. We arrived Istanbul in the afternoon and headed straight to a Turkish Bath House. We were a little nervous, because of previous of our previous Egyptian massage experience. We walked in and were handed, yes, our own sponges!!! This simple hygenic gesture put us a little more at ease. We walked through the hallway and made it to the women's section and soon realized that yes, this is a Turkish Bath house. There was a bevy of large, topless Turkish women walking around in their underwear; then they directed us upstairs to get ready. We were given a thin towel, about the density of a scarf ... read more

End of Day 16 We finally arrived in Kayseri around 4PM and had a 1 hour drive to Cappadocia and our hotel. We were a bit worried when we saw the outside of the hotel, but upon entering the room we were pleasantly surprised. The hotel is built into the side of the hills in caves. The room has arched ceilings of stone and the bathroom is about the size of the bedroom with an open shower. Chester can finally shave her legs without any complaints. As our shuttle pick-up in Izmir was an hour late they tried to make up for it by giving us a night out with traditional Turkish dance and food. So who are we to turn down a free night of fun. It would be insulting right? So after a bit ... read more