Istanbul is a city of many delights and our four days of exploring was just about sufficient to do justice to the city's famous and popular attractions which included the following; A boat trip along the Bosphorus - a wonderful way of viewing the sights and being between the two continents of Europe and Asia The Suleymaniye Mosque - probably Istanbul's most important mosque and built between 1550 and 1557 The Grand Bazaar - a maze of stalls under an intricately painted, vaulted roof The Blue Mosque - takes it name from the mainly blue Iznik tilework and is one of the most famous religious buildings in the world Haghia Sophia - built in AD537 as a church and in the 15th century the Ottomans converted it into a mosque. One of the world's great buildings ... read more

We started the day by travelling to Pergamon which in 133BC became the capital of the Roman Province of Asia. There we visited the remains of possibly the first medical centre in the world known as the Asclepieum. Pearched on the surrounding hillside is the acropolis of ancient Pergamon where in the 8th century BC the city was ruled for a time by one of Alexander the Great's generals. Our journey continued to Troy which is wallowing in history. The excavated remains of the ancient city yield nine stages of development starting around 4000BC until about AD300. Troy was the pivot of Homer's Illiad and was the centre of the Trojan War. Needless to say the wooden Trojan horse on the site is a recent construction. Our final destination of the day was Canakkale being the ... read more

Lengthy 400km drive south stopping off at the ancient Roman town of Sardis, which prior to the Roman occupation, was capital of the Lydian empire. We crawled over the ruins and remains of the Temple of Artemis, a Roman synagogue, bath, gymnasium and library. All very atsmospheric. Then on to Pamukkale, which is famous for its"cotton castle" being a dazzling white array of shaped travertine terraces. Adjoining the terraces is the remains of the ancient city of Hierapolis which was founded in the Hellenistic times. It was eventually ceded to the Romans but unfortunately the city was destroyed by an earthquake in AD60. It was eventually rebuilt but fell into decline with the fall of the Roman Empire.... read more

We retreated from the chilly hills of the Western Ghats to the warmth of the coast at a spot called Marari Beach, where we are storing up the warmth before we come home to the wintery conditions in the UK. We have spent the last few days of our holiday resting, reading and relaxing and I will leave the photographs to set the scene.... read more

Here's Lynne telling you all about our overnight boat cruise on the backwaters. By lunchtime each day the riceboats are ready to go: fresh linen on the beds, supplies stowed and passengers on board. A riceboat is a houseboat used traditionally to transport rice from the paddy fields that flank the waterways. Now many boats are built for tourist cruises but they still have to opeate alongside all the people who live and work on the banks of the lake and its backwaters. Our first houseboat cruise in 2010 was memorable and so we decided to do another one on this trip. The lake was busier this time and is quite obviously becoming a bigger tourist attraction. But the picturesque crafts still have old fashioned charm, making their way through the carpets of water hyancinths like ... read more