I had forgotton the stresses of travelling. Walking through the airport at Heathrow and the screen tells me my flight is boarding but no gate number shows itself. No staff members are to be seen and a brief thought flashes through my mind that trouble is starting and I haven't even left the country! My trip to Egypt was last minute, thinking about it on the Monday (the idea came from a travel book), booking on the tuesday and leaving on the Friday. Impulse desicions are the way I like it, it's so much more exciting that way. First contact of the journey - an Egyptian couple give me their phone number, 'Any help you need just call us!'. I got into Cairo airport at 6:30pm, walking through the mob of Egyptian men holding up placards ... read more

Oludeniz; land of the Paragliders, of course we had to do it! We set off at half eight in the morning and tore around cliff edges in a Landrover, it was alarming to say the least. We arrived, unpacked and promptly took off, each with an experienced glider. We had to run as fast as we could down a hill to get the lift. I have some videos but they don't work at the moment. The ride was very peaceful, stress free and rather slow. A great experience though and what a view! ... read more

The day after Ephesus, we whizzed of to Pammukale, a 3 hour drive. The City of Hierapolis lies here and was founded in the 2nd century BC. The Romans came here to take advantage of the mineral rich water which was believed to be essential for health and cure illnesses. The hot water makes its way out of the ground, depositing calcium, filling up the pools and continues down the hill into the town. The ruins start with a very large cemetery just outside the city walls, with numbers still engraved on the tomb stones. Then you make your way through the arches that are the entrance to the city, stumbling on mounds of boulders, collapsed in years before. The city also boasts a 25,000 seat theatre which is just spectacular, at the moment it is ... read more

We had our first encounter with a Turk on the plane. She told us which transport to use once in Istanbul, where not to go and who not to trust. She even offered us her phone number in case we needed help in anyway. This was the first but not the last encounter with the Turks who were so helpful to us on our travels. I even left our camera in a restaurant at one point and a local came running and shouting to us at the top of his voice, Oi, Oi, camera! What a disaster that could have been (like our previous trip ın South America where we had our bags stolen and managed to come home with hardly any photos to show for our two months). What a breath of fresh air where ... read more

We are now at the highest city in the world. Lying at 4100m, Potosi offers spectacular views and breathing difficulties. Yesterday we did a bit of walking to man made lakes against a skyline of snowcapped mountains and today we went on a tour of the mines. In a group of 7 we were kitted out with yellow trousers, a yellow top, a yellow hard hat and black boots. We proceeded to the market to buy gifts for the miners such as soft drinks, cigarettes, coca leaves (the starting element for cocaine) and dynamite. We were taken to the entrance of the mine at 4500m and shown an explosion with the dynamite and we then walked into the mountain. Not really my choice of a fun day out but it's only your mind that makes things ... read more