Blogs from Aegean, Turkey, Middle East - page 76

Started the tour wıth the Pergamum ruıns today vıstıng fırst the Acropolıs. An ancıent cıty durıng the tıme of Alexandra the Great. Most of what ıs left are the columns wıth the dıstınctıve corınthıan columns. Hıghlıght of the place was defınıtely the Theatre Terrace whıch was the steepest ın the world. Thınk ıt was at least 35 degrees. Breath takıng vıew set agaınst the backdrop of the current Bergama town. Imagınıng what ıt was lıke then truly put thıs cıty ınto perspectıve. Our guıde was frıendly and knowledgable. Our tour group had thıs lady wıth her mum who had a bad hıp. She could walk short dıstances but other than that requıred a wheel chaır. Pushıng a wheel chaır thru gravel ıs no easy feat though. Also tooked pıctures of the Red Basıılıca on our ... read more

To anyone I've written a postcard to: I have written you a postcard, but unfortunately you will not receive it. I wrote some very nice postcards and used them to keep the page in my book. The book (I was just getting into it) and the postcards are now sitting in the otogar in Konya, never to be seen again. I suppose this sad story could be called 'Disaster Number Three.' I hope you are grown up enough to realise that, 'it's the thought that counts.' I've bought some more postcards and I'll send them soon. ________________ This is the start of a manic phase of seeing things: bus, see ruins, bus, sleep, bus etc. In Selcuk I stayed in the Australian and New Zealand Guesthouse. It's a pity that there were no Anzacs there... I ... read more

6 May After an early night in my funny smelling room and looking forward to a nice relaxing breakfast I head to the balcony and am immediately confronted by an annoying voice of a very crazy lady who sounded very rude. I tried to not pay any attention to her and was trying to focus on the fact that I would soon be on my cruise with 4 beautiful days of sunshine. Then I hear her say to two other guys that she will see them on the cruise that leaves today. Aaarrgghh, that’s the same one as me. ‘You’ve got to be kidding’ I said to everyone when she left the balcony ‘She is going to drive us all nuts’. I even start to rethink the cruise on the transfer into town as she is ... read more

Leaving Istanbul, we crossed the 'official' continental line from Europe into Asia, so this is the first entry from Asia. We arrived into Selcuk on a beautiful sunny day (no, I'm not joking) at 8:00am after a fairly sleepless night and checked into our hotel, the Paris Hotel. Not quite as upmarket as it sounds but still perfectly comfortable and the first time we've been treated to a private room. We had an hour to shower and power sleep before we were picked up for our day tour to Ephesus, one of the wonders of the ancient world and a cornerstone of the Roman empire. Although the semi-reconstructed city is very impressive, due to our lack of sleep the previous night, we were unable to appreciate it as much as we could have done. As the ... read more

30 April I got up pretty early and left at 7:25. I caught the tram to Aksaray Square and walked for 10-15mins to get to where the ferries leave from. Once there I enquired about getting a ticket to Bandirma and found out the next one was at 5:30, not 9:00 as the staff at the hostel had told me. Well stuff waiting around all day, and I then decided to head to the Otogar (bus station) and see where I could go instead. I asked the bus drivers how to get to the otogar but no one spoke English, and none of the buses use cash to pay for the fares. I paid 5L for a cab to the metro, then got the metro to the otogar and decided I would go to Bergamum instead. ... read more