The Turkey Leg

Weight Loss, Without Dieting

Huge thanks to everyone for all the comments and messages on our last blogs... So far we've travelled 75hrs by train and 30 by bus, and confess it all feels more like a holiday than travelling (whatever that is). We promise our next blog will have a map showing our proposed route, but its a little up in the air until we get our heads around what China is doing with the new limits on their tourist visa.

Back to comments received; an especial thanks to the girls for the encouragement on the size of my bag - for that I love you all; but I've reached an age when size no longer matters and sadly, big drawers are now a matter of necessity.

However, the weight of my bag's a problem. I left home with a very, very heavy bag including both my travel hairdryer and my cherished travel kettle. (yes, yes I know). Following much deliberation, I admitted defeat and relinquished the hairdryer. (Future photos of me will probably all involve a hat in order to mask the combined effect of loss of hairdryer and of my having trimmed my own fringe.) Blow me two days later the kettle ceased working and is now in an Istanbul bin.

Its warm now so we've also donated our thicker clothes and as the bags no longer house a small electrical department (except for essentials including laptop, electric toothbrush and MP3 player) they are lighter but remain stuffed full of boring but sensible stuff like sleeping bag, mosquito net, towel etc and a few items of clothing. (Thanks to Mark for offering really good advice - ie " to take half the stuff we thought we'd need and twice the amount of money" So good to get advice a week after the event!)

Turkish Delight

We've spent two weeks travelling around Turkey, which has proved to be even better than expected. Its so European but yet so not. A happy mix of religions and cultures and even the call to prayer at 5.30am is no where near as bad as it sounds. Food is amazing (except for the coffee; I really miss my kettle), the people are friendly and helpful and the weather glorious. We're just so sorry to hear about the delayed arrival of spring in Blighty.

Istanbul:

The city lived up to every expectation.... The Blue Mosque, the Bosphoros and Grand Bazaar all stand out in our memories. It even proved easy to pick up our travel Visas at the Iranian and Uzbekistan Consulates; but that's probably down to the initial preparations before we left home.

Travel around Turkey is really easy on modern (and some not so modern buses) which have taken us to :

Gallipoli Battlefields:

Aside from the many and appropriate memorial sites, the beautiful peninsula now completely masks the 8 months of gruesome hardship and heart wrenching waste of young life. 25th of April is ANZAC day, but we're not feeling too "Brit Bashed" by the many antipodean travellers/pilgrims.

Troy

I still can't believe I've been to the site of legendary Troy and touched the very walls defended for so long. We were really lucky in our guide, Mustafa Askin www.thetroyguide.com.

Selcuk - Ephesus and Temple of Artemis

The last in our initial burst of "battlefields and ruins". Ephesus was as stunning as imagined but believing that the Temple of Artemis was one of the 7 wonders was a big ask, as all that remains is a large hole in the ground and a single forlorn column.

The temperature shot up the next day which left us happy to dash off to the Hot Springs at Pamukkale and then down to Fetihye on the Turquoise Coast for some sun, sand and relaxation.


Hope you enjoy the blog and the photos - each time we take a bad one we think "Well perhaps Pete can photoshop out that wire/post/person" Pete's going to be very busy!

We've worked out how to send you an email alert each time we poost a blog, so remember to send us your messages.

---

---