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Published: September 21st 2006
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Ahh Turkey.. The land of apple tea, beautiful coastlines, friendly locals, GREAT food and many adventures. Kate and I arrive in Istanbul at midnight the day after all the bombings, much to our friends and families dismay. We spent the first two days in Istanbul seeing everything we could - the Blue Mosque, Aya Sofya, Topkapi Palace, the Islamic Art and Culture Museum, the Basilica Cistern, taking a cruise along the Bosphorus, Grand Bizzare Spice Bizarre and Taksim... great city. We were feeling a little unsettled though and decided to head down the coast.
First stop was Cannakale/Eceabat and Galliopoli After our first of many overnight buses we arrived in Cannakale at 5:30am, only to realise we should've gotten off on the other side the dardenelles.. so back over the river it was. We booked a tour through TJs and spent the morning relaxing (read sleeping on their couches) before jumping in a mini bus with a bunch of awful bogans and some nice aussies/kiwis. I found it very interesting to see where the anzacs landed the bunkers and trenches they lived in. Kate was a little less enthusiastic and didn't really connect with the whole experience. That night we had
a shower in one of the guys from the tours rooms, had a great dinner (the best shish kebab Kate has had, infact possibly the best meal Kate has ever had!), then jumped onto o/n bus no. 2!
We arrive in Selcuk again at about 5- 5:30am and was met by a guy from ANZ hostel who invited us to sleep on their couch, shower, leave our bags.. as long as we bought breakfast. I'm not sure if they knew what they were in for. We got a ride with them up to Ephesus, ancient Roman ruins dating back to 3rd century AD. Simply breathtaking. Time for Gozleme - delicious Turkish savoury pancakes. Back to 'our' hostel for free internet and free bicycle hire. We jumped on the bikes and wrecked havoc across town - making wrong turns and having to throw the bicycles over a fence, kate stacking it (whilst she was wheeling it around) and having all of Selcuk come to her rescue. With nothing injured other than her pride we headed to the amazing Ephesus museum with the famous phallic statue. Dinner was great at the hostel and we got chatting to some cool travellers... A last
minute run into town for the bus.. our last overnight bus for a bit, thank god!
After being told that the bus would arrive at around 5am we were suprised to be dumped at the bus station in Fethiye at 3am. We managed to grab a taxi and headed to a pension to sleep for the rest of the morning. After hearing so many tales about gullet (boat) cruises along the mediterrean coast, it was high on our list of priorities. We headed down to the dock and ended up booking with the company whose operator Kate had the hots for. That afternoon we headed to the beautiful Saklikent Gorge and waded in the freezing mountain water. Kate was sick of her long long hair by this point and thought it would make an interesting experience if she got it cut by someone who spoke little English. Lets just say that the Turkish coffee was the highlight of the whole 'Eurotrash' experience. Best discovery of the day (and possibly the trip) was fish in a roll, Yummo, which we hoed into on the pier Drinks were the order of the day that night, after 3 nights on a bus and
we met up with Kates 'boyfriend' Rahmi and some cool aussie girls (Kirney and Nicki) who were also going on the cruise. We had been reccommended Daylan and Iztuzu (turtle) beach by a few difference sources and decided to check it out. Two hours and 4 bus rides later and we arrive at a brown sand beach with choppy water and no turtles in sight. To top it all off I manage to step on a foreign object (I have since been told it was probably a sea urchin) and was unable to walk for 2 days (alright so it stung for an hour or so). After an average day we decided it was time to try a Turkish Bath. Interesting experience having someone wash and scrub you, yet quite invigorating and refreshing, I don't think we have ever felt so clean! Another night out on the town with the same people and a friend of Rahmi's. Earlier in the piece I forget to mention that Rahmi had invited us to stay on the boat the night before the cruise for free. Turkish hospitality. Well mainly. Also I think Kate tipped the scales. We were a little duboius at first
but we had a tight budget and thought it would be an adventure, and when we heard Kirney and Nicki would be on the boat too we were in. Kate put in a disappearing act that night and joined us for breakfast after taking the walk of shame. Then it was time to hit the high seas!
We had an awesome group of people on the cruise - 4 cool quebecuans, an lovely swiss couple, nice kiwi couple, the 4 of us Aussie girls and Rahmi's friend Kuddusi. The next 4 days are a blur of swimming off the side of the boat, exploring the ruins along the coast, playing cards, reading, chatting to cool people, swimming under the stars, crazy fun dancing and drinking... Best trip ever. We still have pictures of Stephanie (french canadian) doing her brazilian dancing, JS's arse sticking out of the water - "you can't see this!" whilst skinny dipping, Kirney laughing so hard after riding a biscuit, "squid lips" Kate, Kate and I taking turns at the helm while the captain fished, and we have the theme songs of 'I want to break free' running through our heads. The last night at Smugglers
Inn was filled with crazy fun - random acts of skinny dipping, 'I will survive' being sung in three languages and just general fun, dancing and drinking.
After a sad goodbye Kate and I were on the road again to Goreme in Cappadocia via Olympos and Antayla. Overnight bus #4. Wierd trip - met this Aussie guy Mick who lives 3 streets from me in Clapham, and who happens to know Kate's ex-boyfriend and the mountain bike crew. We arrived early again (what is with the Turkish bus system!!??) at 6am and little was open. We managed to book a bus out of there for that night and a tour for the day. Firstly we went to the Goreme Open Air Museum which was quite spectacular, then it was time to join the tour. By now you think we would've learnt that we are not tour people. We hate being herded like sheep and being told when and were to be. Anyway we enjoyed the underground city (one of 45 huge underground complexes (this one was 8 stories down!) built in the 3rd Century AD). The rest of the tour was a bit of a flop - an average 3km
walk through boring landscape for no apparent reason, visiting various sites.. blah blah.. long day. We managed to find an awesome place for dinner though - great atmosphere, amazing food and wicked live music! That was all we had time for in Goreme - onto our last overnight bus - number 5 back to Istanbul. As we had spent two days busting our gut to see everything in Istanbul there wasn't much left we really wanted to see. First stop was the Istanbul Archeological Museum which was very interesting and gianormous and which we should've left more time for. I wanted to get some last minute shopping in at the Spice Bizarre and Grand Bizarre but alas, they are closed on Sundays! We spent out last hours wandering around Istanbul wasting time til we flew out..
Now we're back in London and I'm back at work. Hasn't been too bad until today and I think I'm going to go mental. I just don't know how they can expect me to work 5 days in a row after coming back from holidays!! Have had a busy week, trying to show Kate as much of London as we can handle - various
nights out, netball.. etc.. It's great to have her here and show her round.
Anyway.. In summary: Turkey Wicked
For more photos (just incase you haven't seen enough of Turkey)
GO HERE
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