May 12th or is it the 13th My morning started with the traditional Turkish breakfast: cucumber, tomato, many cheeses, toast, boiled eggs, olives, and tea. The Turkish people drink A LOT of tea and coffee. After breakfast I met up with the team at the VW dealership. The owner let us borrow a van for the day. Did I mention that Turkish people drive CRAZY! There is no speed limit, they don’t wear seat belts, and will pull out in front of anyone. Our first stop was at a private school PreK-8. It was SO NICE. The Kindergarteners have their own [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hello Everyone. Thanks for all your comments, ıt ıs really nıce to have messages when I log on. So yesterday was a busy day. I left Selçuk at 9am and went to Pamakkale and checked out the calcıum deposıts that have developed from the calcıum oxıde-rıch water flowıng over the rocks for centurıes. It was really amazıng although I hear that ıt ıs not as spectacular as ıt was about 10 years ago or so because the water has slowed. There was also some more ruıns there. Then I got on a bus when headed for Antalya, whıch ıs on the [View Full Entry]

---

---

Am begınnıng to realıse that ı may have to scratch travel wrıter from my lıst of possıble career choıces and feelıng horrıfıcally guılty for not havıng made an entry for so long!! Romanıa After Sıghısoara we spent a nıght campıng ın Rosnov after lookıng round the castle. Thıs was our fırst free camp and we could see the carpathıan mountaıns from our campsıte. That Nıght was really cold and ı was glad to leave the next day. We went straıght from there to Brasov where we stayed ın a hotel that was an amazıng contrast to the campsıte! There was a [View Full Entry]

---

---

After leaving Ankara we had a spectacular day of riding through the mountains on our way to Istanbul. The air was cool and the scenery spectacular. We ran into a couple on a tandem bicycle who were from Argentina and were travelling around the world. They were also headed to Istanbul and had just come from Syria. We decided to go as far as Izmit, a city about 100 km from Istanbul. When we arrived, we were in no mood to search for the hotel, so when we passed a police station with the usual machine gun toting cop guarding the [View Full Entry]

---

---

Troy and Gallipoli. Two names of great significance - one has been immortalised in the culture of western civilisation by an ancient Greek epic, the other has been burned into the psyche of the Australian and New Zealand nations. Visiting both in the same day is quite something, let me tell you. Troy was close to the hotel so we arrived after a short drive. We were the first group there, but our advantage was soon eroded by our guide talking and us asking questions. A couple of large groups overtook us, but still, it was fairly quiet. It was interesting [View Full Entry]

---

---

Istanbul is a very cool city. It straddles two continents, tens of centuries and multitudes of little neighborhoods, each with its own feel and character. The most impressive thing about Istanbul, though, is absolute cacophony of sound and chaos of the city. Sunday, May 11th: Up early today to beat the rush to the shower in my 30-bed dorm room, so after the shower and a quick bite in the hostel, I was off to the Ottoman Palace and museum. After paying my entry fee for the palace as a whole, I saw a couple from New York that was looking [View Full Entry]

---

---

26 april Na een vlucht van 3,5 uur kwamen Martine en ik aan in Antalya. Daar met de taxi naar Sabah Pension, wat we al gereserveerd hadden. De rest van onze medepasagiers ging verder met een touringcar om te genieten van hun all-inclusive vakantie. Wij belandden in een supergezellig pension! Een rondje Antalya historisch centrum gelopen en gegeten aan de baai bij 'Robbie Williams' met uitzicht op de bergen. 27 april Na een heerlijk Turks ontbijt (broodjes, kaas, olijven, tomaat, komkommer, ei en turkse thee) hebben we gezocht naar een bus naar de Otogar (busstation) Het ging nog niet zo goed [View Full Entry]

---

---

So I survıved the overnıght bus. It really was not too bad, no where near as bad as the overnıght traın from St. Petersburg. I was ın such a deep sleep that the attendant had to wake me up, so I arrıved ın Selcuk at 6am, half-asleep. There was an Austraılıan couple who got off wıth me, so I went wıth them to the hostel that they had booked at. The guy trıed to gıve me a sıngle bed, and I got hım down to a reasonable prıce for ıt, but there was no hot water so I packed up agaın [View Full Entry]

---

---

Spring Break was phenomenal. So much so that I have no idea what all we actually did. There were about 15 of us, from a variety of countries. We left Istanbul in a rented tour bus on Saturday the 26th, arriving in Ankara that evening for a huge dinner at the parent’s apartment of one of the exchange commission members. The apartment was part of a complex a little removed from the city, and was on top of a hill so the view was spectacular. After dinner, we got back on the bus, and drove through the night to get to [View Full Entry]

---

---

I am on a mission from God. Well not really, God is out playing golf. So I guess I am on a mission from me. Busy scouting locations for the "Prophet" movie to be shot in Turkey, Syria, and Iran. [View Full Entry]

---

---