http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Middle East , Turkey en-us Tue, 13 May 2008 23:49:39 BST Tue, 13 May 2008 23:49:39 BST 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 ad http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Gallipoli/blog-275865.html Hello Everyone. Thanks for all your comments 305t 305s really n305ce to have messages when I log on.So yesterday was a busy day. I left Seluk at 9am and went to Pamakkale and checked out the calc305um depos305ts that have developed from the calc305um ox305der305ch water flow305ng over the rocks for centur305es. It was really amaz305ng although I hear that 305 http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Mediterranean/Olympos/blog-275761.html 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 donrsquot we http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/blog-275589.html 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 arri http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/blog-275421.html Am beg305nn305ng to real305se that 305 may have to scratch travel wr305ter from my l305st of poss305ble career cho305ces and feel305ng horr305f305cally gu305lty for not hav305ng made an entry for so longRoman305aAfter S305gh305soara we spent a n305ght camp305ng 305n Rosnov after look305ng round the castle. Th305s was our f305rst f http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Black-Sea/Trabzon/blog-275369.html 51008 112 PMI have to say that at the moment I have mixed emotions about leaving. It seems surrealhellip in a matter of hours I will be an ocean away from my family and friends. Going so far away for an extended amount of time is a first for me. I am going with a great group of women from Thibodeaux LA who will become my new friends and we will be each otherrsquos family for the duration http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/blog-275162.html Well what a few daysOn Friday I left my hotel in Athens in the morning to go to the airport. When I arrived I couldnrsquot see my flight to Samos on the departures board and sure enough the flight was cancelled. They offered to put me on the standby list for the 630 flight but that was doubtful as the flight was already overbooked by 2. It was no good anyway as the ferry from Samos left http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Canakkale/blog-275160.html 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. http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Mediterranean/Kas/blog-275155.html 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 parentrsquos apartment of one of the exchange commission members. The apartment was part of a complex a little removed from the city a http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Southeastern-Anatolia/Urfa/blog-275112.html 22408What a great city Irsquom thoroughly impressed with Istanbul. Itrsquos very chilled out and very clean.Magan and I started the day wandering up to the Blue Mosque and Aya Sophya. They are very pretty and about 100 metres from our hostel. The Blue Mosque and Aya Sophya are opposite each other with a beautiful garden teeming with tulips and a fountain connecting them. Here we deci http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/blog-275111.html So I surv305ved the overn305ght bus. It really was not too bad no where near as bad as the overn305ght tra305n from St. Petersburg. I was 305n such a deep sleep that the attendant had to wake me up so I arr305ved 305n Selcuk at 6am halfasleep. There was an Austra305l305an couple who got off w305th me so I went w305th them to the hostel that they had booked at. http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Aegean/Sel-uk/blog-275064.html 26 aprilNa een vlucht van 35 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 allinclusive vakantie. Wij belandden in een supergezellig pension Een rondje Antalya historisch centrum gelopen en gegeten aan de baai bij 'Robbie Williams' met uitzicht op d http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Mediterranean/Kas/blog-275003.html Daar zijn we weerLeuk om jullie reacties te lezenHet Autootje heeft ons vrijdag zonder enig probleem naar Bodrum gebracht.We leken inderdaad wel een echte Turkse familie. Want we hadden de auto bijna tot op het dak geladen. Gelukkig bleef het tot aan het dak oNooit geweten dat er zoveel in Renault Scenic paste. We moesten om 0515 uur op om de boot van 0730 uur vanuit Istanbul naar Bursa te http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Aegean/Bodrum/blog-274848.html We left Goreme at about 0900 for our first day of solo riding with the Turkish capital of Ankara as our destination.The ride itself was pretty unremarkable afew stretches of scenery but mostly farmland. We crossed a few patches of rain about half way through but it did not last more than 10 minutes in total. At one point be305ng low on fuel we ventured into a village in search of a servi http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Central-Anatolia/Ankara/blog-274844.html HAHA That got your attent305on Well not exactly but I purchased an 80 cent wedd305ng look305ng r305ng as an attempt to deter the eager Turk305sh men from harrass305ng me. Im already t305red of the propos305t305ons so hopefully th305s should help. Troy was amaz305ng It was so cool to see the rema305ns of a c305ty that was bu305lt about 4500 years ago. http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Troy/blog-274805.html We left Osmaniye after exchanging gifts with our hosts there. Pat has almost enough gear to put together a full Turkish police uniform. The ride to Cappadocia was much less strenuous than the previous day's one.The secondary highway we rode one took us through plains from which we could see some stunning snow capped mountain ranges and through a succession of villages that still looked like they http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Central-Anatolia/Cappadocia/blog-274678.html I got up this morning and checked out Topkapi Palace in Istanbul the one site that I wasnt able to get to in the previous days. It was the Sutan's castle and was built around the 13th century and was quite pretty. It was a cool morning and after I checked out the palace it started to rain. I was glad that I was able to check out the palace and it didn't matter because I had booked an afternoo http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Canakkale/blog-274541.html Wersquore heading into Iran now where internet access may not be easy and we really wanted to complete our record of the Turkey tour but don't know when we'll be able to publish this.Up Up and Away Cappadocia was our last port of call on the West Turkey ldquotourist trailrdquo. What an amazing place topped off with our Hot Air Balloon ride a 50th Birthday Present for Terry from folks back http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Eastern-Anatolia/Van/blog-274448.html Just a few more riding pics... http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Central-Anatolia/Cappadocia/blog-274241.html We left Frankfurt Airport shortly after 1900 right on schedule. Hearing all the announcements on the plane in German and Turkish confirmed that we were indeed headed for an adventure of a lifetime. Up to that point the whole departure for Turkey had seemed surreal in the hussle and bustle of one of the world's busiest airports.The plane was not full and we were given a 3 seat row all to ourse http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Mediterranean/Adana/blog-274117.html Turkey is beautiful This is my second morning here and 305t is sunny and beautiful. The flight from Moscow was sl305ghtly more eventful than I would have prefered but 305n the end I made 305t here. My fl305ght from Moscow to K305ev was delayed and I m305ssed my connect305ng fl305ght to Istanbul. I raced Home Alone style through the a305rport push305ng through l3 http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/blog-274027.html Mark and I have been in Turkey now for a few days. After a bit of a long flight through London we arrived in the capital late in the evening and got right into right away by trying to figure out how to take a bus from the airport rather than getting a taxi the whole expensive way. And then after a group of old men discussed how best to get us to our hotel a taxi took us off and we ended up sta http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Central-Anatolia/blog-273890.html i live on the aegean west coast of turkey outside of town by the beach. it is very quiet between october and may..it is in silence where the soul speaks.. http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Aegean/blog-273631.html Hallo vrienden ook via deze weg zal ik jullie vanaf nu op de hoogte houden van ons Turks leventje. Zou het leuk vinden om af en toe wat reacties van jullie te krijgen.Let wel iedereen kan het lezen. Zondag aangekomen op ataturk airport istanbul met 15 uur vertraging. Gelukkig was dat niet het enige kon ook nog mijn havana club heerlijke rum uit Cuba inleveren aangezien deze niet gesealed was. http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Aegean/Bodrum/blog-273604.html We arrived utterly exhausted from our tour of Egypt utterly desperate for a Laundromat to wash our clothes at. Wersquod gone for wayyyy to long without a machine wash and the old handwash in the basin was losing its effect. The family was there to meet us at the hotel and it was lovely to see them again and we couldnrsquot believe how much Kaylah had grown up since wersquove been gone. We ha http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Gallipoli/blog-273578.html Day 7 Kusadasi TurkeyAfter sailing overnight through various Greek islands in the Agean Sea we berthed early morning in the Turkish port of Kusadasi.This port is close to Ephesus the Ageanrsquos bestpreserved ancient city. Layers of silt covered this 2000year old city over the years and much has been discovered but much is still buried.Associated with Ephesus is the tomb of St John the Apost http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Aegean/Kusadasi/blog-273483.html The bustling border crossing at Hopa was nothing like the sleepy rural countryside post I had crossed to enter Georgia two days earlier. Tractor trailers vacationing Russians and a much more official borderish mood filled the air and made it rather unpleasant. To the left handsome tall green Turkish mountains rose up to towering heights. To the right the Black Sea stretched out coldly http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Black-Sea/Trabzon/blog-273175.html After a couple of days in London I flew down to Istanbul to join an ANZAC daz tour. Istanbul is an awesome City and I would recommend to everyone that they visit. Once you get used to the locals it's easy to get around. Thev're all helpful and friendly even if all they want to do is sell you a chicken kebab Definately a great place to spend a few Liras.Efes the local beer is awesome. Had a fe http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/blog-272742.html We landed in Istanbul at 630 AM and our connection to New Delhi was not scheduled to board until 600 PM that night. Subtract the time to and from the Airport and we were left with about 9 hours to see Istanbul. We decided to first see the Blue Mosque the Hagia Sophia the Topkapi Palace and the Grand Bazaar. The Hagia Sophia was a Christian church for about one thousand years but was convert http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/blog-272719.html