At last! We could see the Pyramids of Giza from the pool area of our hotel as we crossed from the section of the hotel where our room is located to the restaurant for breakfast. Our first glimpse of the pyramids was very exciting. There was an extensive array of food available from the breakfast buffet, but we were too scared to eat about half of it!! We're not sure about eating fruit that isn't peeled, dairy products and anything uncooked. We met Ammar in the lobby at 8.15am and he introduced us to our Egyptologist, Shereen, who will be taking us to the sites in and around Cairo over the next couple of days. We were taken first to the Ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis, 20 km south of Cairo, on the west bank of ... read more

I don't think it snowed overnight, but there was a very heavy frost because it was like driving through a winter wonderland on our way to the underground city of Kaymakli. There are eight levels of accommodation carved into the soft volcanic rock at Kaymakli and it is only one of 30 underground cities in this area. Kaymakli is the second largest of the underground cities all of which are said to be connected by underground tunnels. A few of the passages connecting sections of the city were a bit low and narrow which was a bit claustrophobic but, on the whole, it was surprisingly roomy and very well ventilated so it wasn't too unpleasant exploring it. Once again we had this amazing site to ourselves! From Kaymakli we drove to a viewpoint overlooking the Three ... read more

Our first stop today was at Çatalhöyük, a Neolithic settlement that was occupied for around 1,400 years more than 9,000 years. During the period that it was occupied old houses were abandoned and new homes were built on top of the remain which, over time, created a mound over 21 metres high. The dwellings were built closely together without streets separating them so it is believed that the inhabitants walked across the rooftops and used ladders to climb down into the homes' interiors. Archaeologists have explored the site during two periods of excavations. Initial excavation works were undertaken between 1961 and 1965. The site has been explored further since then with annual investigations taking place since 1993. Most of the findings uncovered at Çatalhöyük over the last 50 years are housed in the Museum of Anatolian ... read more

Brrr, no sun today!! We headed off from Kusadasi in the drizzle hoping that the weather might improve as we drove inland. Today our first stop was at the city of Aphrodisias, which is considered to be one of the finest archaeological sites in Turkey. And yes, it was named for the goddess of love, Aphrodite. We were dropped off in a big parking area and ferried over the main road to another big parking area adjacent to the site in a trolley towed by a tractor. We have absolutely no idea why our mini-bus couldn't park in the car park on the Aphrodisias side of the road. This transfer made us feel more like we were taking the wildlife safari tour at Werribee Park Zoo than going to visit an ancient archaeological site!! Once again ... read more

Well, some people who are following our blog have been kind enough to say that they are enjoying our photos of the amazing sites that we are seeing. On the other hand, some of our followers just want to see pictures of my hats!! I didn't realise that mentioning my hat purchase would create so much interest. We were on the road by 8.00am again this morning. Very cold again today, but clear and sunny here on the Aegean Coast. It only took us about 25 minutes to drive to our first stop today at the legendary City of Troy. Before exploring the city ruins we were able to see the Trojan horse. As with most other sites that we have visited there were lots of stray cats and dogs roaming about but, of course, these ... read more