23 May Woke to a foggy morning and had a late breakfast at the pension. Took the the bus to Thira and walked around the amazing terraces overlooking the caldera. A huge volcanic eruption eons ago created the Santorini of today with its dramatic sea cliffs overlooking the sea to the outer islands, which were once all part of the mainland. We then set off on a hike to Oia, about 11 km, very scenic, had a late lunch at a taverna en route, stuffed potatoes and zucchini fritters. Golly this Greek food is good!! Got to Oia about 6pm, a good walk, quite a lot of hills and scoria, magnificent views over the caldera. Had a rest, then walked up to Oia to see the sunset at the end of the peninsula, along with what ... read more

14 May Arrived in Fethiye, on the South coast of Turkey, found a pension at the end of town overlooking the marina, stunning views from the terrace. Great for breakfast and drinks! Went downtown to the Fish Market for dinner. You choose your seafood from the cabinet, then the nearby restaurant cook it for you and add salad etc. We shared prawns and seabass, with a great lemon and garlic sauce. 15 May Set out on a walk, went to see the Rock tombs in the cliffs near the town, Robyn and I watched the ladies sitting under the tree making flatbread which we sampled, delicious! Trudged over the hill to Kayakoy, lost Ian and Robyn on the way (long story) - couldn't find them, found out later there were 2 bus stops in Kayakoy and ... read more

May 4 Sad to leave our lovely digs in Goreme and Angela, our great host (35€ a night included breakfast!) Plane to Istanbul delayed by fog, left 2.5 hours late! Got to Istanbul, took public transport to our hotel which took about 2 hours, but it was a long way by bus, funicular, tram, then walking! It was so busy in the Sultanahmet area we could hardly move when we got off the tram. Yakamoz Guest House was very central, just behind the Blue Mosque, which was very impressive and quite a new experience for us to enter. Found a nice wee restaurant just round the corner from us, called the Meat House! As in Goreme, the temperature drops at night, sweatshirt time, not used to this! May 5 Had the typical Turkish breakfast of boiled ... read more

April 25 Left Monteverde on the 6:30 bus to San Jose. In Costa Rica, everything starts with the sunrise to beat the heat, also the sun rises and sets early. The road down the mountain was gravel, very windy and steep, rough and bumpy, slow going until we reached the Pan American Highway. Our Hotel Aranjuez in San Jose was different but cool, 5 old colonial houses joined together. Checked out the city after lunch. Had heard lots of negative things about San Jose, but we thought it was OK. The show piece of the city is the Teatro Nacional, a grand and ornate building, stunning inside. The city also has some nice parks and monuments. We were surprised to see that most homes were barred and gated, with razor wire on top of the fences. ... read more

April 15 Costa Rica was quite a different experience to Cuba, as we were more focused on seeing the flora and fauna of the country, rather than the culture There is a dual currency system operating in CR, colones and US dollars, 1 USD=500 colones, so initially we found it hard to get our heads around it, a coffee might cost 1000 colones or more! In the morning we took the bus up to Volcan Poas, an active volcano near Alajuela, some 2600m above sea level. The public bus went almost all the way up to the crater! We were lucky to see the Crater as later on the mist closed in. Some nice walks around the National Park, which was very green and lush. The drive up and down the mountain was also very scenic, ... read more