I didn't write in my travel journal for a few days, as unfortunately I was sick, but I went back and filled in what I could. Today we left the Safari "Otel" (most hotels here spell their names "Otel" rather than "Hotel") after breakfast and drove to the Lycian city of Phaselis. It was a beautiful drive along the Mediterranean (which was so exciting to see for the first time!). Phaselis is an amazing site in a beautiful area. The city was founded in the 7th C BCE, and flourished as a commercial trading centre until around the 11th C when other nearby ports superseded it. It is really a picture-postcard setting, built around three bays. There are many Roman ruins to see including the theatre and aqueduct. We enjoyed our time here very much. We ... read more

We checked out of Hotel Ciner in Goreme this morning, and drove to Ilhara where we embarked on our 1.5 hour walk by the Melendiz River from Ilhara Village to Belisirma. Ilhara Village is a cute village, it looks very traditional and I would've loved to have spent some time in the village. It was a really pretty, enjoyable walk. On the way we saw two Byzantine cave chapels - Agaculti Church and Yilani - Snake Church. Agaculti had very well preserved frescoes. At the end of the walk in Belisirma we had an excellent lunch, in a lovely spot by the river. I had a vegetarian casserole which was really good. After lunch we drove to the Sultanhani Caravanserai, which was built in 1229. It was a place where traders and travellers stopped, and there ... read more

What at incredible day! Today started out with an absolute highlight of our trip - a sunrise balloon ride over Cappadocia. We left the hotel around 5:20, and had a quick breakfast at the balloon company office, then we were off for our spectacular 2 hour balloon ride over the amazing Cappadocia landscape. Wow! Truly incredible. I couldn't believe I was actually there, it was SO fabulous. We watched the sunrise from the balloon, and just marvelled at the scenery. You will see from the photos that the sky is full of balloons. This is a very popular activity - very expensive but well worth it. Most of our group joined in on this optional activity, so it was just our group in the balloon. After we landed we enjoyed orange juice and sparking wine, and ... read more

Greetings from Ankara, capital of Turkey! I didn't feel very well last night so I ended up not going to the group dinner after the meeting, but Susan went and had a good time (they had Turkish pizza, which sounds great!). We have a group of 15 for our trip, from a variety of countries. Besides Susan and I, there are Grant and Chris (Australia), Veronica and John (New Zealand), Janette (Australia), Paddy (Ireland), Gerald (Ireland), Olga and Richard (Australia), Cathy (Canadian but living in Australia), Graeme and Rita (New Zealand), and Mark (Australia). I'm a bit surprised the group isn't a bit younger, but everyone seems friendly and well-travelled and I'm sure we will enjoy travelling with them. Some of the group are continuing travelling after the Turkey trip, and some have already been to ... read more

What an amazing, action packed day in Istanbul we had today! By the time we settled into our hotel, Q-Inn Old City, it was about 1:30 am this morning. Our driver was waiting at the airport, as arranged, and we drove through the dark streets to our hotel, so thrilled to finally be in Istanbul. I can't quite believe we are really here! We both slept well last night (which was good because I got no sleep on the planes and we had been travelling for over 24 hours). We got up at 8 am, and enjoyed a Turkish breakfast in the hotel. We had Turkish tea rather than coffee, as the only coffee on offer is instant. I think we will be having tea with breakfast, and Turkish coffees at every other opportunity! Our Peregrine ... read more