1st May It's a new month and we're heading for a new country, Georgia! The drive takes us along the Black Sea coastline and through several tunnels and small towns. It wasn't too far and so we set up wifi hotspots to use up the data left on our phone plans - which lasted long enough for people to update FB statuses... Stopping for an early lunch and to do cook group shopping, we then crossed the border around 1pm. It was an easy departure from Turkey and as we walked along the pathway separating us from Suse and the truck and other large vehicles, we came across a duty free store. Alcohol prices were cheap and although we'd heard that it was cheap in Georgia, some weren't willing to take the risk and purchased some ... read more

23 April What an incredible start to today. And incredibly early. We arrived at Kaya Camping yesterday afternoon and set up our tents along a perimeter wall with views of the Rose Valley in the near-ish distance. Steph, Quinn and I were on cook and made leek and potato soup, followed by pasta with a salami and tomato sauce. It turned out really well but I thought the stock cubes were gluten free and they weren't. Even using five stock cubes between two dishes made to feed eleven people each plus seconds was still enough to send my stomach into spasms and give me a severe headache. I finished dinner and went to my tent, not even able to sit up with the other five to watch the latest episode of Game of Thrones. Alarms could ... read more

16 April It was an early start to get to Pamukkale which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site definitely worth a visit. Meaning 'cotton castle', Pamukkale is a series of travertines; terraces of carbonate minerals left by flowing hot spring water. The water varies in colour and temperatures, some warm enough to swim in. But I'm ahead of myself. We parked the truck and walked to the entrance where we paid 25TL (it seems we've arrived at the start of the high season as all the tickets have gone up 5TL; we've been peeling the stickers off to see) and walked through the turnstiles. A short walk towards the white landscape and we removed our shoes, put them in bags and stepped over the divide and onto what could be described as a waterfall. Over beautifully ... read more

Being the last plane into Istanbul has its major disadvantages. Having landed 15 minutes early was irrelevant when one spends over an hour and a half trying to get into the country and people constantly tried to jump the queue and 'sneak' past people. Then the representative who is meant to meet you and make your life easier was nowhere to be seen. A very lovely man behind a desk gave me his phone to call the hostel and eventually, we found each other. I'm told I'm on my own with this one but my immediate thought upon leaving the airport confines and speeding along the freeway was Vegas. With their obvious love of neon lights, the oversized Wow Hotel and general layout, it briefly reminded me of the freeway running parallel to The Strip in ... read more

14 December, 2012 Waving goodbye to Sudan, we headed off into the Egyptian dark. Originally the agreed plan had been to stop at Abu Simbel, only 20km or so from the border but the Egyptians now had other ideas and wanted us to continue all the way to Aswan. Feeling terrible for Suse and Nat up the front, the three of us in the back rugged up in sleeping bags and blankets and dozed, only sitting up when we arrived in the town. It was almost 1am and Suse was exhausted, having been unable to convince the police that she was too tired to continue. We parked near a train station on the outskirts of town and Suse slept in the front while the four of us spread out in the back and fought with mosquitos ... read more