Blogs from Turkey, Middle East - page 393

Its been a manic few days. Left Kusadasi on Thursday and went to Pumakalle. This is a place with calcium terraces. Very cool. Stopped on the way at a hotel with thermal mud pools and a great pool. Was wonderful. Excellent lunch too. Then had to catch local buses to Egirdir. This was an experience and a half. Got one bus to the bus station at a place called Denizli and then had to wait an hour and a half for the next bus. We were the only foreigners there. Almost missed the bus as the bus company was using another companies bus and the sign on the bus said somewhere else. Luckily we got on just in time. Local buses in Turkey are amazing. They have someone serving drinks including tea and coffee. Our guy ... read more

Our first stop on our world tour took us to Istanbul where we were to meet our fellow travellers and Frosty, our truck, for the next 5 weeks. There are 14 people mainly Australian and New Zealanders, plus our driver and tour guide (Brendan & Justin) plus a trainee crew who will be with us until Aleppo (Caz & Paul). The truck has no discernable suspension with sports bra's being advised for the back seat. As for driving here, lanes are optional and the horn is I am sure linked to either the brake or the accelerator as it is in continuous use. Gallipoli More for the Aussies and Kiwis than the Brits although interesting. First night together and I (carla) have to share a room with 6 blokes (yuck). To top it all the ... read more

We spent a wonderful 12 hour overnight bus trip from Olympos to Goreme in Capadoccia. They are a bit posh on the Turkish buses. They actually have a host that comes around and serves coffee, tea, water/cola and cakes. How cool is that?? But we slept most of the way and Kerrie annoyed the bus by coughing, thanks to the bronchitis or whatever it was she had. We arrived very early in the morning and headed to the Shoestring Pension to stay in caves. So far we had slept on the yacht, then tree houses and now in caves!! After a nap we started to see the sights and headed out on a tour with the rest of the gang. Underground cities, big valleys and fairy chimneys galore. We spent the day travelling around the ... read more

Hmmm...it seems that all of a sudden I felt the need to write some more. I've got some pix I can add to. Maybe it's because of not travelling around Turkey for about 3 months. I have needs, you know? Well, what can I say. I feel so normal here all of a sudden. That's why is time for me to go away..where? - I guess that to other place. I need to get on moving. I'm bored and boring. But before my French class starts again...let me write some random thoughts..and what happened here lately..who knows, you might need this info for a future travel..here! Looks like summer settled in: +30 degrees C! I need to get some tan fast.. - they are working on the bridge near the center park...seems a giant green..aaamm...leech. ... read more

So after spending a few days with my cousin and her family in İstanbul, İ almost missed hooking up with the tour group! Thanks to the demonstrations that were going on in İstanbul at the time, traffıc was rıdıculous getting into town. Please excuse my typing if weırd alphabets are showing. İt took me a whole 5 minutes to figure out where most of the keys were on the keyboard. Things here are so different. İ mean people are still people but this is a culture that is so foreign to me. The sites are beautiful, the people are beautıful. İ mean...wow. After spending only 2 days here İ was already considering the possibility of coming to live in Istanbul at some point. Definitely have to come back. When you see the pics, you'll understand ... read more