We weren't quite sure what to expect from Turkey but we were quite pleased. The people were the most friendly and helpful we have met through Europe, and definately the cheapest country which was great as our British pounds started to dwindle...
Started off in Fetihye, a resort/beach town on the South west coast. We were excited immediately by all things Turkish. Turkish shave, pide (turkish pizza), turkish tea, turkish delight etc. Spent a couple of days just walking and exploring the town, eating in the fish market, shopping, soaking up the sun by the pool. You can buy your own fish fresh and take it to a restaurant and they cook it for you. very cool. Then we boarded our 'Blue Cruise'. a 3 night cruise on a gulet boat that involved lots of drinking, sunbathing, swimming, snorkelling and cruising through the med. We had cabins but slept most nights on the deck as the sky and sun rise was amazing and the night so peaceful. We had a great group of people on our boat. Mostly aussies, 2 americans and 1 canadian. Great company for three days on board, and an awesome group of people to celebrate my birthday with. We went out to a beachside nightclub only accessible by water taxi on my birthday eve. We had an awesome night (as you can prob tell by the photos), and partied 'aggressively'. The music stopped at midnight and the whole club sang me happy birthday. A great way to celebrate the big 25.
After this most of the people from our cruise and Jayden and I headed to Olympos. Famous for it's hippie vibe and tree houses. We chilled out in tree houses, went sea kayaking and swimming, and hiked up a mountain at night to see some natural flames that emerge from the ground all because of the mixture of gasses in the ground. However the key to Olympos was just laying back chatting with and meeting new friends. However 5 days after we left Olympos experience flash floods and the whole town was washed away. It was a lucky escape.
after this we said goodbye to new found friends and made our way to Pamukkale. The tourist attraction here is a massive white mountain. Its white as the surface is calcified lava. It also has a whole heap of travetines (pools) that you can swim around in. Prob best if you look at the photos as its hard to describe but really beautiful. After this Selcuk. Wandered around the weekend market, a local grape crushing festival and the ruins of ephesus. Came out of it with some genuine fake ralph lauren polos and undies that are according to the guy who sells them 'cheaper than k-mart and better than big w'. ha ha. hopefully they are a bit better than that.
Next stop Gallipoli. We went on a really great tour, and obviously a really rewarding experience for me to see all this 'out' of a text book, but also really overwhelming as you calculated the losses on both the anzac and Turkish sides. It was really great to hear the story from our Turkish guide and amazing how the Turkish hold no remorse to Australians and NZ, and with hindsight feel that we both were fighting a pointless war for other countries. The Turkish had never heard of the Australians and vice versa and yet here they were fighting face to face. Definately makes you wonder how war produces 'enemies', amongst people that have very little to do with each other, and the (sometimes) ridiculous nature of allies...and war.
Then off to our final stop Istanbul. We were riddled with money problems and bank issues whilst here and i think this dampened our experience here, nevertheless we enjoyed our time here but not a highlight. Much more expensive than the smaller towns, some nice architecture (mosques and sorts), a nice walk around the grand bazar (but again only entertaining for so long when you have no money). Met some nice people at our hostel, and ate some really great food but otherwise your typical capital city. Or maybe we are getting a little jaded now that we have been travelling for so long?
Looking forward to Egypt, and the ease of being on a tour and not having to organise anything.
