What do you get when you mix 4 Aussie boys + 2 girls from the States + 2 weeks of travel together 24 hours a day (literally)......
Simple, the Von Trapp Frat. A crazy mix who's the life of the party and is balls out when it comes to singing and dancing!
Let's start at the beginning.
Amanda and I had decided, before arriving to Turkey, that we would rent a car and spend 2 weeks touring the Turkish countryside on our own. However, we soon realized that the cost to rent a car plus the petrol was outrageous! It would be over 1,000 EUROS for us to do this escapade so instead we decided to participate in the Fez Bus. This beauty travels a route and allows you to adventure for any length of time. You simply hop-on and hop-off at your convenience. As it turns out, all the cities listed as stops were ones which we wanted to see...perfecto.
It is because of the Fez Bus that our 'family' the Von Trapp's came into existance. We met our 'brothers' (Jay, Andy, Nathan, and Mike) while travelling on the bus. Our first experience involved the nightlife in the resort town Kusadasi where we danced, drank, & sang the night and the early morning away. After an experience like that you can only feel close to those participating (Thanks to Hamish, Chris, Chris, and Meg for the wonderful job they did as tour guides of the city).
From then on we were unseparable for the next two weeks. Not only did we spend the days together but since we were staying in hostels we also spent the nights together. My favorite is when we stayed in Feithye, an 18 bed dormroom with only the 6 of us. To make use of all our space we turned it into a makeshift gym (gotta stay in shape while travelling you know) and a 'Chinese' laundry which, by the way, is another great way to bond. Nothing like washing your unmentionables together and then hanging them all over the room to feel like you know someone.
Not only were we travelling on the bus together but apparently we happened to both (Aussies and States) sign up for a Gullet cruise. Now there are multiple boats which offer the 4 day 3 night cruise from Feithye to Olympos and each group registered at different times but as fate would have it, we were all placed on the same ship! It was here that we met some other amazing people: Katie & Alex from Melbourne OZ and Damo & Kaz from Queensland OZ (yes there were heaps of Aussies on our boat but when travelling you'll find that they're everywhere). And, the Gullet cruise was by far one of the best activities we did while in Turkey. We definately found our routine of waking, swimming, eating, swimming, snoozing while cruising, and some more swimming (Chef's in the pool).
Surprisingly (minus the boat excursion) we had the same tour guide throughout the trip, Hamish. He became like a half brother to the Von Trapp crew and a night out with Hamish is definately going to be an unforgettable one, check out the pics for glimpses of the madness :)
I love our Von Trapp Frat and miss being a family but I have a feeling a reunion will be in order soon.
