The Essence of Turkey. December 16th -24th.

Tuesday 16th December. We were up and breakfasted and off out to explore a bit in Istanbul at 9.00am, as we were not being picked up till 10.00am.

We met our local guide Ercha just after 10.00am for a tour of the Old Town Istanbul. We visited the Sultanahmet ( blue Mosque) which was really beautiful, The Hippodrome ( used for Chariot races), St Sophia ( which was constructed by Emperor Justinian in 537 ad and it was the greatest church in Christendom till the conquest of Constantinople in 1453), Topkapi Palace, the Old town and Old Wall, The New Mosque, The Grand Bazaar and the Spices Bazaar - just amazing shopping places. Istanbul is a city of diversity and heaps of history that unites elements of Europe and the Orient.

We went to a high view top and had a stunning view of the Golden Horn and Bosphosus sea's - it was just fabulous! The Grand Bazaar is huge and sells everything from carpets to gold. It has 4,000 shops in its little alleyways.
We arrived back to our Hotel just after 4.00pm. I had a relax and Kevin visited a internet cafe. Then we went out to a local restaurant for dinner.


Wednesday 17th December. We were up early at 5.00am for a pick up at 6.30am. We were put on a public bus to go to Gallipoli. We were the only english speaking people on the bus. We drove for 5hrs - wondering were we were meant to get off. We got to a village called Eceabat and were told this is our stop. We were met by a " On the Go" rep and taken to a Hotel to store our
luggage while we visited the gallipoli Peninsular with a local guide - Arnold.

The brave ANZAC's are remembered on the 25th April every year. A Dawn service is held at Anzac Cove followed by national services at Lone Pine (Australia) and Chunuk blair ( New Zealand). We visited these memorials and the actual cove and saw the steep cliffs they had to climb and where Ataturk had forseen the landing and sent his Turkish Troops there to do battle with the partly unsuspecting allies.

Its now a National Park and a revered and peaceful region. We returned to the little hotel and picked up our luggage and caught the ferry boat over to Cannakkale as we were staying over there for the night at Hotel Helen. We had a relax and then went to dinner at 8.00pm.


Thursday 18th December. We were up at 7.15am and ready to depart at 8.45am for Troy. We had two girls from the USA - Emily and Olga with us too. Our local guide was called Ken and he told us the Legend of Troy - Paris and Helen on the Trojan side and Agamemnon and Archilles on the Greek side.

Troy was rediscovered in 1863 and the excavations revealed 9 ancients cities one on top of the other - dating back to 3.000bc. Troy is still a work in progress for Archaeological work. There is even a replica Trojan Wooden Horse for the tourists.
Its an amazing experience to be standing here. We went back to Canakkale and had 1hour to spare ,to explore on our own, so we walked the waterfront area.

Then we caught a public bus to Izmir at 1.30pm. Again we were the only ones speaking english on board. We arrived at 8pm, quite poophed out! We were met by a "On the Go " rep and taken by mini van to Kusadasi - arriving at 9.30pm. Too late for dinner, so they brought up a sandwich each for us - better than nothing I guess! To bed by 10pm as very tired after our bus journey.


Friday 19th December. We were up at 7.30am and to breakfast and ready to depart at 9.00am for a guided tour exploring the Roman Ruins of Ephesus. It' s one of the best -preserved Classical Roman Cities in the Eastern Mediterranean, being founded in the 13th Century bc. The Top sites within the archaeological area that we saw were- The Great theatre, Curetes Way, The Temple of Serapis, The Temple Hadrian, the Awesome Library of Celsus, the Ancient Public Toliets, a Brothel and remains of Fountains and other Temples. We spent 3 hrs wandering about here.

Then we went off to have a buffet lunch. There were 9 of us on the tour-2 Pakistan, 2 USA, 2 Aussies, 1 Japan and us. - quite a mix!

After lunch we visited the Temple of Artemis - which wasn't much, only one tall column remains of it. It was one of the Seven Ancient Wonders once. Then we visited a Carpet Manufacturing House.

We next visited the Virgin Mary's House high up on a hill in the muncipality of Selcuk. A very peaceful place. Then it was back to town to visit a leather manufacturer-who put on a fashion show for us and then served us drinks and we tried various leather jackets on. All very nice! But too expensive!

We dropped the others back to their Hotels and we were the last as we were the only ones staying in Kusadasi. So instead of taking the bus back, we got driven back in a car and arrived at 6.00pm. Our only purchase from the leather house was a nice blue Cap! We went to the Hotel Restaurant for dinner at 7.30pm - typical Turkish fare!

Saturday 20th December. We were up at 8.00am as we drove East to Pamukkale today. Its known locally as the Cotton Castles. Pamukkale is a natural phenomenon. Its formed when warm calcium rich mineral waters cascaded over the cliff edge - cooling and depositing in the process - making the Calcium Terraces.

There is Pamukkale Thermal where we had a dip in the warm waters, amongst submerged bits of marble columns. Its thought the pool was once the centre of the ruined Roman Spa Town of Hierapolis - which was a cure centre founded about 190bc by the Romans.

There are alot of Roman Ruins here and the star is a partially restored Roman Theatre - amazing! It was capable of seating 12.000 people. On this tour today there were 10 of us. - 2 Pakistan. 2 Germany, 1 Aussie, 3 South Africans and us 2 Kiwis - so another international group! We got dropped off at our Hotel - the Palm in Pamukkale and the others went back to Sulchet, where they were staying.

I had a relaxing bath and shampooed my hair after my mineral water swim. We had dinner in the Hotel at 7.30pm. A very nice Hotel - quite posh!

Sunday 21st December. We were up and away by 10.30am. Although Kevin had a swim in the Hot Mineral Pool at the Hotel prior to leaving. Our guide was the driver in his own car today. A change from the bus. His name was Hayati and was very friendly, helpful, knowledgeble and charming! We visited the Saklikent Gorge - a spectacular gorge that cuts its way through the
Akdaglar Mountains.

The Saklikent is 18km long and so steep and narrow that the sun doesn't reach - so the water is icy cold even in the summer. We walked along a wooden boardwalk above the river and it out into a picnic area. It was very tranquil and peaceful and beautiful here!

Next we arrived at Fethiye and found our Hotel. Because it was still light Hayati took us to see the Ghost City - where the Armenians lived before Ataturk sent them away in 1915.
We visited Oludeniz Lagoon - a European area with lovely housing and a delightful beach on the Mediterranean Sea.

We arrived in time to see the Sunset. Oludeniz is known for its tandem Paraglides fron dizzying heights - Not Today for the Gledhills! ha ha...

We headed back to Fethiye where we were staying . Its a seaside town on Turkey's Turqoise Coast surrounded by the Taurus Mountains. Its a charming coastal port with an outer bay strewn with islands. Kevin had a tummy upset so lay down. I went to the local shop for something to eat as we had no dinner provided tonight. I did some on the blog as the internet was free here!

Monday 22nd Decenber. We were up and departed at 8.00am on a cool drizzly day. We drove along the Mediterranean Coast and stopped for only a few photo's in Kaz - a traditional Turkish Fishing Village. We carried on seeing fabulous scenery. We stopped at Finiker for coffee and pastery and a little relax.Its another fishing village.

Then Hayati took us to Chimera to see the Fire Mountains. It was a steep 15 minute climb up the mountain side. We saw the fire going naturally from the rock. It was really amazing!
He drove us on to Olympos, a very ancient city - but now home to the World Famous Tree Houses. We are staying in the "Dingoes House" one of the tree houses.

What a fantastic experience! We arrived at 3.00pm and said our farwells to Hayati, as he heads home. We went down to dinner at 6.00pm and ate our meal with everyone, approx 20 people - all young and no one spoke english - quite a dag!! We went back to our tree house and read till bedtime.

Tuesday 23rd December. Our guide Hayati yesterday told us the company wished to fly us back to Istanbul due to safety reasons - as the inland bus route was suffering snow and heavy rain and there may be long delays. So we were quite pleased as it saved a 10hr bus ride for a 1hr air flight.

We were taken at 8.00am for our transfer to the Antalya Airport from Olympos ( 1 1/2 hr drive). We flew out at 10.45am and arrived back in Istanbul at 11.45am. We met the On the Go representative for the transfer to the Hotel we had before. We had a shower and then went out to explore Istanbul and get some lunch too. It was a cool day but no rain. We also spent some time in the internet cafe .We got back to the Hotel at 5.00 pm and rested as we have a long journey ahead of us.

Its hard to believe our year has come to an end - but were pretty excited about getting back to little New Plymouth and seeing everyone!

Wednesday 24th December. We slept in till 8.00am, then up and breakfasted. We went off for a last explore of Istanbul and a little check of our emails prior to leaving for home.
We got picked up at 12midday for the transfer to the Airport. We had a long wait as our flight did not depart till 7.10pm. Luckily we had a book each to read!

Thursday 25th December. We arrived in Dubai at 1.15am Xmas Morning after a 4hr flight.Our next flight departed from Dubai to Bangkok leaving at 3.15am and arriving at Bangkok at 12.00pm. So we basically had Xmas Dinner in Bangkok Airport - a squashed Moro Bar each!ha ha...We departed Bangkok at 7.30pm for Brisbane, Australia.

Friday 26th December. We arrived in Brisbane and we had a 1 1/2 hr wait, then we flew off to Auckland - arriving at 3.15pm. We got through customs and Immigration fine. We walked over to the Domestic Terminal for our flight to New Plymouth,departed at 7.30pm. We had a nap on the seats there. We arrived in New Plymouth at 8.05pm to see Sarah & Mom meeting us! Wer'e actually home! on good old N.Z.soil.

Here's 2 quotes I like about our travels;

" Travel, like Dreams, is a door that opens from the Real World-
Into a World that is yet to be Discovered". - G. De Maupassant.



"When sights, impressions & phenomena build on Top of each other -
And faces , languages & cities will all meld into each other
And everything will be as if a dreamscape in the Minds Eye".


We had a fabulous year 2008!