Billurcu Otel Ayvalik

... off we certainly did - it was Baltic!<br><br>Another favourite stop became the covered market where during our stay we bought a 5 lira (£2) bottle of wine (not recommended!), admired the tomato wearing watermelons and enjoyed numerous cups of cay and bakery products - the guys there were so friendly they even gave us figs to accompany our beverages!<br><br>We really had to drag ourselves away from Ayvalik but our first ruins were calling...<br><br>

I slept really well last night and didn't wake til 6am. This is normal as its light and the curtains are typically ineffective. its also a cool part of the day so no hardship. Todays plan is to observe the docks when the istanbul ferry would depart and see if it really does go from here. And to go to the beach, swim and read. This seems a fairly conservative place so it will be interesting to see how the do beach. I reckon that kids ...

... That's what happens when you don't have a guidebook. However the hotel is £12 per night with aircon and wifi so I'll probably have a lazy day at the beach tomorrow. As the Istanbul ferry leaves at 2.30 pm I'll have time to get there. The food supply is a bit limited and expensive but its manageable. I'm a bit surprised as I've done lots today but don't feel too tired. Strange. Later I discover there's wireless internet and get the key. But there's a problem with DNS so I can't connect.

Basically just knackered but not sleepy. Maybe my system isn't used to the different food yet. So puzzled over the ferry services but got a departure time out of tourist information and a boat name. Then I did a a bit more research on the net and considered going to the next Island to Marmara as there's more accommodation and its more holiday orientated. However actual information is rather scarce;maybe I wasn't using the right words but its ...

... very interesting scenery as it turned out--but for two incidents. At one point I was approaching a dip in the trail in a quasi-open area. Ahead of me, down the trail came running a creature. It got to within perhaps 40 feet of me when it pulled up short, sensing me, regarded me for about a quarter of a second, then turned to its right and disappeared in an instant. Its body was about the size and a half of an adult cat. It had long, very agile legs, and pointed ears that were ...

... is the bus driver gets to smoke and you get to breathe it in....but other than that, it's a perfectly delightful long bus ride across Turkish landscapes that we wouldn't have seen otherwise. After we move off the coast and inland, the elevation increases and it looks like we're driving through some old coastal sand dunes...then thru a bunch of towns so we can pick up people - and we get a short tour of each place - and now we're in the uplands. We ...

... invaded the room, determined not to let us leave until we parted with the equivalent of a flight home for a square metre of knotted wool. We were doubtful they would make any sales, but for backpackers, there were some surprisingly deep pockets and a few purchases were made. (Not us though - if I can't convince Jonny of the need for another pair of shoes, there's no way I could convince him to buy carpet when we don't even have a ...

... but the Hierapolis thermal baths bear Cleopatra's name - there, tourists can swim amongst sunken ruins in Pamukkale's 98F water. Having soaked our fair share, we bypass Cleopatra's and head for the rest of Hierapolis. Covering an area of several square kilometers, Hierapolis could entertain a classicist for days, with a great bath complex, aqueducts, temples, a necropolis, agora, and several Byzantine-era churches scattered amongst fields strewn with ancient building blocks ...

Day 5 - 26th April - Ayvalik - Gumuldur/Kusadasi - breakfast Today, we drive south. Set on a high hill are the Roman ancient ruins of Pergamum, once one of the Middle East's richest and most powerful little kingdoms. Home to one of the steepest, vertigo-inducing amphitheatres in the classical world, Pergamum was also famous for its ...

... this one is mostly in ruins. The fun part was when I standing on this, and they started firing from the tanks. They weren't exploding shells, but they were live rounds. Only two hundred or so metres away, I could here them whistling over the top of the targets when they aimed too high. As long as they aimed too high, and not too left, then I was safe. It is a little disconcerting however to be visiting a tourist site with the sound of tank fire right next to you ...