Boulevard Hotel Alanya

... were attacked by iconoclastic Muslim vandals, who believed that you cannot have the face of Jesus portrayed as The Christ (Muslim’s believe that Jesus was merely a prophet and not the Son of God as the bible teaches).

Lunch was a treat; the guide took us to a restaurant where they cook for you what they are eating themselves as a family for lunch. Delicious - it assaulted the taste buds!!!!!!!

Next a visit to a Pottery factory where the ...

... at the larger hotels have been fabulous (plenty to snaffle for the bus) and have trıed and very much enjoyed turkısh brekkıes whıch feature tomatoes, cuecumber, yoğurt, sausage and olıves - that's rıght - as Ilhamı says 'Olıves are not just a breakfast food, we eat them for lunch and dınner too!' Mum and I ran amok on turkısh delıght yesterday, whıch Meyem ınforms me ıs more than the rosewater vers ...

... passanger took the wheel, oh no and then it happened again Sannannah! I LOVE YOU!! I love YOU!! Mmmmhmmm Say I love you!! I just stared at this crazy little boy, what do i do? Hug ME KISS ME! I lOVE YOU! The cute little boy said as WE were going like only 30km an hour and swerving all over as these boys climbed around the car and humped the seats we pulled over to switch seats or something and me and Raina grabbed our stuff to jump out of the car because ...

... are in the “take my wife, please” vein. It’s really annoying. But I digress...

At the start of the ride, the pilot asked who was riding in a balloon for the first time, and then responded, “Me, too.” Jason’s quiet comeback was, “Pilot Joke 6, check.” As we took off, however, it really did appear we were heading for a rock formation. Erica (one of the “single girls” I’ve rotated rooms ...

... were doing the exact same tour with a different tour company. Funny. There would be two more friends at Fat Boys that night.

It was about a 30 minute drive to the Underground City, during which time our comical 23 year old tour guide got to know everyone on the bus, making introductions and finding out where we were all from and stuff. He cracked a lot of jokes and said a lot of very un-PC things. He called the guy from Japan Samuri... But probably the funniest ...

... at the Emine, a stout young fellow who calls himself "Teddy Bear", took us to the airport. We would rather pay him for the transport instead of the usual transport company. The flight to Cappadocia, on Turkish Airlines is only an hour long and very smooth. At the airport we are greeted by Faruk, the owner of the Kismet Cave Hotel, where we will stay the next 5 nights. Faruk is immediately likeable. Very Turkish looking, he ...

... group waiting their turn. I was trying to figure what I needed to confess to get the masseur to end this torture. Every time I looked at the face on this surprisingly short and weak-looking man, he had a grin of delight. After this terrifying ordeal, I kept tradition and tipped the guy, and even got a photo taken with him. That's right, it wasn't enough for me to pay so he could annihilate me for 15 minutes, but I gave him a tip for doing such a good job at it.

... n Turkey are lıke Ozan ın that they go above and beyond to make us feel welcome ın theır country. It has generated a lot of self-reflectıon about how I can spread hospıtalıty to others ın my own lıfe. Thanks to Ozans help, Casey and I have set out for a two week tour of central and southwestern Turkey. Cappadocia ıs amazıng--and worthy of ıts own forthcomıng blog entry. We also pıcked up another travel ın Istanbul who wıll accompany us for the ...

... certainly not what you'd call dirt cheap. When I asked Laynni if she bargained at all she replied "No, of course not, it goes by weight." Fair enough. The ring salesman, or "ringer" as I like to call them, takes the ring, weighs it on his private scale then, without publicizing that number, multiplies it by an arbitrarily chose price, also not shared, eventually coming up with a clearly defined and obviously non-negotiable number. Of course, now that I think ...

... around this gem has the usual collection of deserted streets, agora, baths, basilica, stadium, acropolis, fountain and assorted non-descript ruins. Next stop Side. This site is located on the outskirts of a bigger town and the roman high street with the shells of roman shops and remnants of a colonnaded walkway now carried taxis ...