Olimpiyat Istanbul

... it didn’t look half bad either. A guy outside the Ayasofya (who wanted me to come look at his family’s carpet store, make me a nice price) said I looked like I was Turkish with my beard. So I kept it for a few days, still planning on finishing the job before Australia. More on that later. Since I don’t take many pictures of myself, let alone post them, I have put up a not-so-impressive picture of Mustafa and I at Topkopi Palace. Enjoy.

... fillets and salad, all fresh and yours for four lira, about £1.60. The guys in Padstow are missing a trick. <br><br>Having done the usual sites, Blue Mosque, Aya Sofia (incredible 1,400 year old mosque), a cruise down the Bosphorous and so on, it was time to enter the Bazaars. The good news is that we managed to escape without buying any carpets, no mean feat. The confusion that enabled us to achieve this was that everyone insisted ...

... go to and one of the guys that we were with knew everyone there... awkward. the music was great as usual but i almost blew a gasket because the guy, my friend's friend, WOULDNT STOP TOUCHING MY FACE... i wanted to yell GET OUT OF MY BUBBLE!! turks, especially turkish men, have an odd fascination with the face... this is my inner dialouge, "please do not touch my face unless i know you or you are doing my make up - since you do not fit either ...

... that also serve as homes and today as hotels. Our own hotel in Goreme was a cave, a room carved out of a mountain. We had four days to explore Cappadocia which we mostly spent on foot, hiking throughout the valleys with our little guide map. We hiked through valleys with names like Pigeon Valley, Love Valley, Rose Valley, Red Valley and also rented a car one day (yes, we actually rented a car and drove in Turkey!) and visited the underground city of Derinkuyu as well as Ilhara ...

... i was able to sleep through alot of. When i got to Turkey, I was really surprised at how easy it was to get into the country....no questions or anything. I just had to buy the visa for 15 euro and then stand in line to get stamped. easy peasy lemon squeezy just like i like it. Burcu was waiting for me as soon as i got through customs and we went out to meet her dad in the car. I was ...

... some how we both need to work and both want to see Egypt so we will help each other our where we can with anything that is needed. Haha, she will advise me on work if Il be her bodygaurd through Egypt. Bea arrived and the next 2 days were spent showing her Sultanahmet and the mosques. On our first night we went to a terraced restaurant and had food above the crowds, the scenery was panoramic and the vibes lofting up from the streets were filtered by the music of turkey. After ...

... one spent more time in it. the current was really strong and kept pushing me under which allowed for me to float out a little bit and enjoy the view. too beautiful for words. i want to go back because it was so relaxing just sitting by the water and letting go - i brought a book with me (blood meridian by cormac mccarthy) and just threw myself in to it. a perfect day, if you ask me. oy, saturday. the big day. we met with emin (the waiter) and his friend (who i ...

... Needless to say w&#305;th my ****** tour&#305;st map &#305; got completely lost! Anyhow &#305; spotted a local lad f&#305;ddl&#305;ng w&#305;th h&#305;s moped and enthus&#305;ast&#305;cally waved my map &#305;nfront of h&#305;m. He d&#305;dnt speak engl&#305;sh but sa&#305;d someth&#305;ng &#305;n Turk&#305;sh l&#305;ke HOP ON and the next th&#305;ng we were buzz&#305;ng through ...

... outside my window that its cold waters were almost lapping up against the train. Istanbul was close, I could almost smell it. From the train I went straight to the ticket office at the station to buy my onward ticket on the daily sleeper train down to Adana in the south of Turkey. From there I would have to take a bus to Antakya, then another bus across the border to Aleppo where I would pick up the train once more to Damascus. This trip, the whole itinerary, had been well ...

I'm back in Istanbul after a quick trip to visit my cousin And and his wife Mehtap in Ankara. I took the sleeper train from Istanbul. Not quite the Orient Express but I like it. Ankara is in the middle of the Anatolian plains. They've been dealing with a severe drought and so the landscape is more arid than usual. Rolling hills, rocky vistas, ambers, ochres, golds and greens. Ankara is significantly more modern than Istanbul. Istanbul is very hilly and green. Ankara has ...