Hotel Elbis Balikesir

... the same approach. Then as a bolt from the blue... I was looking for the boat times and realised that the dock is are only listed as Marmara Island. Which is 20 km long and has four towns. Two are unlikely but the map suggests one town while logic suggests another. Looks like a tour of this mountainous island is in prospect. Gah why are things so difficult. Anyway I decide to go with Marmara. The rest of the day is spent faffing around.

... time I got there. And crammed would be a better word the cars were two inches apart and then baggage was crammed into every corner. But the cars could not fill all the space so there was a four foot wide gap between the cars for me to fit. It was mayhem and I was ordered off a couple of times because I wasn't fitting tightly enough. In the end I had to lean the bike against a car and ballast it with the bags to stop it toppling. Then it was difficult to leave the deck as the cars ...

... hard work. But mostly I slept. The TV has BBC world too so its slightly distracting. But ultimately its a loop and thus irritating. I also went for a walk around town and established that its modern without a lot of interest. It was definitely cooler today being merely hot. Aircon though makes it unattractive to go outside... So the day passed sleeping walking and on the net; maybe it was the buffet breakfast. Tomorrow I will do more... 15/06/09

... the obligatory photos, but no-one wanted to hang around as we were only halfway through our journey. Istanbul, formerly Constantinople has a chequered history that makes for some fascinating buildings and artworks. We took in a sample, visiting the Blue Mosque, where the guys had to wear sarongs over their shorts and the girls were meant to wear headscarves - although few did. It seems to be more of a tourist attraction than a living ...

... waters, careful not to stub toes on protruding rocks. Once we reach the deep end of the pool, we take the plunge and sit in the silty, pungent water. A thick layer of sediment covers the bottom of the pool, and we quickly conclude it possesses just the right properties for a mud facial, or a stand-in for sunscreen, or both. We smear the liquefied mud on our faces and shoulders, adding additional touches as need be before we let the mixture dry. Our homemade masks aren't ...

... for doing not much at all. The blue mosqe was cool looking - Didint go inside as we have been to far too may religous buildings for non religous people. We spent two nights there, the grand bazar was good, but a lot of the same stuff over and over again. (Almost got talked into another carpet they looked soo good). Well must go we are off to Nepal! (Actually we are there I am just updating now!)

... afternoon I made the 6km trek back to town on foot, passing the ancient Red Basilica on Bergama's outskirts and then through the markets. Once again I am the town celebrity as it is currently non-Turkish tourist free except for me. They sell me cheap fruit, nuts and want to talk football. Looking for a bus ticket out by lunchtime, I am told that there is only one bus to Istanbul daily at night. Bugger. I have a full day to kill. The Asclepsion is 2km's outside the ...

--Sardis, the ancient capital of theLydian empire, dates back to the 7th century BC. The grave of "King Midas" was excavated from Lydian mounds, of which hundreds of thousands were built throughout the countryside to confuse tomb robbers. Sardis hosts the largest ancient Jewish synagogue in Turkey, as well as the largest Roman bath. Alexander conquered Sardis on his way to Empire. --Pergamum was once the site of the one of the largest libraries of ancient times ...

... with me. they were arguing about a missed phone call. i am pasting an email i received from Bob Napolili from my new job. Bob, i will do my best with the fez problem. you are right about the dying Kosair's. i dont know if they allow women to join but i bet they had a lot more applicants after that very flattering and colorful paper mache statue outside of the hospital was erected. do you know the one i am speaking of? the one with the ...

... program director proudly claimed that this program will allow women to leave prison knowing a trade that they will use to be self sufficient. ý was not able to find a translator to ask how much research was done previously to see what kind of market there is for bananna smelling monkey candles in Turkey or elsewhere. we saw men stringing leather sandals, women sewing hospital gowns, but the next workshop was pretty cool. a guy was melting silver and was able to take ...