Kalif Hotel Ayvalik

... nkıng ıt ıts a lıttle tıny cup of really sweet apple tea that you add extra sugar to and ıts such a rush but hurts your teeth.

When we went back to the hut I was doıng some packıng up and next mınute notıced that the goat was poppıng ıts head through our door probably lookıng for ıts goat coat whıch ıs Ians bed cover now! It had escaped ımagıne the ...

... start workıng too funny he kept walkıng past sayıng workıng workıng then he got really upset about the queen and the prınce wıllıam sayıng why they not do jobs!

We went back to our hut and the nıce man who owns ıt brought us some hot tea over and then we spent the rest of the evenıng sıttıng out talkıng to hım about Iraq he had worked there for 6 years as a welder he ıs such a lovely old ...

... out the walk was a mere training exercise for what was to come the following day as we staggered seven kilometres up a mountain to see the Acropolis sounding even worse than the battered Renault 12s that asthmatically spluttered past us. Even the cab drivers at the top applauded us when we arrived and told us how impressive a climb that was.

Note to Tania, next year on my birthday can we just go to the beach please????

... few days playing cards with our fellow guests - Paul, Sally, Sam and Eleanor - hi guys and hope he rest of your trip was less strenous than that climb to Ephesus!

The weather was truly toasty which made the fact that the sea was icy a rather unexpected surprise. We'd taken a boat trip to explore some of the small islands lying off the coast and at the first swim stop we were itching to cool off in the beautifully clear blue waters - and ...

... pictures. There is of course a huge amphitheater which we have now figured out is the defining feature of all of the ruins of this era. The most unusual features of this set of ruins is the massively long marble road leading down to what used to be the harbor and must have been quite an impressive effect in its heyday. It was surrounded by temples and state buildings on both sides for miles. Some are in better shape than others; the most impressive one ...

... It was a day of never-ending fun and celebration aboard the boat. They played games, had races on the top deck, had loud Turkish music booming out of speakers, and danced to certain songs. We spent the day watching them enjoy themselves, joining in on the games occasionally, sunbaking on the top deck, enjoying the shade and breeze on the lower deck, diving off the side of the boat ...

... thing I found of interest to me was at a plumbing fixture store, the apparent child's bathroom commode in the form of a kangaroo. I don't know if there is in Turkish an alliterative encouragement as to me the seemingly obvious English, "Poop in the pouch."

(Maybe that's why LP snubbed the place).

The next day (after spotting the pillow) I elected to try a mini-bus west to the town of Dursunbey, a couple of hours due west of Balıkesir. From there I just made the ...

... Roman domination of Asia Minor (around 200 BC) when it was one of the Middle East's richest and most powerful small kingdoms. The theater at Pergamum is vertigo inducing. Builders decided to take advantage of the great hillside views and built the 10,000 seat theater into the hillside. Rather than making it wider, they made it higher creating incredibly steep steps with patrons having to look almost straight down to the stage. I didn't get very far down the ...

... of the massive columns - just enough to allow you to imagine what the full temple or colonnade must have been like. They have also made it clear which pieces are original and which have had to been added to made the restored structures stand up. As Chris says thought - there is an amazing amount of chiselled blocks, carved pediments, lintels and capitals just littering the landscape - truly impressive. After wandering the ruins of the Pergamon Acropolis, we headed back into town ...

From Canakkale we drove to Troy to see the ruins, then onto a town called Ayvalik which we had not heard of but was on our way around the coast so we decided to stop there for a couple of nights. We went on a boat cruise which stopped at some beautiful swimming spots with clear water (a little chilly in the water) and then at an island called Alibey island where we walked around the markets before heading back to Ayvalik.