Gunebakan Taliani Butik Hotel Ayvalik

... went for lunch. Gettıng addıcted to Pıda ıts a turkısh style pızza a bıt lıke a folded garlıc bread wıth cheese but no garlıc ıts tasty.

We decıded to go to the beach as the weather ıs amazıng and we do have a beach all to ourselves back at the goat shed so got taxı back and chılled and swam and had some turkısh tea both me and Ian can not stop dr ...

... hıs Englısh teacher who then spoke to Ian ın really bad englısh. Ian was sayıng that he was goıng to do great as an englısh teacher as at least he can actually speak englısh lol. So we went all the way back to the taxı place and pıcked up the englısh teacher and went off down some dırt tracks out of town. We got to thıs place now how to descıbe ıt best to look at the pıcs but ıt was 4 huts on a b ...

... 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????

After another multi-vehicle trip involving a minibus, ferry, minibus, ferry, bus and finally another minibus we arrived in Ayvalik - a lovely harbour town backed by old Greek stone houses built into the steep hills.

This time the climb to find a room was worth it as we tracked down a lovely guesthouse right at the top of a narrow alley with fabulous views down to the mosque and waterfront. Many an hour was spent on the roof terrace over the ...

... Bergama is a giant amphitheater that is said to have held ten thousand spectators. It is not the biggest amphitheater in turkey, but it has views for dozens of leagues and rivals any venue for a performance we have ever seen anywhere - it is most comparable to Denver's famous Red Rocks amphitheater - or think of Berkeley's Greek Theater if it was perched on the top of the Berkeley hills. Besides the amphitheater there is a well preserved series of walls ...

... went over and asked if I could sit there. The people immediately motioned for me to sit down realizing that I was a foreigner and that I was alone. One Turkish guy spoke very good English and he played translator for the table. People were interested in my trip and asked a lot of questions. 3 guys at the table were absolutely stoned. I didnt really like them too much. I think they thought I was some rich guy showing off about my trip around the world but it obviously wasnt the ...

... they have caught would make a good meal and, when they caught it, the local drums started to beat - within 5 minutes they were surrounded by 25 local Turks who immediately put out their lines and crowded the waters to such and extent that the 2 Brits couldn't find any space there. They say that they have not been able to get back there since. It is always stowed out with Turks thinking that the cunning Brits had pulled a fast one on them. We learnt the ...

... claim. So now another movie is on, and it's an improvement except that it's only in Turkish. It's a full length cartoon about Rumi. And that's the reason we're on our way to Konya. Rumi lived most of his life there and right now the 800th anniversary of his birth is being celebrated....apparently two million people descend on the place...should be a very interesting scene...although crazily crowded. We're hoping to get into some of the celebrations ...

Got up and packed up, before having breakfast and left the hotel. On to the bus and headed off from Kusadasi on a two hour trip to Pergamom just outside of the city of Bergama, to see some more ancient ruins. Spent two hours looking around this historical site and got some amazing photos. Before getting back on the bus and heading to Aylaki for our next hotel stay.

... A little over a hours drive, mainly along the coast. Saw perhaps 150 flamingoes in small groups in what appeared to be a salt pan. First impressions of Ayvalik were good. It quickly started to change though. The first pansiyon was closed, then the next, and the next. I caught a taxi and got him to drive me round. The same story though as the next three we visited were closed too ....but at least the last one had somebody there. A delightful exuberant ...