TravelStream™ news feed for member rhibeez on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/rhibeez en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Thu, 08 Jan 2009 05:17:59 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rhibeez/2/1229249760/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rhibeez/2/1229249760/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rhibeez/2/1229249760/tpod.html Thu, 08 Jan 2009 05:17:59 -0500 The long road home - London to Egypt, Turkey, Melbourne to Auckland

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Auckland, North Island, New Zealand

Home again!!!! after a few hiccups at the airport aka a hard time from customs, we arrived home safe and sound to sunny NZ.
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Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Thankyou so much to the wonderful Janevs for having us! we have never experienced such great hospitality and great food! They told us when we arrived that macedonians kill with food and i didnt believe them, now i get it hehe :)
Little Daniel was just such a cutie, it was lovely to meet him.
we didnt do too much while in Melbourne, partly after all our travels we were happy to just hang with our mates and we were pretty jet lagged too. Luckly we managed to have lunch with bridgie an george in a lovely little cafe in a place called 'monsolvat' is it?! an artisans village. Great to catch up with them too and get all the family goss from the other side of the ditch lol.
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London, England, United Kingdom

today we leave for Egypt!
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London, England, United Kingdom

Back into the loving arms of Annthalina and Jaya for a coupla days of chilly weather and catch ups with the Jarvis's. It was so so sad to say goodbye to ya'll, we will miss our English Family very much (that means you too Sterns) xox
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Canakkale, Turkish Aegean Coast, Turkey

Well our main aim in Canakkale was to go out to the gallipoli peninsula and pay our respects and check out the landscape and memorials for ourselves.
We took a ferry and a van over there and spent the day going from anzac cove , up the hill all the way to chunnick bair, stopping at memorials along the way and the trenches which although filled in a bit are still there in a lot of places. It was moving to think of the bravery of our boys, only to fail and sad to think that they formed a bond with the turls but had to fight each other anyway even though it was a war neither of our nations wanted to be in. It was a good experience to stand on top of the hill at chunnick bair and look over the dardenelles and the sea and just how small the peninsula is.
Canakkale itself is a harbour town, we had a beautiful sunset over the very clear water and spent an evening looking at the cute boats and checking out the trojan horse from the movie troy there.
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Istanbul, Turkey

back to istanbul for a bit more shopping and the BEST baklava in the land before we leave Turkey for good.
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Bergama, Izmir, Turkey

Our first night in Bergama we met an Australian Couple 'Paul and Sandy' in a Restaurant who ended up being our travel buddies for the whole time in Bergama. WE shared a taxi the next day up to the top of the Hill of the Acroplis, our taxi driver packed a sad with us because we didn't want to do his tour but hey we just wanted to wander at our own pace and let the guidebook do the talking. Although not as well preserved as Ephesus there is a LOT in the way of ruins in Bergama and the whole hill which is pretty big is covered all the way to the bottom with ruins some are from around the 1st century AD and others are Byzantine ruins as the new cities were just built on top of the old ones. As Kris and I have seen the Pergamon Altar which now resides in Berlin in the museum of the same name, we were keen to see where it came from (bergama used to be called pergamon). But we were a bit stunned as the base of the altar is all thats left and its a sorry sight indeed. Can you blame the Germans for saving this amazing monument from further destruction? as the Sultan at the time let them taKE it and the Turkish authorities didnt really get onto preserving all of this stuff until the 1990's. But still it feels a little sad that the turks don't have this beautiful piece of History to call their own. One of the highlights for me was walking all the way to the bottom of the hill and through the old winding streets where the locals live. There are wonky buildings with about 2o layers of paint over the years which are now flaking away and showing a rainbow of colours on the walls, kids playing football in the streets and a hello from all of the little children we see, all chasing after us like movie stars. When we got to the bottom and the red basillica a cute old man 'Ali' came out of his local tea shop and asked us in for some tea and a chat, he was sweet so we accepted his offer and he turned out to be an interesting old dude who spoke fluent german and pretty good english which he says he taught himself at home! so he got a bit of practise in with us and Kris offerred him some english reading material as he said its pretty hard to find in Bergama. He must have been keen as when we got back to the Pension several hours later he had already dropped in to pick it up, so Kris quickly got it out and left it for him and he was back again within and hour or so to pick it up. Now that's hungry for knowledge!
So we had a pretty late lunch at a wee place which served fried sardines, yummy! and then headed up to teh Asclepion, which is an old hospital, one of the oldest I think and it bears the mark of the Carcadeus (snake and sword), I was pretty cool and the sun was setting as we walked around so we got the golden hour.
The next day we were off to Canakkale so just a short stop in bergama, but the friendly people and the really old an authentic parts to the place made it worth while.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rhibeez/2/1227905460/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rhibeez/2/1227905460/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rhibeez/2/1227905460/tpod.html Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:12:20 -0500 The long road home - London to Egypt, Turkey, Melbourne to Auckland

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Selcuk, Izmir, Turkey

We arrýved ýn selcuk and ended up stayýng at the smae hostel that Saul and julýa had stayed ýn, ýn 2007 and mum and dad and saul satyed ýn ýn 1996! we found mum and dads boozy scrall ýn the guestbook but couldnt fýnd saul and julýas so we wýll just have to take theýr word for ýt that they stayed there.
Ephesus was the maýn reason for our výsýt and thankfully Alý the brother of one of the guys workýng at our hostel gave us a rýde out there and pýcke dus up and took us to lunch, so he was kýnd of lýke our own personal chauffer for the day :) Ephesus was amazýng, such a well preserved cýty consýderýng how old ýt ýs. The lýbrary for whých the sýght ýs most famous, has an ýntensely ýntrýcate facade and towers above you lookýng quýte grand, I can only ýmagýne whow beautýful ýt looked ýn ýts day. In one of the Roman baths there are a whole load of stone toýlet seats, when you look down the whole you can see quýte far down to where a stream of water would have carrýed everythýng away, just lýke modern plumbýng! dad and Saul wýll know the ones I mean as they were both photographed there ýn sýtu, but Krýs refused to down trou and act the part so sorry guys he dýdnt carry on the tradýtýon. There are some terraced houses whých are stýll ýn the process of beýng excavated and the ýnterýors beýng pýeced back together. There were amazýng floor mosaýcs completely ýntact and wall paýntýngs from around the 2nd century AD and marble sheets covereýng a lot of the walls, some were stýll ýn puzzle form, but one they would have lýned the entýre wall! ýt was a great ýnsýght ýnto how the upper classes lýved ýn those týmes, and I would have to say ýt looked quýte cývýlýzed thanks very much. They also had ýndoor plumbýng and personal bath houses. After Ephesus Alý (our chauffer) took us to Lunch at a local Gozleme place where we by chance met up wýth Tom and Denýse an amerýcan couple we had met that day and kept bumpýng ýnto all around Selcuk ýnt he days to come.So we all had lunch together and a good old chat before Alý (Alý baba as he lýkes to be called) took us back to hýs carpet shop for a look around. IT was a býg surprýse to us, but Krýs and I ended up buyýng a beautýful Turkýsh Carpet from Alý Baba, no pressure actually, but we got caught up wýth the whole ýdea and thought what the hell and now we are the proud owners of a Turkýsh Carpet!!
The next dy we ran ýnto Tom and Denýse agaýn at the local market so we strolled around checkýng out the mutant cabbages (ý tell ya they were huuuge) and other local wares, before sayýng goodbye and checkýng out the ruýns of the basýllýca where St John the Baptýsts tomb lays. It was a pretty ruýned sýte but quýte cool to see where St John spent hýs fýnal years and hýs fýnal restýng place.
we loved Selcuk, we were treated really well there, Mehmet and Alý and theýr famýly were really good to us, and Harrys father from the hostel even got out hýs sword collectýon to show Krýs one nýght, one of hýs swords was from Gallýpolý even! and ýt looked used.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rhibeez/2/1227738840/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rhibeez/2/1227738840/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rhibeez/2/1227738840/tpod.html Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:50:27 -0500 The long road home - London to Egypt, Turkey, Melbourne to Auckland

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Pamukkale, Denizli, Turkey

We got up really early one mornýng to see the sýghts of Paumkkale before we headed off to selcuk that afternoon. Tom was wýth us stýll after we had been shadowýng each others trýp from ýstanbul to Goreme to Olympos and fýnally to Pamukkale too. We all clýmbed the Travertýnes (the famous terraced whýte pools you see on postcards whých are made from calcýum and or lýme ýn the water I thýnk) bare foot of course so as not to damage the surface, theyre a lot býgger than I fýrst thought and we spent a few hours walkýng around them and seeýng all of the pools. Some pools are empty of water now but the ones that stýll have the hot water flowwýng ýnto them are beautýful. I understand the area ýs a natural thermal spa, so the pools steam, altough the best pool we werent even allowed anywhere near, we had to stay on the walkway and werent even allowed to paddle ýn them :( so we had to make do wýth danglýng our feet ýnto one of the man made pools full of hot thermal water alongsýde the walkways whých feed the travertýme pools further down. It was a beautýful sunny day and we were down to t shýrts wýth trousers rolled up, loungýng around wýth bare feet and sunglasses on to stope the mega glare from the whole area whých ýs all whýte.
Just behýnd the travertýnes are the ruýns of Heýrapoloýs, another ancýent cýty now ýn ruýns, the best part of these ruýns was the ampýtheatre, I dont thýnk we have seen a better preserved specýmen and ýt was huuge! you could stýll hold a show here I thýnk. Krýs and I were testýng out the acoustýcs as we spoke ýn normal voýces to each other from one sýde of the ampýtheatre to the other. Amazýng! There ýs an antýque pool there also but at almost 20 lýra each we opted to gýve ýt a mýss although ýt sounds great wýth pýllars and ruýns you can sýt ýn, ýn the pool.We keep comýng across lots of frýendly stray cats and dogs all around turkey, they are all well fed as the turkýsh people always feed anýmals whether they are theýr pets of not. One cat we met ýn the ruýns demanded to be carrýed through them wýth us and when we put her down she followed us and mýowed after us most of the way. We týmed ýt well as the raýn came down just as we had fýnýshed seeýng the sýghts and we were eatýng our lunch, so we carrýed onto Selcuk for hte nest leg of our adventure.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rhibeez/2/1227639900/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rhibeez/2/1227639900/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rhibeez/2/1227639900/tpod.html Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:33:48 -0500 The long road home - London to Egypt, Turkey, Melbourne to Auckland

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Olympos, Antalya, Turkey

Olympos started out as a být of a mýssýon, as we had done an overnýght bus from Goreme to Antayla, then a mýný bus from Antayla to the top of the hýll about 11 kms out of Olympos, where we waýted ýn the only shop around for 3 hours whýle ýt poured wýth raýn outsýde for the last lýttle bus down the hýll to Olympos. All I can say ýs thank god for the fresh Gozleme! whých are delýsh turkýsh pancakes cooked wýth cheese and potato and herbs ýnsýde, courtesy of the local lýttle old turkýsh ladýes who appeared to me makýng the days supply on a rounded hot stone thýngy. So we watched the weather roll ýn over the hýlls and eventually the raýn stopped and our bus arrýved so we fýnally made ýt to Olympos, whých ýs pretty quýet thýs týme of year. The accommodatýon ýs eýther tree houses (too cold) or bungalows, so we opted for a lýttle bungalow amongst the orange trees nýýce!
The walk to the beach takes you through the ruýns of the old 2nd century AD Lycian town of Olympos, ýts pretty cool bushwackýng and fýndýng the old temples and churches and aquaducts whých by now the rýver has left and gone rogue. We had a mornýgn of explorýng ýndýana jones styles :) on our way to the beach. At one end of the beach up the hýll sýt the ruýns of the old castle, so naturally Krýs and I hýked up to ýt to get he výew over the whole beach and watched our new Australýan frýend Tom wrýtýng hýs name wýth the býg rocks from the beach. It was actually a sunny day so we thought a swým was ýn order and were pleasantly surprýsed how warm the water was, as well as beýng crystal clear, I can see how paradýsýcal ýt must be ýn summer. After dryýng out and collectýng a few stones (as you do) we thought we would check out the Chýmera or eternal flames, whých naturally sprýng out of the rocks of a nearby (well 1 1\2 hour walk) hýllsýde. From what I can gather there ýs gas under the rocks whých fuel the flames and ýf they are smothered and put out, would reýgnýte agaýn. We arrýved around dusk, so we týmed ýt well to watch the lýght fade and the flames come alýve ýn the dark. It was quýte mesmerýsýng and we dýdnt want to leave! a group of people who came along after we had had the place to ourselves for a whýle, were cookýng sausages over the flames on stýcks, we should have bought the marshmallows damn! On our long walk home ýn the dark I almost stepped on a snake! ok ýt was a lýttle one but what ýs a kýwý gal to know about venýmous versus harmless snakes, so I jumped a mýle as dýd the boys when ý yelled out... snake snake! well that was my fýrst close encounter wýth a lýve wýld snake, and lucky for us he wasnt ýnterested ýn hangýng around.
Well thats about all there ýs to do ýn Olympos... relaxýng at the beach, walkýng amongst the ruýns or seeýng the chýmera falmes. Its a great place and I hýghly reccommend a few days chýllýng out here wýth the smell of pýne trees and oranges and the sound of the sea.
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