On the 14th of August we drove about 1 hour from Olympos to Demre where our sail boat was waiting for us to depart on a 4 day cruise of the Aegean Sea. We departed straight away to for the Sunken City and then to Simena Castle where we anchored for lunch and sightseeing. We were transferred to land to climb up the top to Simena Castle where we saw the amazing views of the bay and islands.
Our cabin on the boat
The Sunken City
The view from Simena Castle
That night we pulled up in Gokkaya Bay for snorkelling, dinner and sleeping under the stars Our dinner was home caught fish, cooked on the boats open barbecue with salad and pasta
Dinner cooking on the boats bbq
yummy!
The following day we pulled up to Yaglica Bay for snorkelling and breakfast, followed by cruising to Kas harbour for lunch. Kas is a beautiful little town featuring many beach bar / resorts where you dive straight in from the cliffs and enjoy the refreshing sea water. The offer a lot of scuba diving here, especially around the plane wrecks and because it was so cheap we decided to give it a go and give our previous diving experiences a refresher.
Kas
Although we didn't see much it was still really fun to be under water scuba diving and getting the feeling again. Afterwards our boat picked us up and we headed to Aquarium Bay for the night where we had meatballs and salad for dinner.
That night the boat started sailing at 4am towards Butterfly Valley. Unfortunately the water was too rough so we couldn't pull in to see the Valley. We continued past St. Nicholas Island to Tarzan's Bay where we spent the night. This bay is really cool, many of the trees have ropes hanging from them so you can climb up the rocks and swing into that water. That night we had chicken wings and salad for dinner.
The Blue Lagoon
The following morning we headed into Fethiye Port where we departed the boat and headed to the bus station to travel to our next destination.
Pamukkale is a 4 hour drive North, in land from Fethiye and contains one of the worlds most amazing natural landscapes. The following day we did a full day tour of Pamukkale starting off At the natural springs where many elderly people go to help heal their arthritis and other health issues - They say drinking the water can fix any illness.
Natural Spring Waters in a town near Pumukkale
Afterwards we headed to the Hierapolis Ancient City which contains thousands of graves and Ancient ruins from the Greek city that exsisted hundreds of years ago. From here was a short stroll to the "Cotton Castle", the calcium terraces filled with natural hot spring water. The original terraces are banned from swimming in for preservation but across the mountain are many replicas where the public can walk through and bath.
Hierapolis Ancient City
The Preserved Natural Calcium Terraces
Before heading down through the main made calcium pools, we walked up to the Hierapolis Ancient City Amphitheatre and although it was extremely hot and very uncomfortable to walk up to, it was highly worth it just for the view and architecture. Unlike many other amphitheatre's in Europe, this one is mostly still in tact from the original building.
Hierapolis Ancient Amphitheatre
We also had the option of bathing in the man made hot springs pool but it was $30 entry and not worth it because you can swim in the cliff pools for free.
Cotton Castle
Me! Bathing in one of the man made calcium terraces
Once we had walked through the Cotton Castle we had a buffet lunch at the restaurant near by and then headed back to the travel agent where we caught a 3 hour bus to Kusadasi.
Kusadasi is a quite a large costal town and a popular destination for many Mediterranean Cruise Ships. Here we spent 2 nights where we relaxed by the pool, shopped in the Bazaar (market) and swam in the sea. I really enjoyed Kusadasi, it is very relaxed and has everything you need close by.
Kusadasi Market
Kusadasi
On our third night it was time to catch the overnight bus to Gallipoli where we had a full day tour booked for the following day. The bus ride took approximately 10 hours and although it doesn't sound the appealing it was actually quite comfortable. On most turkish coaches they hand out free food and beverages including cakes, biscuits, coca-cola and hot coffee.
near Anzac Cove where the Beach Ceremony is held every year
To get to Gallipoli our bus had to cross over on a ferry but I was sound asleep and had no idea this had happened. Suddenly I was abruptly woken up and told we had missed our stop and were to get off a bus. The bus driver waved down a local who was very kind and drove us 5 minutes back in to town.
Our tour began at Crowded House Hotel located in Eceabat. Thankfully they had our room ready for us when we arrived at 8am so it gave us a chance to have a nap and shower before our Gallipoli tour started at 12pm.
The tour began with lunch at the hotel followed by a 15 minute bus ride to Brighton Beach. Here our guide explained the history of Gallipoli including how the Turks became involved in WW2 and the ANZAC's mission.
It was extremely interesting tour but very hard to imagine how a war occurred and many loosing their lives in such a beautiful place. The tour continued on to Anzac Cove, Beach Ceremony, Ariburnu Cemetery, Lone Pine Australian Cemetery, Johnston's Jolly (Turkish trenches and tunnels), Turkish Cemetery and the Chunuk Bair New Zealand Cemetery.
A Photo of Anzac Cove in WW2
Lone Pine Australian Cemetery
One of the remaining trenches at Johnston's Jolly
Yakup Satar - The oldest WW2 Turkish Soldier with his Granddaughter - He died in 2008, aged 110
The Turkish Cemetery
Our tour finished around 5pm so we headed back to Crowded House Hotel to rest before going out for dinner in Eceabat. The following morning we departed Eceabat at 6am and caught a bus to Bodrum (10 hours south from Ecebat).
This was the last leg of our tour of Turkey. We extremely enjoyed it and would recommend to anyone travelling to Turkey to do a similar trip as ours as it is very affordable, informative and versatile.
On the 7th of August we flew from Casablanca, Morocco to Istanbul, Turkey.
Before arriving in Turkey we had booked a 14 day youth tour through Tours 4 Turkey. It began with a full day city tour of Istanbul followed by an overnight bus to the Famous white cliff town - Cappadocia.
St. Sophia
The Blue Mosque
One of the many Chandeliers in St. Sophia
A cup of Turkish Coffee at a Carpet Shop
The entrance to Topkapi Palace
The view from one corner of the Palace
During the Istanbul city tour we visited the Blue Mosque, St. Sophia and Topkapi Palace. Unfortunately it was the last holy Friday of Ramadan so many things we were suppose to see on our tour were closed including the Great Bazaar. This was probably a good thing though as it saved me lots of money :)
The overnight bus to Cappadocia was a 10 drive and arrived at 8am the following day. Once we arrived at the bus stop our transfer bus was waiting to take us to Dedeli Konak Cave Hotel which would be our home for the next 2 nights. When we arrived we were pleased to hear we could access our room straight away which meant we could shower and have some breakfast before starting our day trip of The white cliffs. The room was amazing, sculptured into the cliff, it was triple the size of most rooms we have stayed in on this trip and it even had a new spa bath!
The Red Valley
The Red Valley - Approx 3kms of walking
Cavusin - An Old Greek Town
Inside the Underground City
Inside the Underground City
Our day tour started off in the red valley where we walked, admiring the rock formations created by volcano laver many many years ago. Within these cliffs were many pigeon holes. After our walk we went to lunch at an underground restaurant which was next to a jewellery shop selling a variety of jewellery from gold, silver to turquoise rocks - all originating from Turkey.
After this we headed to the underground city where the Christians hid from the Romans hundreds of years ago. The city is 7 levels (approx. 60 metres underground) with small tunnels leading throughout the city like a maze. The city was large enough to hold 20,000 people. We wondered from room to room with brief explanations of what they could have been used for - a lot is unknown about the underground cities because they are so old and were only discovered in the 1950's.
That night we decided to book the famous Cappadocia hot air ballooning for the following morning which meant a 4am start so after the tour we grabbed a quick dinner and then had an early night.
The balloon being blown up
The Balloon being prepared for our flight
The View - WOW!
Our Basket after landing
On the 11th of August we woke up extremely tired and nervous to go hot air ballooning. it was well worth it! The Hot air ballooning was amazing - there were over 60 other balloons in the sky floating over the amazing white cliffs and landscape of Cappadocia. At first I was very scared as I didn't know what to except. But once we started floating off the ground, I was quite relieved at how peaceful and calming the experience really was. The basket was quite small but was divided into 5 sections it could carry 18 people at a time including the pilot in the middle controlling the gas and steering during the whole flight. At one stage during the flight I could not believe how high up we had drifted, being scared of heights I found it very surreal and quite peaceful, until of course I thought of the logistics of what we were doing and then I had to hold on the pole for awhile until my mind stopped thinking and relaxed again with the beautiful sights of Cappadocia.
Our pilot told us the time we went flying wasn't particularly busy and that on some days there can be up to 160 balloons in the sky at once.
Dedfli Konagi Cave Hostel
Once we arrived back to the hotel we had breakfast before we were to be picked up for another full day tour of Cappadocia. I was extremely tired and still not 100% over my cold so I decided to skip the tour and stay at the hotel to have spa and watch a couple of movies.
Turkish Dinner + Show
That night we went to a Whirling Dervishes Turkish night which included a 3 course meal, unlimited alcohol and a performance of a Typical Turkish wedding. It was a fantastic night and a great insight into the Turkish culture - we saw traditional Turkish dances, listened to traditional music and even got to get up and join in with the dancing too!
Our view of the show - Musicians playing traditional music
Traditional Turkish Dancers
The following day we had to ourselves before getting an overnight bus from Cappadocia to Olympos. The journey took us along the cliff beachside of Turkey down to a hilly and bumpy journey to Olympos. Located in a forest / beach cove area, Olympos is the perfect place to unwind and relax. We stayed at Saban Tree houses which was located 10 minutes from the beach. Although our accommodation was very simple, it was lovely to relax in one of the many hammocks or treehouses surrounding the property. After settling in we headed to the beach (5lr entry) where we spent the afternoon swimming and sunbaking amongst many Turkish families on holidays.
Our Treehouse in Olympos
Mike relaxing in one of the many hammocks in Olympos
That night we had a delicious buffet meal at the Saban Tree Houses including fish, meat pastieres, pasta and salad. The next day we departed Olympos to Demre where we began a 4 day cruise through the Aegean Sea to Fethiye...........
On the 2nd of August we were picked up in a mini van from our hostel in Marrakech and embarked on our 3 day desert trip!
Windy roads around the Atlas Mountains
We headed south, winding around the Atlas mountains, past Berber villages and arrived at Kasbah Ait Benhaddou (Where Gladiator the movie - 2000 was filmed). Here a guide walked us to the top of the village and then we had a quick lunch before heading towards Dades River.
Kasbah Ait Benhaddou
Before stopping for a swim in the river we visited a small village located in the valley of the Gorge. This particular village was set up by the gorvernment to help widowed and divorced women who lived in the mountains earn money by making carpets and farming fruit to sell at the market. This money helps send their children to school who otherwise would never go.
View of the Valley
During this stop over we walked through the valley where fruit and vegetable grow and were welcomed into a local home to see the carpets being crafted. The women aren't pressured to make the carpets by a certain time but are allowed to go at their own pace to ensure the quality is good and also to keep their fingers in tact. Most women will spend 1 to 2 hours each day working on a carpet, with 1 carpet taking 2 - 3 weeks to complete (depending on the detail and materials). The carpets are made using sheep wool, camel wool and cactus silk. All materials are then dyed naturally with saffron (orange / red), indigo (blue / purple) and other natural resources. Before weaving the carpets the materials are soaked in vinegar so the colour is fastened into the fibres.
Demonstration of how Moroccan carpets are made
Dades river was extremely beautiful, I have never seen a river with such crystal clear water. It was very refreshing after being in the bus for many hours with no air-conditioning.
Dades River
Dades Gorge
That night we stayed in a hotel at Dades Gorge before heading off the following day to the Sahara. We arrived in Merzouga at 5pm where our camels weren't quite ready for the ride into the desert so we had the opportunity to cool off and go for a swim in the pool before embarking on a 2 hour sunset camel ride into the desert.
The Sahara
The desert was extremely peaceful with nothing insight except for thousands of stars, sand dunes and a couple of shrubs. That evening we climbed one of the sand dunes where we could see the Algerian boarder and various military buildings.
Our Guides entertaining us at the campsite with some local music
Our Tent that slept 6 people
Sunrise Camel Ride
At 4:30am we were woken up for our 2 hour sunrise camel ride back to civilisation. Unfortunately I got a much smaller camel then previously. It was extremely uncomfortable to sit on for 1 minute let alone 2 hours so you can understand how happy I was when we eventually got back to the hotel in Merzouga.
At the hotel we had breakfast and then it was back on the van with most people heading back to Marrakech but instead we were dropped off at Rissani where we caught a 10 hour bus to Fez.
