Turkey Delights!!

Turkey has been fabulous!! We love the food, the energy, the people, the history and of course, the Nargile!
We arrived early on a Friday morning, after our 31 hour train ride, found our hostel and found that we had some energy. So, we washed up and hit the Grand Bazaar! Within minutes of arriving we had 10 new 'friends' who wanted to help us spend our money!! Without even wanting a waterpipe, we had somehow talked a guy down from 120 Lira to 25 Lira and still did not buy it. We did somehow end up with a lovely carpet and 2 pillow covers.
After leaving the bazaar, we had our first Nargıle (waterpipe) in a lovely little courtyard. Colin fell in love with the water pipe right there and then.
İn the following days, we visited the Hagia Sophia, toured the Bosphorus and haggled some more wıth the local vendors. We loved every minute.
Oh, and I can't forget about the food. İt tastes sooooo good. Everything from the Turkish Delight and Backlava to the Mezes to the Doner Kepabs. We had an amazing sit-down meal at a lovely Turkish joint recommended by Jamie, the Turkish friend of our second WWOOFing hosts. Thanks Jamie! We've also started to love the 2 Lira doner sandwichs!

After this first weekend in İstanbul, we rented a car and travelled to Selçuk to check out Ephesus. Luckily the roads went right through Gallipole and Troy on the way there. Then, we left Selçuk and travelled through Pummakale en route to Cappadocia. The roadtrip was amazing! You have to see the pictures to understand how beautıful and varied the Turkish countryside ıs. We met some great people on this trıp as well. A wonderful Kiwi who is cycling around the world and some Aussies who also just got married and took a year off to travel the world. The Aussie couple joined us in the car for a portion of the roadtrip. Great fun!

After the roadtrip, we had a few days left to enjoy İstanbul. We managed to take in the Blue Mosque, the Grand Baazar one more time and the Turkish baths. At the Baazar, we bought a lovely lamp and a Nargıle. We plan to set up a lıttle Turkish room when we get home!!

Now we are all set to move on to the next stage of our journey: AFRICA!!! Next stop: the top of Mt. Kili!!!!!

P & C