Olympos to Fehtiye – Blue Cruise

Olympos was our first experience of Mediterranean beaches – very rocky, covered in people and amazingly clear waters!! The water was refreshing compared to the 40+ weather, but the rocks were steaming hot!! We took the waterproof camera to capture some underwater moments but it actually broke while we were in the water.. whoops! It’s had a good couple of years though!

Our thong tans in the sea 

Olympos Beach

 

 The hotel we stayed at was all little bungalows and wooden tree houses, we were happy to spend the night in air conditioned comfort. Hostel included dinner, so we ate  there and found a group of 4 New Zealanders and an Aussie couple who were also going on the cruise, so we requested to all be on the same boat, which turned out great! 

Our Boat

 The boat trip was great! The cabins were very basic and we were told straight up that everyone sleeps on the deck (no air-con and smelled a bit like a boat down there anyway!). First day was nice cruising around and swimming in little sections. First night on the boat was very warm but enjoyed sleeping on the deck! Second day we stopped in at a little town called Kas, very cute. We could have stayed there for a night it was very lovely! 

Kas

 

The next night on the boat was through some rough seas and Rory was up spewing around 6am, another girl was sick too and it was very rough – no one enjoyed that nights sleep or the morning ride to the next stop over! The following day we didnt move around much and was mostly spent at one spot, we did some swimming etc. And then celebrated one of the girl on the boats birthday in the afternoon/evening with a few bottles of wine – had a good sleep that night!

Rory swimming

6 Lira wine = $4 or less.. actually not bad..

Sunsets from the Boat

Aussie and Kiwi Crew :)

 

Last day on the boat was pretty boring and we were very happy to arrive in to our last stop, Fehtiye. All in all it was a great cruise and a met a great bunch of people. For anyone coming to Turkey on the cheap we would highly recommend! 

Rory in Fehtiye

Booked our tickets from Rhodes to Santorini for the following day and spent the whole next day either on a ferry, waiting for a ferry or thinking about ferries!! But the 6 hour ride was actually pretty good, very good boat- better than the spirit of Tas and much calmer sea!! Had a nap and arrived in to Santorini around 1am!! Santorini updates to come!

Pamukkale & Cappadocia

Pamukkale is a place where there are many ledges of natural pools which have over time overflowed and created this amazing white cliffed, blue pool effect. Water is not naturally running down them any more so they have a watering type system so that the pools can still be waded/laid in and to keep the calcium deposits forming. The weather was over 40 and the water in the pools would have been at least 30 degrees but it was fun sloshing around in the mud and covering ourselves in it.

At the very top there is an Ancient Roman Pool which contains natural mineral water (like soda water) in the pool there are various marble columns etc. that fell in during an earthquake a few hundred years ago. The water was 37 degrees so it wasn't refreshing but once we had been in there for a while it started to become quite relaxing. Lots of people were filling up water bottles to take home with both the mud and the mineral water as apparently it has a lot of healing and health benefits. We drank some of the water but it wasn't very nice... it did feel nice when it bubbled on your skin though!

After a day in the pools and the mud we had an overnight bus to Goreme in Cappadocia where they have "Fairy Chimneys" the bus arrived in late and we literally got off the overnight bus and on to a tour bus to take us around that had already been booked. It was interesting to think people lived in the houses in the rocks for so many years - some of them where still lived in until the 60's! Our hostel had some trouble with our room so we ended up in this massive family room with 2 fold out sofa beds, a set of bunks, a mattress on the floor and another single bed and a kitchen?! we think it might be someones house in the low season - our room is also mainly made of rock - the photos wont do it justice!

Day two was another tour which included seeing even more rock houses/churches/monasteries etc. and an underground city which was a couple of thousand years old. The ancient Romans/Greeks were so clever!! Lots of nice people staying at our hostel which is nice :) Last day today we have spent hanging out by the pool, lazying around after too many days straight on tours!! Tonight at 10pm we have an overnight bus to Olympos where we are staying in a tree house and then have 3 nights on the Blue Cruise.. excited for some relaxing :)

Turkey- Gallipoli, Troy, Pergamum, Selcuk & Ephesus

We left Istanbul at 6.30am for the 4 or so hour drive in to Gallipoli. Some how we both managers to sleep for a fair bit of the trip!! Arrived in and then out to Gallipoli- was very sad but the actual location was beautiful! The beach was beautiful! All of the memorials were very well maintained and our guide was very informative.

We then overnighted at a place called tj's where we were in a terrible room, the hostel was humongous and we managed to be staying in a noisy, no fan, no air cond room- needless to say we had the worst sleep of our trip! Including planes and overnight buses!!! The next day we had a trip out to Troy- the story was interesting but the ruins were hard to imagine and also needed a lot more excavating.

We went from Troy on to Pergamum which was amazing! Very well excavated and quiet. We were impressed- then went to a Turkish carpet making place and had some Turkish red wine. It was OK.

After this the bus took us to Selcuk. the hotel is amazingly cute!!!

Had some dinner there which was lovely homemade Turkish meal - maybe the best meal we have had since we have been away!! It was about 6 different things, stuffed capsicum, soup, meatballs etc. really good!! The following morning we went to Ephesus ruins - this was a massive city 2000+ years ago!

It was cool wandering around, then went to the house where they think they virgin Mary last loved.. we didn't spend much time there... we decided not to drink the holy water, didnt want to burst into flames. Apparently they get millions of pilgrims come through daily. After the tour was over we spent some time drinking beers followed by sunset wines and then had some Turkish Sandwiches for dinner - a pretty early night!

Istanbul

WE LOVE ISTANBUL!!
This place is seriously amazing! We arrived in at 6am and had a bit of a mix up with hostel pick up so got to the hostel about 9am - they gave us breakfast upon arrival which was nice - breakfast here is a boiled egg, a whole basket of fresh Turkish bread (so much better than Turkish bread at home) an assortment of cream cheese spread, sour cherry jam, butter, honey or nutella, usually a cracker like jatz biscuit and some form of sweet treat like walnut bread or a chocolate biscuit and slices of cucumber and tomato. Its delicious! The food here agrees with me so much more - no more constant hunger and sugar crashes!!

Seaside

The city is beautiful with small cobblestone streets mixed with massive mosques and terraced houses and hostels/hotels and tons of cafes with cushions and low leveled tables - lots of steep walking and there are two sides of the main city divided by the sea. We are staying on the old side - walking distance to the Blue Mosque, 16th Century Palace, Grand Bazaar etc.

Turkish Beer

Our first day we took a wander around where we are staying and before we could check in to our room and then decided to go over to the newer part of the city over the bridge called Taksim  there is a massive mall that runs through this area and a lot more bars and cafes - we have been told its a lot more violent on that side of town and suggested not to go out there at night - the shops were very good during the day - all big brand names etc. We spent a good couple of hours walking the streets and exploring and then came back to our side of town and had some dinner close to the hotel (lots of good restaurants)
Main food is doner kebab - kind of like yiros but with nicer bread and it seems less greasy which you can get from street stalls/take away places for 2 - 6 Lira (1 Turkish Lira = 75c)  lots of hot corn stalls 1TL, meals at a restaurant for dinner around 50TL ($35ish) Meze plate is a mixture of all different types of dips and bread usually around 10TL and amazing to eat! Seriously food here is like WOW!

Cafe times

Grand Bazaar

Grand Bazaar

Grand Bazaar

Rings!!!

Turkish Pizza

Egyptian Bazaar or Spice Bazaar

Spices

Doner Kebab

Second day we went to the Palace which had billions of dollars worth of gold/precious stones - most of it was from the 16th Century - the Ottoman Architecture is amazing. We then went to the Grand Bazaar - also amazing, So much to see - lots of amazing jewellery, home decorations, plates and carpets -if only we had more space in our bags!! We decided to to a night time dinner cruise to Bosphorus which was a bit of a splurge 60 euro each but included unlimited alcohol - i ended up on the white wine... ahhh so delicious after 4 weeks without it!! Dinner was good and there was a couple of performances like belly dancing, traditional Turkish dance, a weird midget dance with people dressed as dwarfs - food was good too :) we did get a bit drunk though! Got dropped back at our hotel at 12.30pm and then went and got a Hookah/Shisha to try out - Apple flavour - very good, much better than the ones on hindley street! tasted nice!! We also got a watermelon to eat and some beers which they forgot to charge us for - lucky! We also met a Turkish couple who owned a restaurant around the corner- the girl was very nice, he didn't speak much English but they seemed happy to be talking to some Australians :) We met up with them again and we went for an adventure through the city so they could show us a jewellery shop that they would personally buy things from - lots of amazing things but too much money!! They then took us out for Turkish Coffee (Delicious) and bought us some as a gift - They were quite wealthy but so happy to be taking us around - she loved it! we got her email address so will try catch up again before we leave. We went to the Turkish Bath in the afternoon - such a good experience!! girls go completely naked- guys cover their bits with little towels. Started sitting in a steam room kind of thing and then splashing warm water on yourself (for about 10 minutes) and then get moved to a stone bench where another person splashes you with water all over and then scrubs your skin and then soaps you up with SO much soap, then soap massage then wash it off and hair wash. The whole place was made of Marble and was built in the 1600's after the wash off we then had an oil massage and then all done :) For Rory he was washed and massaged by a man also in a towel who was rather fat (no homo), for Mel she was washed by a young skinny Turkish girl who was only wearing knickers so I think the boys would enjoy it more on the girls side hahahah!



Went to the Egyptian Bazaar which is the spice markets - so many different amazing smells and foods! Mainly just spices, preserves, Turkish delight and nougat, some dried meats and more jewellery - I think Mum would love this place!! Heading to Gallipoli tomorrow - will be sad to say goodbye to Istanbul its been amazing but excited to see more of this country!!

Cambodia - Siem Reap

We overnight bussed in from Sihanoukville to Siem Reap - took around 12 hours. We had bought some Valium over the counter at a chemist and it saved us - we slept the whole trip through! Arrived in at 8am and luckily the hotel had sent someone to pick us up and they let us straight in to our room too! We stayed at the Angkor Pearl which is a newer place - less than a year old - very nice rooms - $20 a night! We went for a wander to get some breakfast and through the day markets and quickly figured out that Siem Reap is very quiet during the day! At night it is bustling with lots of little cafes, pubs, amazing night markets and food stalls all over! We woke up at 4.30am for sunrise of Angkor Wat - very early morning! It was very cool watching it get from dark to light but didn't really do any oranges or colours in the sky! We spent about 6 hours around the temples and were both well and truly ready to leave by the time we got to the 10th one! Lahni and Eleanor arrived in a day later and then we spent some time with them before bidding farewell to Cambodia!!

Cambodia - Sihanoukville

So after a couple of day in chaotic Phnom Penh we were ready for a sea change! 5 hours on the bus later we arrived in to Sihanoukville! Lindsay- our American buddy had come along with us and stayed at one of the $6 a night bungalows 2 doors down from our $25 hotel with pool and aircond! The weather our first couple of days was very wet season - it poured the first night and was pretty overcast and drizzly but hot for the next day. The beach was full of Cambodian tourists and lots of children "you wann bracelet" - we learnt a new line from them - "Open your heart and open your wallet".. it was sad that they were not at school. Food was much cheaper than Phnom Penh and it was so so much quieter in the main strip we were staying as it was mainly other budget hotels. We went out for happy hour 50c beers, $1.50 cocktails and decided to check out the "free vodka bar" lets just say we don't remember much after that and were both very happy to wake up and find out that we had not lost anything and got home safe - both felt very hungover the next day! Lahni and Eleanor our friends from home arrived in late on our hungover day - it was good to spend a couple of days with them by the beach and they brought the sun!! Maybe too much sun! We got pretty burnt by the pool the first day and second day did a cruise out to Koh Rong Saloem which is where Eleanor will be living for the next month for her volunteer work. It was very beautiful out there - seriously one of the nicest beaches i have ever seen! crystal clear water and clean white sand! We went out to a traditional Khmer restaurant that set us back $5 each for WAY too much food - we were the only whiteys in the place and it was packed - food was great! The rest of our time in Sihanoukville was spent being lazy, drinking beer and hanging with the girlie's - a good relaxing time!

Cambodia - Phnom Penh

We spent the first 4 nights in Phnom Penh, we had met a couple on the tour, Lindsay (from NY) and Rob (from Wales) they had met travelling. Spent the first day doing a city tour on a Tuk Tuk - checked out all of the markets and a couple of temples. Second day was spent at S21 School and the Killing Fields - they were both horrific and still seriously raw - the school had blood stained walls and horrible vibe to the whole place. The killing fields had items of clothing and bones still coming out of the ground as they have only dug up half of the graves. Such a depressing afternoon!

Killing Fields

On the same day we also took the opportunity to shoot some guns.. good fun - it was over and done with quickly but still something we will never have the chance to do again! Rory didn't have much trouble with the gun but Mel needed some assistance from the Cambodian assistant to keep shoulder down - lets just say they wouldn't let us near those guns at home!

We spent another day checking out the riverside and eating and drinking cheap beers and caught up with our new made friends a couple of times before deciding it was time to move on! Phnom Penh was an experience and constantly growing but the constant "you wannn tuktuk mister" and "marraawanna" (Marijuana) got pretty tiring!!