It was with only slight trepidation we departed Sydney bound for Istanbul on Sept 2 conscious of DEFAT'S warning to exercise extreme caution if travelling to Turkey. It is now 17 days into our trip and so far not one sign of trouble of any kind. The first impression of Istanbul when coming into land was a huge city full of high rise apartment buildings. In fact the old city has beautiful historic buildings.
Istanbul is a really delightful city that reminds me of parts of Morocco.
Shoreline of the Bosphorus
We stayed in a gorgeous private hotel ideally situated in Sultanahmet in the heart of old Byzantium and only a few minutes from the Blue Mosqueö Topkapi Palace and Aghia Sophia Museum.
To watch the sunset on the rooftop terrace of Hotel Empress Zoe with a G & T in hand is like living a fairytale.
The Turks are friendly, helpful and welcoming and many speak English. We soon discovered their love of domestic animals with very healthy and spoilt cats and dogs everywhere. This country is beautiful and has a rich and mixed cultural history due to the contribution of several ancient civilizations evident by the many fascinating ruins and ancient sites - some well preserved.
The image above is inside St Nicholas Church.
We are a group of 10 made up of four Canadians five Aussies and one Englishman. At day 19, still friends and speaking, so doing nicely.
Malcolm, Louise, Michael,Silvia and Rod
Susie and Bob Pearce from Benalla in Victoria, John and myself arrived three days before the rest of the group. We took a two day guided tour and visited Gallapoli peninsula including Anzac Cove of course and the various memorial sites of the countries involved in the battles of this historic peninsula. For some reason I did not experience the same heart-wrenching emotion I did when visiting the Australian war memorial in the battlefields of France. We had an excellent guide who gave an unbiased account of the battle between his countryman and ours and as he said really the whole exercise in the end was for absolutely nothing.
We crossed the Dardenelles and spent one night in Canakkale then the next day explored the old city of Troy. This was fascinating.
From Istanbul we flew to Bodrum (ancient Halicarnassus) famous for the Bodrum castle built by the Knights of St John in 15th century and converted to a prison in 1895. The castle was bombarded by the French warship Dubleix and was abandoned for many years. Today it houses the underwater archaeology museum.
Onto Göcek marina where we collected two 40 ft Beneteau sailing boats - 5 persons to each.
We set sail for seven nights sailing around the Ionian coast of the Aegean Sea.
After two days I was more than ready to 'jump ship' at Dalyan, a very pretty village built of the river where the cannels of the river wind through the reed-beds of the estuary amidst spectacular mountain scenery. However I stuck with it, the sea-sickness subsided and I thoroughly enjoyed the remainder of our time on the water.
We anchored in beautiful and tranquil bays and I loved diving into the clear blue bouyant water in perfect temperature with absolutely no threat of sharks or other nasties.
Snorkling was great although no colourful coral like that which can be found on our northern coastline.
On Saturday 16 Sept we sailed back to Göcek marina and said goodbye to 'Anastasia' and 'Moonshine Bay - I was not altogether unhappy to do that.
We have hired a 15 seated VW coach with driver for the remainder of our time together as a group in Turkey.
Josef our driver is a pleasant young Turk with limited English and a good sense of humour.
Our first day we drove onto Fithiye and then Olu Deniz. Olu Deniz is a a very scenic beachside tourist town known as one of the best locations in the world for paragliding. Suzie P and I could not resist the temptation. Soon we were in a 4 X 4 vehicle and had a very rough 45 minute drive up to the top of Babadag (Father) mountain. The 130 Turkish lire was worth every bit to experience the drive up and take off from the top of the mountain and float 6550 ft down in the gentle sea breezes with stunning views of Fethiye, Hisarome and Oludeniz and land on the beach.
Better than parachuting from a plane, better than parasailing and much better than bungy jumping.
Right now we are staying at a private mountain lodge in Tlos. The view from our room over the valley to distant mountains is beautiful.
It is hot but the hotel has a lovely pool. Out hostess Mel is a gorgeous Kurd about 40, whippet slim with boundless energy.
She led up on a hike this morning along bush tracks beside mountain streams up to the ancient city ruins of Tlos with a historic past estimated dating back 2000 year BC.
One of the most prominent settlements due to the splendor of the ruins with the city wall of the Roman era and rock tombs of the Lycian culture. The view from the top of the acropolis are absolutely spectacular and worth every inch of the trek.
From here we go on exploring more of the South east of Turkey until 23 Sept when this part of our journey will be over and each will go their own way.
Our original plan to go through Syria to Jordan was quickly abandoned when the fighting broke out between Lebanon and Israel. Suzie P, John and I now plan to fly back to Istanbul and onto Cairo for a couple of nights to visit the great pyramids and sphinx. Then to take a bus from Cairo to the ferry from Nuweiba to Aquaba in Jordan. We are keen to visit Petra and then the Savs will fly home from Amman arriving Sydney Oct 2.That's the plan but may change.
In the meantime we are thoroughly enjoying delicious food, wine and great company.
Breakfast at Mountain Lodge
Freshly picked grapes with figs to die for.
Malcome - not sure about the good wine!
I have my fingers crossed for the Sydney Swannies to win next Friday night to get them to the grand final. I can't believe that they have reached the finals two years in a row and I have been out of the country both times!
Thanks to my friends who deep in touch via email and text - any news from home is exciting to receive and always welcome.
Turkish keyboards are like a lot of keyboards in Europe so I hope what is transmitted is understandable. It is the best I can do.
Until next time - stay well and safe
Jeanette
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