We are now on our way to Pamukkle where there are thermal pools set into the side of limestone cliffs. It is a long drive but we make plenty of stops for toilet breaks, snacks and lunch. It is interesting seeing the Turkish countryside, the towns and villages. There is lots of construction that has been started on buildings and roads but no one seems to be working as we go past. The men are all sitting outside the cafés drinking tea, we have seen that everywhe...

After a 9 days away we are still both sneezing and coughing and putting it down to the air conditioning. Smoking hasn't been as bad a problem as expected which is good for me. Our hotel in Kusadasi is a resort and absolutely packed with English, Germans, Russians and Belgians. They get cheap packages that includes breakfast and dinner for less than half of what Turkish people would pay. We have a laugh as in the morning they line up for half an hour before the ...

Today half our your group returned to Istanbul and thirteen of us headed for Kusadasi, it was a drive of 500 km but we saw lots of the countryside and had plenty of stops for refreshments. The highlight was a visit to the Acropolis of Pergamum and the Temple of Trajan at Bergama. It had been a Greek and also a Roman city originally founded about 301BC. The ruins have been restored in places using the original marble and stone. We were able to get to the site by c...

We stayed at Canakkle a very pretty seaside town so had to cross the Dardanelles on the ferry to drive to the Gallipoli Peninsula. We visited all the places that have familiar names from our Anzac history. Anzac Cove, Shrapnel Valley, Shell Green, The Nek and Lone Pine. Even though the beach at Anzac Cove and landscape of the hills have changed in the past hundred years it is still possible to see the daunting task the Anzacs faced in 1915. Seeing rows and rows ...

Today's highlights were Byzantium Hippodrome where they raced chariots. The Blue Mosque where you were surrounded by the smell of sweaty feet as everybody has to take off their shoes. Topkapi Palace which was very crowded and the amazing Basilica underground cisterns and finally Turkish apple tea at a tea house and water pipe cafe. In the cafe all you can hear is the bubbling of water as people of all ages, men and women inhale the flavoured tobacco they seem ...