14th May 2010 From the coast we head through the mountains towards Cappadocia - 12 hour drive. Cappadocia is an area in Central Anatolia in Turkey best known for its unique moon-like landscape, underground cities, cave churches, fairy chimneys, houses carved in the rocks and is a region of unusual beauty. The combined forces of man and natural erosion have created many compelling environments. One of the most impressive is the Kaymakli caves where the effort...

12th May 2010 Up at 9am and walked around Kas. Had breakfast and then a full day boat cruise on the Mediteranean. Along the edge of Kekova island facing the mainland lies the fascinating half-submerged remains of a Lycian sunken city, and some remains also from the Byzantine times. Staircases from Kekova Island to the sea still exist. The breakwaters belonging to two harbors on the north of the island have not collapsed yet either. We went swimming in ...

11th May 2010 A short drive from the hostel is the archaeological site of Ephesus. Once the 'capital of Asia', Ephesus is the largest and one the best preserved cities in the Mediterranean. Of particular interest were the library of Celsus, the Temple of Hadrian, the amphitheatre, the gate of Hercules, the brothel and ancient public latrines (where the ancient Greek "Georgius Michaelus" used to get up to no good). The burial tomb of Cleopatra's sister is there...

10th May 2010 Leaving the shores of Eceabat we cross the Bosphorus by boat to Canakale and onto Troy (Asia Turkey). Although not the greatest archaeological site, Troy is perhaps Turkey's most famous - largely due to the writings of Homer. Many new excavations continue to this day. There was a wooden horse replica, which we all climbed and hung our heads out of the windows. We had a guided tour of the ruins with Mastifa. We then drove to Selcuk where we spent...

Leaving Istanbul in the cool air of the early morning we transfer out to the edge of town by taxi where we met the truck and got ourselves organised in the relative peace of the suburbs and without constantly being asked to buy carpets. The drive to Gallipoli took 6 hrs with lunch in a café en route. At Gallipoli there were memorials to all the Australian, New Zealand, British and Turkish troops who died here in what was one of WW1's more tragic offensives. ...