Day 42 - 43 TURKEY to SYRIA We left a little too late to cross the border before it was dark so tried to stay the night in Antakya, (the ancient city of Antioch) on the Turkish side of the border - however there were no campsites and all the hotels were full. Surprised to find that there was literally 'no room at the inn' we eventually found out that there was a huge military parade going on and that families from all over Turkey had come to see their...

TURKEY - CAPPADOCIA Day 38 - 41 We got up early (for the first time!) and left the campsite before 9am for a full day's driving to Cappadocia - we drove for 9 hours in shifts and managed to listen to the whole of an audio version of 'Anna Karenina' on the Ipod! We have resolved to listen to more classics on our route down to Africa. We drove through some spectacular scenery as we approached Cappadocia, right in the centre of Turkey, and camped at the b...

TURKEY - AEGEAN COAST Day 30 - 37 We drove down the west coast of Turkey, to the Gallipoli peninsular and famous WW1 battlefields. We stayed in a hostel in Eceabat frequented by many Ozzies and Kiwis who are here to see the Anzac graveyards. We drove around the moving battle sites and visited the moving memorials and graveyards of over 80,000 soldiers (Anzacs and Turks) - a pointless massacre of no strategic gain by the Allied forces. Rich was desper...

Day 25 - 29: We crossed into Turkey without too much hassle - although we are realising that buying visas, using the carnet for the first time and general customs checks takes it's time. We were very held up on the motorway into Istanbul due to roadworks and a car accident. We got lost in the centre (we should have used the GPS!) and although a few hours later than planned, eventually met up with our great friend Pete Clasen in a restaurant on the Golden Hor...

Day 21 - 22 (3 September): MACEDONIA. Unfortunately we only spent a couple of days in Maccedonia but enjoyed it very much. We camped on the banks of Lake Ohrid (which wasn't orrid at all) and visited the Sveti Naum monastery (a beautiful 7th century church with incredible frescoes and icons adorning every wall). We loved the town of Ohrid and spent a morning walking around the cobbled streets to lovely old churches and a great amphitheatre overlooking the sea....