This morning we got up at 4.30, packed our bags and headed down stairs. The receptionist called a cab for us, which showed up very quickly, then we got in and headed out to the airport. This airport had a security check before we even got inside the building, which is something I've never seen before, then we went and checked in. We got our boarding passes then looked through a couple of souvenir shops and found a sticker for the guitar, then went through a passp...

We woke up and got ready today before walking down to sultanahmet where we were meeting Lena and Birkan and found a seat in the shade. I bought a pretzel type bread ring to snack on while we waited then saw them get off the tram. We walked together down the road to the basilica cistern, where we lined up in the surprisingly small line to get tickets then went down the stairs. It was amazing! The whole cavern type area was filled with huge pillars, with about a fo...

I got a few hours sleep on the night bus this time, but Darren didn't get any sleep! So we arrived in Istanbul at around 7am, then got on the shuttle bus, where we waited for ages for other people before the bus went anywhere! But eventually we got back into the city centre and walked down the street to our hostel, which was a different one to last time! We checked in, but the room wasn't ready as it was still early, so we got a seat on the couch and used the wif...

We slept in late today (back into our kind of rhythm!) then after a chat headed out to walk around town. We came to a restaurant, Old Cappadocia, and though we weren't really planning on eating, the guy out the front was very enthusiastic and convincing so we went in for a meal. I got a mixed meze plate and Darren got a traditional Anatolian Ravioli, which is served with a yoghurt and mint sauce, which is apparently very nice if you don't think of it as pasta. Th...

Our alarm went off at 4:30 this morning! After snoozing it once or twice we got up and put on our warmest clothes before being picked up and taken on a very bumpy van ride. Lucky Darren was feeling quite a bit better! (Although still sick) We arrived on site, where a bunch of massive hot air balloons were being blown up! We got given tea and biscuits while we watched them being inflated in the pre-dawn light. And it sure was cold! We could see balloons being infl...