Day 56, 29 August 2012, Ballooning over Cappadocia - Wow. Obviously we're both ballooning addicts, but this adventure rates as shared number 1 alongside the Serengeti Experience. For a 5.10 am pick up (quite civilised by ballooning standards) we had the alarm set for 4.45 am. Which turned out to be 5 minutes before allah-o'clock at the mosque next door - so well timed all round. The great team at Butterfly Balloons, one of the oldest and most established of t...

Day 55, 28 August 2012, Arrival in Cappadocia - Of all the bus lines to avoid in Cappadocia, Goreme Buses is it. The driver and steward spoke no English and whenever there was a toilet stop it was announced in Turkish how long we would be there. Let's just say we stayed pretty near the bus. But honestly 11 hours travel for two people for $60 odd - what do you expect. We visited the information bureau when the bus pulled in and checked the location of the hote...

Day 54, 27 August 2012, Last day in Istanbul prior to overnight bus to Cappadocia - Funny old day. Essentially we put our travel agent hats on after breakfast and booked our web-special trains for the Spanish portion of the trip. Also booked hotels for the next couple of weeks in Turkey and moving further out, our flights to Budapest and from Prague to get us to and from our Christmas Markets cruise in December. Also investigated flights to and from Bulgaria in ...

Day 53, 26 August 2012,The Spice Market (aka - the Egyptian Market) - The beauty of a week in Istanbul was the ability to take it nice and slow. Sleep in followed by crusty bread and Nutella (for me) and olives, feta, tomato and cucumber (for James). We followed our tram lines down to the waterfront and then followed our noses to the Egyptian Market or Spice Market. A fraction of the size of the Grand Bazaar and much more manageable as a result! We started ou...

Day 52, 25 August 2012, Cruise on the Bosphorus, Lunch at a fishing village -From the time we first arrived in Istanbul, we were assaulted on all fronts with offers of a cruise on the Bosphorus. To not do so would be like missing a cruise on Sydney Harbour. Being completely over group travel at this stage, we explored all our options and end up heading to the public ferry pier at Eminonu - for a mere 25 lira each - about $13, we bought a return trip up the Bosp...