The Turkish leg of the journey was supposed to be pretty relaxing, spending time by beaches etc - and it was for the most part. The only problem really, as you probably gathered from my first blog, was that it was ridiculously expensive - prices by the coast were even worse than in Istanbul - and in some cases had gone up four or five times since I visited in 2004. So we were scrimping and saving a bit, staying in dorms all the time and eating pretty average food in ropey restaurants. The resorts we stayed on the Turkish coast were great - Fethiye, Kas, Olympos - a fantastic rugged coastline with fishing villages and Roman ruins all dot the western Mediterranean coastline in Turkey, and it's rightly regarded as one of the most beautiful in Europe. We didn't do too much that was taxing or noteworthy whilst there, and in all honesty it's not a place to write endlessly about - just a pleasant holiday spot for the family or a nice backpacking location (though hot and very sweaty when climbing uphill to your hostel in 35 degree heat, as we had to on a couple of occasions). By day we just sauntered down to the beach and paddled around, went for boat trips or explored Roman ruins - which in the case of Olympos or Patara were spectacular. The bay of Kekova, to the east of Kas, is particularly stunning also. Probably the most famous - at least the most photographed - beach in Turkey is Oludeniz, a 15km dolmus trip from Fethiye, and this imprssive natural blue lagoon is a real beauty spot. Unfortunately, as with much of the Mediterranean coastline in Turkey, the whole stretch leading up to it is lined with English-style bars and restaurants, advertising Sky sports, English breakfasts and cheap lager. Very bad news - it seems Turkey is the new Spain or Greece for holidaying Brits now, no doubt contributing to the spectacular price rises since I was there.

We moved on to Cappadocia next - plum in the centre of Anatolia, the heart of Turkey and a real 'heart' to the country. Happily, after another 10 hour overnight nightmare bus journey (during which I was denied sleep by over-excited yapping Australian backpackers - for some reason Turkey is very popular with Aussies), Cappadocia came as a pleasant surprise. We arrived as the sun was rising on a perfect blue sky, and just as we stepped off the bus, there were several hot-air balloons floating through the sky and over the other-worldly rock formations that make up this fairy-tale area. The village of Goreme, where we stayed, is set in amongst these odd phallic features, and some of the hotels are carved out of the rock, forming 'cave-house' style rooms. I took some shots of the balloons rising silently through the dawn sky and then we checked into a lovely friendly little place so we could get our own cave room. Because of the heat this area experiences in the summer months, they are actually a very good idea. Stepping into the coolness and darkness of our room, I felt extremely happy and within a few minutes we were fast asleep. Later, we shared a tea with the zen-like owner of the place, a middle-aged guy who had a very quiet but wise way about him. He told us he was a 'Buddhist Muslim', a strange combination, but hey who's to argue.

It's hard to do justice to the absolute other-worldiness and oddness of Cappadocia in words, which is why I'm attaching some pictures. There is not, I think, another place on earth quite like it, and the sheer size of the area and number of potential hikes you can do through the area, combined with a lack of maps and a tendency for tourists to do 4x4/biking/ballooning excursions, means that if you step out of your hostel and follow your nose into one of the many surrounding valleys, you have it practically to yourself, and feel like you are discovering something truly special. The fact that it hadn't really changed since my last visit - other than the inevitable price rise - was also encouraging. It's really quite unspoilt, and visting Cappadocia for a few nights induces a state of near-bliss and serenity - along with Dahab, where I am now, it's the most relaxing place I've been to in the Middle East. We stayed for four nights - two more than we planned (mainly because Natalia got ill there), and we did a lot of hiking around the Goreme area, through spectacular 'fairy-chimney' valleys and ever-changing shades of rock, from bright white to ochre-red and dark brown, to forgotten villages and small towns like Urgup, Uchisar and Zelve. I hired a brand-new mountain bike one day and cycled in the searing heat 45km though the valleys - extremely taxing going uphill - and got some spectacular views from the tops of those climbs, looking down on this volcanically created wonderland. Another day, we went to a spectacular rift valley called the Ihlara valley -75km to the west. An already stunning hike up the valley was made fascinating by the presence of scores of very old chapels along the way - built in the 12th century by the Greeks who inhabited this area - one for each family - with some lovely frescoes to see and quite colourful interior decoration. Sorry if I sound verbose, but this place is superlative and it should be more well-known. It's really a case of go there now before the secret's out - especially for lovers of the outdoors. The area is crammed with objects and areas of interest, but it's not at all touristy - and there aren't many places in the world you can still say that about.

We left Turkey on the 30th August after about 12 nights there in total - our visas for Syria were valid from the 31st, so we took a bus down to Antakya, which is on the border, (overnight) from Kayseri. We arrived at the Syrian border a bit frazzled, hot and tired, but looking forward to a change of country, and somewhere we knew very little about