A couple of days ago I jo?ned up w?th my tour group and s?nce have been work?ng my way down follow?ng(?sh) the coast of Turkey. The tours seems to be alr?te, Im ?n qu?te a small group of 7 and weve been stay?n ?n some n?ce smart hotels. The only downs?de ?s that the group ?s made up of 40+ year olds-apart from me and another student. So not exactly a w?ld party, although dr?nk ?s more d?ff?cult to get here anyway. So ? probably wouldnt of been part?ng too much anyway- at least not drunkly anyway.

Back to Istanbul where I left off. Istanbul was a blast - somewhere def?nately recommended to go back to. Not one person I met wouldnt return, ?ts so d?fferent from Europe and theres so much to do. A few days ago there was the red bull a?r race along the bosphorus. Wh?ch some may of heard of. A pretty fasc?nat?ng a?rshow where a collect?on of stunt p?lots fly a k?nd of rally course. They have to do loops and barrel rolls and slalom between these posts wh?ch are ?mposs?bly low to the water. Unfortunately the br?t just m?ssed out on f?rst place and an amer?can won ?t. St?ll ?t was a good way to spend a bak?ng day.

The past few days Ive begun my A to Z of anc?ent monuments. Yesterday I v?s?ted the a?nc?ent c?ty of Ephesus. A pretty fasc?nat?ng c?ty uncovered only 100 years ago w?th a l?brary,shops,houses, a gym, temples, theaters and other `old th?ngs` We got there pretty early expect?ng huge crowds. Any from 8am to 9 there were l?ttle, then a b?g t?dal wave of them seemed to all flood ?n at once. And ?n a flash the a?nc?ent c?ty was a br?ghtly coloured sea of lur?d t-sh?rts. Between v?s?t?ng unbel?evably old s?ghts we stopped off at th?s cool old restaurant where old women cooked us these f?lled pancakes ?n stone ovens wh?le we sat on cush?ons ch?ll?n. On the way back to the hotel we were wander?ng and saw what looked to be a short cut. A small d?rt track, very subtlerunn?ng through what looked to be a f?eld.After a short walk we got to qu?te a large f?eld, a pool at one end and a load of stones w?th one column stand?ng alone. Noth?ng spec?al, no coaches, no one bugg?ng you for tour?st tat. Noth?ng. After a l?ttle b?t of look?ng we found a s?gn - Temple of Art?mus. One of the Seven wonders of the Anc?ent world.


Yesterday ? feel I had a near death exper?ance. The hotel had very small, d?mly l?t l?ft, just large enough for one person w?th a bag - amer?cans should forget ?t. I took the l?ft to the top floor and just opened the door to get out when Iremembered ?d not p?cked up my key from recept?on. I let the door sw?ng close. Before press?ng any buttons the l?ft suddenly, and horr?f?cally ? must add, plumetted. Sh?tt?ng myself a mashed the pad w?th my hand hand hoped for the best. I was rel?eved to f?nd stopped at the next floor where I stumbled out.
...r?ght so maybe ? wasnt ?n so much of a `near death` exper?ance. Apparently ? cl?pped the button as ? let the door close. Thats what ? tell myself, I cons?dered su?ng the hotel, but thought ?d not get much more than a tenner here...

Anyway after all that exc?tement Im off on a gulet cru?se tomorrow wh?ch should be a laugh. Im really look?n forward to hav?n a sw?m ?n the sea.

Ill try and get some more photos up aga?n soon. For the meant?me, ?ts just blurb...