Hey guys, well been a bit slack on the email front this trip, I'll blame it on the heat.
Aug 2 - Istanbul
Made it into Istanbul airport just after midnight, absolutely stuffed thanks to a couple of nights out in london (thanks to everyone we caught up with it was great, special thanks to Anth, Rachelle, and Fluffy for the good times, our bodies certainly didn't thank you though). First day was pretty cruisy just meeting the other people in the group (11 plus crew) and finding our way around the truck. Everyone seems pretty cruisy and a good mix between couples and fun people (singles). Turns out that the crew and another couple got married a couple of months before us so lots of wedding war stories. Cruised down to Eceabat for a late swim in the Dardanelles and the obligatory drinks.
Aug 3 - Gallipoli
Quick tour around the gallipoli battlefields, was different to see it without thousands of people around. Kicked back for an afternoon in the sun swimming, turned into a late night rave with a few of the guys from the truck followed by a late night (early morning) swim ....Trina's bad influence is already showing in the others.
Aug 4 - Wooden horses
Trekked on to Troy and stopped off for a look at the most tackiest tourist sight of the tour (so far) the wooden horse at Troy. The ruins were pretty unspectacular. One of the guys didn't want to go and foolishly left his camera with us. Mike was less than impressed to find a memory card full of pictures of our feet, ears, flowers, signs, cats, sky, no smoking signs....you name it......
Aug 5 - Ephesus
Did tour of ancient site of Ephesus, pretty spectacular, saw "first ever" advertisement - a brothel. Our first time cooking so of course it had to be kiwi burgers. The amphitheatre was pretty spectacular, seating 25,000 (for a city of 100,000)
Aug 6 - Pamukkale
Went to the "fabled" white terraces at Pamukkale, fabled mostly because most of it has been destroyed, looking at the advertising it was easy to see that most of the swimming costumes were very 70's looking..... Still possible to see some parts that represented the original but quite sad how much damage had been wrought by tourists and the hotel complexes. Aug 7 - Oludeniz
Time for a tourist trap with beautiful truqouise water and white pebbles, very scenic. Everyone jumped on for the boat cruise around the bays and islands. Had a great time with everyone from the truck. We had smuggled two eskies of beers onto the boat so had a few jealous punters floating around. Scenery was amazing and jumping into the water all day long was a highlight. Cold water spring lived up to it's name and probably should have been renamed brass monkeys.
Aug 8 - Saklikent Gorge
Bit of a driving day down to Saklikent Gorge for some river tubing, the crew had never done it before so was a novelty for them as well. Stopped off at some mud pools for a bath which quickly degenerated into a massive mud fight. The river ran fairly swiftly but no real rapids to speak of.
The crew we have on this trip are pretty damn good, we have Kirsty (a kiwi) and Gary (a brit) who have been on the route for a while and really know their stuff. They are always up for a drink and usually the instigators of any trouble on the truck. Made a fire and slept next to the river.
Aug 9 - Treehuts
Cruised down to Olympos to stay in tree huts
Aug 10 - Olympos
That night we climbed up the hill (really a mountain) to check out the eternal flame, natural gas leaks up through the rock and you can run around with your lighter, blowing out and relighting flames out of the rock.
Aug 11 - Bush Camp (slept on top of the truck, loads of shooting stars)
Aug 12 - Cappadocia
Stopped off for the obligatory carpet demo, laughed at the other suckers buying carpets and tried to talk them into buying more:-) Finally sucumbed to a minor dose of turkey belly and spent the night in the tent/toilet. Trina kicked on to a traditional turkish dinner and dance which sounded a lot better than the ones in Istanbul. She saw the whirling dervishes.
Aug 13 - Mushrooms everywhere
Kicked on for a guided tour of Cappadocia through lots of rock formations which Trina nicknamed "mushrooms", her first nickname was a bit explicit and was voted off the truck. Went exploring an underground city that held up to 4,000 inhabitants, fairly impressive in terms of the engineering for something created a couple of centuries BC. Also saw another city built into the sides of cliffs that had been abandoned due to earthquakes.
Aug 14 - Syria border crossing
Long long long day on the truck driving up to the border into Syria, border crossing was fairly uneventful thanks to the crew, had a few of the locals try and climb aboard the truck to check out the girls. Mike & Nick Security Services soon took care of the situation.
Aug 15 - Undercover in Aleppo
Headed into the second major city of Syria - Aleppo to check out the local souks (markets). Half the truck had decided it was time to get kitted out in local gear so after some hard bargaining made it out of the markets with our Jelaba's and head scarves. Trina, Mike, and I snuck into a park to get changed into our undercover gear. Mike and I were halfway undressed when along came half a dozen lads from the Syrian army who were guarding the national mueseum. Luckily they thought it was a great joke and gave us tips on current styles. Got some great photo's of us and the troops!!!
Aug 16 - Crac des Chevaliers/Baghdad or Bust
Spent the night on top of the truck again watching the stars and that morning went through a crusader castle from 11th century AD. Was seriously impressed with the layout and sheer size of the place. It had never been captured in battle despite several sieges and was finally abandoned under a negotiated truce.
Drove through the afternoon to Palmyra, along the way saw lots of road signs leading into Iraq and Baghdad, must be getting close to the Iraqi border.......
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