Dalyan/Iztuzu beach

Morning all,
Today is a relax day, in fact most are til the end of our tour. It was a day spent mostly in the bus, climbing over the hills. They make a mockery of our mountains. So the going was a bit slow though the scenery was at times stunning. We finally arrived for our boat trip to turtle beach, known as Iztuzu Beach. But first stop was to the Mud Baths. Different minerals than Dead Sea. Same result, I needed more mud and time.



From here it was back onto he boat to Iztuzu Beach, on the way we saw the Kings tombs, from one of the civilisations from BC. It was like looking at a mini Petra.

The way to the beach is through the marches which they say was where they filmed part of "The African Queen".

When we got to the beach, the turtles would not come out to play. So we headed into the Med for a swim.

We are now in Fethiye for two nights. Not sure about tomorrow as to what is going to happen, so I guess you will have to tune in to see what we get up to.

Catch ya on the flip side, Love from us. xxxx

Ephesus/Pamukkale

Well Hello everyone, today was another enjoyable dad. Up early only to find no breakfast, the chef was running late! never mind . Today we headed of to Ephesus, properly the most intact ancient city in Turkey.


Very interesting past this city had and a few old /to become new symbols.

After this we headed further south  to the calcified lakes of Pamakkale. Here you have nature building these formations whilst behind she has dismantled mans formations. As you walk along the terraces, one one side you have brilliant white calcium layered lakes. Turn your head 180 degrees and you have the remains of a Roman city which was here for the hot spring waters.

He have now got to our hotel for the night. We headed straight for the pool and there own hot springs pool. The top pool is heated by the natural spring which comes out at a blistering 60 degrees.

Nightie Night. xxxx

Troy/ Permagum

Today didn't start to great. Left passports in safe at place we just left 45mins ago. Noel went back with driver to get them and I wandered through Troy. Not too much to see considering that there is 9 towns on top of each other. There were some ruins but in quite bad disrepair.

After we left here we had a long drive to the ruins of Pergamun. These were built of top of a mountain giving a panoramic view of the surrounding district but murder in trying to walk around them.

This was the major religious city's in its time. It also had the second largest library of the ancient period before Christ. When Alexandria library burnt down, Mark Antony had its scrolls and books shipped from here to Alexandria as a gift for Cleopatra. 

This is the Amphitheatre, one of the steepest around. This gives you an idea of the terrain we are negotiating.

Well We went out after dinner to the back street stalls to enjoy the real life away from the tourist strip. We sat at a local bar drinking local beer and smoking a shisa pipe, Apple and mint, different I must say. We all had a great time. but paying a bit now.

Love to all Mum& Dad. xxxx

Gallipoli/Canakkale

Well today we left Istanbul, and left Istanbul, and left Istanbul. You can imagine the traffic in a city of around 20 million. But we made it. It was mostly driving with 2 comfort stops, as they call them, til around 2pm when we reached Gallipoli.

We went to ANZAC Cove to pay our respects and to get a perspective of what our boys faced.

 We visited several cemeteries’ including Lone Pine.

 We conclude with a visit to the Neck.

 Then on to pay our respects at the Turkish Memorial.

After a few hours here we headed down to the ferry so we could cross "The Dardanelles" and head into Canakkale, our stop for the night.

So up tomorrow to leave at 7:30 for a place made famous by one of these....

Dont know where we are going. for some strange reason when I took this photo, Leanne kept looking up are yelling YOO HOO BRAD! Funny name for a horse.

September 26th 2010

Hello,

Last night went for a bite to eat with some of the people in the tour. Had a non peppery kebab, a little different to ours, but nice.
Today we are off to see the Blue Mosque. We are on foot today out of our hotel. Will see other places nearby.

It's a bit wet but not too bad, but boy are these streets slippery when wet. After a bit of history it was onto the Blue Mosque. It gets it name from the blue tiles inside.

Then to its rival, Hagia Sophia. An older Mosque which in its time was a lot grander. For a while it was a christian church before becoming a Mosque. The earlier mosaics are being once again revealed.

Then finally to the Sultan's residence, Topkapi Palace. We wandered the grounds and saw some of the treasure.
while we were there we had a quick squize at the Harem rooms. While wandering through the corridors we came across one of the concubines, how luckey was I!!!!

Well we have had showers, going out for some more munchies. Back to the room to pack, because it's a 7:30 start for Gallipoli.

So nightie night form us. xxxx

Jodan to Turkey

Well we are here.
Leaving Amman was.... well lets just say we survived the airport. I was told, basically the more money for tip, the faster you get through! I had only 10 dinar (15 ozzie) so he pushed in the front of the queue at each checkpoint. I refused to give him more.
5 hours, that's with waiting we arrived in Istanbul. Traffic was so bad that we had a choice on our way to the hotel, walk the last 10 minutes or stay in the car for another 25. We walked.
After settling in we went for a walk through the spice bazaar, Leanne was in heaven $10.60 AUD for a kilo of Turkish Delight.
We had a meet & greet, 16 of us start tomorrow. we lose 7, 5 days in, while they travel a section by boat. They meet up after 3 days. The last  4 days we drop to 8. All seem good, hope so after all we are on a small bus for 14 days.
Well time for some shut eye, go looking at some of the sites on the Asia side then we are going out for dinner on the Europe side.. got all that??
love mum & dad. xxxx

Jerash & Amman

Hello everyone,
Well we just finished the last tours of Amman. We have to say that Jordan has been a real surprise packet. The sites, people, culture & history have been unreal and fantastic. Today we first went to Ajloun, to view the castle which was build for the Sultan who kicked out the infidels.

 This one of the smaller castles for the Crusades. I guess you need big balls back then!

After there we headed for Jurash, an acient Roman city which is slowly being excavated and restored.

This is Hadrian Gate, not wall.

From here it was back to Amman, were we toured the new and old city. We stopped at The Citidel where excavations reveals from 3200BC cave dwellings to though the ages of Roman to Islamic. Included in the tour was a vist of the museum which hold the Dead Sea Scrolls. All very interesting.

Now it's showers, pack then head out for dinner. Being picked up at 8:45 to once again sit in an airport terminal, oh yea. Fly out at 11:20 for the second half of our adventure,Turkey.

Bye for Now Love Noel & Leanne. xxxx

Day 12

Hello People,

Well today we left Petra so we could take in Wadi Rum. This was the early morning view.

It's surprising how mountainous this country is. It took us over an hour to get there. Wadi Rum is a dessert area, made famous by Lawrence of Arabia led the Arab revolt from. The movie was also, parts of, shot there.

After Wadi Rum it was back in the car, south to Aqaba. From tis main port city you ca see Egypt and Israel. We followed the border of Israel to the Dead Sea. We had a float in the Dead Sea, you can't swim in it!!! It is really is a strange sensation. The water feals oiley and you dont sink.

The things you find floating around.

Then we covered ourselves with the mud, The driver said to keep it on for 10 minutes to get the best benifit, looking at Noel he recommended a lot longer.

We are in Amman now, had a fancy dinner, now for some shut eye as tommorow we start again. Tommorrow is our last day in Jordan, pity it's a lovely place.

Love to all Leanne & Noel. xxxx

Petra

What can we say,

WOW!!!



And thats only ba glimpse, we were impressed, AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!

21/9/10

Having to go to dates as the days are starting to blur into each other. The other problem is the lack or cost of service but we do the best we can. at the moment we are sitting at Cairo International awaiting our flight to Jordan. Will update if and when we can.

Day 8

Hello again

Last night we had a party on board our ship and meet some lovely people. We got on so well with them, had so much in common.

Up early to pack bags and check out by 7am, so we can get early start to the Valley of the Kings.

The first tomb Ramses 1V, then Ramses 111 followed by Ramses 1. Amazing colours still to be seen throughout. The detail is astounding considering the time in which they were built. Bloody hot out there in the limestone valley. The whole valley  consists of limestone. Lucky for them it is not a country that has a lot of rain like Australia otherwise the tombs would be destroyed.

Back in van to Hatshepsut Temple. This was destroyed by Ramses 11 and his successors. What we seen today was a reconstruction. Still very imposing for the time it was built.

The last place we visited today Colossi of Memnon. These are the last remaining evidence of a temple, but has been destroyed by nature and used for building material by other Pharaohs.

Had lunch on the boat yum yum....and now have a seven hour wait for our flight to Cairo. Slipped in Luxor for a bit of shopping, but now at our favourite spot.....the airport terminal.

Day 7

Day Seven

Today we have organised ourselves to see the Nubian Museum and then back to the boat for the Temple of Kom Ombo.Tfhe museum was a story of the local native people from earliest history recorded time and the influence on them from early dynasty phararos to modern times.

It was amazing how they shaped and have been shaped through out time.

Getting back was easy, it is just a matter of how much horse power you want.

Back on the boat and heading for Edfu to see the temple Kom Ombo. At this temple we found son strange Hyrogliphics.



Strange indeed!!!!

Saw the same thing at Uluru, go figure?

Day 6

Day Six

Ahoy my lovelies.

 A very early start today at 2am. Very tired and it is only now 10am. Just got back from our early morning adventure from Abu Simbel. Caught flight in the dark, arrived in the dark and left Abu Simbel at 8.15am to fly back to Aswan for now we are on board our Nile cruise ship.

Well Abu Simbel was awesome.  We were only 40k from the Sudan boarder. Abu Simbel was carved out of a solid cliff in the 13^th century B.C. The Great Temple of Abu Simbel and a smaller Temple of Hathor. The Great Temple was built to honour Ramses 11. As in the pic, the broken colossus lost its head in and earthquake in 27B.C. 

 Temple of Hathor – Dedicated to the goddess Hathor, is the smaller temple of Abu Simbel and was built by Ramses11 to honour his favourite wife Nefertari.

Now on board our cruiser, Noel is very tired so he is having a kip until we are called for lunch at 1pm. After lunch we’re off to find our guide we booked yesterday for a trip up to see the unfinished Obelisk.

A gigantic obelisk, dating from the New Kingdom, lies semi-finished in an ancient granite quarry. If completed it would have weighed 1.8million kg & 41mtrs high. A flaw was discovered so they abandoned it. Now on to Temple of Philae. Built in late Ptolemaic & early Roman periods, this huge temple combines ancient Egyptian & Graeco-Roman architecture. To the west of the temple lies Gate of Hadrian, this was inscribed in 24th August AD394, with Egypt’s last hieroglyphics.

Day Five

Well here we are, the guide said welcome to the most beautiful place on the Nile. Can't wait to get out of reception and into our room! It's hot and we didn't sleep too well on the train.

 Power kept going on and off for several minutes or more. Which ment no air conditioner, our only source of breathable air and cooling.
Ahh finally got a room, and what a view.. I knew it would be worth it.

Just got back from our Felucca boat ride, boy I needed that. A little more relaxed, dont want to kill guide.
heading into town to have a bo peep and get some prices. Ours wants $120US for a 3-4 hour trip around the islands and to the Temple of Philae. But he did say not to go to the local attractions as they are crap. I think I smell a rat with a gold diet!!!!
Someone has had a go at my backpack as it was completely open in the middle zip. Nothing taken from it as it only contained handwipes toilet ect. comb, scarf and stuff while walking through Souq Bazaars. I'm the decoy as Noel has all the important stuff in his backpack and i walk behind him to watch his back..  Watched sunset over Nile whilst enjoying a handburger...mmmmm nice. Off to bed now so we can rise at 2.30am for breaky and to leave for a 3.30am flight to Abu Simbal. Goodnight!  PS. Not sure if there is any Wifi on board boat tomorrow for our Nile cruise. It is a couple days long so will see if there is a new blog xxx

day Four

Day Four

Woke to a yummy breakfast. Started our day at the Great Pyramids of Giza. Had a fabulous guide Azmy. He was a world of information. He also was a inspector for archaeology. He is 27 and a very nice person. We entered the second pyramid, the one with the limestone still on top. The pyramid of Khafre. We had to hunch for around 100mts down a ramp. I am short and still doubled over. Then short upright walk followed by 60mtr hunched back up another ramp to Kings Chamber. I laded down in Sarcophagus of king and now i have magic powers. Ha ha ha.

After touring plateau we headed down to the Sphinx. Got some great pics for our wall.

After a quick bite of lunch, we did a bit of shopping, sorry kids no hints of what we bought. Headed  off to Egyptian Museum, to see King Tut and all his wealth plus many other mummys. It was a great day. Now on the overnight train. After some dinner brought to our cabin we will finally let the porter pull down our beds as it is around a 12hr trip to Aswan. Noel keeps jumping up and down on the bed saying, “We’re all going to Aswan.”

Goodnight, see you tomorrow.