Getting to Cappadocia

Well today we headed for the region of Cappadocia. It's close to the centre of Turkey, so leaving the coast meant a long day in the saddle.
The first few hours were slow as we had to cross the mountain range. Went passed one of nine volcanoes in Turkey, but once we were on the plateau the going was quicker.
We had a few stops on the way, mostly for the loo, to breakup the journey.
One stop on the mountains was at a fruit stall

Then off again to the Mausoleum of the founder of the dervish dancers and Prophet.

The Dervish dancers are a religious order, you would know them as the guys in white dresses who spin in one spot.
We were traveling along the Silk Road. Along this trade route there are some of the remaining shelters. These were 20 miles apart, the distance a camel would walk per day. Some were free and some they had to pay to stay protected each night.

We have finally made it to our Hotel, left at 7am and arrived at 7pm. Tomorrow we are up at 4am to head off to go hot air ballooning. Our guide said I will get a cheap rate, because they wont use as much fuel as I have plenty of hot air, more than enough for our flight!
Night all. xxxx

Olympos/Anatayla

Good morning or evening,
Today we left Kas for Anatayla via Olympos. We had to detour to pickup the one's who were on the Gullet for the past 3 nights

They are the Gullets moored in the harbour. From here we headed for the ancient city, now in ruins, of Olympos.

These are in the shadow of Mt Olympos. No I'm not spelling it wrong. They are in dispute with the Greeks, funny that, as to the real Mt Olympos/Olympus where Zuzus presided over the ancient lands.

And of coarse we completed the day at a.........

Beach.

Tommorow we have an early start, in fact the kitchen is opening earlier so we can eat before we leave. A few stops on our way to our final tour destination. A religious temple, so the girls will have to dress modestly, but basically 9 hours over the mountains.

So I hope I shall be logging on tomorrow, til then love to all, Noel & Leanne. xxxx

Kekova & Simena

Hello again,
today we headed to the suken city of Kekova & the acient city of Simena.

This where they built ships. The whole area dropped and the Medeteranean claimed it back during an earthquake a looooooooooonggggggggggg time ago. Speaking of quakes we heard today of a 4.4 in Istanbul!

It was all interesting ...... but what did we mostly do?

Once again the area was stunning, pictures dont do it justice.

This is the last day of holiday mode, tomorrow its back to tour mode or as its now knowen as ABR.
Translated means Another Bloody Ruin!
Thats all again, and we will blog soon love from Noel & Leanne, (Leo & Cate)...........xxxx

Free day in Kas

Went for a walk in town this morning to drop of laundry in Laundromat. Went into town square, had a cuppa while overlooking the marina. Nice village with a lovely view, but the Baklava was better, mmmmm. Noel went  back to hotel to catch up on some stuff? Robyn and I went browsing through the market village. Found some nice things but now I know why they pronounce this place as cash. 
Meet up with Noel and friends for another drink in the town square. After we headed to a  restaurant overlooking Little Pebble Beach. It is called this as all the sand are small lucky stones. Then there is Big Pebble Beach and guess what it has, big lucky stones.

These were our view for lunch.
Picked up laundry and then back to hotel for dip in pool. Having a quite beer before we head out to Mamma's Kitchen for dinner with the others.
Just back from dinner, OMG. How good was it. It was so good to get away from that buffet and taste real authentic Turkish food.
Now off to bed, on the boat tomorrow to explore the Mediterranean coast and its secrets.
Love to all, Noel & Leanne. xxxx

Gorge & beach

Yep thats about what we did! A great day of tacking it easy, well sort of.

The Gorge is about 17 Klm long, we omly did 2 of it. They have 2 night Canyoning trips up through here.

After all our scambling and climbing, it was time for a break!

We drag ourselves from here to the bus, off to the beach, and what a postcard pic it was!!

200 steps down,

Water was a bit cool, but still refreshing. Then onto Kas. Went out for cocktails and a stroll, lovely place but very busy during summer. One thing we will miss is the view.

Well next day is free, a lazier one. So you never know whats around the corner.
Catch you all soon, Noel (dad) and Leanne (Mum). xxxx

Kayakoy/Oludeniz

Good Morning/ afternoon;

What a lovely relaxing day we have had. A 10am start was appreciated, so no rush or bother. Woke up to find ourselves in Hardy' bay.

OK so its not, but it did remind us of there.
So onto the bus where we passed through "little England". An area where expats have retired too. Of course we changed it to Little Brittan. Then we went to the modern remains of Kayakoy. Many Greek decedents were moved from here during hostilities between the two countries, and now all that remains is an almost ghost town.

It was quite funny because when we were there there were these men dressed in a weird battle dress. Small tusks crossed their chests and skull helmets with big swords, asking for 5 lire for photos. We though they we in traditional battle dress from who knows when, so we asked our guide which period they were from. He looked at all of us strangely. 5 Lire you say, yes we answered, They are shooting a Bollywood film in the ruins so don't pay them as they are only extras. Some other tourists did and as soon as he got the money, he shot us to the cafe for a coffee.
Anyhow back onto the bus for Oludeniz, all we were told was that its a beach.

The water was just great and the pic doesn't do the colours justice. We had a swim then headed to a restaurant for a couple of drinks and some Pide. Leann and the girls headed into town for some sightseeing (SHOPPING) while us boys closed ranks at the bar. We had another quick dip before the shoppers, sorry sightseers returned. Then back to Fethlye.
Dinner with a few more drinks, then nighty night. Tomorrow we lose half of our group as they are on a boat for 3 nights and we meet up in Kas, that's our next stop for 3 nights also.
Stay tuned for more, not much more as it quickly coming to an end.
Noel & Leanne. xxxx

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