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Thirty two people on a flight and that's including staff! The extra space on the plane sure made up for the night spent at Toulouse airport. The trip to Istanbul was short and sweet which was great because I was pretty keen to get there and see Kirney. We arrived at the apartment to her entertaining some old friends, which meant as usual her home was full of lively conversation. Crazy cats playing in the lounge, Turkish coffee cups being read and lots of great stories of everyone's latest adventures made for a great welcome to Istanbul.
The following morning we took Siobhan off to see the Blue Mosque, Aya Sofia and the Grand Bizarre and give her a real taste of Turkey - a Chicken durum. That evening, joined by Uncle Paul, we went down to the waterfront and had Raki Balik as we watched the sun set over the mosques. Cousin Dan joined us later that night which meant our traveling group was rapidly expanding.
While the others headed off to Anzac Cove for the day, Kirney and I spent the time catching up on goss and meeting up with friends for lunch. It feels so good to sit and share a laugh with someone you miss so much.
Sunday morning the group adventure began. A meticulously planned week saw us heading off on an early morning flight to Dalaman and a bus ride to Fethyie. We were all set and ready to sail by lunchtime. Four days of sailing the Mediterranean along the southern coast of Turkey was the perfect way to get to know our travel buddies and spend some time catching up with stories from home.
We visited Butterfly Valley and later Oludinez beach where we watched the paragliders sail from the huge cliffs above. That night we anchored at St. Nicholas Island just in time to watch the sunset. On our second day we cruised to Kalkan and then continued on to my favourite Turkish town, Kas. The next morning we sailed to the Sunken City, cruising over the ancient ruins of this World Heritage site. Then on to Simena where we all made the walk up the hill to the castle for the brilliant view over the bay. For our final night we stayed in Gokkoya Bay and headed out to party at the nearby island disco of Smuggler's Inn. On our final day we headed to Pirates Cave and finally docked at Cayagzi Harbour.
Four fun days filled with lots of laughs; hilarious antics whilst playing 'Our Game'; recovering from late night chats and epic dance offs; hijacking pedal boats with Jenny and of course meeting some fabulous new friends had come to an end. Most of us continued on to Olympos where we spent a few lazy days in the tree house village by the beach. Here we farewelled Samantha and Uncle Paul who needed to head back to the real world of work!
The rest of us took an overnight bus ride from Antalya to Cappadocia that had us arrive just in time to see the last of the hot air balloons floating over the town at dawn. One highlight of our stay here was meeting up with Caz and Gump who brought us more tales from home. The other was taking our own hot air balloon ride over the fairy chimneys of Cappadocia the following morning - a spectacular way to start the day. A few more days of sightseeing, heading out to a Turkish night, relaxing and more fun before we farewelled Simon, Ben and Emma and made the trip back to Istanbul.
Dan and Siobhan soon headed off on their next adventures and Kirney and I had no trouble filling our days before we were joined again by more visitors. Caz and Gump arrived back in town with tales of the rest of the time traveling through Turkey. We also caught up with Mel and Sam from the boat and all of us got to experience the 'Taksim Tour' run by the hostess with the mostest! Turkish tea with the locals, a reading for Caz, drinks at a rooftop bar overlooking Istanbul and a final dinner together. And then there were two!
With everyone on their way, we made the overnight bus journey to Kas for a week of sun and a chance to meet up with Megan, Yusef and their three gorgeous boys. We caught up with friends the first night for dinner, drinks and laughs at Mavi Bar and then spent the next two days lapping up the scenery of this gorgeous little seaside town. On to Demre for a completely different experience. We spent the next few days with Yusef's family at their caravan by the sea and were treated to traditional Turkish meals including a special breakfast prepared on our final morning to bring up good luck on our journey home. Afternoons playing with the boys on the beach, drinks and calamari at Kumsal Beach and long chats with Megan were definite highlights of our days away.
Once again back in Istanbul and a chance to cool my heels before the new part of the journey. It was great to finally catch up with Ali, who, while we have been traveling all over Turkey with family and friends, has been working long hours designing and building sets for a TV show. Beer and nuts on the balcony catching up with Ali and watching the sunset behind Galata Tower has been the perfect wrap up for Turkey - for now!
The bags are packed with the bare essentials and tomorrow I head to Morocco for a few weeks of something completely different. Looking forward to taking it all in and having plenty of tales to tell when I return at the end of the month.
Nic x
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Paul Wearne Have a great time in Morocco , keep me updated on your travels and your search for the chosen one !!