Turkish Delight, Part 1

Well, my Turkey visit is half over... time for some recent highlights (really slow internet so not too many pics now)

- Randomly meeting a Turkish girl on a bus who worked in England for the last few years, so had perfect English, and took me to a little winemaking village in the hills near Selcuk, meeting some of the locals and sharing a meal with them.



They even offered me a bed for the night, but I had other plans (Atilla's Getaway, for those in the know, i.e. Jo and Jer)

- The ruins of Ephesus. Lots of history, I won't repeat it here...

- Gallipoli tour with Ali, who was formerly a Captain in the Turkish navy, commander of their submarine forces. After his retirement he became a war historian, focusing on world war 1 and Gallipoli in particular. By far the best tourguide I have ever had, the perfect mix of history, anecdotes, personal stories and charm. J&J had told me about him, but I was lucky to get him because 6 weeks ago he was climbing up a ladder to pick a plum for his wife, and he fell and injured his leg. This week was the first week he started doing tours again. I feel blessed.

- Istanbul.... wow! The city is alive like an anthill. It has everything, the only other time I've experienced that impression of a city was in Barcelona. Aya Sofia, the Spice Bazaar (incredible Turkish Delight!!!), the Basilica Cistern, the Ottoman Emperor's Harem, the general crazyness... will add much more about this later.

Here is Aya Sofia (aka Haghia Sofia, aka The Church of Divine Wisdom), taken from the roof of my hostel:



Met lots of jubblies along the way, heaps of aussies and kiwis here (especially around Gallipoli of course)... gotta dash, more later.