After escaping the dust, heat, dirt, food poisoning and sweaty cheese of the Middle East, we entered Turkey.
And it was like escaping prison and entering a garden. Because Turkey is most dissimilar to the Middle East, in that it is lush and green. Even the shops and architecture have more colour and vitality. In short, Turkey was a welcome reward to finish our trip.
We skipped through the forgettable towns of Antakya and Nigde, on our way to one of the prettiest natural landscapes we've seen yet (and we've seen a lot!). Goreme, in Cappodocia is home to a surreal lunar landscape of unique so-called 'fairy chimneys' created millions of years ago from erupting volcanoes. Local people ended up carving cave homes directly into the fairy chimney rocks, and thus started the very small but very cool town of Goreme.
I had no idea there were so many amazing people in the world, living inside rocks.
A morning of quad biking took us through all the valleys of fairy chimney and rock formations. My personal favourite was the 'Valley of Love', so called due to its phallic spires. Cue hilarious photographic session that no one can ever see.
And after 2 & 1/2 hours we headed back to town for some much sought after non Middle Eastern food and beer. Yes, beer! No stupid anti-alcohol rules here in Turkey, bless them. And of all the beers I've tried on this trip (and I've tried a lot) local Turkish beer Efes has to be one of the best.
Oh Turkey I love you!
From Goreme we left for Istanbul (no, not Constantinople) arriving on a grey and rainy morning. After all the 40+ degree heat that we had experienced for the last month, it was a shock to the system - the strange senstation of feeling COLD again.
Well not 'cold' exactly, it was still 27 degree's, but hey, after a month 40+, 27 is practially freezing.
It was here we said goodbye to the other members of our Intrepid trip, and our friend Rosie came to join us for a week of fun and debauchery.
Istanbul is, quite simply, amazing. Sure the men are quite forward, but you can't complain about that. Being compared to beautiful movie stars by nearly everyone as we walked down the street never failed to make us giggle like schoolgirls. Mostly because they thought all 3 of us looked like Angelina Jolie (and I can tell you quite truthfully, none of us do, clearly). But the men of Istanbul sure know how to woo.
We even met some local boys who were guides, and offered to show us around for free, just because they liked us. I know what you're thinking, sure just because they liked us, but they still asked for money at the end, right? Or ripped us off in some other way? Actually, no. Just some genuinely nice guys who gave us a tour of the Blue Mosque, the Underground Cistern and some local hang outs, all out of the goodness of their hearts.
The Grand Bazaar is a jostling, vibrant, colourful experience that has to be seen to be believed. It might even beat the markets of Damascus. And the Spice Market is full of delicious smells and flavours that remind you that you are in one of the most tasty places in the world. The only annoying thing about the markets, are all the sellers who use the same 'pick up lines' to get you into their shops.
I heard "wait, you've dropped something" more times than I can count. And when you turn around, they say it's their heart on the ground, broken because you haven't come in, and plead with you to turn back. It got so annoying when Rosie and I were in the Spice Market one afternoon, that when one guy called it out, I turned around and yellled "What? Is it your heart?" and I pointed to a spot on the ground, and then stomped on it.
There was a moment of silence, and I thought, this is it, I'm going to be beaten up, and then a group of about 10 guys all started cheering and clapping their hands.
Phew.
On our last night, our beautiful friend Nicky managed to get our names on the door for Massive Attack, who were playing in Istanbul. It was AMAZING, and the perfect way to end our time in Turkey, under the Istanbul stars, at an arena by the waterfront, listening to beautiful music.
Thanks Turkey, we had a great time. And we'll be back.
