Day 11

After a few fizzy drinks last night, we spend most of the morning lazing about. The full sized pool is wonderful and refreshing. It is heated only by the sun but is the perfect temperature; you could stay in it for hours but breakfast is calling. We’ve decided to treat ourselves with a full English breakfast at the bar. It hits the spot nicely.

After breakfast we decide it’s time to start writing a few postcards and emails and posting our last blog. The time passes nicely and we are all done by late lunchtime. It is amazing how used to getting up early you get when you don’t have work to do, we were up at 8:30 this morning!( Yes I know that doesn’t sound like us at all Mam and Dad).

After a picnic lunch on the lovely mowed grass I decided to take a walk with Sarah and Christoper, two others on the trip. If you’ve never been to rural Bulgaria it is covered in fields and fields of sunflowers. It is awesome and we’ve arrived just after they have all bloomed. Our walk takes us through the sunflower fields and to a lake nearby. The scenery is beautiful  and we could continue on to a local town but Sarah is on dinner tonight and I’d love a swim so we head back.

Diner is fantastic, the campsite has a BBQ which they kindly let us use so its BBQ pork steaks, coldslaw and potatoes, yum. Every week the campsite has a table quiz and we are all up for exercising our brains for the evening. It is great fun there are four teams two from our truck and two others. Round one: general knowledge (that shouldn’t be too bad), Round two: space (uh oh) Round three: the arts (oh no). Let’s just say the rest followed the same kind of reaction, but we all had a great night and ended up with a mascot at the end of the night. A hand knitted Rupert Bear.

Day 12

We are back on the road again heading for the Turkish border. Everyone is a bit nervous about it. Sometimes the truck gets through without a hitch and others the truck has to be emptied completely and inspected. Will, our driver, has decided to try a smaller border crossing this year in the hopes that they will be a bit easier.  Everyone has a bet in as to how long it is going to take, it ranges from an optimistic 1hr 10mins to over 24hrs.

We are greeted at the Bulgarian sides by a smiling attendant; he looks at our passports and waves us through. It is looking good so far. We reach the Turkish side and another smiling face waiting for us. We park up and he climbs up the back and ha a look at our passports and our faces. He pauses a bit when it comes to Brenda’s passport after mine but he looks at us and smiles it off. We then head to the office to pay for our visas and get them stamped. Will returns and it looks like he hasn’t had much trouble either. Next stop customs. They have a look into the lockers and then climbs up the back into our seating area where he is met by 15 smiling faces in the hopes that this will discourage any further investigation. As the customs officer climbs down the ladder, a lady rushes out the door of the office with her iphone. They all want pictures with the truck!!! It was incredible. We wave goodbye and head into Turkey 1hr 9mins 46sec after, that was good timing from Ange.

Again we are struck with fields and fields of sunflowers but as we get closer to Istanbul the buildings lose their character with more apartment blocks and concrete complexes. We turn a corner and there waiting to greet us is Istanbul, mass of skyscrapers and turrets. It is breath taking. Immediately I know we are in for a good three days. While sitting in traffic around 6pm the call to prayers start, almost in stereo, it is like nothing I’ve ever heard of before. The deep wavering voices fill the whole city.

We park the truck and make our way to the hostel. We are in a 3 bed dorm room, the bunks are packed in like sardines with just enough space for someone to walk between them but we are staying here for its location. We are just two blocks from the main tourist attractions, the Grand Bizzare, the Aya Spohia and the Blue Mosque. We all meet on the rooftop bar for our introduction Istanbul. The view is spectacular, on one side the lights of down town (the metropolitan area) and the lit up mosques of the old town on the other.

We ramble out to change currency and to get some dinner. There is a real buzz about the city and it is infectious. We nearly feel like joining in the call to prayer, nearly. With Turkish Lire in our pockets we start the hunt for dinner. Every restaurant has a handsome Turkish man outside trying to coax us into their restaurant. It’s almost a script:  “Hello beautiful ladies, where are you from? I have a beautiful table for you” and as you try to decline they ask you back tomorrow. We settle on a nice place around the corner form the hostel. Its kebabs all round and they are delicious with apple tea to finish it all off.


Day 13

The dorm room gets noisy around 9am so I get up and sorted for a big day site seeing. First stop the Bizzare. It is fantastic, when I bustle in with all the other shoppers I am struck by the size of it. Archways as far as the eye can see all lit up in a rich yellow light enticing you to explore. We don’t spend long here today, we’ve dedicated tomorrow for that.

Back in the main square, we get our first taste of Muslim culture. We walk up to a mausoleum and are asked to cover our shoulders and legs. We had noticed that our shorts and tops were getting some looks, not that they were particularly skimpy but when compared to the birkas they are a bit revealing.  So after covering up with shawls ad scarves we head into the mausoleum. The walls are decorated with beautifully decorated tiles. There is hardly a space on the wall that is left blank.

After a few more mausoleums we take a break from the heat and enjoy some watermelon in the shade. A muslim lady walks up to us and asks if she can have a picture with us. We are more than a little puzzled but agree. Next thing we are posing with two muslim ladies and a guy from the fruit stall while two men take our photo, a bit strange but they seemed nice enough, thanking us after and heading on their way.

Our next stop is the Aya Sophia, a stunning building with domed roof and turrets at each corner. This building started ut as a Catholic church and was converted to a Mosque and then back to a catholic church before being turned into a museum. It is spectacular inside. When it was converted ito a mosque the ruler at the time ordered the Christian mosaics to be removed however the person ordered to do it thought it a shame to destroy the work and plastered over them. He was a very clever person.
The mosaics have been partially uncovered revealing fantastic images surrounded in gold. The detail is incredible and can only put up pictures that don’t even do the images justice. These are the highlight of my day in Istanbul. It is well worth the entrance fee if anyone ever visits.

We are having a group dinner tonight so it’s back to the hostel for a shower, a dress and a bit of make-up. Everyone looks lovely all dressed up. The main topic of conversation for the start of the dinner is how we miss our heels.  Dinner is great again, I really like Turkish food. We finish up the night in a bar close to the hotel. Rock music is playing when we sit down and soon the barman gives us paper and a pen for requests. The music takes a bit of a girly turn for a bit but then we feel sorry for Will and start requesting the good stuff ACDC, Queen and a bit of Blues Brothers. We dance the night away and it’s half four by the time we creep back into the dorm.


Day 14

Today is our bizzare day. We are starting a little later than planned but we don’t mind we had a fantastic night last night. We walk to the bizarre the long way taking in the lovely leather and carpet shop windows. As we saunter along a test message comes in:”Hi Auntie, Your niece Eva has arrived just after midday…” There are a few tears of joy, a lot of   ”Oh my gods” and plenty of excited giggles. I’m sure the shopkeepers are wondering what is going on. We now are on a mission in the bizzare! It is our duty to spoil baby Eva rotten from now on.

We try our hand at haggling, some shop keepers are up for it and others aren’t, but all of them are fighting for our attention especially the ones selling the touristy things and the pashmina scarves. We head back to the hostel with our treasures and to pass our good news on to everyone on the truck. Daniel, now daddy, already has a photo on facebook and she is adorable and so tiny in his arms.


Day 15

Breakfast is over nice and early and head back to the truck, we are no longer known as the twins, we are now the aunties (which we love!). On the truck again and we head for Gallipoli and Anzac Cove. The route is a coastal one with fantastic views of the beach resorts and all the big ships and oil tankers whizzing into and out of Istanbul. We’ve been told that this is the main route for all the oil shipments out of the Middle East. I wouldn’t doubt it with the number of huge ships that pas us by.

Anzac cove and the surrounding area is now a commemoration site for all the soldiers who died here in a bloody battle in World War I. I won’t go into all the history but it was mainly Australian, New Zealand, and Turkish people who died here, although I know a lot of Irish were involved here also. At the cove itself, there is a beautiful commemoration with a quote from the later Turkish leader who had taken part in the battle. I can’t quote it directly but he says that the bodies buried here are no longer enemies but are part of the land and that they now rest in peace as if it was their home, which I think is really nice and very progressive for the 1930’s.

We are bush camp outside The Boomerang Bar in Gallipoli. The owner is a friend of Will and Karen. The Boomerang Bar is the epitome of a surfer’s paradise. It is right on the beach with boats right outside the door. The wind is fairly strong as we set up our tents so we try and put them close together. We are cooking tonight so as soon as the tent is up we are inside starting on dinner, macaroni and cheese :).

As we prepare dinner the music gets going and the dancing has already started by the time we serve up. Everyone is getting to pick the music and it’s a melting pot of old and new, rock and swing, pop and even a bit of trad thrown in towards the end of the night. A great night had by all.

Day 16

The ferry across the strait leaves at 9, so breakfast is a rushed affair. We arrive at the ferry port to see the ship leaving 15mins early, because it was already full. We catch the next one 30mins later and are on our way to Troy. We are all very excited. This is a big one on my list. We have an hour to potter around the ruins and see all there is to see. It turns out that when they excavated the site they actually found ruins of 9 different eras of Troy. It was very interesting.

Back on the truck again, it’s not even 11 and the heat is getting to us all, It is going to be a hot day, the only thing that keeps us going is that we are going to camp on the beach tonight. This is the first day that the driving has gotten to me. The dead heat of the day, even with the windows open we can’t seem to cool the truck. The views are still spectacular the bright blue ocean with tiled towns dotted along the cost.

At the campsite we all gladly hop down off the truck and set up camp. My first stop is the shower, I’ve learned to appreciate a shower regardless of the water pressure, but these are really nice. We are all very subdued over dinner and bed takes us off one by one. The mosquitoes have made an appearance too so no one hangs around too late or we’ll end up as dinner for them.


Day 17

Ephesus was a mythical town like troy up to about 30 odd years ago when it was discovered by the same archaeologist who discovered troy. When we pull up I’m expecting much the same as troy, some old walls in fields and a broken pottery. I couldn’t have been more wrong, as we walk in through the gate a big amphitheatre-like structure come into view on the right and lots of tall pillars on the left. We walk through the streets with the restored marble paving stones and tall ornate pillars to the beautiful street with the houses and temples of the gods. It is breath taking. They have managed to almost fully restore the façade of one of the temples, with the statues draped with cloth and the ornate arches all in cream and beige marble. I can vividly imagine the streets thronged in roman times with everyone in their togas and going about their daily lives at the market.

At the theatre we eavesdrop a little in on one of the guided tours. His major news is that Celine Dion, Elton John and Pavarotti have all performed in the theatre here and when the restoration works are complete in his words “there will be much celebrations and more celebraties”. After a bit of a giggle about this we carry on into the theatre. There is a lady chatting to a man with a big camera at the base or stage level. We don’t pay much notice to her at first but as we climb higher to take photos she makes her way higher. She is dressed very elegantly in black and cream with a matching hat but she is in high heels, (now I’m a high heel person but this is definitely not the place for them) and she is carrying an old box style suitcase with gloves and things hanging out of it. I’m thinking haw strange this is until she starts posing, with the hat on, the hat off, looking this way, looking that way. It is obviously a photo shoot, an odd place for one but very beautiful all the same.

On the way back to the campsite we stop off in the town Ephesus for a bit of a gander. It is a quiet enough little town with a castle and some old church ruins. We bus it back to the campsite before it gets any hotter. The bus temperature says 24degrees C. I don’t believe it. It feels at least 10 degrees hotter!

It’s straight to the beach when we get back where we hop our way down the hot sand to the sea. It is a little cold at first but very refreshing. The rest of the day is spent relaxing in the shade chatting and enjoying cool drinks and ice-creams. It’s early to bed tonight as tomorrow it will be a long drive day so we’ll be up bright and early.