Turkey is a passionate test for the avid backpacker and I am lucky to have visited it, Indeed the charming city of Istanbul is often dubbed as the city that spans two continents – you can even cross the Bosphorous by ferry from Europe to Asia. This may have been the only time in my life where I crossed a continent border by boat. Of course, you can easily book Turkey...
Did you know that Istanbul had a collection of nearby islands? I didn’t, until I overheard someone saying that they were going to the Princes Islands, and I needed to enquire with them what they were talking about. Before I went to Istanbul, I saw it as a city destination; a concrete jungle, busy and always on the go. This is kind of the case for the city...
Goreme in Cappadoica, was one of my favourite places in Turkey. It was just, so different, and so beautiful, and I knew it was only the tip of the iceberg in terms of what the rest of Turkey had to offer. Istanbul was a nice city, but I wasn’t overly enthusiastic about it. Fethiye and Oludeniz was pretty, but it was super touristy and tailored for the...
Istanbul is one of those cities, that if you wanted to, you could spend days on end exploring the various neighbourhoods and sites, or you could spend just a few days. I opted for the latter as, as much as I love cities, I wanted to explore other places in Turkey, in the 9 days I had there, including places like Cappadocia, where I went hot air ballooning, Pamukkales...
One thing I enjoy about life when I travel, is getting to watch the sun setting. It is just as good as getting to watch it rise, except you don’t have to get up super early to see it, or stay up really late, either. Watching as the day turns into night, and a city come alive, twinkling with lights is magical. A great way to spend the end of your day I find, is...
One thing that excites me about travelling, is the food. Sure I love seeing new places and interesting sites, but when planning a trip, I often like to look up what the national dish of the country is, or what amazing things I can try. This love of food, led me to doing a cooking class, whilst in Thailand; and I was in my element. When I thought about my trip to...
Crossing borders is always an exciting aspect of travelling. Often it leads to a new passport stamp, and can introduce you to a new culture, language and different food. I have done many border crossings recently, often in long, hot bus rides, taking up to 12 hours. I have crossed overland from Singapore to Malaysia, to Thailand, to Laos, into Cambodia and then...
3.20am, and the Muslim call to prayer woke me, from my not so many hours of sleep in my Cave in Goreme. Though I was thankful for this, it was like my natural alarm clock. Early mornings have been somewhat of a theme during my trip to Turkey, but this early morning wasn’t in order to get to an airport, or on a day tour somewhere, but was to experience watching the...
When you travel, it is always good to mix things up a little; particularly with regard to accommodation options. Previously on my travels, I have stayed on a a backpacker boat in the middle of Abel Tasman, New Zealand. I’ve slept on sleeper trains, buses, and in cars. (I can pretty much sleep anywhere, apart from on planes oddly enough). I have camped, stayed in...
Chasms filled with sparkling blue water, reflected in the sun. I felt like I had just stepped onto a mountain of snow or ice, except it was warm, and what I was walking on, was not snow or ice; it was calcified rock, with travetines of thermal pools, that had formed over hundreds of years. Pamukkale in the Denizli provence of Turkey, is classed as a UNESCO...