Turkey
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Destination Dalyan
The 3-hour drive from Pamukkale down to the coast just gets better and better, through spectacular mountain scenery and then over the mountains themselves. Once we leave the D330 at Golcuk and cut through the lanes which take us to the D400, we are deep into pine clad mountains, winding our way first up and then down the spiralling lanes. It’s a terrific drive. After two hotels and a guest house so far on this trip, it’s good to settle into our new riverside apartment knowing we now have our own space for a while. The rocky outcrops across the river are easy on the eye and as we approach…
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Last Day in Pamukkale And The Wishlist Ticked
As we approached retirement in the pre-COVID days of 2019 and our dream of full time travel was becoming reality, we, like most travellers, drew up a lengthy wishlist of places to go and things to do. Pamukkale has delivered one of the latter for us, in the shape of a hot air balloon flight…. It’s 6.30am, just getting light, and half an hour past the first muezzin call of the day, when we are collected by minibus and taken to the launch field at the foot of the “cotton castle”. Five balloons are in the process of being inflated, bursts of flame roaring into each. Lift off is gentle,…
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Pamukkale: Ancient Cities In Modern Times
As September becomes October the mountain air develops a chill, there is noticeable change in the evening and morning temperatures which seem to be dropping a couple of degrees each day. The daytime sun is still hot though. Also changing is the UK’s view on Turkey, and news filters through whilst we’re in Pamukkale that, just like our Croatia trip, we will again face 14 days quarantine on our return. We’ll take it: the joy of these trips is well worth the pain of quarantine. Pamukkale itself is a slightly unusual town, catering for large numbers of visitors to the obvious major attraction. A high percentage of these visitors come,…
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The Cotton Castle Of Pamukkale
It’s actually quite hard to leave Selcuk, so we take one last stroll through town to bid farewell to Ali our new friend, Osman the guy at our favourite restaurant and finally Bora our host, and drive out of town with the unshakeable feeling that we have unfinished business here. The 3-hour-plus journey from Selcuk to our next destination Pamukkale turns out to be a rather uninspiring drive through mostly nondescript lands and industrial towns. A very decent kebab lunch stop at Burharkent is the only point of interest until the last few miles before Pamukkale itself, where at last there are cotton fields and fruit farms to decorate the landscape.…
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Leaving Izmir, Loving Selcuk
Usually, it goes like this: “Hello madam hello sir, where you from?” “England”. “Ooohhh, England! Where from? London? Manchester?” “In the south, about 100 kilometres from London” “OK, come look in my shop, I have best prices for leather, handbags, watches”. However in Izmir it goes more like this: “Hello madam hello sir where you from?” “England”. “Ooohhh, England! Are you here for the teeth?” “Errr…what? No!” “Many people come from England for teeth work. Izmir very good for dentist”. “Really?” “Yes. I am a dentist. I also have shop with best prices for leather. Come look in my shop”. Our time in Izmir is up, so it’s back to…
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Merchants, Mosques & Masks: 3 Days In Izmir
Mexico, Thailand and Turkey. Of all the countries we’ve visited so far, those are our top three on the international cuisine league table, and our first night in Izmir posts a huge reminder of why Turkey is up there. But first the day starts with a 2am alarm, a small hours taxi pick up and a red eye flight out of a very quiet Gatwick. Once in Izmir, it’s a train and a metro to Basmane station and a trudge with our backpacks to our next bed in the heart of the old town. We chose Hotel L’Agora for its unique location: a riad style building right in the middle…
