Turkey- great place but just dont always believe what they tell you

Hello from Turkey

Well, since İ last left İ boarded a plane from Cairo to İstanbul. As much as İ enjoyed myself in Egypt, İ was very happy to be boarding my plane. After an early flight from Cairo, İ arrived in İstanbul in the afternoon. İ was very happy to see my airport transfer, which İ arrived after the problems İ had in Cairo. Walking through the airport, it suddenly hit me İ was no longer in Africa..İ was in Europe..strange.
İ booked into my backpackers in Sultanhet, which is the tourist mecca in İstanbul with hostels, backpackers and tourist offices lining the streets. My first impression of İstanbul was how clean and beautiful the city was and how İ was excited about spending a few days here exploring the city. (Which is definitely not enough time)
After nearly being convinced that İ should book a tour of Galliopi through the hostel, İ found a place that was half the price. My Egyptian experience has taught me to not always trust the tourist info that hostels try and tell you. For the remainder of the afternoon İ decided to go exploring on foot around İstanbul. İ firstly decided to check out Topkapi Palace, which is a group of courtyards overlooking the city. What made the experience even more memorable, was İ just happen to be there for some official Government business and somehow I walked away with a plate of Turkish food and drinks. I even chanced my arm and went back for seconds.. always put my stomach ahead of my brain.. it worked and I had a wonderful free meal. (Very useful 2 months into my trip)
From heading away with a full stomach, I continued on my expedition around İstanbul which ended up me catching a local ferry to the asian side of Turkey. İ was keen to take some pıcs of this beautiful city from the sea near sunset. İt is such a gorgeous city that has really surprised me and it is also very tourist friendly.
The next day I had an early start as I was heading to Galliopi for the day. I was unsure of whether to go there as I didnt really know what to expect. Well, the day didnt disappoint and I must admit I have never been as proud to be an Aussie as I was standing on the shore where our ships came in. It was very inspiring stuff being down there and even today there is a real eerie feeling where our ships docked. The whole area has been well looked after and very tourist friendly, which made the experience even more memorable. Our tour guide a local guy from Turkey was amazing, he must have gone through this 10000 times before but he spoke with such conviction and emotion that you were caught up in the whole sad story of Galliopi.
Not surprisingly the tour was full of Kiwis and Aussies and not one of walked away from the day disappointed. The following day I had the day to look around more of Istanbul, including the Blue Mosque, Sophia's and the Grand Bizaar. Just a word on the Grand Bizaar, 4500 shops selling discounted everything and anything...absolute paradise for me!
I then took the plane down to Bodrum for 10 days of relaxation before I travel to London.
I found some accommodation at Bodrum backpackers and the next day I did a cruise around the Aegean Sea on a gulet. It was a very pleasant experience, though a little strange as it was me and 4 European couples. That night I went out with some people from the backpackers to Gumbet. This is a little town nearby that exists soley on bars and food. Its a real party town and after barely going out for 2.5 months it was nice to go out and let my hair down.
The next day I met up with an Aussie and a Kiwi who both work in their respective embassies in Iran. The beauty of travelling is meeting so many interesting people that have fascinating tales to tell.
On Monday, I checked out the tourist places around Bodrum with Kelly (friend from Canada) We checked out the Bodrum Castle and the Massoluem. (which is the 2nd wonder of the Ancient World). Ive now seen two on my trip!
Tuesday I decided to take a village tour from Bodrum, it was my first experience of being screwed in Turkey. Like many areas in this region that survive on tourists, they will promise you the world and deliver you nothing. This was basically like the village tour and a number of other tours I took part in to see parts of the coast. The highlight of the village tour besides the nice food was meeting a couple couple from SA.
I moved places that night to Gumbet, as my mate PK was in town and booked into a nice hotel that included a swimming pool. This is a luxury that I havent had the pleasure of enjoying for nearly 3 months..
The next day I had a traditional Turkish bath, that includes going into a dirty sauna for 20 mins then a hairy large Turkish man comes in and gives you a scrub then a foam massage. I then had an oil massage afterwards. This lead to another argument, I bargained for a massage of 45 mins for 20 lira. He gave me a 20 min massage and then progessed to tell me that he only promised 30 mins..basically blantantly lying to my face..I told him to stop lying to my face and he gave me a Turkish gift pack to say sorry.. as I said dont always believe what they tell you. After people trying to screw me for nearly 3 months I had become a little harder and not going to accept this...especially as I was really enjoying it!
Afterwards, I went jetskiing with PK. This was heaps of fun, but it showed that I havent been on it for 10 years as I fell off once trying to change corners. Absolute blast though and another toy I want to buy when I find that money tree!
On Thursday, we went to Daylan for a trip to the Mediterranean to see 'Turtle beach' and a mud bath. It was an early start to get there with our first major stop being at the mud bath. This was very different to anything Ive done before on the trip and the mud reeked! You basically put it all on your body and sit in the sun to dry and it supposed to be good for your skin. Not sure if it had much in the way of benefits but it was great fun..(though I was happy to wash all the mud off my body!)
We then continued on our way to Mediterranean for a 2 hour swim, the water here was very warm and this was where we had a chance to see some turtles. My opinion was if you saw turtles on this beach you should go and buy a Tatts ticket cause it ain't going to happen. We were running late to get back home but like anything here there is always time to go to a jewellery market so they can try and convince you to buy something useless! arrgghh Turkey!
It was a long day and I was very keen to have an early night.
We also had an early start the following day as we were going to Kos, which is part of the Greek Islands and the closest island to Turkey. We were only going for a day, so we were keen to get over there ASAP to see as much as possible. Unfortunately, like most things the ferry was on Turkish time and it left nearly 1.5 hours late. (Excuse being they had problems with the passenger list- truth being it wasnt full enough so they wanted to wait as long as possible to get as many on there as possible) We couldnt believe the ferry was allowed to be operational, as it made the Pirate ship at the local show seem like the ferris wheel...anyone that faintly suffered from seasickness would have been in a bad way.
We eventually made it to Kos, which is a stunning island. It was very hard to believe that we were in Greece, and you can tell by the architecture that we were definitely not in Turkey anymore. It was beautiful place, so we looked around the main town then took a local bus up to a small village on a peak which gave us amazing views of the Greek Islands.
We made it back to shore, and I was secs away from missing the ferry back to Turkey. (Of course they leave on time to go back) After the issues in the morning, it was a really enjoyable day that has inspired me to see more of Greece on my next travels.
On Saturday I did another gulet cruise around other areas of the coast, including the caves and Camel Beach..(there are actually camels on this beach!!) Another relaxing day before i left on Monday. Sunday was a cruisy day, getting my gear together before i left the following morning to go to London. We watched the big game then a few of us went to the local bar for some goodbye drinks.
The next morning I boarded the bus and said goodbye to Bodrum.. I will miss this place and the fantastic weather but I was glad to be getting to London.
Well, now Im in London and things are going well. Ive caught up with a few friends that are over here and have started applying for jobs.. I can already tell the market here is super competitive but Im sure something will come up soon.. I hope!! :)
Hope everyone is well and post a comment and stay in touch.

Troy