Annie's Blog

Day 118 – We woke up early and took our long walk to the port. We got our passports checked and started our one hour ferry ride to Turkey (and no, not the animal turkey!). When we arrived at Marmaris we walked from the ferry port to the bus station and then began a 3 hour bus ride to Fethiye. 

Once we arrived we had to walk a long time to get all the way to our guesthouse. After we got all set up, we went to visit the weekly Tuesday market. We first passed the clothing section and then went to the fruit section, it was absolutely huge, and there were people bustling around buying fruit (there were probably 500 people there). We bought some peaches, cherries, apricots, tomatoes, and strawberries. 

Day 119 – Today we got up late and walked to some tombs built into the sides of the cliff walls. There was a huge tomb bigger than a house. When we were finished the tombs, we walked to an old castle ruin that was at the top of a hill. 

It was a difficult 15-minute climb but when we reached the top we saw the whole town of Fethiye, which was spectacular! When we climbed down we headed back and we read at our guesthouse for a few hours. 

For dinner we went to a fish market, then a restaurant cooked the fish we bought. The fish was amazing. We finished and soon walked home. 

Day 120 – Early in the morning we were going to do a jeep safari (not an animal safari). We got to the meeting point and bought some water guns. The whole way we squirted each other’s jeeps. In the middle of our trip we stopped by a river, and a guy from our jeep dumped a bucket of water on a 5 year old boy – you could see his face crinkle up and then he shrieked his head off. 

We visited a trout hatchery for about 30 minutes and then a carpet making place with some beautiful carpets. We kept squirting at jeeps throughout the day. People at gas stations would squirt us with hoses. We then went to the Saklikent Gorge for lunch and then we walked through it. 

After this, we went to have a mud bath – it was awesome!!! I got completely covered in mud. Then we headed to a small beach before going home. 

Day 121 – Today we got up and walked along a trail for 2 hours. We saw some tortoises along the way, as well as an older couple from Canada. 

When we got to the ghost town, we walked around the ruins for a while and then had traditional Turkish pancakes for lunch. We saw some horses, ponies, peacocks, and goats. When we finished we took a bus back. 

Day 122 – Early in the morning we walked to the pier and got on the boat for our cruise. The boat is an overnight boat and we are on it for 4 nights. We will get off the boat for day trips and then get back on. Amy, the bartender, is from Australia, and she was super nice. After we left the harbour, the engine broke down. We were going to go paragliding but it was going to be postponed because of the engine. 

But they changed their minds and we took a water taxi and a van to the paragliding spot. At the top of the 6,000 foot mountain we jumped off the ledge. It was AWESOME !!! I did some tricks and loops with the instructor (it was a tandem jump). On the way down I saw the view of the town and beach of Oludeniz, which was amazing. We took the van back to the boat and then relaxed. 

Day 122 – Early in the morning I woke up and was very sea sick, and so I threw up (boo). We sailed over the Kas (pronounced Cash). We docked near Kas for a few hours. I read ‘Divergent’ and almost finished it in one day. We took a tiny little boat over to the town for a few hours and we strolled around. 

We stopped at a 2,000 year old stadium. Owen and I threw rocks down a marble incline. 

Back at the bottom of Kas I bought a stuffed turtle and named him Tucker. When we got back to the boat Owen and Amy and I played “Dumb Ways to Die” videos. 

Day 124 – Today we sailed the boat to Kekova where there is a sunken city. I finished ‘Divergent’ and started ‘Insurgent’. We son took a small boat to Kalakoy. When we got there, there was a castle perched on the hill. We decided not to go in, but walked around the outside and visited some tombs. 

On the way down back to the boat I bought a bracelet and then we enjoyed some ice cream. When we got back to the boat I read ‘Insurgent’. 

Day 125 – Today we got off the boat and said goodbye to Amy, the cook, and the captain. We docked at the harbour and took a 3 hour bus ride all the way to Antalya and checked into our hotel. We walked around for a while and found a big mall, and for the next few hours we stayed there. 

Day 126 – Today was mainly a chill out day. I miss my friends at home and my soccer team. We strolled around and had our lunch at a doner restaurant. We kept walking and soon decided to go to the mall again just to pass some time until our night bus. We picked up our bags at the guesthouse and the caught the 9:00 pm tram all the way to the main bus station and got on our 10:00 pm overnight bus. 

Day 127 – When we woke up, we got off the bus and took a short walk to our guesthouse and checked in. We took a walk around. We are in Goreme, famous for its fairy chimneys. 

We then walked for about 1 km to the Goreme Open Air Museum. It was so cool – there were churched and houses built into the rock. We climbed a few fairy chimneys and then we were done. We eventually took a hike and met a man who had 4 tiny newborn puppies. We had tea with him an soon went back for a nap. 

Day 128 – Today we took a small bus to Zelve. An American couple, Levi and Christine, were on the bus too, and we had met them the day before. We went to a different open air museum and this was way better than the one yesterday. We playe din a lot of tunnels and passageways. We explored more fairy chimneys and found a house with a baby bird in it. We soon took a bus to Avenos, which is famous for its pottery. We watched a man making a vase. Then we walked to the market to catch a bus back to Goreme.

Day 129 – Today we took a long walk in the “Rose Valley”. We strolled around the trails and when we were finished we took a horse and art to a tiny village called Cavusin. After waiting for our bus to arrive, we went to Uchusar for lunch, and then walked up to the old castle, where the view was beautiful. Soon we started to walk back through the valley, but the trail got too dangerous, so we turned back and walked down the road all the way back to Goreme. 

Day 130 – Today we took a bus to Nevsehir, and went to the mall. For Owen’s birthday present, he went go-karting (lucky!!). We walked around a bit more and then went back to our hotel in Goreme. We played “Liar” with another Canadian guy named Guillaume. For a while I played video games. Soon we got on another night bus (boo!) that would take us all the way to Istanbul. 

Day 131 – Early in the morning we got off the night bus and tool the tram to our guesthouse. We checked in and walked to the Blue Mosque, and we were just in time to go inside to visit. It was amazing. Soon we walked to the tram and took the tram to the old port. We saw a lot of fishermen on the bridge. 

We checked out some busy spice market and walked to a mosque. On the way back we got lost but two hours later we finally got back to our hotel. (Forgot – today is Owen’s birthday!). 

Day 132 – Today we walked to the Hagia Sophia Museum. This place had a huge line up waiting for us when we got there. It used to be a church, but when the Muslims took over Istanbul it was turned into a mosque. It was huge, as in Gigantisaurus huge. It was also very beautiful. When we got out we strolled to the mosaic museum. There were a lot of big mosaics, but my favourite was the Griffin (or Gryphin, or Griphen, or whatever). 

Next we had lunch and headed to the port and took a four hour round trip cruise along the Bosphorus Strait. We stopped at an island for an hour, and then on the way back to Istanbul we saw an enormous mansion along the river. 

Day 133 – Today we walked to the Topkapi Palace (where the sultan lived). The Harem, which is the place where the sultan lived with his many wives, was our first stop. The next sections had clothing and jewelry, including a huge diamond. Later we took a tram to the other side of Istanbul and went up a funicular, before walking to the Military Museum. It was so cool. We saw an eight-barreled pistol as well as a huge Howitzer cannon. There were many other cool things too. 

Then after that we met up with one of our homestay students from Germany, Marie. We had a drink with her and her mom at a cafe and then had to say goodbye. 

Day 134 – We packed our bags and checked out of our guesthouse. We wandered around for a while and then took a bus to a museum which was amazing, but hard to describe. 

It had old fashioned cars (including the same one from Harry Potter) and Harley Davidson motorcycles. 

It even had a real submarine that we could go on (my neighbour friend Stuart would love this museum!). We soon took a train to the airport and started our 9 hour overnight flight to South Africa. Time to see some animals!!