Pamukkale

today was an easy day.Yay! it started off by going to this very upmarket Leather showroom, and they put on a fashion show for us with leather jackets. God they were nice. Big money however as they export to Milan tho we were given a 60percent discount. they got people up to show off jackets, and guess who they chose! yes Dave!then they had diff. finding a jacket to fit him! check out the photos below!

Then we ended up at this township of Pamukkale, which is near mountains with snow on them. Quite a shock to see this, esp. after our seaside resort with temp of up to 28,however this place was amazing. It is white limestone rock, which the water from the hills has made into little pools, and with a bit of extra concrete etc you have pools with flowing warmish water flowing from one down to the other down the hill. It was actually a roman city orgionally and the romans used this water system as a spa to cure ills! so it started with old ruins which was tombs of dead people, &think a Roman retirement village with a cemetry at the entrance! then onto Cleopatras pool *which is like the thermal pools at Rotorua, then onto this white hillside of pools! the only way down was to walk through this water amd pools. Dave and other just wore their togs, and the rest of us paddled. I can honestly say we dont have anything like this at home! Another funny story was the hotel! we knew this was a budget trip as far as accomodation goes, and up till now it wasnt too bad. However this one was another story! it was the first time it had been used by this tour group and hopefully never again. the rooms were worse than backpackers, our shower and toilet leaked onto the floor, so we put towels down and they were soaked. the doors hardly locked, luke warm showers, some rooms had no shower doors at all! and on top of that they had taken our passports *normal, but then laid them out on the reception desk and left them. we got given ours by another tour person! I packed a only little wobbly to the tour guide, because this is a no no big time! other guests were arriving and they could easily take them! he went and gave them a big telling off! I got bitten during the night but not sure what by. just a big lump left and itchy. all of us were so glad to leave that hotel!

Ephesus

Today we had an optional tour of the ruins of Ephesus, which was a seaport city, mainly taken over by the Romans, but all sorts of different types of invaders had occupied the city from 1000 BC! Most of the ruins were examples of a busy roman city, with an amazing ampitheatre for gladiators (think Spartacus!) with main streets, library, whorehouses, toilets, gymnasium etc. What was impressive was the engineering feats of some of these buidings! the ampitheatre sat 25,000 and each seat had a little hole in the front. You bought a stone token with a number on it, and then you had to find it by counting the rows up and seats across! just like today! On the way back we called in at Mary's house, which was (they think) the place where St. John took the Virgin Mary to, after jesus died, to keep her safe from the Romans. then he wrote his gospel at a nearby castle. This little cottage has been visited by at least 3 popes (they had left presents like rosary beads) and good Catholics come for pilgrimages to pray there. I was impressed by the care the local Muslims have taken of it - tho app. she is mentioned at least 7 times in the Koran, so they worship her too! funny world! they have a wishing wall, you put something on it and make a wish - so I did!

Interesting Night

After our full day at ruins in Pergamum, we came to our resting place, which was a lovely seaside town called Kusadasi. Our hotel is opp. the beach,and we have a lovely little balcony overlooking the sea. Last night we had tea (these tours have hotels which provide a buffet breakfast and tea - tea is lots of salads and chicken mainly). then our tour group were taken by our lovely tour guide called Ari, to a bar called the WaterPipe Cafe. it was in the back alleys of this town, but talk about hilarious.It provides waterpipes to try in a variety of flavours, as well as towers of beer! can you imagine it! the young lot got into the beer towers (about 7 glasses in one tower) and we all got into trying these water pipes. then everyone tried each others to see what flavour they liked (you can have ones like strawberry, watermelon, but Ari the guide said real men smoke mint!) All in all a great night. we got back to hotel about 11.30pm, but some of the youngies went 'clubbing ' turkey style and were suffering this morning!

Lots of Ruins!

Yesterday and today was all about ruins! I dont know if you know it but this part of Turkey (close to Greece and Italy) were invaded numerous times by the Greeks and Romans,so there are ruins of cities from these times. The first one we went to was called Pergamum, which was a garrison city full of temples and areans for various emperors. It is set high up on a hill, and you need gondalas to get there (think Rotorua) and looking down you can see the tiny cobblestone roads they once used to get up to the top. What got me was how they let people climb all over ruins, marble statues, pillars etc over 2000 years old! there was not one piece of rope or anything keeping you away. They are currently trying to reconstruct the buildings etc and you can see piles of marble with numbers on, showing how they are going to put a temple back together like a jigsaw!

Gallipoli - Part 2

I think I just got up to the over night stay in the last post. It actually wasnt very cold by their standards. I had on a poly prop and hoodie with beanie and was alright in my sleeping bag. At night the grass areas looked like little bugs all in rows - sleeping bags. by 4.30am people were beginning to rise, and we ended up moving up into one of the stands, so at least we could sit, if not see. the dawn broke, with the sky lightning up from behind and the sea in front. the service wasnt as moving or sad as i thought - the most moving part was the two Maori ladies starting the service with a karakea - that was very emotional. The Auzzie PM was there , and our MP for veteran forein affairs or something. I thought J. Gillard spoke quite well, our one was more a show pony! there was deathly silence throughout, except for the National Anthems. After the service, every one then moved out, and up 1 and half KM track to Lone Pine, half way up the hill. Everyone was still dressed in their night woollies, and after about ten minutes there were continous groups of people at the side stripping off! Very big presecence of Medical staff and police up the track to make sure you were ok. From Lone Pine, the NZers had to then trek 3 more KM up hills to get to Chanuk Bair. On the way, there was time to reflect on how the soldiers did it, esp. looking down on the views and the steepness. there are some old trenches and cemetries on the way as well, so we stopped off and looked at some of the grave sites. Very emotional reading - some kids as young as 15! I must have looked puffed because some Turkish aide workers driving up the road to Chanuk Bar stopped and asked if we wanted a lift, so Dave and I got a ride for the rest of way! Yay! Our memorial is at the highest point, because we actually managed to hold it for a couple of days, with great loss of life before the Turks took it back again. This was a strange memorial, because right beside it, (a big steeple thing) was a huge statue of the Turkish commander who won the battle. app. he was very impressed with our bravery and courage. During our service, and we were at the front cause of our ride!) there was a big screen with the Auzzie ceremony at Lone Pine on, and then the big wigs from there came over to ours. So they had to sit through two. Ours was less formal, more Kiwi with a few laughs but still the main point was the futility of it all. As one speaker said, our boys were fighting for the 'Empire', bu the Turks were fighting for their land! and I dont blame them. there was constant thanks to the Turks for letting our two countries hold this ceremony year after year. the place is maintained by the Turks, and they certainly made sure security checks were thorough. We werent sure who actually paid for it, such as the staging, lighting, cleaning up etc, but it was obviously the Turks see this as a big PR exercise, with lots of tourist dollars ringing in the tills. (Over 200 buses were parked there!) Anyway I enjoyed our ceremony, the NZ band of 8 played and entertained the crowd, there were a few RSA veteren types there (in special seating) but not many. Less than I thought. Afterwards was a nightmare, with everyone trying to get out and join their tour group. We had to meet up with our Auzzie mates outside. It took 2 hours for the bus to come and load up, as they only allowed a few buses up the road at a time. Once on the bus, it was sleep! nana naps etc until we got to our hotel at a place 3 hours away! By the time we got there it was 8pm and we had tea and bed! for a very long sleep. (oh a shower was in their somewhere!) So that was oour Anzaac Day Exp. not as moving as I thought - some of the stories by the veterans on the overnight screen were emotional, however the spookiest part was after the main service and we were waiting for the crowds to move, so we went down onto the beach below. Then I could feel the boats landing, men being killed and so much blood the water was red - very spooky. All the speeches mentioned about this battle as being the defining starting point of our two nations as being independent countries away from the Empire. this seemed right, because we certainly werent commemorating victories by any means!

Gallipoli

wow! what an experience - the physical setting of the place is magnificent - stunning cliffs and views, the moving, emotional side and the hassle of being there! so the day joined up with the tour party - lots of people everywhere but eventually on this big bus - about 8 out of 40 our age - the rest are in there 20's - 7 from NZ the rest auzzies. need I say more! they are all very friendly and the youngies chat away to us, so dont feel very acient! trip down took about 5-6 hours from Istanbul on 2land highways which rapidly deteriorated the longer we left Istanbul! made the trip very bouncy on the bus!. countryside this area was rolling hills, horticulture and lots of saffron growing. we arrived at the place outside of Gallopoli, which is a small ferry town. saw lots and lots of buses waiting on the road, ready to get into the site. we stayed in the town till about 6 when the site opened and went. On the road there were3-4 stops for the army and police checking on us. very strong presence of these throughout. then tow lots of auzzie volunteets hop on bus to talk to us about the rules. no alcohol, unopened bottles drugs etc. app. a few years ago the young ones made real fools of themselves with alcohol and the nz aus govts asked to have it banned as it was potentially embarrassing for our countries. dont blame them. anyway then we get out with our backpacks sleeping bags etc and walk 600 metres to security checkpoint. buses arent allowed to park up. girls got searched by lady army officers, men by men (muslim thing) and then only a few more metres to the Anzac cove setting. not very big, the grass areas by then virtually all covered by then by bodies, we managed to sneak into small area, so not too bad. there are lots of small grandstands looking down onto the main stage where it all happened. we were warned if we got a seat there, you had to sit in it all night, so we kept to our grass site so we could sleep. In hindsight, however, for those of you who want to go, get to the best grandstand looking down, cause what people did was sleep on the concrete area under your seat! then you get a good view in the morning. we parked up on the grass, but cculdnt see the ceremony! big screens either side, that showed it to you tho. That night from 8pm on they put on documentries showing you the history of Anzac, great for those young ones that had really little idea of what happened , plus tha army bands played through out the night - showed on the big screens. so in actual fact, very little sleep happened! I slept from about 3 -4 am! people kept arriving all night. 90% were 20 - 30 yr olds, and were fanatasitically behaved! maybe it was the no alcohol, but they did both countries proud! we were asked by the MC who ran the hights programme (all by Auzzies) to remember this was hallowed ground, where we were sitting was a military cemetry, blood was soaked into the ground we slept etc and to respect the dead. my god! talk about really bringing it home. and respect they did. there were food stalls, souvenior stalls around to one end - off the main site so that was good. plenty of toilets (portaloos) with soldiers outside guarding them. this was the main turkish prescence.

Isfanbul - part 2

Yesterday we went on a full day tour of Istanbul. This was a real kosher one, because the guy at the desk told us to pay the tour guide! after what is the usual Turkish mayhem of organisation, we were on a minibus with lots of Spanish tourists. the guide spoke both english and spanish, so he had a very sore voice from coninuous double translating by the end of the day. It was the way to go tho, cause you got all the inside information about the historical sites, and could ask questions. we went to the Hippodrome (like a ancient staduium) with columns and towers dating back from early days. It was funny because all around you are tourist group parties with their guide, and slimy sellers coming up to you trying to sell you things while you are trying to talk. used no continuously! then on to the Blue Mosque next door, lots of people everywhere, but truly amazing place. very impressive, and they even thought about earthquakestrenghening when building it in the 1600's. a woman checks the ladies to see if you are 'modestly dressed', and gives you a scarf if youre not. I was ok with short sleeved tshirt and leggings. we then went onto some underwater viaduct water holding tank built in 500AD (the Basilica cister) and it was 1 half rugby fields long and wide! very impressive feat of engineering back then. It filtered water from the hills down into it by vieaducts, and then was used to water the city back then. The main idea was to provide water for the city if it was under seige and attacked! pretty clever huh? then we saw some Turkish carpets, 3000 US for a large one! and onto the Grand Bazaar! It thought it was lots of alleyways selling carpets and things, but it was under cover, and huge! a security guy is at the entrance checking out the devious types and then go for it1 I wanted a leather wallet, and had 30 min to find it. Talk about power shop! lots of haggling, you buy, you buy later I found one1 dave was seriously impressed by my focus, no stoppping at the gold, silver , carpet, other leather goods (and there was a lot!)pleased to get out of there, but not as bad as I thought. In the afternoon there was another moshque, spice market and the Sultans Palace. it had been turned into a museum, and we oould go through all the rooms - huge- and see the treasure the various sultans had accumulated. the read mcCoy! my god - all that gold, crystals, diamonds and jewels1 exactly like you see on old movies about the Ottoman empire! really worth it. dave was more interested in the swords and daggers and some very mean killing utensils. those people were quite mean! big day anyway, and then we got dropped off at our hotel two or more streets away! the driver cooulnt be bothered to finding our hotel - so he left it up to us! and guess what? we got lost! tiny alleyways, dodgy people nearly run over by cars and asking people we finally got there!only the start of a panic attack! not bad for me! Today we aere off to start our tour - Gallopoli tonight so more later!

Istanbul

Well, we finally made it to Istabul, after 10 hours on a Lufthansa flight (no tv on back of chairs only above - watched the muppet movie and sherlock Holmes - Joy!) and then 3 hours in Frankfurt airport (very organised and efficient for big transfer airport - impressed with Germans) and then another 3 hours to Istanbul! ist Funny Story - while we were waiting to board a bus to take us out to the plane at Franfurt (yes thats right - the airport is so big buses take you to the planes!) a guy came up to Dave and said Kia Ora bro - got talking to Dave where are you from?.... Taihape! both of them answered at the same time! he knew Daves family, played with some of his ex rugby coaches, knew the diff. families etc. Talk about a small world! so anyway this guy kicks a poor Asian girl out from her seat on the plane next to us, plonks himself down with a beer and that was it for the next 3 hours! couldnt believe guys could talk so much! app. he wasfrom London, working on the Olympic Games village (not yet finished but the stadiums are) and decided to join the bros at Gallipoli! he was hilarious! Anyway arrive at Istanbul airport, people everywhere holding up signs and talking and yelling! evenutally found ours, get sorted into a mini shuttle, lots of jabbering between the guide and driver and then on our way! cars buses bikes everywhere! not lanes just go for it! drivers slamming on brakes, then speds up to 80 kms and then brakes fullforce as taxi and motorbikesetc all change lanes, no Dave thought we went past the Blue Mosque four times! an hour and a half later (only 30 min drive from airport supposedly!) and lots of yelling out the window to passers by about where this hotel is we get there! it is placed up this little alley way not easy to get into! its ok itself as a hotel. the reception guy comes out, and is all over you, lots of smiles and greasing of hands! in 3 minutes of arrival he has sold us two tour tickets! he was that good! the second funny story was that the first one was a Dinner Cruise on the Bosporous with all the trimmings but ..... its 70 euros each but he knows someone working on it and we could go for 55 Euros!!! i really wanted to go cause it was on my to do list, so yay - money changed hands and he was going to jack up the shuttle for 20 mins time! My god! we had been awake 24 hours and now faced 4 more hours till midnight their time on this trip. but it was the only chance and we had to take it. So 20 mins later we are ready, not sure what to expect after our last shuttle ride lost the place! this time it was a young boy racer type kid in a old car equipped with mobile phone holder and thumping stereo who was to take us to the pier to the boat! lots of jabbering again and the receptionist is out with the phamplet and showing this kid the address! Im thinking - oh my god! anyway we get in, he doesnt speak English, drives like a maniac with stereo going and him chatting away on his cellphone, straight to the place in 10 mins yay! another young kid (about 18) in a waiters outfit is waiting by the road, says come with me, Dave gives the driver a tip, waiter snatches it out of his hand, jabbers in turkish, and stalks off with us following. we go on the boat (big, huge double decker with 100 people on board) goes past the guys taking the tickets, nothing said, and places us at a table! then another waiter comes up, more terse words, money exchanges hands between the two guys and we are ready to go!!! i just laughed and laughed about it all night. We think the waiters were doing a dirty on the owners and getting us in there without paying the owners, they pocket the money between them all and we get a show with free booze and dinner and amazing first sights of Istanbul! it was hilarioous! talk about being sucked in as gulible tourists first up! by the way the food was great, lots of wine and then the show starts while we are moving along the Bosphorus (like a large river going through the city)therewas a belly dancer in the show who was fantastic - got guys up trying to do it. The sights along the way were amazing - castles and fortresses and palaces all it up, including 3 bridges doing their own light show. Then the equivalent of a Turkish disco afterwards. got back to dock at midnight (after 30 hours up no sleep) - and was just buzzing with all the excitement! slept like a log when the head hit the pillow tho! here are some photos of Istanbul - more to come about day two soon!

Last of Disneyland

just putting on the last of the disneyland photos. you can see the light show ones (mentioned in last post) and then some of the fantasia show on the last night. it was Friday and the place was caotic - people everywhere including every kid from LA. including school parties! now theres a school trip from hell! was actually pleased to see the end of it for a while - over the accent big time. very grating on the ears (worse than Auzzies i decided!) and guess what ladies from school! did not see one child from school! yay! ps this is the new version of the Tea Cups

Disneyland Photos

Disneyland

had a great two days in Disneyland and California Disney. first day started at 8am and got home at 10am. this was after the long flight and jet lag, but the time just went! we spent all of it at Disneyland did all the rides including the lame ones. Small World has been done up and now quite bright and tasteful - all the sterotype racist dolls gone, NZ is now represented by two kiwis and a maori girl doing a type of action song (hope it isnt the haka!). We are amongst lots of Australian things so hope they dont think we go together. Dave wore his all black t shirt and at least five people came up to congratulate him on their win - as if he had an imput in this - and most were americans! We went to a Wild West  type of stage show, and Dave got called up to be Husband to be No 1 on stage, We were sitting at the front and he warned me this would happen! never laughed so much in such a long time! see the pictures below.
Day Two we went to California Disney - they have much more modern rides - i went on the rollercoaster twice and wanted more! got really frecked out by this high as ferris wheel where the cars rock and slide - didnt like that. That night you line up and get into position and then wait for an hour to watch this most amazing light show on the huge lake with fountains. It was fantastic with music, lazers and then theyproject parts of their movies into it! definitely the high point so far.
Have been fascinated with americans and their attitudes. They are definitely big people but the food they have is shocking - even by my standards. Everything is fried, with donuts and pastries for breakfast. So far no veges or salads anywhere! we are having oranges to try a be a bit healthy. The apples are crisp and shiny but no taste. decided there is so much here that is artificial and chemically modified in some way. However will have to say even tho the Californian accent is harsh and grating the manners are inpeccible. Such a polite bunch and even the kids are well behaved, esp. when they have to queue up for such a long time. Put our lot to shame!
we are having a lazy day today and then back to both parks tomorrow to redo the rides we liked the best and see some more stage shows that only happen on fri and weekends.
Crowds arent too bad, not much waiting time. except for this one ride where you have to shoot targets and try and beat your partner as you ride in this moving car! sounds lame but 40 min wait to get in and we did it twice! was trying to beat Dave but that was a silly idea! -

will post this and try to add photos!

Have Arrived in LA

what a trip! hardly any leg room for Dave but really cool TV screens in front of each seat. Lots of lovely food and you can use the TV screen to order free drinks and snacks in between times. The guy in front of us fainted mid flight so oxygen masks were put on and lots of flight attendants hovering, plus the guy couldnt find his passport at LA but discovered he was sittingon it all the time! didnt get much sleep - about 30mins of 10 hour flight, but watched lots of movies and they have interactive games on there as well (who wants to be a millionaire and suduku? so was kept entertained.).
Amazing coming out at LAX airport -  6 lanes all going one way - and quite hot as well. The shuttle was easy to get, but it was rush hour traffic so took over an hour to get to our hotel opp. We went on 8 land freeways that were bumper to bumper. the smog was everywhere. Disneyland. the bus driver had about 4 teeth left in his mouth and honestly talked non-stop all the way! about his life, his kids, we passed Snoop Dogs high school, and the Venus sisters have had two large tennis stadiums built for them - all that kind of stuff. Very wearying for the soul after no sleep. We are now going to have a nana nap and then walk around and see whats around . Quite a bit changed from last time.
Will post some more with pictures later on in the week.

On Our Way!

Sitting around waiting - Dave cant believe I am ready to go  with time to spare to type on our blog! feeling a bit excited now - was very scared about it all this morning. Nearly had a panic attack but all over it now. 5 minutes to go before we get picked up for the airport. Dave wants me to say that the house is so spotless, it has never been so clean!

Only two sleeps till end of school. Only just starting to sort out rail passes! will visit to the travel agent tomorrow to get tickets. Maybe that will make it start to be real!