Today is our last day in Turkey. Everyone got all emotional with the tour guide, besides me and Caitlyn. He said good bye to all of us after we checked in. "Dawn, I know you don't take selfies but I was just wondering if we can take just one this time?"
Of course I agreed because its only once and we will probably not see each other forever. "You've been a great friend, Dawn. Thanks for everything." Caitlyn said as she gave me a hug. Not long after we are in a plane, ready to fly to Singapore in about 10 hours. Caitlyn and I couldn't sleep at all due to jet lag so we stayed up all night listening to music and watching TV.
With no sleep at all, when I arrived at Singapore and had to wait for 2 hours for my plane, Caitlyn waited with me. She gave me her number and one last hug as we said our good byes to each other. I fell asleep on the plane throughout the whole journey. Its nice to now be back at a warm climate and is mostly sunny.
As I arrived at the airport my sister picked me up.
"So, how was your trip?" she asked
"It's really exciting and fun, but tiring. It's great to be home."
"Nice. Its great to be home. I have been eating chinese takeaways and KFC through out the whole week. Cook me something when we get back alright."
"Fine."
---The End---
Friday, 17 January 2014
Day 10
Today is our final day here in Turkey and so we took a drive from the beautiful Cappadocia to the largest and busiest city in Turkey, Istanbul. It is one of the biggest cities in the world ( population of 13.9 million). Its commercial and historical center lies in Europe, while a third of its population lives in Asia.
We arrived there at about 12 in the afternoon, just in time for lunch. We were taken to a authentic Chinese restaurant which is nearby the Blue Mosque we visited at our first day here. We ate noodles (which were really good), chicken (typical turkish food) and rice (we finally got to taste rice that wasn't actually salty for once!)
Then we went on a cruise along the Bosphorus-a strait that forms part of the boundary between Europe and Asia. We were lucky enough to go on the cruise as the other group of tourists couldn't go here. On the left side of the Bosphorus is the European Side and on the right side is the Asian side. On the sides of the Bosphorus you can find mansions that costs a lot of money called "Ottoman" waterfront houses lined neatly next to each other. There was also a playground and a fancy hotel that has been around for a long time.
After the cruise we took a look at the spice market. The spice market is very big as well as CROWDED. People were shoving each other out of the way in order to get to the shops. "Hey lady nice scarf you have there" a man commented on Caitlyn's scarf. "Ni hao." said another man "Where are you from ladies? China? Korea? Japan?"
Caitlyn got really annoyed of the people and just ignored them "Get me out of here, quick. I HATE crowded places like these. It's impossible to take a decent picture without people getting in your way." Caitlyn bought 5 boxes of Turkish Delights. "They are just so amazing, Dawn. You have to try them!" as she gave me one. I popped it in my mouth. It wasn't the best tasting thing in the whole world but it was okay.
Then we went to the Grand Bazaar. It was not as crowded as the Spice Market since it was 6 in the evening but there still were some people. The Grand Bazaar sold souvenirs, toys, scarves etc. Me and Caitlyn bought matching scarves from a man that designed it himself. We also bought souvenirs for our friends and families.
Tonight we are staying at the magnificent Hilton Hotel. The service was quite dissapointing. Our baggage arrived late and the elevators were smaller than ever. Fortunately, there was a kettle. Caitlyn spent all night eating her instant noodles. Tomorrow we are flying back to Singapore (me flying back to Brunei)
We arrived there at about 12 in the afternoon, just in time for lunch. We were taken to a authentic Chinese restaurant which is nearby the Blue Mosque we visited at our first day here. We ate noodles (which were really good), chicken (typical turkish food) and rice (we finally got to taste rice that wasn't actually salty for once!)
Then we went on a cruise along the Bosphorus-a strait that forms part of the boundary between Europe and Asia. We were lucky enough to go on the cruise as the other group of tourists couldn't go here. On the left side of the Bosphorus is the European Side and on the right side is the Asian side. On the sides of the Bosphorus you can find mansions that costs a lot of money called "Ottoman" waterfront houses lined neatly next to each other. There was also a playground and a fancy hotel that has been around for a long time.
After the cruise we took a look at the spice market. The spice market is very big as well as CROWDED. People were shoving each other out of the way in order to get to the shops. "Hey lady nice scarf you have there" a man commented on Caitlyn's scarf. "Ni hao." said another man "Where are you from ladies? China? Korea? Japan?"
Caitlyn got really annoyed of the people and just ignored them "Get me out of here, quick. I HATE crowded places like these. It's impossible to take a decent picture without people getting in your way." Caitlyn bought 5 boxes of Turkish Delights. "They are just so amazing, Dawn. You have to try them!" as she gave me one. I popped it in my mouth. It wasn't the best tasting thing in the whole world but it was okay.
Then we went to the Grand Bazaar. It was not as crowded as the Spice Market since it was 6 in the evening but there still were some people. The Grand Bazaar sold souvenirs, toys, scarves etc. Me and Caitlyn bought matching scarves from a man that designed it himself. We also bought souvenirs for our friends and families.
Tonight we are staying at the magnificent Hilton Hotel. The service was quite dissapointing. Our baggage arrived late and the elevators were smaller than ever. Fortunately, there was a kettle. Caitlyn spent all night eating her instant noodles. Tomorrow we are flying back to Singapore (me flying back to Brunei)
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| Ottoman Era Waterfront Houses near the Bosphorus |
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| The Spice Market |
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| Spices in the Spice Market |
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| The Grand Bazaar |
Thursday, 16 January 2014
Day 9
We had the chance to go on a hot air balloon ride. The sunrise and the views of the valleys were absolutely amazing. Caitlyn almost fell asleep standing up. You can see the valleys covered in snow and little "fairy chimneys" You can also see little holes carved onto the mountains (this is originally where people last time lived in. Those are the windows.But now they are houses for the piegons. Apparently it is very warm inside the cave during the winter and cool during the summoner so thats why people lived in it.) There were also a lot of fat piegons flying around the valleys, chasing one another around.
We landed near a ice cream shop and bought Turkish ice-cream, made out of goat's milk. It was quite expensive, 2 dollars for one scoop. We saw a whole flock of piegons crowding around a certain area, under a tree decorated with evil eyes. People went over to inspect the piegons and dropped loose change into the donation box for the piegons. Someone tried to pick a piegon up, causing four of them to fly away. The people used piegons as grape fertilizer, as their poop is very good for helping them grow.
One of the piegons got in the way when Caitlyn tried to take a selfie of herself under the Evil Eye Tree. The pigeon did its business on her phone. Caitlyn screamed so loud, she caused most of the pigeons to fly away. She started asking everyone for tissue to wipe her phone off the piegon dung. People were laughing when they saw what happened. Caitlyn got really mad and walked to the bus.
We drove to the hotel at night, the hotel was quite nice. Our room was in the basment. The elevator in this hotel was particularly small so we just took the stairs to the room. The windows were as big as doors, once you open it you can see a magnificent view, blocked by a tree. Caitlyn opened the windows and snow fell from the branch into the room. Great.
Piegon valley
Other hot air balloons
We landed near a ice cream shop and bought Turkish ice-cream, made out of goat's milk. It was quite expensive, 2 dollars for one scoop. We saw a whole flock of piegons crowding around a certain area, under a tree decorated with evil eyes. People went over to inspect the piegons and dropped loose change into the donation box for the piegons. Someone tried to pick a piegon up, causing four of them to fly away. The people used piegons as grape fertilizer, as their poop is very good for helping them grow.
One of the piegons got in the way when Caitlyn tried to take a selfie of herself under the Evil Eye Tree. The pigeon did its business on her phone. Caitlyn screamed so loud, she caused most of the pigeons to fly away. She started asking everyone for tissue to wipe her phone off the piegon dung. People were laughing when they saw what happened. Caitlyn got really mad and walked to the bus.
We drove to the hotel at night, the hotel was quite nice. Our room was in the basment. The elevator in this hotel was particularly small so we just took the stairs to the room. The windows were as big as doors, once you open it you can see a magnificent view, blocked by a tree. Caitlyn opened the windows and snow fell from the branch into the room. Great.
Piegon valley
Other hot air balloons
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