Week 3 (Turkey)

6/7

Early rise after only 4 hours of sleep. On the truck, off to the south of Turkey, along the coast of the Egian Sea.
Stunning views and a lovely ride.

Now bushcamping in a little sleepy Turkish fishertown, where a friend of Will has a little bar/restaurant.
In for an early night. Tired to the bone.

Laterz.

That's what i thought... it became late again, since it was so cosy. Never mind.


7/7

Rose at 7.25, fast breakfast, to the ferry for a short boat trip (with the truck on it) and then to the ruins of Troy (yes, Troy is in Turkey and not in Greece). Took a look at the old ruins (not that spectacular, to be honest) and then further to...
The supermarket (to get lunch and all the ingredients for dinner)... and on we went to a nice place at the beach (Selcuk). We planned to spend a day on the beach here, but since we only got a Turkish drivers permit for 10 days we move on tomorrow already. Sh*t!

Played guitar with James (we got enough material for our firtst CD now) and update blog over a beer now.

Laterz.


7/8

Rose 6.35, spontaneously! Showered, shaved, breakfasted, and on the road to Efes, to see the ruins of the old civilication there.
Well, nice, but not impressive and certainly not worth to skip a day on the beach, but then that's my (and a few others) opinion.

It became f&*cking hot and when we arrived in Pamukale temperature had risen to 42 degrees. Still managed to walk up the the (thermal) pools up there.
Not much had changed since 24 years ago, except that prices and number of tourists had gone up dramatically.
Bushcamoing in the neighbourhood ended the day.
(had doubted to go back to Pamukale to see brasil play Germany, but too tired and would probably get lost on the way back (pitchdark here)).
Nice community singing with James on the guitar afterwards. All ended well.

So, see you tomorrow.


7/9

Rose at 5.50, breakfast, left at 7.00. Heard about Germany - Brasil (7-1). Could not believe it.
Whole day drive to Cappedocia. Brilliant scenery, quick look at the Cave village.

Then... found a lovely place along a small river, close to a restaurant where they will show Holland - Argentina on the tele.
I'm a happy man. Hope i will still be after the game.

Laterz.


7/10

The game... OK, let's not talk about it (grrr).
Went to bed, slept for 4 hours, woke up at 6 to find out i got a beautiful diarrhea. Medicine worked preperly though (thank God).
Breakfast and then off for a beautifull walk through Ihlara Valley. Stunning, loved every bit of it.

Relaxing hour with coffee at a riverside to wait for the rest.
In the afternoon to the Underground City of Cappadocia. Nice, but not that exciting.
Views during the truckrides are beyond comprehension. So beautiful. Pictures can show it, but to give you a little impression:

Found a very nice camping lot afterwards, with a swimming pool. man did that feel good after a 42 degrees celcius day!
Good chat with Carlos (UK) to end the day of a few beers.



7/11

Rose at 7.30, breakfast and did my administration. Payed my taxes (for the dutch: BTW, don't know the english word), and updated my blog.
Going for another swim now. yeah.

Laterz.

Went to a carpet show for a demo. Some of us bought one, but... not my thing. Meanwhile i managed to do the shopping for dinner, since Tim and I had to cook.
Something weird happened to Chaz. Her leg started to bleed severly. Carlos and Brenda took her to a doctor and all seemed to be all right in the end. Still.. it worries me.
Anyway... everybody liked our food except me.
Did the dishes, beer and a short night of sleep, coz we had to do breakfast the next day.


7/12

Rose at 5, made breakfast for everyone and a long day on the truck followed.
We crossed half of Turkey to end up near Gumushane, where we bushcamped. Food, playing our guitars and an early nigh finilized the day.