Friends

It took some time, but I learned how to make friends again. Here. From zero. It was not that easy but not that complicated either. Definitely not as hard, as I imagined and convinced myself in the beginning. Of course uni work helps in it, I could meet with 'new' and 'old' Joensuu people, but I also had to change a bit. And I feel better. The Hungarian friends are too far in many cases. Nice to have people here around to count on, to hang out and to do sports. I missed the last the most.

Türkiye

Antalya

  

 Hierapolis, Pamukkale

 

Istanbul

 Ankara

 Cappadocia

Turkey trip - last part

Antalya – last day.

I was really tired after the bus trip, but still managed to see the zoo! And swim, despite the rain... And then took some bus around, eat one last dürüm, and that's all. Time went really fast :(

Summary about Turkey :)

• Everyone smokes but friendly
• You can see traffic accidents kind of every day. And almost every time the drivers (at least one of them) tried to 'kill' (grab his out of the car,...) the other...they had to be stopped often...
• Never had that huge percentage of getting 'weird' messages on CSing.
• If you travel alone you can collect tens of fb IDs and phone numbers. Actually you don't need to be alone for that.
• Summer would be too hot for me! :-o
• Too many locals and tourist but not enough green places are in Istanbul
• Turkish ppl like Hungarians: free things , tea, wine, food, discounts... :) My favourite Turkish guy was from the Restaurant in Göreme...he even lived in Hungary for 3 years..and his Hungarians was better than his English! And he entertained us the whole evening!
• Kebabs have millions of different variations
• Great fellow travelers – hope to see some of them somewhere
• Cappadocia is really that amazing! =) <3

Pictures will come later!

Cappadocia

April 26. Cappadocia

It was great fun! :) Maybe even more than I expected. So coming to Turkey because of Cappadocia was a perfect choice!

I arrived here in on 24th late evening, and managed to get a room in a place I wanted to. Without reservation, of course. :)

The weather was okay on the first day, but on the second it was totally perfect! On 25th had been on an organized tour visiting the further places... Underground city, many valleys, cathedral, churches, rooms... And had a nice group in the minibus too, we even had dinner together with some of them...in a restaurant where the owner spoke (and lived) in Hungary, and gave us huge discount too. ;)

Yeah, basically millions of ppl are here from the States, most of them teach English in Istanbul.

Today we went a hot air balloon tour. My trip was so budget that I have been 'wasted' a lot of money, but still, worth it. I didn't get too scared, so managed to enjoy the flight. After that we (ppl from the dorm) went the Göreme Open air Museum. It was okay, but toooo many tourist and was not that special.. But after that went a shorter walk to two valleys (rose and red), and later we walked again together with the other to a valley, which was at least shadowy, with donkey-ponies and without faeries. :)

The holiday went absolutely quickly...but one more, the last, day...in an hour going back to Antalya...probably spending the last day in the zoo and on the beach. Swimming in the sea, again! Love my holidays! :)

Pamukkale - Istanbul

April 21

I've seen the travertines in Pamukkale, the sunset from hilltop, one guy from the hostel insist to marry me... This was my yesterday in nutshell. After that I took the night bus to Istanbul. And I changed my CS host, as the previous guy have not reply to me message... But at least I will have a place to stay for the next days. :)
I got sunburned again yesterday, so it will be interesting today...

April 23

This will be my 3rd - and last - day in Istanbul. it is a nice city, but a bit took hot for me. First day I have been looking around some of the famous places like Blue Mosques, Hagia Sofia, Grand Bazaar, etc. And around that area. There is a LOTS of tourist. I felt after 10 hours there, that it was enough. :) I also met with a French teacher who gave me some advices what to see.

My host works for tourism, so on the second day I took a cruise on Bosporus. I could have chosen other option, but I felt enough from tourists. :) After that I have been in the spice bazaar, and later on went to the Asian side. It was a great pleasure! Much less tourist! I like the ships (ferries) which connects the two sides. In the evening we had tea with my host and his friends. I drink tea constantly! Everyone offers everywhere... I yesterday I think I had like 7-8, I have lost counting...

Today I might try to get to the arboretum,  and also visit the military museum, which was closed on Mon and Tue. In the evening taking a bus to Ankara to meet with a friend. :) And on the next day still go to Cappadocia...

Pamukkale

In the evening - after the rain - I just went to take some pictures, which I repeated after the dinner too. Pamukkale is expensive. Especially if you eat in a restaurant, and not just some 'faster' food.
But a clear advantage of traveling alone: you get a big glass of wine on the house from the waiter in the restaurant...exactly when you are thinking to order one ;)

April 20
Time to visit the Travertines and Hierapolis. After that back to Denizli, and probably take a bus to Istanbul. Or to Izmir. Let's see. :D

TURKEY TRIP

Decided to write again about my trips :)
Bocsi, ez most csak angolul lesz, de lehet tesóimat nyaggatni, hogy fordítsák le ;)

April 18. Arrived safely to Antalya

The way to Turkey went smoothly, the only difficulty was that I felt really tired by the end. But I am in ASIA, AGAIN! :) Two CSer picked me up from the airport by car at 3am! Huge respect to them! We talked a bit and then went to sleep. Today (18 April) I spent the day (or more like the afternoon) in Antalya. One CSer showed me around in the old city, and after that I went exploring on my own which meant mostly 'tramming'. Of course I checked the 'historical' tram line, and the new one as well. Walk in some parks and also went to the beach to swim. It was cloudy and extremely windy, but the air was like 20 degree, so I did not stop me. :)

The rest of the plan is flexible...I need to check weather forecast if it worth to go to Pamukkale now, or I should change the order and go to Cappadocia first. So maybe 1 day in Pamukkale travertine terraces and Hierapolis (but I am afraid I get really bored with it fast), so let's see. Probably I should skip Ephesus. And Izmir.

Yeah, today until noon it was raining really heavily. After that it just stayed windy, but not too promising.

April 19. Pamukkale

Decided to go to Pamukkale. Unfortunately the bad weather also decided to follow me, but for tomorrow it looks nice. I am still not sure where will I spend the night tomorrow. The options: here, Izmir or on the way to Istanbul.