Getting off the plane was easy (one step at a time). There was little to no security going from the plane to pick up our bags through to the visa office. Once at the visa office you are required to pay the lady $20 US in exchange for a sticker in your passport that sais you may enter Turkey as many times as you wish within the next 3 months. YAY, access to turkey for 3 months!

Getting to our hotel was just as easy. Thankfully we had already organised for a transfer from the airport, where our driver bought us home made turkish delight and asked for a tip.

The next 2 weeks can fairly easily be summed up by the following: Long 13 hour bus trips, 3 hour ferry rides, 3 hour train trips, hours of walking, plenty of cafe’s, greek coffee, turkish tea, overly expensive food, cards, more cafe’s, more coffee, more train, bus and ferry trips. More walking, cafe’s, coffee and cards followed by a late night fever, a mid day cold sweat, a bit of grand bazaar shopping then lastly a 23 hour plane trip with 2 stops. That’s pretty much how quickly our trip whent too!!!

I would also like to add, if you fly and have conjested sinus’…. DON”T! It is almost the one, singular, most painfull experience you will have. I havn’t experienced much worse than sitting in a plane that’s taking off, while certain parts of your ear are rupturing causeing your ear drum (while under extreme pressure) to be encased in puss and blood (from ruptured bits). Thus, completely muffling your ability to hear out of your right ear. What makes it worse, is now your up in the air at 35,000ft and you’ve still got 3 more landings and 2 more take offs!!!

Our trip started with our inability (well, my inability) to sleep the night before due to massive amounts of excitement. Once I finally got my self of to sleep it was time to arise again! This was great. The 31st of March – the day we fly out to Turkey!!!

Sitting on a plane for 23 hours with 2 stops on the way was hardly rivetting. However, I was still excited… that is, untill, i’d watched two movies, eaten a meal, had a stare out my window at the Australian west coast, then water. Nothing but Water. This was pretty much as exciting as sitting in my office at work staring at the blank wall that I’ve not been bothered to decorate. For a further 20 or so hours I did this. Infact, now i think of it. My office would of been a nicer place to sit. I wouldn’t of had a cramped seat that i couldn’t get out of because I had to squeeze past 2 other people, the lady in front of me wouldn’t of kept her chair back while we where trying to eat. Actually, there wouldn’t of been a lady sitting in front of me if i were in my office and I certainly wouldn’t of watched the same episode of scrubs 3 times before looking down and taking a bite out of my dinner roll.

So we’d travelled half way across the world, stopping at Singapore, then Dubai, then finally Istanbul. We were here! Finally we had arrived at our destination…

2 weeks of holidaying in a foreign land here we come……..

(To Be Continued)