Cairo & Alexandria

Cairo & Alexandria

We've been told by our hotel that the 900am bus from nearby Taba will stop by the exit from Taba Heights development onto the main road. We think that the staff think we're strange getting the public bus rather than signing on for one of the many tours and trips that are offered by the hotel at hugely inflated prices. We're hoping that the bus does turn up, but at about 915, a service taxi puls up where we are waiting saying he is off to Cairo and will take us for about £4 more per person, so we jump in with 5 other passengers. We're on our way through the Sinai desert learning Arabic, and chatting with our fellow passengers about where we are from (Ah London, I like the girls in London) our names (Ah James, James Bond) and other small talk...

The weather en route is a bit out of the ordinary for the middle of the desert, with enormous thunder storms, and so much water, which has nowhere to drain on the roads that were built for the dry. Then we get a huge sand storm, like the worst fog ever, and then just as we get into Cairo the rain is back and everywhere is flooded.

We're dropped at the end of the metro line - its kinda like being in Hounslow, and waiting for the train in the rain. SImilarly to London, its absolutely packed, and trundles along one stop before going out of service and dumping us all on the platform. We let a couple go off full of damp Egyptians, before getting seats on the next one, and are soon in downtown Cairo, and resting in our hotel after a long hungover journey.

Cairo is a chaotic bustling heavily polluted city, crossing the road is like the hardest level on Frogger. We get a taxi out to the pyramids at Giza, and it doesnt feel much safer on the inside... The first view of the Pyramids is awesome, but bit odd as they sit at the edge of the city - not in the middle of the desert, and there is a KFC and Pizza Hut at the entrance. However, up close, they are breathtakingly huge, and imposing - its easy to understand why the Pharoahs built them to prove their power and dominance over their people. The Sphinx also is astounding - built from a bit of leftover limestone from the Pyramid. Its a thought of how on earth could they build these 4500 years ago! The site is rammed with tourists, and also lots of guys trying to get you on their camel/horse/cart. I am offered 50 million camels for Luce. A tempting thought indeed. After a spot of rip off lunch in the shadow of the Pyramids, we head back to Central Cairo for a well deserved snooze!

After the exhaustion of the Pyramids, we trot over to the Intercontinental for a drink in the bar overlooking the Nile (we have to celebrate Sunderland beating Newcastle) and then for dinner in The Birdcage, an amazing Thai restaurant (we have to celebrate Luce's upcoming birthday) Its a real treat to have our favourite Thai food again, especially when its so good, and served exceptionally well. We're liking the idea of budget accommodation for us meaning that we can use the facilities of teh 5* hotels. After a walk along the river banks, with lots of offers of a ride on the gaudily decorated feluccas (or boats to you and me) we're back to earth with a bump and our 0* room.

As we have seen the pyramids in all their glory, it seems only right on Sunday to go the Egyptian Museum, and discover everything that was within. Our hotel is in a great location, only 5 mins walk away from the museum, which is very busy with busload after busload of tourists wandering around. Its an astonishing collection, vast statues to many different Pharoahs and dynasties stretching over millennia. Statues of families, hieroglyphics explaining the defeat of the Israelites in battle. There must be some logic to the layout, but we cant work it out. There is a fascinating room of the mummies, with real mummies from 3000 years ago, wonderfully preserved so you can make out blank features, teeth still intact. All a little scary really - imagine the ghouls from an Indiana Jones movie, and you're about there. We've seen the Tutankhamun exhibition at the O2 in London, but there is still a vast exhibition of antiquities plundered from his tomb in Luxor on show. Jewels, coins and sarcophagus after sarcophagus all extravagantly decorated with gold, painted with unique designs. Its all a bit too much to take in over the course of day, so we head of for a beer and late lunch.

Another evening stroll along the Nile, and dodging cars as we cross the road. There are lots of couples standing by the river, just chatting and generally having a nice old time with each other. Any single guys cant take their eyes off Lucy, and all wish us "Welcome in Egypt." There is not an obvious middle class area which we found in Amman - its just all chaos with cars honking their horns, and people offering us all sorts of anything that we could want, so its a relief to get home.

Monday we decide to leave Cairo, and head North to Alexandria for the day. An ominous web search tells of enormous queues for tickets at the train station, confusion as everything is written in Arabic, uncomfortable 3rd class seating, but the Egyptian rail authority site gives good info on prices and timetables. Even so, we set off a little anxious for the station, and in plenty of time (which goes against everything I believe in) By 8:10, we have our tickets and are waiting for the 900am train. Nothing could be simpler, or cheaper - its £3 each one way on the train, and about a 2.5 hour journey. Bargain. The train leaves on time with fierce air con. Its packed too, and we've definitely been on grubbier trains in the UK.

Alexandria is a very different city that Cairo, and seems a lot closer to Europe than the capital - not just geographically. Its a university town, with the highest literacy rate in Egypt. This doesnt stop the manic car driving, or the huge interest of the men in Luce. The girls are also besotted with our blond-ness, and we even pose for photo with female student (at her request) The museum is closed, and our guidebook doesnt give any details on the fort on the site of the Pharos lighthouse (one of the ancient 7 wonders of the world) but we still have a great time wandering along the corniche, and through the shopping areas, and enjoying a typical Egyptian lunch of fuul (beans with tahini and salad) shouka (eggs and tomatoes) bread & salad. We both feel that we had a great day out, and pleased that we managed easily on the trains. Tomorrow is our last day in Cairo, and then we head south on the night train to Aswan...

Tel Aviv - Eilat - Taba

Tel Aviv - Eilat - Egypt (photies in reverse order...)

We're up early on Friday to get the bus over to Tel Aviv before everything shuts down for Shabatt until Saturday night. We're experts at Jerusalem bus station after the trip to the Dead Sea, and we negotiate our way through airport-style security, and the bus leaves promptly on time. Its a short hop over to the modern vibrant TA. We're not too far from the Central Bus Station which is the biggest bus station ever seen, in the Neve Tsedek area, and wander down through a bustling market to find our lodgings for the next couple of days. The hustle and bustle is gone once we have settled into our room, and Shabbatt has begun. It leaves the place eerily quiet, so there is nothing else to do but go to the beach.

Neve Tsedek is a great area, with lots of trendy winebars, chic boutiques and cool coffee shops most of which would not be out of place on Abbeville Road. The prices though match! We found a great wine bar on the main street, with some great local wine - just a shame about the staff, who rather pointedly told us that service was not included. That lost them any tip that they may have got for bringing us 3 glasses of wine... Our hostel has a great roof terrace which is showing films when we get back, so we join in with a couple of beers and vodkas.

Its a very late Shabbat Friday night, and so not a lot happens on Saturday, which is probably just as well as everything is closed. We manage an evening stroll around the old town of Jaffa, and then back to the hostel for curry. Its run by Indians, so they do a great all you can eat buffet - perfect for a major hangover.

Our Sunday plans of getting an Egyptian Visa are thwarted once again by random embassy closures! The Egyptian embassy in TA is closed until Weds, which is ages away - we do have a back up plan, and decide to head down to Eilat, where we are guaranteed to get beach weather (its been a bit windy in TA) and we can pick up our Visa there and get over the border all on the same day to make it to Susi's hotel in Taba for evening drinks! So we are defeated, but not completely and head to the beach. After lunching on burgers to get over the ongoing Visa trauma, we have an evening wandering around the city's smart areas and streets - Sheinkin Street and Rothschild Avenue. TA would be a great weekend away break from the UK - great weather, smart shops and restaurants, and nice to wander around. Its pretty expensive though!

The next morning we are back to the enormous bus station to catch the bus to Eilat on the Southern tip of Israel, sitting on the Red Sea. The bus takes us through barren desert lands, with some startling scenery - almost lunar. There are a lot of extremes is Israel - we pass villages that are made up of corrugated iron shacks, and aware that we passing through parts of the world that have such conflict, and then we pull into a service station with the Golden Arches gleaming.

Eilat isnt the most inspiring of towns. Its a tourist destinations for the Israelis with markets selling lots of tat, big resort hotels and global brands with stores like KFC, Zara, Adidas, and the airport in the middle of the town! Planes land almost above your head. There is also a fantastic climate and a great beach, which also shows the contrasts of Israel. In the morning, our fellow beach guests are Russian overweight families, without an ounce of style between them, but the afternoon changes completely. Schools and colleges end, and kids come and pose on the beach. The beach bars kick up the Isro-pop booming out along the beach, and the only thing for us to do is get a beer and join in - even though we dont get given any flyers to the local night clubs, and feel too old.

Getting a Visa in Eilat is easy, and we are on our way by 1100am on the bus to the border. The only question we get is "are you carrying a weapon" and we are sent through into Egypt. The difference in border is stark. Israel is gleaming and new. Egypt has seen much better days, and immediately we are being offered taxis and asked where we are from. We're excited to see Susi and catch up with news from home, so are soon on our way to Taba Heights development - all the major hotel groups are represented - Sheraton, Marriott, and Susi is in the Hyatt. Its half term, so its full, and we have booked into a slightly cheaper option. But its still the biggest hotel room that we have had, has its own bathroom, TV, aircon, and we're on half board. Interestingly though, its also the first hotel that charges for wifi. We hit the pool for a couple of hours until Susi comes to meet us for drinks - we manage to blag our way onto the all inclusive deal, so get drinks free all night - until the last round, when the barman notices that we have blue wrist bands, not the pink that is the key to free everything. Still we've done pretty well out of it.

The next day we decamp down to the Hyatt, which is a huge resort; despite 1200 people checked in, it doesnt feel packed. There are 3 pools, and also a long stretch of beach, which has amazing snorkeling. It has a lovely feel to it, and we enjoy our day of luxury sunbathing, and enjoying top notch service, even if the gardens have been cut back by the new German manager. We join Susi's friends Mark, Alex, Mia and Max and Sally on 12th visit Sue's balcony for drinks, and then dinner, before heading back to our hotel at about 1230am blagging our way onto a tour bus taking a load of sleepy tourists up to Jerusalem. Its a great day, and wonderful to catch up with Susi, but we've got to get up for the 900am bus to Cairo the next morning, and a return to the budget lifestyle...

Jerusalem

Jerusalem

Jerusalem is a unique city, and completely crazy. With important monuments for Islam, Judaism and Christianity piled on top of each other, it is clear why it is such a complicated place that causes much arguing. We're awakened early by the muezzin from the nearby mosque, closely followed by the first of many groups of Christians passing by our window carrying a cross singing hymns. We are staying on the Via Dolorosa, which is the supposed route that Jesus carried his cross. After dragging our bags along the road, I kinda get a feel for how he must have felt.

We're up and out after another boiled egg breakfast and off to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which we were advised to get to early. This church was built on the site where most Christians believe that Jesus was crucified, buried and rose to heaven. Its quite unassuming from the outside, but inside is a very different story with gaudy mosaics the first thing we see. In front of which is a stone where various people are kneeling down and kissing. There's nothing to indicate what this is, so maybe we should have paid more attention in scripture class, but we think that its where Mr Christ was buried. Further into the church, and there is a rowdy mob crowded another tomb. There doesnt seem to be any sort of method to this, but we want to see what's inside, so join in. We come to believe that this is where Jesus rose to heaven, and inside the darkened tomb, guarded by an aging bearded chap, who could be a priest, is a hugely ornate temple to Jesus. We're not allowed to hang around though, and are soon ushered on by Mr Priest.

The rest of the church is a lot nice, less hassled. The Christians only seem to be bothered about those two places, and a third area which we are literally manhandled through by another priest. We leave feeling pretty disillusioned by the Christians, who dont seem to be very, well, Christian, and could do with a bit of organisation.

Next stop is the Tower of David Museum, which shows us the troubled history of Jerusalem. Its been involved in so many battles, with so many different religions and peoples taking control, that its easy to understand why this area is so troubled. The Brits were in charge for a while, and I think we probably did a good job, and introduced a bit of order to the place! Not surprisingly though we handed it back when we realised that even for us, it was too much of a challenge.

Lunch is felafel in the rooftops of the Old City. We look out at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and Dome of the Rock - its quite a stunning vista.

Next stop is Temple Mount and the Western Wall - the only remaining part of the first temple built by Solomon, making it one of Judaism's most holy places. There is major security here, and need to pass through x-ray machine to get access. There are 100s of Jews worshipping at the wall, and sticking prayer notes in between the bricks. Men and women are separated, and its quite a fascinating site. Many many people all in the same place for the same reason. Beyond the wall is the Dome of the Rock, one of Islam's most holy places. Its amazing to think that the source of so much conflict can be so close together in such controversial surroundings.

England are playing this evening, so we head into the New City where there are bars and restaurants aplenty, and have a beer watching England cruise to a 3-1 win against Belarus.

The next day, we are up early to get to the Dome of the Rock. Architecturally the most striking of the religious places, with its Golden dome glistening in the sun. Its also incredibly peaceful and pleasant to wander round, although we, as non-Islam, cannot enter to see whats inside.

We're up early so that we can get down to the Dead Sea for the day, and hike up to the bus station to get the bus to En Gedi. We pass a sign that indicates we are at sea level, and continue the descent to 400m below sea level - the lowest place on earth.

Its quite a surreal float in a slimy water that doesn't evaporate as quickly as regular ocean water. Its clear enough, but its not something that you want to get a taste of (there is a sign indicating that it is illegal to drink the Dead Sea Water...) We also find a mud pool and have a great old time smothering each other in mud. After a rinse in the water, I guess our skin does feel softer. Should have rubbed some on the bald spot though as it might have encouraged some more growth. The bus back is a pain - its all uphill, and the driver doesn't seem to be able to do a hill start at all - but we get back safely and find some decent supper in the New Town.

Next day is Friday - and the start of Shabbatt in the afternoon, so we plan to get on our way to Tel Aviv. We have a quick scout through the guide book, but decide to pass on Mount of Olives, and the Jewish museum Yad Vashem and head straight on to the delights and beaches of Tel Aviv...

Amman - Petra - Jerusalem

Amman - Petra - Jerusalem

The busses in Jordan arent quite up to the same standard as Turkey. The bus down to Petra from Amman was a minibus, very mini, with a bonus tax on your price if you aren't Jordanian (claims of Jordanian grand parents fell on deaf ears) It sets off when its full, and tears off down the desert highway through the barren dusty landscape, stopping only briefly to let a herd of camels cross! 3hrs later and we are in Wadi Musa, the town that hs built up to fleece tourists around Petra. We've got a great balcony looking down to the PInk City, and spend our afternoon on it soaking up more sunshine.

The next morning we have breakfast with Ismael, a Jordanian who is far too awake at 800am, and keen to practice his French, German, Italian and Spanish, with a bit of English thrown in. Petra itself is absolutely breathtaking both in what you see, and hiking around the site. Its hard to do justice in words to this ancient city from around 1AD, built along a narrow siq to keep it hidden from marauders and the rest of the world. Lying on a fault line, major earthquakes are the main reason that it was abandoned in the 15th Century. At the end of the Siq, you come out to see the Treasury, and the Indiana Joes theme music starts up in your head. We were there for a full day, but could have easily spent two there - there were still some bits that we didnt get to see - particularly another severe 'up' bit to see the high place of sacrifice. Hard to guess how they sacrificed from there... Its pretty mindblowing to see how a community existed and survived 2000 years ago. There's not a lot else to do in Wadi Musa - our hotel showed Indiana Jones almost on repeat, so after a dinner of rice chicken and gallyah - a tomato spicy dish - its off to sleep.

Its a bit of a mission to get from Petra to Jerusalem in one day, but perfectly possible. The 900am bus from Wadi Musa to Amman filled up pretty quickly. The conductor tried to charge us full fare for our luggage also, but we were having none of it, and teamed up with a pair of Germans and an Aussie girl to put him firmly in his place. 3 hours back up the Desert Highway and we are back in Amman bus station with a swarm of taxi drivers trying to get us in their vehicle so that they can take us to the King Hussein Bridge and teh border crossing into Israel. According to most taxi drivers, the fare is 15, but I was having none of it and eventually got one guy to take us for 14. A saving of about 80p, and one that I am very proud of. King Hussein Bridge is near the Dead Sea, so there was a lot of down to get there. There is some great scenery on the descent to the much more fertile plains. We're dropped off about 1km as our driver cant take us all the way, aledgedly. Its a lot hotter this low down. Once at the border point we have to pay to leave the country and then get our luggage x-rayed and get on another bus, and then get off this bus and onto another. It seems to take an age to get going, and an aging Arab woman gets off togive a piece of her mind to some poor unsuspecting police chap. It seems to do the trick whatever she said. I wouldnt have answered her back. The Jordanians are very good at reiieving the last few dinars from our pocket with another charge for this bus. One chap only has Isaeli Shekels or dollars to pay with, and they will only give him change in dinars, which he doesnt want. I gallatly step in and offer my remining dinars to help him out. As they say one good turn deserves another, and this chap just happens to be the World Health Organisation's head officer for Gaza and the West Bank, and has a car waiting to take him to Jerusalem at the other side, and he offers us a lift. Result.

Getting into Israel is a lot easier than expected, and also is free! Just a few questions about where we plan to visit, how we know each other, and we are ushered through for another stamp in our passport. The Israeli stamp means that we can not get into Syria, Lebanon and other Arab nations, but we're not too fussed about that any more. Climbing back up from the lowest point on the planet, we enter Jerusalem and get a great view over the Old City. Its taken about 6 hours to get here, so its a treat to have air-conditioning and a chauffeur driven ride to our hotel. We say goodbye and thanks to Tony, and get to our hotel, whose internet has been down for a couple of days, they havent received our booking, and the hotel is full up. Sorry, we will refund you the deposit - which he makes a botch of, and gives us $40 instead of about $20. We soon discover that its Sukkot, and everywhere is jam packed full. We go back to the original hotel and demand that he finds us another hotel. After I make a huge fuss in reception, he calls a friend, finds us a room and gives us another $10 to cover the cab fare. We decide to walk through the streets, and eventually find a place to rest our travel weary heads in the Armenian hostel. Some Americans are just checking out, so we have a good chat on with them about where to go and how to get there. Once we're in the room and showered, we pop over the Via Dolorosa to the Austrian Hostel for a supper of strudel and schnitzel. These hostels are pretty grand buildings, with interiors like smart University Halls of Residence, but also with a feel of something out of The Sound of Music. As if on cue, an Austrian nun walks by.

After supper we wander down to the Western Wall. We think its the start of Sukkot, and it is very very full with worshipping Jews in full regalia, including big furry hats, which we later find out from Jewish correspondent Tony Quill that the ultra religious wear these hats all year round. Must be baking hot in the summer.

We're soon in bed, in our spacious room that even has a TV. No curtains though, which is a bit odd.

Amman & Jerash, Jordan

Amman, Jordan Sunday 12th October

After we were prevented from going to Syria, we flew over it straight into Amman, Jordan. Somehow our bags have gained about 5kgs each, but Royal Jordanian Airlines didnt seem to care that we were so overweight. It was also quite quaint to get a hot meal served on the flight with individually wrapped cutlery. Back down on Earth, we were reassured to see a roadsign to the Iraqi border.

Despite our taxi driver's protestations that our hotel is no good, and we should go to his cousin's hotel, we're in the Palace Hotel in downtown Amman in amongst all of the souks selling all sorts of shiny men's suits, spices, snacks and small electrical goods (our 5 lira travel kettle from Istanbul has already bitten the dust so Luce is on the lookout for a replacement.) Amman is built on hills - or jebels - just like Sheffield, so its tricky to get around on foot, but we did manage to climb up to Rainbow Road on our first evening which is where the young and hip Amman-ites hang out. We joined them on a roof top bar ("no alcoholic drinks, sir") with amazing views over the city and fireworks going off in the distance. Amman feels like an Arab city that is very welcoming to us Western invaders.

There isnt a great deal to see in Amman, but on Friday we had a good wander around the restored Byzantine and Umayyad ruins at the citadel, and also the theatre. One of the first inhabited roads of Amman, Rainbow Street, has been recently restored, and is now very pleasant to walk along, and stop for a coffee, or lunch alongside the more tolerant and thoroughly modern Jordanians. We found great coffee shops to hang out in - Wild Jordan cafe, and Books@Cafe - great to escape the hot and dusty streets - and Fakr-El Din a great Lebanese restaurant with a guest book featuring royalty, politicians and Michel Platini...

On Saturday, we headed North out of the City to Jerash, a wonderful Roman City that is in the process of being thoughtfully and informatively restored. Its much more accessible than Ephessus in Turkey, if only as on this day it wasnt rammed with tourist parties, and we found lots of the areas we had to ourselves. There are no barriers to keep you away from going up to the buildings and monuments to touch and feel, and its a fabulous place to spend hours. There was a distinct lack of busses back to Amman, so we jumped into a service taxi (basically some bloke who waits for his car to fill before driving you back.)

We found a cafe in the Abdoun area of Amman - supposedly the area to be seen in on a Saturday night - that was showing England v Kazhakstan. It didnt serve beer, which was probably as well, but we still enjoyed a 5-1 win despite Ashley Cole's best efforts to send the result in the opposite direction. Luce's appreciation of football continues... On the Kazakh manager - " he could have washed his hair, he knew he would be on the TV," on Wayne Rooney - "He is so ugly, what has he done to his hair? He has a ginger beard and stubble on his head, what a munter." And on a Kazakh substitute -" Blimey, he's been hit with the same ugly stick as Rooney"

We've really enjoyed our time in Amman, a great and quite easy introduction to the Arab World. And quite cheap too - although we didnt help the budget too much as we insisted on going out to the most expensive restaurants in town! Ammaniis are very friendly and helpful people - almost every taxi and bus driver has welcomed us to Jordan, and all the men love staring at Lucy. They're also all really fond of the nargilehs (the sheesha pipes) and the apple tobacco. Although none of the bars that we have been into serve alcohol, everyone, including the women, happily smokes their glorified bongs. Next stop Wadi Mussa, the village next to Petra...

Bussing around Turkey

Thursday October 9th - Antalya Airport, Turkey. By Jim

Today is our last day in Turkey, before we fly over to Amman in Jordan. We've been happily getting around Turkey using the pretty efficient bus system. Its all private bus companies, and can be a bit daunting at first - at Istanbul bus garage, there are dozens of busses with different logos lined up, with the drivers shouting out destinations all over the country - I guess that its organised chaos, but quite well organised. Once on board, the busses are quite comfortable - good leg room, and a little chap who brings you a cup of tea, and sometimes even a cake (and doesnt charge for it either)

Our first bus experience was a daunting overnight bus from Istanbul to Selcuk, a town on the West coast near to Ephessus. The bus station is about 45 mins out of town, but the bus company we were with put on a free shuttle service to take us there from our hostel. After about 90 mins on the main bus, we pulled into a bus terminal which was still in Istanbul, about 15 minutes from our hostel (although would have involved a ferry boat over the Bosphorous.

Geography isnt kind to road travel from Istanbul to other parts of Turkey as it is surrounded by water, so we had to transfer to a car ferry at 1100pm to go somewhere a bit closer to where we wanted to be! No idea where it was as it was dark, but there were dozens of busses doing the same!

We arrived at 800am the next morning in Selcuk. We'd found the family run Homeros pension to stay in - 5 mins from the bus station. Mama does all of the cooking, and her son Dervis and daughter Oya look after the rest of the business. The place is pretty kitsch with loads of nik-naks on every available shelf, table, cupboard etc. We retire to the beach at Pamucak to snooze away the afternoon after the bus journey. We join the other guests on the terrace of the Homeros for a glass of passable home made wine to watch the sun set, and then for mama's home cooking, which isnt too bad either.

Next day, we're off to Ephessus, and realise that we have left our camera behind(!) Ephessus is an amazing Roman city with some original parts dated to 3BC. There is an amazing amphitheatre which seats 25,000 built between AD 41 and 117, and you can get a real feel for how the Romans lived by walking along their high street, past where they got their water supply, bathed, worshipped, went to the theatre etc. The Ephessus museum is in the centre of Selcuk and displays many pieces discovered at the main site, including statues of the gods, artefacts from gladiatorial combat. Its a fascinating compliment to what we saw earlier in Ephessus.

Our final bit of sightseeing takes us to the Basilica of St John. This was built around where Jesus's number 1 disciple, John was buried, after he came to Ephessus with the Virgin Mary following Jesus's crucifixion. What started as a burial site developed as a church was built around it, which was sadly destroyed in an earthquake in the 6th Century. They are in the process of restoring.

The next morning, we were moving onto Kas, a picturesque harbour town on the Meditterranean coast, and just as well as the rain was coming into the Aegean coast. Our bus was delayed a couple of hours, but this journey did provide us with some stunning scenery. Turkey is very mountainous terrain, so there are lots of climbs and descents - the descent down to the Gulf of Gokova has amazing views. By the time that we got to the coast road from Fethiye to Kas, it was getting dark, but the next day, we took a bus from Kas back along the coast to the town of Kalkan, where there are some amazing coastal views. The drive was similar to the Corniches from Nice to Monaco. Kas is a prime package holiday place, absolutely picture book harbour town, with mountains rising behind the maze of narrow shopping streets (all selling tat) Kalkan is a similarly stunning harbour town about 30 mins along the coast. Both are expecting great growth in the next few years as a new marina is to be built in Kas welcoming boats the like of which are usually kept in Cannes.

No such development planned for our next port of call. The bus trip to Olympos again took us along some stunning coastal scenery, and also passed miles and miles of greenhouses, quite a blot of the otherwise faultless landscape. Olympos is another site of Roman ruins, but has been protected by National Park status. This means that no buildings in stone or concrete can be built. So we check into our log cabin in the middle of nowhere at the Saban resort. There is nothing to do at the Saban apart from swing in a hammock with a beer and read your book. Perfect. Meryl is the cook, and as 7pm dinner time approaches, the air of anticipation about the place grows! And with good reason - some of the best home cooked food we have had in Turkey is on offer.

More ruins on the way to the beach - these were recently unearthed, so not as well organised as at Ephessus, nor was Olympos as big a town, but they are in the forests, so add another bit of adventure (snakes) to wander round them. 3 nights of R&R, and Meryl's amazing food later, and we board our last bus in Turkey, bound for Antalya. The beach is pebbly, but idyllic in setting with huge rising rock formations on all sides. There are no hotel resorts, bars, restaurants or sun-loungers to disturb, that job belongs to the Russian day trippers who come in en masse on boats to look around the ruins. You can tell where the new money is these days as most of them have been tucking into their Big Macs.

Our last bus takes us further along the coast to Antalya, a modern, Meditterranean city, which has been developed for tourists over the past 15-20 years. It still has some interesting parts though - including the old town and the harbour, which despite the hoardes of German tour groups, are still nice to wander about or find somewhere to sit and have a beer.

Our final kebab in Turkey is straight out of Fawlty Towers. We are the only people in the restaurant to start with, and our intrepid waiter treated us to a little individual Turkish dance. He loves Turkish music you see. Fortunately for the restaurant's books, he has a reservation for later, so sets about re-setting one of the tables. It looks great as he puts the final touches to it, but the fag hanging out of his mouth drops its ash. Disaster. With much frantic sweeping glasses are sent flying, plates knocked over, but its all sorted in time for their arrival. And then they choose a different table...

So that was Turkey - huge contrasts in what we have seen - Istanbul a grand city with a strong muslim tradition, and tourist enclaves where beer is king. Roman ruins dating from 2000 years ago, and modern tourist-friendly towns like Antalya. Would definitely recommend it, especially the Saban for an escape from London's hustle and bustle