Went off for my first trip of 2009 mid-June.. to country bordered by 8 others and with a city that straddles 2 continents - the land of the Turks. Didnt have very high expectations before I left.. I really had no idea what it will be like.. only managed to do a lil reading about the country... well, you could say I was pleasantly surprised.. Shall do a short summary of the trip.. since pics are worth a thousand words, I'll leave you to enjoy the photos..
Turkey's a huge country! The distances between places are sooooo far that we spent quite a fair bit of time on the coach daily... Its also a predominantly Muslim country.. albeit not the strict kind since alcohol can be sold and consumed openly.. I was surprised by how fertile the land is.. almost everywhere is filled with all sorts of plantations.. and season after season, different kind of plants are planted one after another... amazing.. at the Grand Bazaar and the Egyptian Spice Market.. I would say about 98% of the people working there are males.. makes me wonder if the women are not allowed to work?? My knowledge of Greek Mythology has also improved after the many ancient cities that we visited to look at the ruins coupled with running commentary from our tour guide whom I thought was like a walking history textbook! The sights were really really pretty especially in Cappadocia (although my pics might not appear so because of the camera user).. but I can't say much abt the food there except that its probably an acquired taste.. weather's not as bad as I imagined it to be.. the long summer days made the pics alot more pretty with the clear blue skies and bright sunny days!
First trip I made with xuan as well.. so sweet of her to make the following collage..
We were lucky to have such fun-loving tourmates too! everyone was a photo-taking enthusiast.. snap, snap, snap.. non-stop.. result of it all? combined photos from 7 ppl.. over 6,000 shots.. it'll take me years to sort them.. hahah.. but the poor tour guide had a hard time getting us to pay attention to him instead of clicking away on our cammies..
time to plan for the next trip!!
