Our bus from Pammukale took us straight to our seaport hotel in Kusadasi. The view from the room was to die for. But the room itself seemed to have been designed for the 60’s; no one had imagined there would be personal devices that would need additional electric points in the room.
We negotiated with Ondur the taxi driver, to drive us to Virgin Mary, Euphesus and drop us at Selcuk railway station – for 120TL.
Continue reading Day 6: Kusadasi, Euphesus & Artemis, Selcuk
From Kayseri, we got off the bus near Pammukale and were driven to the city on a free feeder bus. It later turned out that this was an agent selling his own local services. We teamed up with Balan & Kavita to rent a car and head straight to Aphrodisias.
We headed back to Pammukale to visit the world heritage site of Hierapolis.
From here, we headed to Kusadasi for Day 6 of our Turkey Roadtrip.
After a 125 km drive from Kayseri to Cappadocia, we had one of the most beautiful hotels I’ve ever stayed at. Of course, because I never lived in a cave before.
On enquiring about the ballooon flight, we were told that no flights were being operated on account of weather. We had almost given up, but something made us step in to a travel shop. We were more than delighted to learn that flights were being operated, but in an equal dilemma about spending €100. But we realized it was now or never and booked ourselves. The rest was beyond imagination.
At 6a, we headed to the site where balloons were being readied for flight. After a brief safety explanation of safety procedures, we were airborne with captain Jemal. His maneuvers Continue reading Day 4: Balloon flight & cave hotel in Cappadocia
After 2 days in Istanbul, we were now headed to Kayseri. Being on a budget trip, we took a taxi to Taksim around 3am to jump on the Havatas airport shuttle to Istanbul Sabiha airport. Lucky for us, the Pegasus flight to Kayseri was light and I got an entire row to stretch out. Our hotel was booked in Cappadocia and we didn’t want to carry our backpacks with us, so we rented a car at the airport. It was a pleasure driving through the scenic passes.
Traveling in the low season, we carried the risk of bad weather. While our 1st day in Istanbul was nice and sunny, day 2 was forecasted cloudy for most of the part. We thought of using the time indoors at the 500 year old Grand Market.
Since we didn’t want to leave anything to the last day, we headed to the Galata Tower. At a 25TL entrance fee, it was a bit hyped (locals pays 5TL).
We picked up a grilled fish sandwich on the bridge below the Golden Horn – it was fresh no doubt. We didn’t want to spend on an expensive Bosphorus cruise, and found a cheaper option for 12TL for a 2 hour ride. Here are some shots Continue reading Day 2: Markets, Galata and more of Istanbul
We landed at Istanbul SAW around midnight and were at our hotel in Yenikapi by 230a. After a good night’s sleep and a not so good breakfast (only to realize after a week that this was the best), we set out to explore Istanbul.
First up, we purchased a Turkcell SIM Card that cost us around 55TL and for another 10TL gave us 1GB data for a week. Data, together with the Trafi app, was a life saver when wandering the streets. We also topped up the Istanbulkart for discounted trips on public transport at 2.15TL per trip, irrespective of the distance. It works with bus, tram, metro, ferry & cable car .
Topkapi Palace, Istanbul
Pictures taken at Topkapi Palace in Istanbul
We started in the Sultanahmet area covering the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia and Topkapi Palace – all of which I highly recommend. We purchased the using the Museumkart at 85TL, but didn’t end up using it Continue reading Day 1: The old city around Sultanahmet, Istanbul
Every time I traveled, I saw over-priced miniature aircraft in in-flight magazines. Then one day I saw pictures of a diorama airport on Instagram and then I realized why they must’ve coined the tag #aviationporn. There was a huge community building model airports. Wondering where they got their models, I checked eBay and Amazon to find that there are a few manufacturers and tons of sellers. I wasted no time in ordering in my very first model – the majestic A380 that Singapore Airlines was First to Fly.
The next step was to go about designing the airport itself. Downloading foils from the internet was easy. But there was other detailing that required craft-work, and I started off with chunk-sized PoCs. The very first was for the jetways. Me & my brother used to save bellowed plastic straws for this when we were kids. I got a back of straws to re-create them and what turned out wasn’t very polished. Next was the ground equipment, but I soon realized that I had to use thicker paper. I had some card paper that came with laundered clothes which I used to create a hangar – and that turned out well.
I’ve set aside a monthly budget to add a few each month and slowly expand my airport. You’ll see a few good pictures under the Hobbies/Diorama category. Really excited 🙂
2 years of reckless travel had a big impact on my eating habits. I realized that I had to reduce my intake of carbs, protein & fat. Long flights serving 3 meals seemed like a low-hanging fruit. Without wasting time, I started experimenting with the various dietary meal options that most airlines offer – provided the request is placed 24 hours before the flight.
At first I switched to a fat free meal, which avoided gluten in the preparation and served fruits in lieu of an unhealthy dessert option. Together with this, I consciously reduced cola & soda intake and switched to juices or just plain water – lots of it. I refrained from all snacks, peanuts especially. But the meal still served a chunk Continue reading Staying healthy onboard
Thanks Mario for the $2 Remembrance Day commemorative
