Boat Cruises & Pide in Antalya

Antalya is a beautiful city, which we unfortunately only passed through for 8 hours on your way from Olympos to Cappadocia.  But what a jolly good 8 hours they were! We started the day with some delicious pide, and then went about exploring the old town.  We found the marina and were easily talked into doing a boat tour of the harbour area, which provided us with some stunning views.  After getting very very sick of vendors hassling us in the old town (no, I don't want any souvenirs thanks) we went to a gorgeous little cafe and sat amongst trees and potted plants to have some delicious apple tea.  Post-apple tea, I bought some amazing cherries from a man with a cart full of them, some freshly squeezed orange juice, a simit...the list goes on.  We did have a 12 hour bus ride to Cappadocia to look forward to after all, had to stock up on 'some' snacks.  In the evening we quickly dashed to see Hadrian's Gate, which was fairly impressive.  So anyway, without further ado here are some pictures.

 

View of the harbour from the restaurant

 

This little restaurant/sun lounge/beach/bar number looked amazing, unfortunately we didn't have time to go.

 

This little guy was hiding between the plant pots at the cafe!

 

 

Full photography credits on this one go to Chewy.  Pretty awesome decorations we thought.

I wish we'd had some more time in Antalya because it was such a beautiful city, but then moving on to Cappadocia was fairly spectacular too.  Love Turkey!

Falafels & Street Musicians in Istanbul

I just have to tell you about the most amazing falafels I have ever tasted.  A little, unassuming shop in Istanbul called Kikero Falafel was the place.  It is in the Galata area of Istanbul, which in itself is just a delight to stroll around as it is the more artsy side of town.  We went there for lunch the first time we were in Istanbul, thanks to a lucky find on Happy Cow, my favourite vegetarian/vegan restaurant finder, and loved it so much that the first thing we did after we came back to Istanbul today was go there.

So we sat on the tiny grassed area outside, and our delicious falafel sandwiches were eyed up by one pretty kitty that came and sat next to us. 

After our amazingly delicious lunch we went for a stroll around the area, and came across these marvellous musicians doing their thang on the street for all to hear.  Such a beautiful day!

Second Day in Cappadocia, Turkey

We knew what we wanted to see, we made a plan, and we executed it.  We hired a little scooter, and got ourselves a map.  A map that somehow didn't correspond to actual roads, and nearly led us to giving up on finding anything and throwing in the towel.  Thankfully at our third attempt, and after about one hour of driving, we finally managed to get the right road and we were on our way to an underground city.  It was worth it.  Along the way we stopped in the country side for a quick rest break, waved to some farmers passing on their tractors, and reconsulted the map to make sure we were still going in the right direction.  All was well.  Here are the photos!

It's incredibly hard taking photos with an iPhone in a very dark space, and these shots are the best we managed!

 

 

Here are just some more stunning viewpoints we drove to. 

 

These next couple of photos were taken on top of an ancient castle in Uchisar, the highest point in Cappadocia.

 

 

 

Some delicious looking dried apples at the entry to the castle in Uchisar.

Our map clearly got a good workout.

And here is the view we had of all the hot air balloons going up the next morning when we left (bright and early at 5.45am).

I love Cappadocia (or rather Kapadokya) and hopefully will return one day...with enough money to ride in a hot air balloon.

Flintstone Living in Cappadocia, Turkey

If you've ever wondered what it must be like to live on the moon or in an alternate universe, then Cappadocia is the place to be.  It's simply surreal.  The landscapes are beautiful and weird, and both of us were pretty much speechless.  After the awful overnight bus ride to Cappadocia from Antalya, we both passed out in our dorm for most of the day a few hours, and got up in the late afternoon to go and explore the town of Goreme.  So here are some photos from our wanderings.

 

 

After spending the whole afternoon and evening pretending to be the Flintstones, we ended the day with a delicious feed and of course some apple tea.

 

Oh and incase you were wondering, my shorts are from H&M, crop t-shirt is from a random, little shop in Langkawi (sorry) and the shirt and my bag are both from Urban Outfitters.

Orangutans in Borneo

Orangutans!

We got our first glimpse of the beautiful men of the forest at the Shangri La Rasa Ria Resort just outside of Kota Kinabalu in Borneo.  The resort is home to a small sanctuary, and all three of us were really impressed by the staff, the facilities, and of course the apes.

 

After spending a couple of hours watching the orangutans and talking to the staff, we mosied back to the reception area which was absolutely beautiful! As a result we spent a fair bit of time just lounging around, before embarking on a fairly hefty drive all the way across Borneo to our next destination.  The resort also obviously made a pleasant change from our usual accommodation of the cheapest hostel we can find in a town.  The orangutans were amazing, and we had such a lovely morning watching them.  I would definitey recommend anyone to visit the sanctuary if they find themselves in Borneo!

Happy Monday

Here's a pretty little number to brighten up your Monday.