OzBus 14

7am is our set off time, stupid AM.  Ahead lies an 8 hour journey heading east into the heart of Turkey.  The drive is beautiful and scenic, however it takes a lot longer than the estimated time given in the morning.  There is a stop half way to see a huge lake called Lake Tüz.  Again, sticking to the scenic sights of prior.Our 8 hour drive soon turns into a 10 hour drive, from sunrise to sunset.  We eventually turn up into the small town of Göreme; a town flanked by gradient, colourful rock formations and the occasional cave.  Our hostel, The Flintstone’s Cave, Motel, Pension (Cave and Pension are words used instead of hostel), is an amazing place set in stone.  Stone walls, wooden ceilings and an amazingly charming bathroom.  All this with a backdrop of rocky cliffs and a twilight night seems a million miles away from the urban predecessors and a world away from a fortnight ago.Dinner at, you guessed it, a local restaurant with a few beers. The hostel has pool, so we set about testing the waters before heading to bed.  The morning will be a unique start to the Monday; hot air ballooning.

The last day in the capital is a late one seeing as the night before ended in the early hours of the morning.  The others head to the Grand Bazaar (Spice market) in search of some scarfs and head covers.  I on the other hand opt to stay in bed and have a much needed lie in.  By the time I do finally get up (around 1pm) the only person that’s close to my state is Liam.  He and I decide to get some brunch somewhere in order to start our day, followed with those wonderful random and spontaneous wanders.After heading into town, we find a place to have a quick bite and move on to our wandering.  We decide to walk away from the main city centre and move towards the other end of town.  The first highlight of this exploration is what can only be described as the local neighbourhood.  It’s the weekend, so the whole place is bustling; children running around and playing, people in the streets talking from opposite sides, shops are busy, the smell of food and damp in the air.  We then stumble across the fish market by the river bank.  Again, the sounds, smells and sights are breathtaking and humbly cultural.  After so much walking, we decide to have some rest.After a small stint on the computer, the boys and I head out to see the only part of town we haven’t seen yet across the bridge.  No planning involved as we’d done so well previously, but that was a mistake that we pay for in the end.  After an hour of walking we realise that the whole journey would have taken less than a third of that.  Nonetheless, we find a restaurant under the bridge and have a quick dinner.  Tiredness kicks in and we retreat to the hostel in order to have some shut eye.  Tomorrow we head further east deep into Turkey and with that brings the start of our movement away from the modern, urban world.