What to do with our last two weeks in Turkey? Unknowingly our minds had already been made up. The front page of our Lonely Planet had a picture which looked like Fred Flintstones house with an air balloon suspended above it, this had been staring us in the face for 6 weeks with Radka saying ''I'd love to go to Cappadocia''.
So Istanbul wasn't quite the relaxing break we'd expected and we left feeling pretty tired. This was soon replaced by our excitement for being back on the bike.
Turkey began with a laugh! They have a huge border crossing with 6 manned stations but we were waved through the first 5 without stopping or showing our passport, only to reach a huge queue of cars. The atmosphere was really jolly and many people were talking to us as we approached the patrol booth. ''Passports please!'', to which Radka fumbled hers to the floor, ''just relax, don't worry!''. said the official.
It was clear that The big cycle into the city took it's toll on me when I managed to get off my bunk after a whopping 19hrs sleep. I found Jonny downstairs in the common area talking to his friends on Skype, he'd be awake for ages.
I should begin this blog with an apology for the recent lack of updates on my behalf. For those who don’t know, we’ve been home now for 6 months and I have only just found the frame of mind in which I feel comfortable to write again.
My brother, Nick, and his girlfriend, Carla, had booked a 3 week holiday to the Philippines to visit Carla's family at the end of January and I'd actually planned a much later arrival to coincide with them. When Carla found out Radka had gone home she realised I'd be alone for Christmas and suggested I should go one month earlier to spend it with her family. I'd set my mind on cycling to Vietnam but decided it would be really nice to meet her family and spend such a long time with them. It turned out to be a great decision :) I spent two months there in total.
So Radka was at home and I flew off to the Philippines for two months to spend time with my sister-in-law's family. Here are some of the cool things I noticed whilst there.