Recently I spent a couple of days in Devon where my Gran (mum’s mum) hails from. I travelled in First Class with First Great Western as both a treat to myself and because the tickets weren’t much more than standard anyway. The service on the journey there was impeccable! We had service at our seats and were given complimentary drinks, snacks and offered food freshly prepared by our on board chef. I really enjoyed being spoiled and had the chance to do a bit of blogging on the way down too so felt very rested and relaxed upon arrival at Exeter St. Davids.

Little did I know the  adventures I had in store for me for the rest of the day!!! I decided to drop my bag off at the YHA hostel I was staying at which was out of the city and managed to get pretty lost…luckily a nice Devonian (got told off by my Gran for saying Devonite!!!) man pointed me in the right direction and eventually I arrived at the hostel with vary little energy, busting for the toilet and a nearly dead cellphone battery. Only then did I discover that the main reception door was locked and I wouldn’t even be able to drop off my bags until 5pm when it re-opened!

Frustrated and hopping around I tried to work out a way onto the main road so as to get back into the city centre and while I was walking up to the town my phone battery died. Luckily I had a bearing of where to go and when I saw a bus approaching I got on and minutes later was back on the high street again.

I went into McDonalds to use the bathroom and charge my phone but couldn’t find a power point so ended up crossing the road to the Cafe Nero and found one upstairs where I waited it out as long as I could, having only bought an orange juice (It was only just about lunch time then but thanks to all the snacks on the train I wasn’t hungry). While I was there I pulled out my laptop and researched how to get to the cemetery where my Gran’s grandparents were buried. It was a few years since I made Gran a family tree for her Christmas present and I felt it was a good chance to pay my respects to my family.

After a long walk in the heat (yep – it was actually nice weather in Devon!) I at last found the cemetery but had no way of knowing where the graves were, Exeter Higher Cemetery is pretty big and has graves going back many, many years. With a number to the Civic Centre (like council offices) I rung and spoke to a lovely gentleman who guided me to both graves where I was able to lay some flowers and have a few moments silence. It was very interesting learning about the significance of the placement of the graves etc and I was so pleased to have gotten such a kind and helpful person to speak to. I really wish I had written his name down now so I could have written him a letter of thanks – it is so rare to find someone so helpful these days! He probably spent a good 45 minutes on the phone to me and never once got frustrated or short tempered.

The Wills' plot

The James' plot

After that was sorted I wandered back to the hostel after picking up some fruit and dinner and enjoyed watching a nice sunset as I ate. All I had left to do was plan the next day’s activities and have a good nights sleep!

Well, today is D-day! We go home this afternoon. I always struggle on last days when we travel ourselves to balance enjoying that last little morsel of the place with being at the airport on time! (especially when you have luggage left in your hotel which is no where near the airport!)

We had a nice lazy sleep in and wandered up to the Sultanahmet area for one last look at the Hagia Sophia. We had a bite to eat and looked for postcards and souvenirs. I bought some ceramic coasters and Dave found a magnet and I got my postcard (I collect one for each trip we do).

Here are some of my favourite shots of our holiday:

From left to right: Top row – Walking through the ruins of Hierapolis, End of day after Kayaking 8km, Dog resting in the theatre of Hierapolis, Second row – Dave and I on the calcium deposits of Pamukkale, Me in the theatre of Hierapolis, Istanbul by night, Bottom row – Sunflower fields somewhere between Istanbul and Galipoli, Our lovely hosts for dinner in Istanbul on night 1, Oludeniz – Turkey’s most photographed beach

Same again – Top row: Dave and I enjoying a beautiful sunset in Faralya above Butterfly Valley, Views over Galipoli, Kitty cat, Second row: Calcium formation and Pamukkale, oppsss, a repeat of Dave and I at Pamukkale, Ephesus ruins, Bottom row: Anzac cove and the memorial, the group during our Galipoli day trip, Dave and Yener (our leader) on the Lycian Way.

Again, left to right: Turkish Tea – Yum! Taksim square at sunset, Galata Tower at night.

After a wait at the hotel we were picked up to go to the airport. We said farewell to a country that had surprised us both with it’s modern cities and beautiful coast lines and flew back to London, ready for our next adventure!

Today was a long day. We left Pamukkale at 10pm last night and got a shuttle to the bus station in Denizli (which is the 11th biggest city in Turkey) where we boarded a fancy coach for our 10 hour bus ride back to Istanbul. We were all actually pleasantly surprised by the comfort of the bus which had one row down of two seats across and one that was just one seat. Yet again I was useless and didn’t get a shot of this at all.

Don't ask me what Aspava is! Just amazed at how far the 'Keep Calm' craze has gone.

Sleep was certainly easy enough to get but being woken every few hours doesn’t give the body much time to rest and repair so by 8am (ish) when we finally arrived at our terminal in Istanbul I was very grateful to get a shuttle back to our hotel where we dumped our bags and headed out for an energising breakfast.

Wandering the streets in the early evening.

Being able to choose from a menu of options for breakfast seemed so unusual after so long! We have been having hard boiled eggs, olives, tomato, cucmber, bread and spreads for the last 2 weeks. I ordered an omlette with ‘the works’ which ended up being covered in cheese and was very hard to finish and left me feeling bloated and full the rest of the day.

My favourite shot of the trip

As we were due to stay another night in the hotel they let us check in at midday so in between farewells and well wishes to some of the group departing today we moved our bags from the day room they had given us to our room. (I was sneakily happy they had given us twin beds as I knew I had a night where I was guaranteed not to have to fight for bed sheets! Haha.

One of the two famous towers in Istanbul

Later in the day after a nice long snooze Dave and I went out with a couple of the guys also staying overnight to Taksim Square to check out the sunset and nightlife. I was feeling pretty average so I only had 2 pieces of Pizza for dinner and a huge bottle of water. (This was obviously a day where I should have eaten more fresh fruit and veges!!! Lesson learnt).

One last shot on our walk home after the evening out

Today was a full on, long day and I was grateful of a nice cool room and fairly comfortable bed to sleep in. Last day in Turkey tomorrow before our 5pm flight back to the UK. More on that later.

Today was a day of contrast to yesterday – lots of photos and no travel except by foot… I am going to attempt to upload a gallery of photos from the day as we walked up the huge calcium deposits to the infamous ruins of Heiropolis. Enjoy!

A little blurb from Wikipedia for those wanting to know a little more:

Pamukkale, meaning “cotton castle” in Turkish, is a natural site in Denizli Province in southwestern Turkey. The city contains hot springs and travertines, terraces of carbonate minerals left by the flowing water. It is located in Turkey’s Inner Aegean region, in the River Menderes valley, which has a temperate climate for most of the year.

The ancient Greco-Roman and Byzantine city of Hierapolis was built on top of the white “castle” which is in total about 2,700 metres (8,860 ft) long, 600 m (1,970 ft) wide and 160 m (525 ft) high. It can be seen from the hills on the opposite side of the valley in the town of Denizli, 20 km away.

Tourism is and has been a major industry. People have bathed in its pools for thousands of years. As recently as the mid-20th century, hotels were built over the ruins of Heropolis, causing considerable damage. An approach road was built from the valley over the terraces, and motor bikes were allowed to go up and down the slopes. When the area was declared a World Heritage Site, the hotels were demolished and the road removed and replaced with artificial pools. Wearing shoes in the water is prohibited to protect the deposits.