louiseinlimbo

Back from my short 'holiday' in Turkey, which didn't work out quite as planned, but was still worthwhile.  First stop was Bergama, which didn't start well as the bus station turned out to be 6km outside of town, with no local buses that I could see, nor taxis if I had wanted to splurge.  So I walked it.  Not far in normal terms, but when you have a 16kg rucksack on your back, and another smaller but nearly as heavy (with laptop, etc inside) on your front, then it's a long way.  I was exhausted by the time I reached the hotel, although with my room beside a busy road, I still didn't sleep all that well. But the next morning I filled up at the hotel buffet breakfast and set off for the Roman ruins of Pergamum.  6km in the other direction, but at least this time I wasn't carrying all of my luggage!  Not as well-known as some of the other Roman ruins in Turkey, but a great site and with apparently the steepest-sided amphitheatre in the whole of the Roman Empire...

After the excitement of southern Ethiopia, and in anticipation of another couple of organised tours in October and November, I'm now 'resting' in Turkey.  Reminding myself that I'm not really on a 365-day-a-year holiday, but rather taking a more mobile approach to retirement.  & as such, I don't need to be seeing a new 'sight' every single day. Still unsure about my ability to finance this (due to the holiday elements), I'm economising as much as I can during the 'resting' elements.  Which means that I'm staying at the cheapest hostel I could find in Istanbul - £240 for a month including a very basic breakfast (bread with tomato and feta cheese, with tea) - and so living in a dorm with ten other people with whom I also share a bathroom.  There is no kitchen and no socialising area, and the people sharing my dorm - nearly all men since I've been here - are generally not very friendly.  There have been Russians, a Colombian, a Kazahksta...