helloworld Travel Mt Maunganui - Recent staff trips

We arrived into Istanbul in the late afternoon, and headed into the old part of Istanbul – the airport is 1 hour away from Sultanahmet, but that is the part to be in. Our hotel was right in the heart of everything , very close to the main sights. We had time for a quick dinner before bed, ready to tackle the city the next day. We set off in the morning to explore and it was a very easy walk to Hagia Sofia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, the Basilica Cistern and the Grand Bazaar. All of these places have very big queues so make sure you book your tour/entry tickets ahead of time! At Topkapi Palace make sure you add on the Harem extension, well worth the extra cost. The city is so clean and it felt very safe around this whole area.

The next day saw us on the road early on a full day trip to Gallipoli – I would recommend staying the night rather than doing this in a single day as at 16 hours this was very long! Despite that, this day was a highlight for us, it just becomes so real when you are walking in the actual trenches, seeing where the landing was, visiting the monument at Chanuck Bair and Anzac Cove. We were very lucky and our guide took us to a less visited cemetery where Greg’s great great uncle is buried, so was a pretty special experience – on our way back to the bus, the driver found an unfired WWI Enfield rifle bullet just on the surface of the track – so surreal. Certainly a day I will remember always.

Early the following morning we headed back to the airport and flew to Cappadocia, the home of underground cities, fairy towers and hot air ballooning. The airport we flew into Kayseri was about an hours drive to Goreme, where our hotel was, and where the main sights of the area are. Because we arrived early in the morning, we were able to head right out on a day tour, starting with the Goreme Open Air Museum – originally a monastery and convent for the Greek Orthodox escaping Roman persecution in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. From there we visited the fairy towers unique to Cappadocia, which have been used as homes in the past. Last on the tour was one of the underground cities – up to 2500 people lived in these cities for months at a time, again for refuge and protection. We then were delivered to our home for the next 2 nights, in a cave hotel. I don’t know quite what I was expecting, but it wasn’t the amazing room we got, I did not want to leave! It was in a quieter part of town and it was an incredible feeling to sit on our patio and hear the muezzin calling for prayer echoing across the fields while the sun went down.

The following morning was another early start but was worth it for the most incredible experience. We were lucky that the weather played ball, as it hadn’t the 3 days previously, and we headed off to our hot air ballooning sunrise experience. This was Greg’s first time so he was a little nervous, but from standing in the dark watching the balloons filling, to taking off with 175 other balloons all at the same time – the sight was spectacular and absolutely unforgettable!

From Cappadocia we headed back to Istanbul to join our Viking ship, for the start of our cruise. We spent the next day in Istanbul exploring again, and walked back over the foot bridge over the Bosphorus to where our ship was berthed – so easy to explore from there as well.

Day 2 of our cruise saw us in Cannakule, and a day tour to Troy. It was amazing to explore the ruins of this famous city – it was plain to see where subsequent cities have been built over older cities, a total of 9 distinct layers of different cities built one on top of the other.

As someone with a degree in history, day 3 of our cruise was my highlight when we called into Kusadasi and spent the morning at Ephesus. These are some of the best preserved ruins I have ever seen, and I could have spent all day exploring! The library building is incredible, but to be walking on marble roads that are the same from thousands of years ago just filled my cup!

We absolutely loved Turkey – so many highlights for both of us and we cannot wait to visit again.