West Asia

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Back on Terra Firma

Above:  Antalya eateries in the evening. Most on board had had a bad night sleep but I was OK. I woke around 0700 and breakfast was served at 0800. We had a last swim in Gokkaya Bay before doing a short hop to Demre harbour around 1000. Our arrival was much earlier than expected as […]

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Blue Cruise Day 3

Last night felt warmer even though I had slept in the open, under the stars (as opposed to under the canopy). I didn’t use a blanket unlike the first night. Perhaps I felt warmer because of the dew condensing on me, making me feel all humid. After breakfast around 0800, we swam for quite a […]

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Blue Cruise Day 2

Captain had warned us that he would be starting up at 0500 for a long day on the move. In fact we would actually cover very little distance on the first and third days and most of it would be done today. I woke briefly when the engines came to life but fell back asleep […]

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Blue Cruise Day 1

My pickup for the Blue Cruise by Alaturka was around 1000.  The  term Blue Cruise refers to a recreational voyage on the Turkish Riviera, in the south-west of the country on the Aegean/Mediterranean sea. I had had my breakfast on the roof terrace of the pension at 0800 and was ready before 0930. The ride […]

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To the Mediterranean

Getting to Fethiye With a 1040 departure out of Sabiha Gokcen, I woke around 0600 for a light breakfast at 0700. My pickup timed for 0730 arrived shortly after. The one hour drive came to a standstill in parts but the journey took only 1h+. I still had just under 2h before departure when I […]

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Lazy or spare day

I woke at 0300 but managed to sleep again till 0700 before having breakfast at the hotel. It was to be a lazy day as I had done much of Istanbul in recent years and I have the feeling that I will be back soon.  Today was more a spare day in case things didn’t […]

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Gateway to Europe

We landed around 0445, half hour earlier than scheduled. It was a long half-hour taxi to our remote gate. Immigration didn’t take too long and I was out within 30 minutes around 0545. My prebooked shuttle had their runner waiting outside arrivals. I waited about 30 minutes for other guests before we set off around […]

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Abu Dhabi’s Grand Mosque

For breakfast I made muesli and yoghurt with a fruit salad from the supermarket. We taxied to the nearby Sheikh Zayed Mosque (named after the man who united the seven emirates into one country) but the route was quite circuitous due to the one-way system (and coming back wasn’t that straight forward either). It was […]

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Ferrari world (or not)

Today was Kim’s big day at Ferrari World. I had as much interest in that as I have in Hello Kitty Land or Lego Land. Incidentally, Lego Land is opening up in Abu Dhabi but I think it might melt away in the 45 degC heat during summer. The hotel had a free shuttle to […]

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Away with the ferries again

With such a full day yesterday, I seem to have come down a little under the weather with a sore throat. I slept in but after breakfast regained my motivation. I headed out with several ideas in my head but my feet took me to Kabatas where I boarded the 1130 ferry to Prince’s Island. […]

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