turkey trip day 6

this morning we begin another long bus journey from cappadocia to ankara. i am sure that many pple thought that istanbul is the capital of turkey, but actually it is ankara.

on the way to ankara, we stopped at the famous picturesque Salt Lake, which is the second largest lage in turkey, and it is 3 times the size of sg. wassup! but upon seeing the lake, i can understand why it is really that big, because the most apt description for this lake is 一望无际.

and for today, the lunch is our favourite kebabs again. besides the kebab, we also had salad, soup of the day which is very salty, and cheese prata whereby the cheese taste extremely horrid.

we finally reached ankara and the first attraction we went to in ankara is the magnificient Ataturk Museum. Ataturk is the founder of turkey.

(the handsome guard)

(they have to hold the bayonet in the other hand! wah lao test their perseverance to the max.)


(these turkish youths wanted to take picture with us.)

we stayed at a very nice hotel called ankara etap hotel. the room has wifi which is really awesome. we had some free time to go shopping but i chose to stay in the hotel room to chat with darling. :)

the hotel restaurant also serve very nice food and nice desserts, so without further ado, i shall introduce the desserts:

starting from the pink one, in a clockwise manner:

strawberry mouse; turkish muah chee; banana chocolate cake (this one is the winner because everyone is taking it); i-dunno-wat-to-call-this

-end of day 6, the second last night in turkey-

turkish cultural night

this trip has a few optional tours.

the first one is hot air balloon. hot air balloon in turkey is actually quite cheap, as compared to the hot air balloon in australia and new zealand. however the price is still quite steep, which is US220 per pax. its a once in a lifetime experience to sit the hot air balloon so my family chose this optional tour. actually everyone in the tour group chose to go for the hot air balloon. the hot air balloon tour is only done in cappadocia. and the tour can only be carried out if the weather conditions are good, ie calm wind and no rain. unfortunately, for the both days that we stayed at cappadocia, we woke up at 5 am to wait for the bus from the hot air balloon company to pick us up, but unfortunately for both mornings the wind was too strong and the company cancelled the tour. haiz sadded. but on a happy note we saved up US880.

the second one is called bosphorus cruise. the cruise is along the bosphorus river. on one side of the river is the europe continent and the other side is the asia continent. both continents are linked by a bridge called the...

.

.

bosphorus bridge (no prizes for guessing correctly). so turkey is the only country in the whole world that lies on two different continents - asia and europe.

the third one is called turkish cultural night. and this is the optional tour that i went with my mum, because my dad not interested in dance and my sis want to stay in the hotel room to use the internet. its a dance performance showcasing a muslim monk dance where the monks must spin on the floor for damn long time and they are able to stand still after spinning, and they spinned a total of 3 times; a few traditional dance items which is put up by 8 similar dancers, 4 guys and 4 girls, which i think they will be extremely shag at the end of the whole thing; and finally a belly dance performed by a voluptous woman who will come down from the ceiling onto the stage in a glass lift, very sexy.

the cost per pax is US40, yes i think its super ex, but comes with free flow of alcoholic drinks. maybe it is worth it for regular drinkers but definitely not worth it for me. the kids even more ke lian, because they have to pay US30, with free flow of coke and sprite and fruit juce. -.-'''

13 of us went to watch the cultural night.

and for this turkish cultural night it is quite special because the belly dancer will choose 5 gentlemen from the audience and teach them belly dance, then the 5 gentlemen will perform their version of the belly dance and the audience will decide who is the winner. and i had the honour of being selected by her. hahahahaha.

i attracted the most cheers and wolf whistles. hoho. and i am considered an overseas performing artiste cos i performed in turkey! 自欺欺人. :p

turkey trip day 5

we went to Goreme Open Air Museum first thing in the morning, which is just 5 min drive from our hotel. Goreme Open Air Museum has fascinating frescoed rock churches and chapels. the movie star wars was also filmed here.

group photo! spot for chiobus and yandaos!



holding a light sabre


and this is the real stuff:


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.


hoho.

next we visited the local carpet factory to discover the history and tradition of turkish carpets. we realised that weaving carpets is a skill which take many years to master. that is why carpets are so expensive. we were then brought to a room and the boss ordered his kah-gia to roll out hundreds of carpets for us to see. we were all fascinated by the beautiful carpets, but also feel pressurized because he roll out so many for us and yet if we din buy we will feel very paiseh. and these carpets dun come cheap.

the silk cocoons that are used to weave the carpet


check out the fine threads of silk. and upon seeing this i got a craving for tang yuan.


this was the most expensive carpet being showed to us. guess how much it cost?


here's the answer:



.




.


US60,300 leh!!! wassup!

lunch was at this cave restaurant. thank goodness no kebabs were served. we can choose between beef and fish. after lunch there was some entertainment. music was played and the boss of the restaurant dance for us. and then he picked one of us to dance with him and guess who he picked? not me of course. not my sis. he picked my mum! hahahaha. my mum is also the sporting kind so she danced with him. then got one part he keep bumping his ass into my mum's ass. wassup. hahahaha. everyone was laughing and my dad laughed the loudest. -.-'''

the very funny and entertaining boss who hit my mum's ass with his ass

boss to dad: sorry for hitting your wife's ass
dad to boss: hahahahahahahahaha............. very good very good (that was exactly wat he said)

the waiters wore a very nice turkish traditional costume as their uniform

the next place we visited is the Underground City of Kaymakli, once a place of refuge for 15000 christians. the underground city is eight storeys (B1 to B8) and connected by 30 km of corridors and passageways. of course we din walk through the full 30 km lah. btw some of the passageways are very small and we have to bend our bodies in order to walk through them. so those who have knee problems, back problems, neck problems and pregnant are not advised to visit the underground city.

the entrance of the underground city

ok the final part of this post is to show you a series of photos which bears a somewat strong resemblance between my sis and a popular girl in national geographic.

-end of day 5-

turkey trip day 4

today is going to be a very shag day. because we have to wake up at 4 am and set off early. our next destination, which is Cappadocia, is 8 hours drive from Pamukkale. wassup!

of course we are not sitting on the coach for 8 whole hours. in between the journey we still got stop over for toilet breaks (which cost 50 cents for each toilet break), tourist attractions and lunch.

ok, without further ado, let me show everyone the US440 silk leather jacket, 100 percent waterproof, keep you warm in the winter, makes you look cool in the summer, and on top of it, makes you US440 poorer. yay.

(leng zai rite? haha. anyway if you discovered that my hair is brown, congrats on your great observation, because i dyed my hair before the trip.)

let's fast forward to the place where we had lunch, which is a very special place called a caravanserai. caravanserai is a 'hotel' for ancient traders and travellers. now it becomes a restaurant for modern tourists, like me. thank goodness no kebabs, and the food that they serve is quite authentic.

after lunch we visited the Melvana Museum. nothing much to say about this museum, except that the artefacts are of islamic origin.

and then is hardcore driving all the way until night falls, and we were brought to this local cave house, which is actually a pottery village! and my sis has the greatest honour of being invited to demonstrate to everyone how to make pottery. of course i am gracious to show you the video, which is damn hilarious and... a bit erotic. HAHA.

ohhhhh~ my love~ my darling~ i'm hunger for........ your [fill in the blank]

(the handsome pottery maker)

(the plates are beautiful but expensive. got promotion. buy 5 get 1 free. my mum bought 5 saucers! and got 1 saucer free! typical singaporeans.)

(my mum bought one of the claypots too! typical housewife.)

finally we reached our hotel. we will be staying at this hotel for two nights. and when i was having dinner at the hotel restaurant, i saw my colleague from my contract sch! wah lao the world can be so small a not. hahaha. i think i am fated to bump into my colleagues overseas. last year when i went to hk i also saw a few of them. :)

our room is for the handicapped. -.-'''

very nice room! and got free wireless! got playboy channel too, but everytime i switch on that channel only show a still image of a muslim monk. maybe i should try my luck after 12 midnight. but its a bit hard because i always sleep before 10 am. this can nv happen in sg. hahaha.

-end of day 4-