Back on the coast today

Cotton growing

Hard to read? This is the eye chart used in Pergamum to test patients eyesight.

Theater at Pergamum, still in gr8 condition

This is 160m tunnel that patients walked through. Positive messages were spoken to them as they walked.

View from the bus of the Aegean Sea

2500BC, hard to comprehend really. Troy was very interesting.

Amazing a wall that old can be in such good condition.

I can see why Europeans buy time shares here and come for their holidays. The coast line is beautiful, the weather in summer awesome, and things are relatively cheap due to the rate for the Turkish Lire (especially if you have euros, about 2 lire for 1 euro).

An early start this morning as we had to get to Troy before it closed at 4.30pm. So up at 5.30am and off to Pergamum, nearly 3 hours away. This was the first herbal treatment centre in Turkey dating back to the 2nd century BC. They treated physical and mental illness and used such radical ideas as theatre performance and group therapy.

After lunch we travelled through to Troy, arriving just after 4pm. This is an amazing place with great views of how the city was built and why it was so difficult to penetrate. The trojan horse is apparently just a story but there was a large wooden replica for us to take photos of.

The journey was another hair raising adventure with steep hills, passing on blind bends and careening downhill. Will be glad to be off the bus safely tomorrow. Egypt is almost all flying and boating. Never thought I would think that might be safer than driving:)

Our hotel tonight looks over the Dardanelles and tomorrow we visit Gallipoli, Anzac cove, Chunuk Bar and the Kabatepe war museum. We are the only NZers but there are over 30 Aust so should be a good visit.

Then the last night at Istanbul. Weather is good and forcast to be nice tomorrow.