Cappadocia was fantastic as always. First morning it was perfect conditions for the ballon ride. Everyone had a great time, it definitely was the highlight of the trip. This is such a magical place. I have been three times before and still saw areas I had not seen before. Out guide was excellent. He took us to see his aunt who is in her eighties. She wanted us to come inside her house but the guide said no if we did that we would never get out. I will post a picture of her. I need to get Ken’s pictures and will post those when I can. So many pictures going to take a while to pick the best ones.

Our hotel was not great, but acceptable. A maze of flights up and down very confusing. Food very average. So much Turkish food is what I call mush. I lived on a fruit salad and green salad. Finally on the last day we went to a very nice restaurant and got a nice plate of steak and mushrooms. Plus six of us are allergic to onions so they made six plates without onions.

Yesterday was Election Day in Turkey. Lots of places were closed and when we flew back to Istanbul and were driving to the Intercontinental Hotel (which was great) celebrations were at full blast. People waving flags, loud music from the cars and people sitting on the windows. Some cars had giant flags.

Sitting in the lounge now with Chris and Linda waiting for our flight to Doha and then to JNB. Cannot wait to go on safari again.