The Turkish Bath Experience.

Troy.
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After stocking up on water from a local shop in Canakkale  it was only a short drive to Troy .The ruins of Troy were not the most impressive but as frequently reported by many travelers it is one of the places that you need to tick of the list as visited . It is the site of the wooden horse which was used during the Trojan War. Reports go that the Achaeans filled the horse with soldiers and the trusting Trojans took the horse in to their city thinking that it was a harmless gift .However during the night the soldiers emerged and the Greeks took the city.Now a days you can go inside the horse and climb up the narrow ladder and try to picture what it would have been like to have been inside the horse .In my opinion this horse just looked far to modern to be believable .The horse that was used in the movie was my favorite of the two.

Tho who's who in the tour guiding world.
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Only a minute from the ruins we stopped at this small shop/café which sold every imaginable tacky gift possible from swords to costumes to jewelery .But the best thing about the shop was a framed collage of passport photos from previous tour guides, it s a great mug shot collection – the who’s who from the tour guide world but 20 years ago.The shop owner informed us that Yavuz (our guide )was on there.We couldn't find him , on approaching Yavuz about this claim he just laughed.Many of us took a photo of this mug shot collection which left a present memory of the visit to Troy.

The man rubbing me down , decided to point out how dirty my skin was,well how do you reply to that , it was like yeah , I see! .

The Acropolis at the Ancient city of Pergamum.
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Lunch was almost torture but not because of the food , it was  hot, oppressive day and all we could do was look at the swimming pool at the complex and dream about the refreshing water .Lunch was an all you can eat buffet some off which looked more appetizing then other items but there was a big selection , something for every one.Whilst patiently waiting in the cue, I almost got taken out by a Asian women who couldn't’t wait to get a piece of fried chicken .The way she dived for the chicken you would have thought there was a famine and that was the last bit a food around.

Views over the modern city of Bergama.
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Back on the bus i was drifting of to sleep with a rather full stomach when we arrived at the historical site of Pergamum.Pergamum was an ancient city founded by colonists on the Aegean coast of Anatolia .The location and the geography of the area made it a perfect city setting .Nowadays it surrounds the present day city of Bergama. It was a rude walk up to the site of the Acropolis, the air was heavy with the sun still forcing its way through the clouds, we were informed that rain would not be too far away .The sweat was well worth the views were stunning overlooking the town of Bergama. We took shelter in a tunnel for a short period , the air in the tunnel was cool and fresh which made for a pleasant break. The theater was particulary impressive and was one of my   favorite.It was built in to the hill side with room for 10,000 .Standing at the top was enough to make my head spin,I declined the option of walking all the way down, not for being lazy but for the fact that my legs had turned to jelly .Taking a few deep breathes I managed to walk a quarter of the way down in order to follow the path out back to the air conditioned bus.

A cool corridor at Pergamum.
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All day I had been trying to decide whether to have a Turkish bath, I had heard some mixed stories some people had made it sound like a torture experience but in the end I decided to have one and i was so glad that i did.  We had the bathes to ourselves which was relieved about , we put our valuables on the safe and then were sent to get changed. We were given these red checked sarongs to wear , (pretty much like a picnic blanket ) , a pair of very large flip flops and well nothing else  no swim wear like some people had said we could wear. We lay there on the slab in the middle of the room looking at the doom roof nervously laughing one by one called to be rubbed down, the lads first.The man rubbing me down , decided to point out how dirty my skin was,well how do you reply to that , it was like yeah , I see! .Getting soaped down was very relaxing you are drenched in bubbles .Getting up to shower my sarong nearly slipped down and at the other end it rode right up very elegant . I could describe this s a good group bonding session.Karina's experience was classic , they had rubbed her fake tan off , she came out not just clean but white.

The theatre at Pergamum.
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The hotel at Selcuk was slightly tired looking but still very comfortable .For dinner drove up to a mountain village where prior to dinner we could try the fruit wine which is locally produced .The wines were amazing , I’m now hooked on fruit wine they taste like you are just drinking juice. My favorite was the peach wine , I felt like a naughty child saying  peach as in Turkish peach isn’t a polite word .A stiff drink was required on return to the hotel as those narrow mountain  roads are not made for full size coaches . I was glad that I was dark and that I could not properly see how close to the edges we really were .Although I had full trust in our driver, he was slightly crazy Jumping a few red lights, over taking on blind bends or reversing back down a motor way as we had missed a turning .Raki was the perfect choice for a night cap as we sat in the empty bar planning tomorrow nights partying.I slept very, very well after.