It was an early start but it wasn't long before we left Cappadocia behind and headed east.  First stop was one of the Seljuk caravanserais at Karatayhan.  While the caravanserai itself wasn't in the best condition (it's waaaaay off the beaten track so it doesn't get the tourist dollars that some of the others, Read More

On my second day in Goreme, I rented a scooter for the afternoon to go and explore some of the parts of Cappadocia that I didn’t get to see the previous time I was in the region.  I loooove riding scooters and bikes and reckon they’re one of the best ways to get around, Read More

I’m here in Goreme, in the Cappadocia region of Central Turkey, and it’s great to be back in one of my fave places of all time.  Actually, come to think of it it’s quite apt that I’m kicking off my Silk Road trip here, as it was near here that my interest in the, Read More

Well when it rains it pours!  That’s sure what happened in Istanbul the evening I left – and it was their first rain in 4 1/2 months!!!  It was a HUUUUGE thunderstorm, the streets turned into muddy rivers, and I had two bolts of lightning strike less than 50m away from me – yikes!, Read More

I arrived in Istanbul at around 2am on Friday morning.  Easyjet had however failed to notify me that I was not arriving at the city’s main Ataturk International airport but another airport waaaaaay on the other (Asian) side of the Bosphorous.  It turned out to be a huuuge hassle to get from there to, Read More

Before jetting off to Turkey to begin the Silk Road part of my trip, I took the chance to fly to Washington DC to see Adriana, who is working at the World Bank at the moment doing some really cool renewable energy stuff in South America.  I hadn’t been in DC since I was, Read More

Since arriving back in Switzerland I’ve been busy making preparations for the next stage of my trip: the Silk Road.  I’ve been doing a lot more reasearch and have been stocking up on the things I need, including maps of the region, about three kilos of Lonely Planet guidebooks (because I’m sure I’m not, Read More

With everyone at work during the weekdays I decided to pull the boots on and go for a day hike.  I originally planned to do a bunch of overnight hikes while I’m here but the weather has been absolutely shite.  Appears I missed summer by a day and it’s been cool, cloudy and rainy, Read More

Back in Switzerland, I raced around Zurich and the capital city Bern (a 1.5 hour train journey away) for a couple of days to try and gather a few of the many visas I’ll need for my next "Silk Road" leg of the Grand Tour.  While in Bern I decided to rattle off a, Read More