I took the 2 days one night tour of the Mekong Delta.
Mekong Delta 湄公河
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Author Archives: The Traveller
Greece 希腊 (Athens 雅典)
酒神喝醉了, 海神去航海.
雷神放暑假, 我该怎么办?
闪电在睡着, 风神又不来.
太阳管天下, 我快要疯掉!
到达雅典, 天气仍然如土耳其那样炎热
听说古希腊神话的十二主神能够帮助人们解决问题
雖然如此, 在不同的時代人类不斷為了適應其文化演化而變化
现在我们已经變成了神通广大
求神不如求己
无论天气有多热, 被晒到有多黑
我仍然在雅典逗留了六天
I joined the free walking tour on the next day when I reached Athens. For the next few days, I revisited those places that the guide had showed us.
I got confused with the Parthenon and the Acropolis till I asked my friend Mr. G and got to know that the Parthenon is an ancient religious temple the Athenians built for the Greek goddess Athena. The Acropolis is the high hill that the Parthenon was built on. In short, the Parthenon is a temple and the Acropolis is the hill the Parthenon is located.
When you are in Greece, you should visit some of the islands. There are travel agents who will customize island hopping according to your needs but I found these packages are not within my travel budget. Instead, I took the train to the harbor and take pictures of people onboarding the ships.
I tried to strike up a conversation with the young butcher in the local market but didn’t have much luck as I do not speak Greece. Somehow he understood my body and sign languages and posted for me to take pictures. What a wonderful encounter for the trip!
I booked the backpacker that comes with breakfast. I took 2 hard boiled eggs from the mini buffet table and filled up the water bottle when I left the breakfast room. I just need to have another late lunch or earlier dinner for the day, which cost less than S$20. This is the way I control my budget.
Here is the other side of midnight in Greece. Do you consider this an graffiti art or vandalism?
Cappadocia
The whispers in the morning
Woke me up
Of me sleeping light
I helplessly sigh
Even though I have time
I quickly walked up
Of seeing the hot air balloons
On the mountain side
Sound of my heart beat
Travelled thr morning light
Of me leading myself
Finding for a good site
The sun unwillingly woke up
And birds flying up high
Of hundreds balloons floating
What a beautiful sight
Ankara
I took the midnight bus from Cappadocia to Ankara. I though I could save the cost for a night hotel stay and sleep in the bus instead. However, I just couldn’t get a good sleep in the bus. When I reached Ankara at 7am, the hotel was kind enough to let me check-in. Till then I managed to sleep for a few hours.
Ankara is the Capital of Turkey but there aren’t many attractions. I only stayed there for a day and took the bus back to Istanbul the next afternoon.
Istanbul 伊斯坦布尔
There is a fire burning in my heart,
I have to cool it before I could start.
There is an excitement growing within me,
I have to stop it before I am not me.
First arrival in Istanbul got me so excited to see such a beautiful place. The Topkapi Palace, Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia Museum and Basilica Cistern are just within minutes of walk from the place I was staying. The Tram station is also nearby. Actually I walked most of the time instead of taking the tram.
Yes! I joined the free walking tour.
Met up with the local people.
There are armed soldiers and military vehicles around the tourists area.
This is the train station.
You could take a boat ride.
The place where I stayed provide breakfast with a nice view.
The local food
Pamukkale
From Canakkale I took a bus to Pamukkale for S$38. This was a long and tiring 8 hours ride and the bus stopped in Denizli instead.
At the bus terminal, I approached a policeman to ask for direction and finally I landed up in a small and cosy hotel for S$31 a room with buffet breakfast.
The next morning I took the mini bus (S$1.58) to Pamukkale. When I got off the bus, someone from a nearby travel agency approached me asking whether I would like to join a day tour of Pamukkale for S$54. I told him I would consider about that.
After about 10 minutes of walk, another man approached me asking me to join his tour for S$36, which is one third cheaper that the earlier approach.
His group had 2 Canadians, 2 Indians, one Korean and 2 Singaporeans. Without second thought, I joined in the tour.
Later I found out that the middle age Singaporean couple is a pilot and a teacher. 
I also met 3 young Malay Singaporeans while waiting for the tour. I think we have the Singaporean identity as when we look at each other, we know that we are from Singapore.
Pamukkale means Cotton Castle in Turkish. It is a natural site for hot springs. This is a rather small place but it has some remarkable spots, such as the Roman Spa and Roman Theatre. Though the ancient Roman bath has collapsed but the structures are still there. This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Canakkale 恰纳卡莱 / Troy 特洛伊
From Istanbul I took a 46 seater air-con coach to Canakkale for S$27. This is an interesting 6 hours trip where we were served a few rounds of drinks and biscuits in the coach by an uniform attendant pushing a small foldable trolley. It’s like the service in the plane. Very impressive!
Upon reaching the harbor, the coach just drove into a ferry. In fact there were 3 coaches and other vehicles in the ferry. It took about 30 minutes to cross the sea. I heard that they are going to build a bridge so that the coach could drive from Istanbul to Canakkale.
When I was on the coach, I caught up in a conversation with my seat partner. He gave me direction as where to alight from the coach and how to locate the hotel that I have booked from Agoda.
There is the Trojan Horse replica that was used in the movie “Troy”.
The next day, I took the mini bus to the ancient city of Troy. The bus fare is S$2.70 and the entrance fee into Troy is S$11.25. This is a must visit place in Turkey but there is physically nothing much to see except the wooden horse and stones. Spending an hour is more than enough. I will suggest that you watch the movie Troy and read something about the place so you will appreciate the visit more.
On the way back to the hotel, I went to the market and bought a watermelon. I shared the fruit with the three locals I met.
Turkey 土耳其
太阳在天空呼唤, 欢迎到这里游玩.
我正在路边迷茫,谁愿成我的旅伴.
太阳可是在加班, 阳光照耀在路上.
从六至晚七时半, 向外来游客诉玩.
太阳你真是麻烦, 快召月亮来接档.
星星你也快出来, 有你路已足够亮.
我要向太阳告狀, 这几天你可好狂.
把我晒成了肉干, 这可没什么好玩.
我请水神来帮忙,下点雨给我清凉.
等候海风快到来, 为我指出一方向.
这几天我在路上, 从白天走到傍晚.
初到这神秘地方, 也不能说太冤枉.
然而这是土耳其, 拥有神奇的力量.
心中充满了希望, 感觉到人间天堂.
这次土耳其之行的经历也太丰富了!
Share with all on some of the pictures I have taken during my trip to Turkey. Turkey is a big country and you can spend more than a month travelling around but I only stayed there for 12 days. From Istanbul I took the coach to Canakkale, Pamukkale, Cappadocia, Ankara and back to Istanbul, with stops of a few days in each place. The weather was very hot when I was there in August. The days were long and I was almost “burnt to death”. This made me wrote something about the sun.
Independence Palace (Reunification Palace)
