Our tour started with just over two days in Istanbul. Formerly Constantinople and ancient Byzantium, the city is a wonderful mix of the past, present and future.
Next we moved onto Turkey's modern capital Ankara. Our highlight here was Anıtkabir (similar in importance to Washington D.C.'s Lincoln Memorial) where the Kemal Ataturk rests.
Unrivalled natural beauty. Cappadocia was the highpoint of the tour for most of of us. A wonderful hotel (which felt more like home) plus hikes & history in equal measures. Oh, and the iconic hot air balloon ride.
The most unique aspect of tour in our opinions were the cultural experiences we would not have had otherwise. Like meeting with a local mosque's imam and a professional Rumi musician.
On our free day in Antalya, we took a lovely boat ride, swam in the Mediterranean, ate with the locals, went to a Turkish bath and got traditional Turkish haircuts. It was splendid vacay from our vacay.
As we headed west toward Turkey's Aegean Coast, we stopped at Aphrodisias which ancient Greek colonists settled 2,500 years ago, and spectacularly calcified cliffs of Pamukkale.
