Singapore and homeward bound

Had a 1 1/2 wait on the tarmac in Istanbul, were 22 in the queue to take off. Arrived in Singapore at 6 am.Got to hotel at 7.30 and had to leave bags and fill in time til 3pm. After only 1 hr sleep on plane, both felt remarkably good. Walked to nearest MRT and found we had to go to another station to get tourist pass. Worked out ticket machines then had to wait til 9am for ticket office to open. Went to China town and bought some bits and pieces, bag getting very full!! Stopped for 2 cold Tiger beers and had a fun chat with local guy.Headed to Little India for lunch then back to hotel... Well that was interesting..I know why it was cheap. Seems to be the red light district!!! But the restaurants were good, can't say the same about the room.Was a laugh though. Dave's lovely brother Andrew came to our rescue, he took one look and said"Pack your bags ,you are coming with me!"
Andrew's penthouse apartment was a far cry from our previous abode!!! Caught a taxi to Holland Village and Andrew kindly shouted dave a 30 min massage, that nearly ended up being an hour! Lucky man. Found a seat at a local pub to watch Wales vs France. The whole village seemed to be watching. Went for a good evening walk to the local bush reserve and nearly melted, but felt good for the exercise. Enjoyed a nice meal together. Great catching up and seeing a bit of Andrew's new TV venture producing a series on Money Matters. Very impressed.

Sunday: Left Andrew to catch up on some work and went back to China town to get a few bits and pieces had another couple of beers and lunch at the bar we went to on Friday, except this time the guy was supporting Australia!!! Got the MRT to Clarke Quay and found a bar on Boat Quay with a good seat for the rugby. Big All Black camp on one side and Aussies in bar on the other.Dave wore his All Black jersey with pride (thank you JB and Kim) as we romped in with a win. Had lovely meal at a local place then went to watch a laser show at Marina Sands. Another great day.

Monday:Got taxi to airport around 10 as Andrew had to work, next live show on tomorrow night.We were able to check bags in early so decided against returning to town, so hot and sticky. Got into Gold Lounge and chilled out.Skped natalie and chatted for nearly an hour. was great. Looking forward to home. A wonderful trip with fantastic memories amd great new friends. "It's been a GREAT DAY and a GREAT TRIP!"

Days 26- 30 in Turkey

A very early start, left boat at 5am! driver even got lost on the way to the airport.Enjoyed Air Turkeys lounge and flight to Istanbul. Met at airport by not 1 but 2 guides. 1 APT and the other a local Turkish guide. Istanbul is HUGE! 15 million people live here and sometimes 3 to 4 million walk around just on Taxsim Square on the weekend. Our hotel the Grand Hyatt is superb, it should be for $440 a night!
We enjoyed a belly dancing cultural show and dinner and visiting huge mosques and bazaars.Had our first rain in a month and boy did it come down. Visited the beautiful Topkapi Palace including a harem and the Grand Bazaar with over 4000 shops. Yes we were able to find a bargain or two.Went to an amazing carpet wholesaler where two of our group bought beautiful carpets.
After Istanbul the highlight of our trip was driving to the Gallipoli Peninsular where we had a superb fish lunch in the fishing village of Gallipoli. It was especially moving visiting ANZAC Cove, Lone Pine, Chunick Bair and to hear of the ANZACs surperb bravery. Teaching ANZAC Day will be more special from now on.It was really bleak day which seemed appropriate.People in our group were thrilled to be able to find the graves and names on memorial walls of loved ones that had lost their lives and have the chance to pay their respects.
Visited the ancient site of Troy ( trogan horse) before returning to Istanbul one last time to spend the last of our Turkish Lira. Our farewell dinner was at a wonderful restaurant called Dahill which had fantastic views of the night lights of Istanbul and the Bosphorous Sea.
It was very hard to say goodbye to our new friends of the last 30 days in what has been certainly the trip of a lifetime.
NB: will add photos later

Days 22-25

Into Romania via the Iron Gates and onto Bulgaria. Two very poor countries and the poverty and rubbish is a real contrast to the Europe we have seen so far. However everyone seems happy and family is very important especially children. Went to top of a surperb formation of rocks. A big climb up but a great view.The roads in Romania are terrible. Our guide told us that a road sign that reads 80 means the depth of the pothole!! Lots of farms. huge paddocks and no fences. At harvest time they all help each other. Interestingly the flashest houses are owned by the gypies.
Into Bucharest. Went down their version of the Champs Eleyses made even more luxurious by the Dictator Cheucheshu.
Heard the Dracular story as Translivania is part of Romania.
Our last night on the boat and hard to say goodbye to the wonderful staff.

The Lazar Horse Show on PhotoPeach

Day 21

Now in the Serbian capital of Belgrade.The fortress was very impressive with 2 lots of outer walls and surrounded by water on 3 sides. Under Tito Yugoslavia was very prosperous as he played the US and Russia off against each other and got huge dollars from both.Saw evidence of the NATO bombing in 1991 but the place has a very positive vibe about it now.After the fall of Tito they had hyper inflation at a rate of 23000% a day ..Dave bought a 50 Billion dinara note as a momento.
During the day our guide Milos told us some jokes about the local mass produced the car, the YUGO ( like a Lada).
What do you call a YUGO at the top of a hill? ( A miracle)
What do you call 2 YUGOS at the top of a hill? (A mirage)
What do you call the shoke asborbers in a YUGO? (the passengers)
Why do all YUGO drivers go to heaven? (Because they have already been to hell!)
The entertainment after dinner was a Serbian musical and dance group. The male dancers had a hint of Russian in some of their moves and the ladies had a hint of turkish. they were very athletic.

Day 20

Another day...but 2 countries today. Croatia then Serbia. First did a walking tour of Vukovar, a town hit hugely by the war between the serbs and Croats in 1991 after Yugoslavia was broken up. The Serbs expected the locals to give up within hours but they fought hard and held out for months. you can still see the bullet holes in the walls which is quite sobbering. 261 locals were taken from the hospital, tortured in a local barn then shot and thrown into a mass grave. Went to a museum built around the barn which has pictures and names that continually roll on then went to a cemetery where it was very sad to see so many young men killed. There were also over 900 white crosse for unknown victims and 365 empty graves waiting for those who have never been found. Quite an emotional morning.
We then went to Ilok and went to a winery with a huge underground cellar that went over 100metres under a nearby castle.This wine was actually very nice, we bought a bottle. The winery gave 11 thousand bottles of wine for the Queens coronation..they still have bottles for special visits,and the same amount to William and Kates wedding.
In the afternoon we cruised into Novi Sad, Serbia. Another impressive fortress, lots of cafes and bars. Had a beer for $1.50 and changed our money. 10 euro is 1000 dinaras.It was strange to have 2000 denomination notes in my wallet.
Back on the boat we were entertained by a superb husband and wife classical duo (piano and violin).

Day 19

Into the Hungarian city of Pecs ( pronounced Pach)after looking around Mohacs (Mohash) where we docked.The highlight was visiting a Christain undergorund burial site that dates back to Roman times. Had a nice coffee at Maccas ( their toilets are free), most shops closed because it's Sunday!.
After lunch we were driven to an underground cellar for a wine tasting. The wines were average but the best part was the atmosphere underground and the tour of the next part called the Treasury Vault where individuals or companies pay a 10 year fee and receive 80 bottles a year which are stored in the vault until required. This cellar has been there for over 200 years.After another superb meal we took part in a musical quiz and our Gym Bunnies quiz team would be happy as we identified Eric Clapton and the Beatles to score a drink from the bar.