Erm, Rex here. I am going to try to fix up all the wierdo turkish keymapping.

Phil here... ? ? fantastic visiting one of my favourite countries with Rex. We have walked ourselves into the ground taking in all the amazing sights! The Turkish people we have met are really friendly and very interested in travellers, always offering a drink of tea and a chat (usually followed by a punt for a carpet, but who's complaining?). On Sunday night the parks were full of families eating out, having picnics and listening to the mournful Turkish music being sung by various musos in the surrounding restaurants. It was a strange scene in a way. Beieg the centre of the tourist area there were also a number of tourists about. On the whole the tourists show way too much flesh (for a muslim country where this is frowned upon) juxtaposed against the Turks, particularly the women who are totally covered up.

Rex here...

We are in istanbul at the moment. Everyone is in great spirits since the Turks beat the Senegalese at soccer and are now in the semi-finals. Bridges, houses, trains and just about everywhere else is festooned in Turkish flags. You can buy turkey shirts everywhere as well. The game is tomorrow, when we will be in Gorome in Cappadocia. Definately planning to watch that game. Who would have though they'd still be in the tournament by the time we arrived ?

This place is really cool. The sultans and then the ottomans built great empires here and left great works. Many of the 15th and 16th century buildings are still around. The famous tourist sites (Blue mosque and AyaSofia) are really worth their status. The country has changed quite a lot since Phil was here (6 hrs ago). More women out, even those who wear the headdress. Not a lot of burka's around although the mosques do call everyone to prayer (at dusk and dawn, I think).

We are well and in high spirits. Until next time .....

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Rex Here.

What a few days. We have had fun, complete misery and panic and some good times, too.

But first off, let me talk about the Sun. It seems to come up before 5am and go away at about 10pm. All rather strange to someone from the deepest South (so to speak). Also, it comes up on the wrong side and goes away on the wrong side. Buggers up your sense of direction (add in London's squiggly wiggly roads) and is also a bit disorienting. Try eating dinner at 9pm with the Sun up ! Also, I have no idea of the time because the Sun doesn't seem to change one bit :) I guess in Winter I'll never see her at all, so I shouldn't complain.

The Panic involved registering with the bureacrocy so that, if I fall under a bus, our kind hosts will look after us. That's going to take some time since we are going to visit the turks on Saturday and won't have all the required stuff before then. Sigh. Anyway, the major panic was all about travel insurance. No one wanted to give us any unless we were resident for three months. Anyway, that was a bit of a worry and we were uncertain about taking oursleves somewhere where we didn't have any medical protection (we are a bit paranoid these days). But, today someone said they could help (lots on time, 24 hours !).

Lastly, we are living within 5 mins walk of the Tower of London. Full of tourists, who I fell I can identify already :) This area is fantastic and beautiful and it would be a great place to stay !

That's enough for now.

Phil here...Wow, talk about culture shock! I have been to the UK many times, but I have never looked at the country through the eyes of someone who must make a life there, only ever as a tourist. Everything feels strange and new, I feel like a child who must learn it all from scratch.

Because it is summer it never seems to get dark here. I had a long afternoon sleep and woke up at 7pm in full sunshine. Next week is admin week...a couple of interviews, registering for national insurance etc. and getting ready for the great travel. Can't wait to get that backpack on again!!

Phil and I are finally in London. After many a mission back home, moving stuff around and getting rid of other stuff and generally organising our lives, we are finally here.

We are currently staying with Phil's brother, Andrew in his house / flat in Wapping, near canary wharf. It is great to stay with someone friendly to show us the ropes.

On Saturday, we are off to Turkey on phase 1 of the great adventure. Can't wait. But first, we need to visit some employment agencies....... I already have one interview, but will hopefully have others :)

PS: I took the cheapest flight to London that you can get. Olympic Air via Athens. What a terrible flight. A four hour stop over in the horrid limbo of the (one section) of the Athens international airport. Throw in a 4 hour flight to London and a 1 hour delay and you have the makings of a horror movie.

Just pay the extra cash and take a direct flight. Trust me. Anyway, more from us later.