Keith, Dorie, aunty Kay and I woke up at four am to get a taxi to Heathrow. We arrived there early and booked in, and had our early morning cup of coffee. The flight was three and a half hours long and Turkey is two hours ahead of the UK. Istanbul airport is very modern, and we had no problems coming through customs. South African citizens do not need a visa. On arrival we were met by Denzel Tours representatives, Hakan who was to be our guide and the driver as well as Ovunc their representative.We were to travel to Ankara the capital by overnight train to start the tour, so we packed overnight clothes into one bag and left the bulk of our luggage in the minibus.

We left the airport and went to the old city of Istanbul. We went to the Hippodrome and saw the Egyptian obelisk as well as the Blue Mosque and St Sophia, but being there at prayer time meant we couldn't go in.

From there we caught the ferry across the Bosphorous and were in between the two continents of Asia and Europe. We then walked along the sea front where the fisherman were selling fresh fish. They would chop off the fish heads and squirt the blood to show us they were fresh

We then went in search of a pub as our train was only leaving at ten thirty that evening so we had some time to kill and were thirsty. The round cost us six million lira, which is six pounds so we were happy with that. Turkish beer is very good.

By now we were all hungry and ready to try some Turkish cuisine so we headed back for the beach front for some fresh fish.They barbeque it on the boat you see behind Dale and its really yummy. We sat on these tiny chairs on the pavement to eat

The sun was setting by now so we went to the station, where we had  more beers while waiting to catch the train. At ten we could board the train, by this time we were all exhausted. The train was lovely and clean, and we all enjoyed travelling on it.