North Aegean, Turkey

We crossed into Turkey from Greece. Visas are available at the border. The driving in Turkey is tricky, with cowboy drivers, who love overtaking at any time and on poorly maintained roads. There are roadworks everywhere and in some areas the construction seems to be a permanent state of affairs. The weather is very hot and so often the tar roads have melted, causing a lot of mess and damage to Homer. Diesel is also more expensive than in Europe. Campervans are not very common in Turkey. Campsites, especially those at the beach, cater mainly for working class locals and facilities are generally basic. Turks are very friendly and always happy to try and communicate in English.Service is generally very good and restaurant owners go out of their way to remember your name and make you feel at home. Being South African is a bit unique and Neil's long hair and bracelets make us easily distinguishable from the hordes of package holiday tourists. From the border we headed south to Gallipolli; a well known WW1 battle ground area, especially for Australians and New Zealanders. We crossed the Straits of Marmara and camped south of Canakkale at the coast. The next day we visited the ancient ruins at Troy; a World Heritage site. Of course, Homer, the original, and author of the Illiad and the Oddessy is majorly featured in the museum here. We headed south along the coast for another night of local camping.We visited the quaint but touristy fishing village of Assos and more ruins, at Bergama. The campsite here had a nice restaurant and also happened to be a popular wedding venue. At the outdoor restaurant, we became sideline guests at a 800 guest wedding. It seems that no-one really knows how many people will turn up at the wedding and we watched as more and more chairs were brought out into the garden as the number of guests swelled. The wedding only got underway about 9.30pm and guests were only given glasses of water and and a small tub of ice cream each to eat. There was a band and a DJ and lots of dancing, and some speeches and fireworks. Everything was videoed and relayed to a large screen and the photographers definitely featured highly.When we went to bed at midnight, the party was still underway.We headed on to Foca, a nice laid back fishing village; not too touristy.Turkey is one of the few countries in the world that grows more than enough food to feed its own population. Rural Turkey seems fairly backward and it looks like farmers work hard to earn a living, but the fresh fruit and vegetables sold in markets are wonderful.