Sunday 20th December - Gaziantep

It did stop raining today and we did go up to the castle, although my route finding left something to be desired as we detoured about 20 minutes through the back streets rather than the 5 minutes it should have taken. 

The castle was a little strange as it’s in the process of being restored so you cannot access any of the outside bits, and the interior has been turned into a memorial to the fight for independence after the end of World War I (when Gaziantep resistance fighters drove out the French occupying force).

We stopped off for more bakalava on the way back to the hotel and were given some free green, we suspect it’s pistachio something or other but haven’t had courage to try it yet.  The rest of the day was spent lazing in our hotel room, utilising the free wi-fi to call the family via Skype, psyching ourselves up for the Syrian border crossing tomorrow and generally enjoying a bit of downtime.

Got an email from Mark and Briar, the Kiwi’s we entered Turkey with, and they’re now back in the UK and have been enjoying the meat pies and fish and chips! They’ve sold their camper van which has been their home for the past year and will soon be returning to their working lives back in New Zealand, via New Year in New York (http://marknbriar.blogspot.com/).