Most Inspirational Moment
Difficult to pin-point; as a lover of landscapes, i really loved walking bare foot on Pamukkale the naturally occurring terraces of carbonates deposited by hot springs (even though it was damp and over-cast, in fact for me that made it special); there were some really beautiful sunsets by the coast; and the eroded tufa landscape of Cappadocia is mind boggling (as are the homes past and present built in them). And some of the ruins are breath-taking, in particular the theater at Aspendos, the theater at Termessos shrouded in mountain cloud, the dizzy height of Pergamon, and the very intact stadium at Aphrodisias, i couldn't believe it. Then there are the beautiful mosques, the Byzantine mosaics, the impressive museums. And finally modern day treats of shopping in the baza and relazxing in a hamman. All fantastic.
Thoughts on Group Leader
I thought she was really nice, and very impressed with her knowledge both local and historical considering we went to so many places and Anatolia was peopled and governed by so many different cultures over the Millenia. She very rarely said 'I'm sorry I don't know' despite our many questions. Also this was my third trip with Exodus and this was the first time a group leader gave me a language lesson (an a4 sheet of numbers, useful phrases etc) and how to the pronounce them, it went a long way. She proposed very good restaurants for our meals, all the sub standard meals (3) that i had, i sourced myself!
Advice for Potential Travellers
Yes - pack a light waterproof mac, hat/ scarf / gloves and at least one warm jumper as there are sometimes thunderstorms and it gets cold. Food and especially drink were quite a bit more expensive then i'd anticipated. Buy a string for your sun glasses to hand round your neck you're always putting them on and taking them off! If you get travel sick make sure you bring tablets as some long days driving (fine though plenty of great landscape to see out of the window). Make sure you bring enough camera memory, on the last day i was having to edit to make room for new photos! Also unlike other trips there was no reading material on the bus, so make sure you have something.