For I must be travelling on, now...

Time to go home. Fortunately we still have the morning free for some last minute shopping, so we risk our lives yet again by getting a taxi to the Taksim area.  It's half past nine, and already the streets are buzzing. Don't these people ever sleep?

I could bore you with some shopping trivia, but perhaps a few random interesting or practical bits of information would be more useful, so here goes:

• Whilst we never really visited areas in Turkiye that were not on the "tourist route", we did sometimes wander a little further afield. Not once did we feel unsafe or worried that we were possibly in a dicey area.
• Food was often different to what we are used to. Sauces in stews are more watery, dishes are seldom overly rich. But we seldom, if ever, felt that something would have been unedible. 
• We have learnt to really enjoy Halva, Apple tea,  Aubergines (I would have to exclude myself on this one), Turkish pizzas and Baklava.
• Drinking alcoholic drinks in Turkiye can get expensive because of excessive taxes added to alcohol. However, tea is something that everyone drinks. Everywhere. If you spend more than 5 minutes in a shop, the owner offers you tea.
• We found the Turks friendly, hardworking, and extremely proud of their country.  They are working hard at building their country, and it shows. 
• Having said that, we saw areas where we thought the litter and rubble really spoilt the countryside or city streets.
• We saw very little, if any, graffiti. The goverment is really working hard at preventing this.
• Washrooms were often places of great discussion, mostly because we are in no way used to the squat toilets. While I don't think I ever saw washrooms where the floors were completely dry, they were always clean, with at least one normal toilet available. 
• Roads were generally good, although we would probably not consider driving ourselves around Turkiye, mostly because of language issues. And we would definitely not venture to drive in the cities, especially not in Istanbul.
• Turks like to clean their cars. Every time we stopped for lunch or a comfort break, our bus got washed. If we saw a dirty bus, the number plates indicated that it was not a Turkish bus. 
• March should normally be one of the best months to visit Turkiye. It is not that busy, and the weather is usually not too cold. We experienced some very cold weather, but that was apparently unusual for March. 

Some other interesting facts:

• Turkiye produces 90% of the worlds hazelnuts. If you enjoy nuts, you wold be in nut heaven.
• Turkiye has the 4th largest army in the world. With their neighbors, I guess they need this.
• St Nicholas, aka Santa Claus, was born and lived in Demre, Turkiye.
• If you think that Tulips are actually from Amsterdam, you're wrong. They are actually from Turkiye
• Lake Tuz is the second largest lake in Turkiye. Tuz means salt, which means that it is a salt lake. Its maximum length is 80km, with the maximum width being 50km. Yet the maximum depth is 150cm. You can walk through the entire length of the lake. You may be a little pickled, though. 

Various people have asked whether we would go back to Turkiye. I almost feel like it is an unfair question. Turkiye was never really even on my list of countries to see. Travelling by means of an organised tour was definitely not on my list. Did I enjoy it then? Most definitely. Ilker gave us so much useful and fascinating insights about his country and his people, something we would most definitely not have had if we did a tour on our own. Would I recommend the tour to others? Most definitely. Especially if you enjoy history and archaeology. Would I visit Turkiye again? Maybe.