Crete is the largest of the Greek islands the last stop during my trip in Greece.
I took a ferry from Santorini to Heraklion, which is the capital of Crete. But I was spending the night in Chania which is 3 hours away from Heraklion by bus and from where I had a flight back to France the next night.
Oia is a small town in Santorini. If you have ever seen pictures of luxurious hotels in Santorini it’s probably in Oia. It is so amazingly beautiful, that at times my friends and I just couldn’t believe we were there.
I had been wanting to visit Santorini for years .It was my ultimate wanderlust destination and I would say the main purpose of going to Greece was visiting this island.
Greek Island Hopping
The first stop in Greece was Athens. After a day of sightseeing, which honestly disappointed me, I embarked on a ferry to Mykonos. The ferry was the best way to get there and only costed 34 euros! The ride lasts for about 6 hours and it’s pretty smooth.
Istanbul was my last stop in Turkey, but I had already spent a night there upon my arrival in the country. That little glimpse of the city by night making my way to the hostel through Istiklal avenue, one of the busiest streets in Istanbul, was enough to make me excited about exploring this place for 4 days.
The landscape created by erosion and volcanic eruptions in Cappadocia, Turkey, is unlike anything I had seen before. And civilizations back in the day took advantage of this and created underground cities and caves to live in.
I never thought I would take a ride on a hot air balloon. It wasn’t even on my bucket list on the first place, but then Turkey happened and Cappadocia was the perfect place to do it.
I was staying in the tiny but picturesque town of Goreme, and asked around many agencies that offered hot air balloon rides.
It’s expensive, which is why if you are planning your Turkey trip make sure you have already made up your mind about doing it and consider it in your budget. Prices range from 90 to 160 euros, I paid 110. When asking why there was such a big difference in prices, the reply was always the same: experience and quality of service.
My first stop in Turkey was Selçuk, a town in the Izmir province, known for being home to the ancient Greek city of Ephesus and other ancient archeological sites like the “House of Virgin Mary”, the “Temple of Artemis” and “St John’s Basilica”.
Upon arrival we were welcomed by heavy rain which we were not prepared for, so we made our way running from the train station to the nearest restaurant we could find. Turns out, we had found the main square and our hostel was just a few blocks away. What I’m getting at here is that Selçuk is pretty tiny and you can easily walk around town in a day.But I liked it, people were friendly, the food was good and the place was interesting. Plus staying in Selçuk is a good base to make day trips to Pamukkale or the beach such as Bodrum.
RESTLESS FOOTPRINTS 