Merhaba! Two weekends ago I ventured off on my own to Canakkale, a quaint little seaside town on the Asian side of the Dardanelles Strait between the Marmaris Sea and the Aegean Sea. This was my base for exploring Troy and the Gallipoli Peninsula, mainly the ANZAC Battlefields. I arrived by a 5 hour bus…
Category: travel
Ruins of Ephesus and Natural Beauty of Pamukkale
Two weekends ago my friends and I headed for the ancient ruins of Ephesus and the sandstone travertines of Pamukkale. There are two options to get to Ephesus, by bus to Selcuk or Izmir, or flying to Izmir. Selcuk is the nearest town to Ephesus and is a 40 minute to an hour bus ride…
Atilla’s Getaway Hostel
If you are planning on visiting Ephesus, Pamukkale or basically anywhere within a 5 hour drive from Selcuk, then you really should consider making Atilla’s Getaway as your home base for your journeys. And that’s exactly what it feels like when you stay at Atilla’s, home. The quaint resort-like hostel is about a 5 minute…
Baklava and Kebab Heavens in Istanbul
Merhaba! As I have mentioned before the small and handy guidebook “Istanbul Eats: Exploring the Culinary Backstreets” has taken me to nothing but some of the best restaurants and eateries in Istanbul, and the best dishes I have had in the city have all come from these places. But I must share an exciting moment…
Merhaba Istanbul!
Merhaba Everyone! (Merhaba is Hello in Turkish). This summer I decided to Study Abroad in Istanbul at Bogazici University (the first American University established outside of the United States). I’ve already been here a week and so far it has been amazing! I decided to do this for a few reasons in addition to academic…
Experiencing the United Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner
Hi All, It has definitely been too long since I last posted something. Im going to do a quick post on something that is way overdue. THE BOEING 787 DREAMLINER For Thanksgiving break in 2012 I decided I’d head to Houston to visit a cousin of mine. Coincidently I found out that United Airlines was…
Hurry up! You can do it! You’re almost there!
Hey all, Happy New Year! It has been a while since I have posted a blog entry. My first post for the year is from a guest contributor, my sister: My sister is a runner. She likes to run races around the world to achieve two goals – to improve her time and to visit…
Myanmar (Burma): Discovering SE Asia’s Last Frontier with with Belmond (formerly Orient Express)
Note: I will refer to the country as Burma, but its original name is Myanmar and locals are prefer to call it Myanmar and since the political changes it is said to be going back to Myanmar. Furthermore, when we took this trip the company and operator of the cruise and hotel was still named…
Review: Alila Villas Uluwatu, Bali
Bali, Indonesia. The exotic island paradise that so many travelers head to during their holidays. But it can be difficult when it comes time to choose which hotel to stay at because there are simply too many in Bali, and I feel like there are new ones opening all the time! This time we opted…
Yup! Seafood, it’s an addiction.
It’s a fact, Taiwanese people are seafood lovers, and this really shouldn’t come as a surprise because we are after all people of an island nation! To address the need for Taipei city goers to get their hands on fresh seafood without having to drive out to the coastal ports, the Taipei Fish Market (台北魚市) was…
Sun Moon Lake, Taiwan
Sun Moon Lake: hey all, Two weekends ago I made my 3rd visit to Sun Moon Lake in Nantou County in Central Taiwan. This is one of Taiwan’s most popular and famous tourist spots and it isnt surprising to see why. The name of the lake comes from the shape of the lake, one side…
A Traditional Taiwanese Breakfast, well one of many types.
Good Morning! After two consecutive posts about fine dining, I decided its time to go local on this blog. So for a quick a short post, I shall post about my breakfast this morning. I had one of my favorite traditional Taiwanese Breakfasts. I had rice ball with egg, radish, yu tiao, and minced pork….
TheGastronomicTraveler 