The aliens have landed!.. and they landed in Goreme. This is without a shadow of a doubt the wierdest place I have ever seen, by some considerable margin.

Goreme is situated in a valley that has been carved over millions of years from the soft volcanic rock that is a characteristic of the region. The erosion process has created a valley that is filled with wierd conical shaped rock formations, some with bulbous tops. Standing on the rim of the valley you get the impression you are looking down into the mouth of some ancient carnivorous beast. Wuierd enough all by itself, but the peoples of this region have taken things a whole lot further than that - oh yes. Not content with a wholely alien landscape that in and of itself almost defies description, the wierd rock formations have been shaped over the ages into cave dwellings. And so this wierd landscape is riddled with the artifacts of civilisation, windows, doors and tunnels appear in odd places in the cone shaped rocks, many exquisitely carved into architectural references we would recognise today in, for example, the centre of london.

Wierd enough, you may think, but this region continues this day to be populated, and the result has been a fusing of the old with the new. The ancient rock structures now house hotels and restaurants, shops and houses, and these have been enhanced and extended where necessary with modern architecture forming a composite architectural style that is truely truely alien and has genuinely to be seen to be believed. It is now entirely possible to get lost amongst the rock formations and ancient dwellings and to round a corner only to find one such dwelling sporting double glazing and offering Turkish tea at very reasonable rates. Wierd, wierd, wierd!

Goreme is unashamedly a tourist trap, and the possibilities for things to do here are, if not endless, certainly extensive. The bi-endian candle burning therefore continued with a day of skiing on the side of an extinct volcano, a turkish evening, a day spent exploring the landscape of Goreme, including an astonishing tour of an underground city (I now know how it feels to be a mole) a sunrise balloon flight, the eclipse and a turkish bath.

Stunning! The beauty of this landscape continually defies description. If you visit nowhere else in Turkey, visit Goreme.

What a way to spend a day: sea kayaking in the crystal blue waters of the med around rocky coastline and looking down at submerged roman ruins and topped by a short cold dip in a natural cove. Hard work, but the efforts were well worth it. That seems to be a statement that is going to characterise this trip. I am tired now. Bi-endian candle burning, a full-on programme of events, some terrible beds/uneven ground and some rather extravigant snorning from my tent-mate are all contributing to a lack of sleep, but it has been worth every step so far.

The last week in Turkey was stunning. The trip from Kas to Capadocia was a long drive, once again through a range of countryside that is hard to continually describe. Every new stretch of road shows you something new. High planes, snow-topped mountains and American badland-style landscape to name but a few. Two days drive from Kas to Capadocia, the first spent in our best rough camp so far. A beautiful spot high in the mountains about 40 miles inland.

The next day was a full-on drive to the Ilara gorge, the first real taste of Capadiocia. The evening we arrived we spent exploring ancient cave dwellings, culminating in a nerve-wracking climb up a chimney to reach the top of the settlement. The views and the adrenaline rush made it well worth the effort. The next day was an 8 mile walk through the Ilara gorge itself, a stunning river gorge lined with settlements carved directly into the soft volcanic rock. Exploring these dwellings, that date from as recently as 500AD, reveal examples of christian churches from the period all highly decorative and elaborate and carved directly out of the rock itself, some still sport the original frescos etched onto the wall on a thin layer of plaster.

The walk itself reveals some stunning scenery provided the chance for some welcome exercise after what seemed like days of sitting in the truck.

Warm at last! Pamukkale was our first taste of real warmth since we have been in Turkey. It was nice to be able to walk around in a t-shirt. The drive to Pamukkale again highlited the contradiction that is Turkey. Beautiful snow covered mountains interspersed with ramshackle ugly towns shrouded in smog with mosques once again standing out as rare objects of beauty.

Pamukkale itself is at once beautiful and disapponting. It is a shame to see a place of such outstanding natural beauty wrapped in the trappings of humanity in the way that it has been. The board-walks, manicured gardens and artificial swimming pools that surround it subtract from the wild beauty of the place (as I remember it), and yet if it were not for these things that now protect it from the tramping feet of thousands of tourists it is likely that it would have been long destroyed by now. Combined with the roman ruins that surround Pamukkale and stretch almost as far as the eye can see this is a place that is well worth visiting. The amphitheatre here is perhaps the most impressive we have seen on the trip so far.

After Pamukkale it was back into the mountains and the cold. The drive south sees a gradual change in the terrain from a cold moonscape to more forgiving mountain scenery reminiscent of Yosemite, both in scale and in aesthetic, that slowly give way to kinder, lusher agricultural lowlands. The change of colours is perhaps the most striking thing like a sudden switch to full technicolour from a landscape of monochrome. Huge greenhouses full of tomato crops and trees laden with citrus fruits fill every spare piece of land that seems as though it is straight out of a postcard. It is nice to be warm.

The drive along the coast towards Kas was stunning. This is holiday central and the green islands, dotted around the rocky coast line in a pure blue calm sea backed by high sea cliffs with compact settlements of smart towns designed for tourists nestling in every cove underline that. For the two days we are in Kas we will be playing the tourist game, taking advantage of the multitude of activities that are available here (sea kayaking tomorrow) and enjoying the bars the beaches and the warmth. Then it is off to Capadoccia, the chance of skiing and the eclypse. Nothing but contrasts at every turn.

Well it is now Friday of the first week of overlanding and we are pretty much into the full swing of it. Our first night was spent in Eceabat, a dismal town on the end of the Galipoli peninsula in a similarly dismal hostel, made only slightly better for the classical music that accompanied breakfast. The two subsequent nights have been spent wild camping the first on a coastal sight just down from the old Roman settlement of Assos, and the second just outside Pergamon were far preferable. Nice to be out in the wilds eating camp food and spending the evening talking crap huddled round a camp-fire. Our days so far have been spent driving between sites of historical significance, the Anzak tour of on Galipoli peninsula being of surprising interest to me, followed by a tour of Troy and Pergamon, both very impressive in their own ways. We are in Selcuk at the moment. Staying in a pleasant campsite just outside town. Tomorrow we continue the historical tour with a visit to Ephesus and then it is on to Pamukale and Kas.

Impressions of Turkey have been mixed. It is nothing if not a land of variation. In our short time so far we have encountered snow, moody storm clouds and hot sun all within a day's drive of each other. The beauty of the landscape is a continuous and stark contrast to the ramshackle and often ugly settlements that in themselves seem to wrap around mosques that are surprisingly beautiful as they catch the sun at the end of the day. Certainly the Blue Mosque in Istanbul is a sight that will remain with me beyond the end of this journey. It is hard to imagine a building that can captivate, but if such a thing can exist this is it to be sure.

And so it begins...

The sights and smells that assault you as you first set foot in a foreign city are one thing, but it is not until you experience the white-knuckle ride from the airport to the hotel accompanied by a screaming symphony of angry car horns that you really know you have arrived. I don't think we are in Kansas any more Toto!

Istanbul has been exciting so far. Having managed to narrowly avoid being sold a carpet against my will I spent my first evening in the company of said carpet seller at a rather good fish restaurant and watching a display of traditional dance of various kinds.

I suspect the experience cost more than it should have, but hell it's only day 1. I was bound to fall for something. Time to wise up though. Today I will mostly be visiting mosques.