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Dear Walkabout Walkers and Friends,
Discovering Asia Minor
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Great memory of our cooking class with Nuray, a local lady in Minare. Together we prepared the 'here so popular' cheese rolls... |
Our free day in Kas was very welcome and although low key, our hotel was perfect for this day! Smiley's restaurant deserves a special mention as Mr and Mrs Smiley always have a smile on their face and the food was delicious! Great place to drink some raki, which is served with cheese and honey melon - a perfect ensemble!
Çirali, one of my favourite places was perfect for our last couple of days and came with a challenging walk up to the Musa Mountain!
Full moon and candlelit dinners in our friendly beach restaurant were superb and their breakfast truly the best!!
Very happily we have decided to stay one night longer in 2015. We finished our tour in Antalya, a big sea resort in south-western Turkey!
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Together with 'Motter Havva' (famous local chef), we prepared recipes with fruits, vegetables and spices farmed in the home garden... |
Our local support
Fatih, our local guide here in Turkey is just a walking history book and he is never lost for answers when it comes to questions concerning every aspect of Turkey! He has the greatest sense of humour and is not afraid to "take the micky" out of himself at times. Without him it never would have been possible to work out these two great programs! He is a free-lance professional guide and works also for a Turkish tour operator.
Özkan, our faithful driver could take us all to the end of the world and he is a great support in all aspects of the organisation for this tour. He is calm and quiet, but plays a mean game of backgammon! He will be greatly missed when I soon have to do all the driving myself again!
Our enthusiasm about Turkey has continued to grow and we are working on a third program in Eastern Turkey and its borders, which will feature in our 2015 brochure! Please be patient - work is almost completed and you should receive it sometime in July!
Our season started early this year - on the 2nd March - when Pascal and I were very excited to take our first group to Jordan and Israel after working out the itinerary some years ago.
We started in Aqaba and spent our first 4 days with Sabbah and his team in the Wadi Rum Desert. Each day we went with our Bedouin guides - Ralhed or Amdan walking and exploring the desert. The Wadi Rum, also known as the Valley of the Moon, is a spectacularly scenic desert valley. It is quite isolated and largely inhospitable to settled life. The only permanent inhabitants are several thousand Bedouin nomads and villagers. Some of our highlights were certainly the Wadi Nuqra Gorge, Um Fruth Arch, Fig Canyon and the camel ride to our candlelit dinner in the desert.
Petra, the long-lost city of the Nabateans, a stunning ruin carved from solid red sandstone in the 3rd century BC was just overwhelming. This remote city is one of the great treasures of the ancient world (and one of the new Seven Wonders of the World). Its dazzling desert setting is unmatched and its elaborately carved temples, hewn into the red and golden sandstone cliffs by the mysterious Nabatean people 2,000 years ago, are simply spellbinding.
We walked through the narrow defile called the Siq and set our eyes on the breathtaking Al Khazneh (Treasury), which was featured in the film 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'. We visited the Royal Tombs, climbed to the High Place of Sacrifice via the colourful ruins of the Wadi Farasa and walked on a hidden trail to the Monastery!
A true highlight was our candlelit dinner under the stars at little Petra, which was so carefully organised by Ilharia, our local contact person in Jordan - we even had a musician entertaining us!
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Wadi Musa was our cooking class at Petra's Kitchen. Here we learned the art making such local favourites as Rice with Chicken... |
From Amman we travelled north and visited the fabulously preserved Roman ruins at Jerash, an archaeological masterpiece framed by the hills of Gilead. Jerash's monuments included a triumphal arch, stadium, huge fountain, temples and colonnaded streets.
We crossed the King Hussein-Allenby Bridge, one of the three passages from Jordan into Israel and explored the treasures of Jerusalem from the times of King David to the Prophet Mohammed. Staying in the historic part of this fascinating city allowed us to experience its multiple moods and we discovered many mysterious alleyways and courtyards.
We started our walk through the historic city right at our hotel - also the first Station to the Cross - and followed the Via Dolorosa, where Jesus carried his cross past the Stations of the Cross. Our walk ended at the West Wall and some of us might have even written their own personal prayer note to tuck into the wall.
Other highlights were the Mount of Olives, David's Tomb and Bethlehem! We discovered two great restaurants - the Armenian Taverna and the Eucalyptus Restaurant - both worth a visit if you should happen to travel to Jerusalem.
What better way to finish this tour than at the Kempinski Hotel at the Dead Sea with the largest spa in the Middle East! With the highest content of minerals and salts in the world, the Dead Sea water is thought to possess healing properties, and the mud on the shores has been used for therapeutic purposes for over 2,000 years.
We ended the tour in Amman, visiting Mt Nebo, from where Moses glimpsed the Promised Land and Madaba, famous for its mosaics along the way.
Our local support
Pascal Briau, a professional guide has been working with us for 5 years. Initially he helped us to work out our program in Crete and Santorini, but over the last few years he has worked with us on other tours in Europe as well. He speaks Greek like a Greek and has lived more than 10 years in Crete himself. He is an enthusiast when it comes to Greek history and brings the - sometimes so boring - history lesson to life! He also has developed a great knowledge about Jordan.
Abid, our driver did a great job taking us safely to all the different places and never grew tired of passing on local knowledge! His speciality was "smelling" a good bakery in a 5 km radius! We were all very sad to see him drive off at the end!
Spain and Morocco: a Fabulous combination
Our first Moorish Trail was a great success and despite some long drives, everybody really enjoyed the many different impressions in the south of Andalusia and in Morocco. Here are some comments from some guests on this tour in April. In 2015 we have planned two tours for April and September and they are both fully booked at this point of time, but that of course can still change until April or September next year! First time with Walkabout and we are sure it will not be our last. A small group of only 5, which probably gave us a lot more flexibility than would be normal. We had a great time and with the walking to more remote areas and the obvious enthusiasm of Gilles saw and experienced a lot of things that would not have been available to an independent or coach tour traveller. Although a lot of travelling for Gilles, the combination of Andalucía and Morocco was fabulous and certainly made us feel we were doing as the tour stated-- Following the Moorish Trail. The accommodation and food were excellent. We don't think you should change anything on this program. Thank you Gilles for what was a fun time!”  Bob and Jean, NSW, Australia |
| An absolutely wonderful trip with a marvellous guide. A huge number of experiences packed into 3 weeks of travel. Excellent walking, great food and wonderful contrasts in accommodation from the rustic and immensely enjoyable Berber village, Tamerloute in the Valley of the Roses to the luxury of the stunning Parador at the Alhambra in Granada. The local guides in Morocco were interesting and entertaining, the schedule very well planned and the walks were of a good level for a medium walker"Cathy, Kew, VIC, Australia |
2014 Tours Video Preview
You may have missed out on our five interstate Film and Information Evenings back in March, you can now see online the film presented on the night prepared by Gilles Boivin.
Upcoming Food and Wine Festivals
How about combining your 'active' holidays or weekend away with a gourmet adventure? There are plenty of events in Australia from regional Food and Fine Wine Festivals to Gastronomy Expos throughout the year. These Events bring together Australian and world-renowned winemakers, chefs and industry insiders to entertain, educate and inspire, you may also visit farm gates and cellar doors, meet with local producers, attend degustation dinners, taste regional products or even attend cooking classes! We have put a list of local and overseas gourmet events together to encourage you to go walkabout and discover a new region. Here is what's coming near you in the next 3 months:
JUNE 14
06/06 Townsville Sensation Food & Wine Festival [3 days]
07/06 Mornington Peninsula Winter Wine Weekend {2 days]
12/06 Les Epicuriales - Restaurant extravaganza Bordeaux, France
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[17 days]
27/06 Sydney Good Food & Wine Show [3 days]
JULY 2014
09/07 Taste of Chicago Festiva [5 days]
11/07 Perth Good Food & Wine Show [3 days]
AUGUST 2014
15/08 Barossa Gourmet Weekend, SA [3 days]
Kind Regards,
Gabriela, Graeme and the Walkabout Team
IN THIS EDITION |
Cooking class, Minare Turkey
Free day in Kas, Turkey
Ballooning in Cappadocia
Our local supporters Fatih, Özkan
Aubergines by Motter Havva
Wadi Rum Desert Jordan
Camel ride in Petra Jordan
Rock Arch Um Fruth, Wadi Rum
Mahane Yehuda Market
Pre dinner drink Hotel Kempinski
Valuable support: Pascal Briau
Cabo de Gata, Andalusia, Spain
Walking in the Merzouga, Morocco
Buquistar Alpujarras Spain
Info Evenings 2014 Tours Video
Food & Wine Festivals 2014
Peer Gynt's Trail Special
A place in Provence
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