Ubud - Elephant Park

The last big thing we did while in Bali and my last post on our trip was the day we spent at Taro Elephant Park. I had booked transportation and our day prior to us leaving and it worked out really well. We had a car pick us up at the hotel and take us to the park. When we got there we walked to the elephant riding area and we split up to go on our elephants. Peyton and John went together and Graham and I rode an elephant named Lady Gaga. 

I was nervous about keeping Graham still for the ride but he was so still and so quiet. I think he was overwhelmed and just in shock about the whole experience. He was loving it. Peyton was asking the handler all kinds of questions and then telling us behind what she was learning. They both had so much fun. The ride was actually really long which surprised me. 

When we got off Graham was so upset and wanted to go again. He loved it so much and still talks about it after being home about riding the elephant and "please" to go again. After the ride we went and fed the younger elephants and gave them hugs. It was so much fun to have them grab the bamboo sticks out of your hands. Both kids loved it.

We then went for a walk to see the new baby elephant born that morning at 5 AM. I loved watching Peyton and Graham walk ahead and hold hands and talk about what they were experiencing so far that day. 

This baby was born about 4-5 hours earlier. So cute!

We then had lunch and watched some elephants play in the water together. It was fun to watch them interact, jump on each other and swim around. The kids found it hilarious.

The final part of our day was the elephant show. The elephants did all sorts of tricks and performances and the kids loved it. The best part was when the elephants sprayed the crowd with water from their trunks. Peyton was laughing so hard!

It was a really fun day at the elephant park and one that both of the kids talked about over and over and was the highlight of their trip. Such a fun thing to do and even more so when experiencing through the eyes of the kids!

Are we there yet?

So we left for our trip to Bali with so much excitement and ready to go! We got through the Dammam airport with some annoyances but smoothly and we were off, made it to Abu Dhabi.....and we made a make shift tent out of my abaya to help shield the kids from the light and the intense cold at the airport. Who knew an abaya could be so useful :)

The kids stayed asleep and we made it onto our plane to Kuala Lumpur. The kids were sleeping when they should, being happy and we were doing great. We flew Etihad Airlines for the first time and overall it was a good experience. Peyton liked the eye masks and socks that came in the travel bag. She cracks me up!

We were really impressed in how much easier it is getting flying with them both as long as they are both not asleep. There were sometimes when we had two sleeping kids and I was so thankful to be flying with John and not solo!

Then we landed in Kuala Lumpur.....and things didn't go so smoothly.....

Apparently the guys in Saudi should have tagged our bags all the way through and they didn't but the people in Kuala Lumpur did not know that. We had a 90 minute layover and had to be processed through passports, claim our bags and run to the ticket counter only to find out we didn't make it. Bummer! Oh well....I am sure there is another Malaysian Air flight to Bali tonight....NO! The next one was for 10:00 AM the next day. We pleaded to find another option and they directed us to the office. We waited and waited and waited and found out that they could get us to Bali that night but at midnight....six hours later than we were supposed to :( They booked us on a flight to Jakarta and then a flight from there to Bali. We managed to get hold of the car company we hired and told them our new flight times and off we went to Jakarta.

We bought the kids fun lollipops for being so patient waiting around....happy kiddos but sticky fingers/faces...

When we landed we had to go through immigration and get our visas which was a long process. Graham had meanwhile fell asleep on the plane and was in the baby carrier which was so incredibly heavy. We finally finished with getting our visa for Indonesia which the only positive is that I have read that the visa line in Jakarta is much smoother and quicker than Bali so at least we didn't have that step to do when we arrived in Bali. We then had to walk to the opposite end of the terminal in the non air-conditioned airport and...I am still carrying Graham who at that point leaked through his diaper and essentially peed all over me...nice! I am now wearing a 30lb child, a sweater and have pee all over me and am running through a hot airport. We make it to the transfer desk and they mention something about having to claim our bags, go through customs and recheck them and I start to cry. I really started to cry. It was Kuala Lumpur all over again. John explained that they were checked through, they said no and so he ran to the baggage area to see what to do. He found a baggage handler, brought him back to the transfer desk who explained our bags were checked through and we got our tickets and ran to our next flight. 

We made it on our fourth flight (third airline of the trip) and were finally on our way to Bali. The flight had no one on it and so Peyton made a tent on her side....

 

And Graham was out cold on my lap.......

The kids were doing great and we landed and were ready to get in our car and go to the hotel. I was so nervous that our bags wouldn't make it due to the confusion but thankfully they were there. We almost make it out of the airport when I realized we left something on the plane. John runs back and thankfully the cleaning crew brought it to baggage claim for us and we were finally on our way out. I just kept trying to not cry again.

Our driver was wonderful! We hired a driver from the company Bali Baby Hire that has drivers, baby supplies and everything else you might need to make your vacation in Bali more baby/child friendly. We had the same driver the whole trip and the kids loved him. We had rented car seats from them as well which was great so we didn't have those extra bags to deal with. Highly recommend their company, it was so nice to have a good driver who was used to kids/families to drive us around!

We finally made it to our hotel and checked in and we all easily fell asleep....

Ephesus

Our day in Ephesus was interesting....probably the worst day of the trip! Not because of the location but by this point in our trip and with everyone doing so well with traveling, we were bound to have a meltdown/bad day and this was the day!


We woke up later than we had wanted and then began arguing with Peyton about getting dressed. She refused to get dressed and she didn't want to leave the boat. Then we got clothes on her and she complained about how the shirt didn't match the shorts (they did) and how she wanted something else and wanted to put together this ridiculous looking outfit which in hindsight I should have just let her wear and not made it into such a battle because there were many more battles that day and the clothes was the smallest of them.


We finally got off the boat and met our guide. I booked a private tour through Kusadasi Tours instead of going through the cruise ship excursion. We had a guide, a private van, with car seats for the kids and a driver for the day. Our original plan was to do Ephesus, a small temple and then a village tour with lunch at the village. The guide was great, very informative, helpful and had lived in the area for 50 years. Our day was made better by having them and the freedom to do our own tour as opposed to the bus.


We made it to Ephesus and that is where the trouble started. Peyton had fallen asleep in the car. Graham fell asleep as well. Ugh! So we put Peyton in the stroller to help her sleep and since Graham woke up as soon as we opened the car door we put him in the carrier. It was hot, busy and hard to take in with the stroller and carrying Graham. We walked around, listened to the tour and right about where the below picture was taken our crew was getting tired. 

We made it to right in front of the library and Graham started screaming. Crying and screaming. I took him out of the carrier to walk, tried to give him water, play with him...anything and nothing worked. Meanwhile several people would come up and offer suggestions and try to help and it was not helping. I was tired, hot and overwhelmed and started to cry in frustration at not knowing what to do. Finally, one tour guide came over and started to pour water over him and I think the shock of it and the cooling effect stopped his crying. He then walked to the stroller, pulled out Peyton's lovey and tried to go to sleep on the ground and started sobbing. We worked on trying to convince Peyton to get out of the stroller which started her crying. Then she saw Graham holding her lovey, screamed and pulled it away from him which made him cry. And I just looked at John and told him we needed to leave NOW! We got Graham in the stroller finally, either gave him Peyton's lovey or something to mimic it...I don't remember and started walking to the exit. As I walking away and trying to keep it together I remember looking back for John and seeing him attempting to take a picture...conversation went something like this...

Che: "John, please tell me that you are NOT taking a picture right now...?

John: looking like a deer caught in the headlights..."ummm, nope, I don't know what I was thinking."

Puts camera away and off we go.

We quickly walked past the amphitheater, Graham stopped screaming but was still awake so we stopped and took a picture of the amphitheater, went to the gate and made it out. 

Once in the car, the kids settled down, Graham went to sleep and John and I made the decision to call it a day and go back to the boat. We had made an agreement before the trip that we wouldn't push ourselves and if it was a bad day we would just call it quits and be thankful for what we did see that day. The rest of the afternoon was rough since Graham never really napped long enough on the way back to the boat but we finally got him to sleep that afternoon and after a long nap for everyone we were all in a much better mood. 


Our thoughts on Ephesus...the tour made it so much more interesting and I would highly recommend doing one as we learned things that I don't think we would have known walking on our own or even with a book. We were both a little disappointed in how little was excavated and how they did not seem to be in any rush to excavate any more despite some findings of a palace above the theatre and other finds. I also found it interesting at how many temples, statues to gods and goddesses there were and how little signs of Christianity I saw. I know it was a Roman town but I guess in my mind I imagined so much more signs of Paul's work there. I loved that we walked where Paul and Apostle John walked and taught and where such an important early church was founded. 


A place that we are glad we went and saw but overall....a crummy day! Next stop was Athens which we were hoping would go much better!

Istanbul...

We picked the cruise we did because it had us staying a night over in Istanbul, giving us a day and a half to explore. I have always wanted to go to Istanbul and this was the place I was the most excited about going to. As soon as we docked I was jumping with excitement. I couldn't stop smiling! 

We started the day by taking a taxi to the Blue Mosque. We got there right when it opened and had to wait in line for a little bit but it wasn't too bad. 

I am going to have a rant right now.....ladies....when you are visiting a mosque please adhere to the rules of wearing modest clothing, covering your legs and arms and cover your head! I don't care if you are not Muslim....I am a Christian but I respect their religion and culture and see it as an honor (not a right) to visit their place of worship. Mosques are not tourist attractions and are places of worship...be respectful! I was so angered by the amount of people that would cover their legs or arms with a scarf and rip it off as soon as they were away from the door security people or the amount of people who made no attempt to cover their head. I purposefully wore pants that day, a shirt with sleeves and brought a sweater to put on and I covered my head. Please show respect and don't be ignorant when you visit mosques....cover up!

The Blue Mosque was beautiful! The only other mosque that I have visited was the Sheik Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. That was beautiful but in an over the top, elegance and modern way and it was impressive due to the size of it. But this was equally if not more beautiful in the details and history of it. I loved the intricacy in the tiles and designs and it was breathtaking!

I loved that Peyton remembered we went to a "church" like this in Abu Dhabi and was telling John about the really big rug in the one in Abu Dhabi and how we took off our shoes! Love that she is absorbing something doing our travels!

After the mosque, I put Graham in the stroller and he fell asleep. So we walked over to the Cisterns and John and I took turns going down so we wouldn't have to bother Graham and his nap. Peyton was scared of the cisterns so my turn was pretty rushed. They were pretty neat but I think John appreciated them more than I did. 

After the cisterns we walked towards the Grand Bazaar area to do some shopping. After getting lost, having low blood sugar due to being hungry, some tense moments...we finally found the bazaar and found somewhere to eat. The food was delicious! We both had the most delicious shawarma we have ever had and were very pleased when they made Peyton a grilled cheese. The random restaurant we found was a hit!

Entrance to the Grand Bazaar. I knew it was big and overwhelming but I was amazed at how lost you could get in there and how many stalls there were. We completely passed the jewelry section and the carpet section and still spent hours in there! 

One of my first purchases and one that I had planned prior to going was to get some hand painted bowls that my mom has that I have always loved. The shop keeper LOVED Graham and played with him, gave him gifts while I was looking. We came away with a large bowl and two little bowls. I loved everything and wish I could have bought plates and more bowls and more bowls! 

Also while we were in the bazaar I started to look for some embroidered pillowcases which I eventually  found and while we were also at the store I found a bed spread. It is embroidered with red, blue, yellow and some purples and I love it! I can't wait to get our future home and use it in the guest room. Lots of fun shopping around the bazaar and I could have stayed much longer but....our time and money were running out!


We left the bazaar and as we were walking to get a taxi and head back to the cruise ship, Graham fell asleep in the stroller and Peyton fell asleep in my arms. So, we decided to try to see one more sight that we wanted to see but didn't think we would have time for....the Hagia Sophia. I am so glad we did because it turned out to be one of the top places for me on our trip. We carried Peyton throughout (putting her in the carrier to help distribute the weight) and just took our time and trying to not wake up kids! The Hagia Sophia is a former Orthodox Basilica that was turned into a mosque by the Ottoman Turks. What I think is wonderful is that when the Ottoman's would conquer they did not destroy the Christian mosaics or artwork. Instead they would paint over it. So there is so much of the beautiful mosaics of Christ that have been restored and visible in the church.

I loved seeing the mosaic of Jesus between the Islam pieces, one said Muhammed and the other Allah. It was such a representation of our lives here and I also loved how it showed the various history and uses of this building. 

On the second floor there were many mosaics of Jesus...one representing Revelations, one with Mary and one with John the Baptist. What was so moving for me was seeing this beautiful mosaics that clearly conveyed the same biblical truths that are present today and that Christianity is the same today as it was hundreds and hundreds of years ago. 

After the Hagia Sophia, we played at the park outside before heading back to the boat pretty exhausted from the day. This was view from our boat that night overlooking Istanbul.

The next day we woke up and set off into Istanbul to try to take in one more sight before we left. We went to the Topkapi Palace however we did not stay very long. Since it was closed the first day we got there and overnight, three more cruise ships docked in Istanbul it was so busy! When we got there the line was insane but we got tickets and made it through pretty quickly but walking around we quickly realized it was not stroller friendly at all (no rooms allowed strollers) and with Graham asleep in the stroller it was difficult. Every room had tons of lines to get in and since we each had to go in by ourself it was taking way too long. 


The only room that I found really interesting, was where they have housed many important artifacts and items that belong to Muhammed along with what is claimed to be the rod of Moses and Abrahams sauce pan. It was interesting but no pictures.

I think if you had all day, no kids, then the palace would be interesting and worth a visit. Defiantly behind the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia in my opinion but it would have been nice to see more. There is also the large Harem area which required a separate ticket and a guided tour but sounded very interesting. We ended up buying a book on the palace and I have enjoyed reading more in detail of what is there and the history.


Overall opinion of Istanbul....LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! One of my favorite places! I can not wait to go back sometime and hope that we can do a more comprehensive trip of Turkey in the future!