My Last Holiday

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Well, with the holidays coming up soon, we thought we’d interview some people about interesting holidays they’re planning. First up, we’ve got Andrew Blakely on the line. Andrew, tell us all about the amazing holiday you’ve booked. Well, this summer my brother and I are going on an astronomy tour in Cappadocia, which is an area in Turkey with beautiful rivers, waterfalls and valleys.

It’s not all this that the area is most famous for, though, but strange rock formations that stick up from the ground. They call them the fairy chimneys. When we first get there, our tour leader will show us how to set up our tents. Then each day we’ll travel to different places on foot, by bike or even on horseback.

That should be fun. I thought that I’d enjoy horse riding the most, but actually I now think I’ll enjoy every single day for different reasons. Of course, the horse and bike riding will be amazing, but I’ll really enjoy the hiking days too, climbing over the rocks and swimming in the rivers and waterfalls. Every night, after cooking local dishes together at our base camp, we’re going to look up at the stars while our tour leader teaches us about the night sky.

I’ve never been interested in astronomy. It was my brother who wanted to go on this trip, but he’s convinced me that I’ll really enjoy these evenings. He says it will be like a live planetarium show, with the tour leader using a laser pointer to point out the different constellations and planets. My favourite day, I think, will be the day we visit the village of Gureme.

It’s a town carved into the rock, and it’s got many cave homes and hotels. Apparently, people have been living in the cave houses for more than a thousand years. I’ve seen lots of pictures of them. They’re strange to look at.

They’re small with long, narrow stone staircases inside, and from the outside they look just like a big Swiss cheese with lots of holes in the rock. I can’t wait to visit them personally. At the end of the week, our last treat will be a visit to a Turkish bath called a hamam, which will be relaxing. By the time I get home, I’m sure I’ll have learnt loads of things I didn’t know about Turkey, not to mention what we learn about astronomy.

It will be so much more useful than just lying on the beach with my family like I usually do. Well, that sounds absolutely wonderful, Andrew. I hope you have a fantastic trip. Thank you, I will.

Well, for any listeners who are interested, we are going to put all the information about all of the holidays that are mentioned today on our website. Now, next on the show, we have Sandra Murray.