Our first day and a half in Turkey were eventful ones.  After arriving at the hotel in Turkey at 2am local time the entire class, completely awake due to the 10 hour time change, decided to go for snacks.  With no commitments to mine tours the following day students had the opportunity to sleep in or take in what Istanbul, a city of 16 million, had to offer.

Everyone was up at 8am ready to go!  Some of the sites visited include, the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia, the grand bazaar, Topkapi Palaca and an underground water reservoir.  After a full day in Istanbul it was time to move on to Bandirma in preparation for our first mine tour.  After breaking off in separate groups to experience Istanbul we all reconvened at the ferry terminal for our trip to Bandirma at 6pm.

Upon arriving in Bandirma we checked into our hotel and went out for a late dinner.  Tomorrow morning we will be heading to Koza Gold's Ovacik mine (open pit gold) for a mine and plant tour.  It will be an early morning (5am!) however everyone is super excited to finally go on some mine tours!