Tuesday, August 17, 2010
New start to the school year
So, a new year has begun. It always involves a mixture of excitement and stress, as we all scramble to get everything running smoothly. I'll be adding in new posts as the many school activities take place.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Playing with new web 2.0 apps
This is just a test as I am poking around new web 2.0 apps. I found flistis.com, which allows you to make free online polls, so I wanted to see how it works. Here goes:
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Turkey - Days 8, 9, & home
Sat, Aug 7th
I woke early and after a similar breakfast to most other places (although the tomatoes here were even better than normal), I went on a hike down into the Butterfly Valley. Although not a long hike, it did involve going down steep slopes, in some cases needing to use ropes to lower myself down safely. I arrived to the beach at the mouth of the valley and luckily beat the tour boat crowd which would be coming in a couple of hours. It was peaceful and the water was blue and awesome. Looking into it, you could see for forever. A swim and then some reading in the sun. Repeat cycle. Soon, however, I was antsy to explore. So I got up and started hiking to the back of the valley, where a waterfall could be found. Luckily, I saw almost no one on the way there and only two guys once I arrived. It was beautiful and peaceful. But then, as I started to leave, the crowds came. Well over a hundred tourists, fresh off of newly arrived tour boats came streaming down the path. I was just able to escape the area before too many clogged up the path and blocked my escape. Arriving back to the beach, my peaceful world had changed. Boat after huge boat had pulled up to the shore, with music blaring and countless people sitting around on the beach and swimming in the water. I had been warned about this, so I was overly surprised, but it still was a bit shocking. I soon left the beach again and began the short, but steep and really hot and humid climb back up to George House.
Just as I was about the begin the climb, I ran into Dan again, who had just arrived from town. Now having seen him from Cairo to Istanbul to here, he added to the list of travelers that I have just randomly come across repeatedly on my trips. In some ways it is always a bit crazy when you think about it on one hand (if I had gotten up to leave a minute later he would have been hiking to the waterfall and I would have missed him), but on the other hand, so many places have a set of places to stay and also see, that travelers often visit. It's inevitable that you'll run into many of the same people numerous times.
After a nice swim and food back at George's, along with the previous night's crew, and Dan and I grabbed a dolmus bound for Fethiye. Once in town I introduced him to my kebab shop and with no time to spare, I just caught my shuttle to the bus station. This was it. My final long overnight bus ride, now back to Istanbul. Sadly, this bus was also warm and crappy to start with. I had trouble sleeping, but eventually the air got a bit better and my exhaustion took over.
Sun, Aug 8th
It took a while to get from this random bus terminal to the hostel in Sultanahmet. A shuttle and the tram, followed by a walk. And once I arrived, not much had changed. New faces for the travelers, but the same guys working the desk and the same oppressive heat and humidity. I took a shower and pretty much sweat as I tried to dry off. Once of those seemingly useless efforts. So, I soon got myself sorted and got out on the town.Being my final day, I wanted to explore a few of the cool things that I had missed from the previous weekend. A Turkish bath sounded intriguing, but having tons of opportunities for cheap and good massages in HK and in China, I figured that I could give that a pass. I started by going to the famous Topkapi Palace, long standing home of the ruling sultan. To be honest, I was underwhelmed. It was extremely crowded, not too interesting, and really expensive. For 335 Turkish Lira, or about 20-25 USD, I was hoping for more. The one part that was interesting was the harem. A section of many rooms which were used to house the sultans eunochs and concubines. Additionally, women who had bore him a child live there in splendor, while his brothers and nephews lived there in a relative prison, shielded from the outside world so that they would be unable to ever make plans to overthrow him. Sounds rough, but I guess it was a step up from former practices in which sultans simply killed all possible challengers to their rule.
Leaving here, I needed a break from the boredom and I needed some food. Wandering the streets, I eventually made it to the spice market. Along the way, I had a tuvak doner (chicken doner wrap), then another, some Turkish delight, and a big cucumber like veggie. Yeah, I was starving. And now I was ready for my final touristy thing, the Basilica Cisterns. Underneath the heart of Sultanahmet, this was really cool. A series of hundreds of columns support an ancient cistern, in which water from far away was brought to the city through a system of aqueducts. Today, it is darkly lit, giving an eerie, very cool view of the place.
So that was that for the touristy things. With only hours left, I went back to the hostel's rooftop and met a few people. Alan stopped by, we decided to grab some dinner, and began to head out with Jos and Bas (Dutch). On the way out we ran into Heather (US) and Natalie (NZ) and another crew heading to dinner, so we decided to join forces.
Without an idea of where to go, I took them to Doy Doy, the place I had come across on the first night that I spent in town. While that time I ate alone, this time I was in a group of 10. The food was good and next up was a local bar. Beers and one last apple shisha. And for some reason, it was decided that we should start playing some drinking games. Some fun, some silliness, and a great way to end my trip. As it worked out, back at the hostel, I just made it out in time for the airport shuttle.
Mon, Aug 9th
After not sleeping at all, I took a 3:20 am shuttle to airport. Istanbul to Paris, followed by a running transfer, since I had booked flights with two different airlines, then onto Kuala Lumpur. The flight was actually fantastic, as I watched a few movies and the air was freezing! I loved it. And now I have just landed in Hong Kong and am on the bus back home. It's now just past 2 pm on Tuesday. It's been a long bit of traveling.
My trip is done. And after an amazing summer of graduation and travels, I'll have to hit the ground running, as I need to be back to school on Thursday. I'm looking forward to sleeping in my ow bed and seeing friends, but I really am also looking forward to getting back to school.
Turkey - Days 6 & 7
Thurs, Aug 5th
Groggy from another long trip, although this one was much cooler and therefore phenomenally better, I arrived to the side of the road. Yeah, that was it. The bus continued onto some other town, but a large group of us got off and had to wait for a smaller shuttle to take us off the main road and into Pamukale. Although i would not be spending the night, I had a 1/2 day booked at the Artemis Yoruk Hotel, where I was able to grab a bite to eat (ran into some more MSU peeps - Go White!), dump my stuff, and later have a swim and a much needed shower.
I spent the day exploring Pamukale, which is a startling area in which calcium rich water springs have created white as snow pools, as the milky water washes over the sides and solidifies. It is unreal, although the the pools that you can now swim in are man made ones, since the real ones would get too damaged. Above the pools are a series of ruins called Hieropolis. Complete with countless tombs, a few cool gates, and a theater, it was surprisingly bigger and better than I expected. I explored quietly on my own and as time ran down for me, I checked out the ancient pool, which is a man made pool that contains historically curative waters and even a number of fallen roman styled columns.
But my day in Pamukale was up and I had to get on another bus. This one was only about 5 hours, which felt like nothing after back to back 12 hour trips. I arrived into town and was shuttled to a popular backpackers hostel called V Gos. Being a jumping off point for a ppopular 4 day cruise, Fethiye tends to be crowded with young travelers. And so it was when I arrived. It was 10 pm by the time I had gotten sorted and went down to he terrace area for a drink. I soon met a couple of Americans, an Aussie, and a few Brits. Before long we had gotten into a good conversation and I was joining them on a on trip to the Car Cemetary Bar. A quirky place with a cover band, we danced to some decent tunes and got an otherwise quiet place going. I eventually had to grab a bite to eat and ended up at a nearby kebab shop. While waiting I got chatting with the two guys who worked there and by the end had to promise to come back at least one more time before I left Fethiye. With typically French/Italian style kisses on cheeks, I parted ways with my new friends and was soon back to the hostel, in bed, and completely asleep.
Fri, Aug 6th
Rachel (Brit from last night) and I met in the morning and hopped on a dolmus (Turkish public van/bus) bound for Oludiniz. Amazingly, heavy rains came down as the dolmus chugged along. In the 8 years that she had been coming to the area during the summer, she had never seen it rain once, so this really was a surprise. We grabbed a coffee and then a beer at a seaside restaurant as we waited for the rains to end. Eventually they did, and Rachel showed me a less touristy spot back around the Blue Lagoon. Although beautiful (Oludiniz is the most famous beacj due to the often startlingly blue waters of the lagoon), the rains had stirred up enough silt to make the water unusually murky. We swam across from our spot on the beach to the lagoon itself, which was uncomfortably overcrowded and touristy. A couple of beach beers and food and the late afternoon was upon us. I left Rachel there and got on a short dolmus ride going farther away from Fethiye.
It dropped me off on the roadside by a sign for George House. Set on a cliff edge looking down into the Butterfly valley, this was a completely relaxing and special place. I would have loved to stay longer than just one night. After a communal dinner with the fellow guests, Louise (OZ working there) showed a group (Sophia, Sophie, Aureilly, and Joelle from Switzerland and Jess from the UK) of us how to play backgammon. And being the most popular thing in Turkey since sliced bread (you will find people playing at just about every bar and cafe in the country), it was only right that we should learn. It was a great night.
Groggy from another long trip, although this one was much cooler and therefore phenomenally better, I arrived to the side of the road. Yeah, that was it. The bus continued onto some other town, but a large group of us got off and had to wait for a smaller shuttle to take us off the main road and into Pamukale. Although i would not be spending the night, I had a 1/2 day booked at the Artemis Yoruk Hotel, where I was able to grab a bite to eat (ran into some more MSU peeps - Go White!), dump my stuff, and later have a swim and a much needed shower.
I spent the day exploring Pamukale, which is a startling area in which calcium rich water springs have created white as snow pools, as the milky water washes over the sides and solidifies. It is unreal, although the the pools that you can now swim in are man made ones, since the real ones would get too damaged. Above the pools are a series of ruins called Hieropolis. Complete with countless tombs, a few cool gates, and a theater, it was surprisingly bigger and better than I expected. I explored quietly on my own and as time ran down for me, I checked out the ancient pool, which is a man made pool that contains historically curative waters and even a number of fallen roman styled columns.
But my day in Pamukale was up and I had to get on another bus. This one was only about 5 hours, which felt like nothing after back to back 12 hour trips. I arrived into town and was shuttled to a popular backpackers hostel called V Gos. Being a jumping off point for a ppopular 4 day cruise, Fethiye tends to be crowded with young travelers. And so it was when I arrived. It was 10 pm by the time I had gotten sorted and went down to he terrace area for a drink. I soon met a couple of Americans, an Aussie, and a few Brits. Before long we had gotten into a good conversation and I was joining them on a on trip to the Car Cemetary Bar. A quirky place with a cover band, we danced to some decent tunes and got an otherwise quiet place going. I eventually had to grab a bite to eat and ended up at a nearby kebab shop. While waiting I got chatting with the two guys who worked there and by the end had to promise to come back at least one more time before I left Fethiye. With typically French/Italian style kisses on cheeks, I parted ways with my new friends and was soon back to the hostel, in bed, and completely asleep.
Fri, Aug 6th
Rachel (Brit from last night) and I met in the morning and hopped on a dolmus (Turkish public van/bus) bound for Oludiniz. Amazingly, heavy rains came down as the dolmus chugged along. In the 8 years that she had been coming to the area during the summer, she had never seen it rain once, so this really was a surprise. We grabbed a coffee and then a beer at a seaside restaurant as we waited for the rains to end. Eventually they did, and Rachel showed me a less touristy spot back around the Blue Lagoon. Although beautiful (Oludiniz is the most famous beacj due to the often startlingly blue waters of the lagoon), the rains had stirred up enough silt to make the water unusually murky. We swam across from our spot on the beach to the lagoon itself, which was uncomfortably overcrowded and touristy. A couple of beach beers and food and the late afternoon was upon us. I left Rachel there and got on a short dolmus ride going farther away from Fethiye.
It dropped me off on the roadside by a sign for George House. Set on a cliff edge looking down into the Butterfly valley, this was a completely relaxing and special place. I would have loved to stay longer than just one night. After a communal dinner with the fellow guests, Louise (OZ working there) showed a group (Sophia, Sophie, Aureilly, and Joelle from Switzerland and Jess from the UK) of us how to play backgammon. And being the most popular thing in Turkey since sliced bread (you will find people playing at just about every bar and cafe in the country), it was only right that we should learn. It was a great night.
Turkey - Days 4 & 5
Tues, Aug 3rd
I arrived in Cappadoccia not well rested, but as soon as I got off of the bus, I was invigorated. The view was astonishing. Seriously, check it out online. The geology of the area is remarkable, making the town look like something contrived and built up for a movie or for a Disney attraction. Pointed "fairy chimneys" are everywhere. Noturally formed out of the rock of the land, many have been carved out by humans to live inside.
The Star Cave hotel picked me up and brought me the short distance to the hotel. Although maybe not the most attentive, they were great none the less. The hotel itself is built into and among the natural caves. I shared a room with Alan and it was easily one of the coolest rooms that I have ever stayed in anywhere. A cave itself, it had two rooms, tapestries on the walls, and was comfortably much cooler than outside. And the breakfast was awesome. Eating a pile of food, I met newly arrived Alan (Canada) and Andre (Polland/US), along with Gillian and Claire (both from OZ), who had already been around for a couple of days.
After breakfast, Alan, Gillian, and I went on the Green Tour. A packaged tour, it took us all over the are. We started with a panoramic viewpoint of the area. Our guide was good and explained quite a bit about the area. Next we went to explore one of the two underground cities. Remarkably big, and old, they housed many early Christian settlers and protected them from their enemies. In some cases, thousands would live in them and remain underground for 2 or 3 months at a time. Along with live stock, it's amazing that they could stand to do it.
We then had lunch by a stream, chowing down on a range of foods, while bees and flies buzzed all around. Honestly, they were some of the most persistent bugs ever. I don't know what it is, but it just seems that Egypt and Turkey have had the most insanely annoying flies. Fully charged with food, we made our way to the Ishara Valley. A mini grand canyon type of gorge, we poked around into ancient churches carved into the rock and simply had a chance to walk around, hear the birds and bubbling stream and smell some fresh air. At one point we even stopped at a small cafe that was built right into the stream, with stump seats placed in the water.
On our way back to Goreme we paused briefly for a view of Pigeon Valley. For many years, the people of the area relied on these pigeon houses in order to live. Sure, they ate some of them, but more so they gathered the pigeon poo and sold it as fertilizer. Nowadays, the pigeon holes carved into the rocks are just another cool aspect of this amazing land.
Back in town we met up with Claire and Andre for dinner at an old (in a building that is something like 400 years old or so). We all ordered the traditional dish which is baked for hours in clay pots. Not the best tasting food in the world, it did not matter, since the atmosphere was fantastic. The waiter came to our table, broke open each pot, and poured out chicken, beef, and veggie dishes that can be best described as a crock pot type of stew. The conversation was great, and as is often the case with travelers, moves into a discussion of favorite places and places that you would love to go. Adding in the hypothetical thought that you could travel anywhere without being constrained by money or permits, I chose a cruise to Antartica, while Andre went with the very cool idea of a trip to space, and someone else thought up a journey to North Korea. Hmmmm...where would you go?
Wed, Aug 4th
4:45 am. Alarm goes off, but just like being a kid waking up early on a school day for a cool field trip, I was much more excited than tired. What was in store for me was my first experience in a hot air balloon. And what's more, this was over a landscape that would render just about anyone speechless.
Jumping into the basket with Andre and Gillian, along with 8 other people (and we were actually in a smaller basket), we were soon lifting off. The flames of the huge torches, aimed into the balloon, were intensely hot and loud. But with each burst, we rose higher and higher. AT the peak we were about 600 meters or so above the ground. It was breath taking. I was amazed by how calm the wind was up high and at how good the balloonist was at controlling our movement. We dipped high and then low, almost scraping the ground. And at one point we seemed to hover just above the ground forever, seeming to not move at all.
Returning to the hostel, it was still just 7 am. We ate another mound of food and soon Alan and I were off (actually, I left and he was taken to the wrong place, but eventually met up with my van) on the Red tour of the area. Led by our guide Gamse, we saw many similar views as from the previous day. A towering cave castle and lots of views of the fairy chimneys, shaped as a camel, mushroom tops, a family of three, a rabbit, and kissing ducks. We went to the open air museum, which is basically an area filled with carved homes and churches, some of which are preserved quite well, complete with colorfully painted murals within them. To finish the trip, we stopped at a winery, where we tried some bad, but also some decent wine and also a pottery factory. Here we were taken through each step of the pottery making process and at the end, shown how to use a traditional pottery wheel. I was even given the chance to give it a go in front of everyone else. I started off OK, but soon the shape started to deteriorate and there was no coming back from it. I eventually just had to stop the wheel and laugh at my...wine pouring vessel, yeah, that's what it was.
The day ended with a low key dinner of pide (Turkish style pizza) with Alan, Andre, and Laura (OZ), followed by overnight bus (I ran into some MSU people on the way to the bus terminal...Go Green!) trip number two, this one to Pamukale.
I arrived in Cappadoccia not well rested, but as soon as I got off of the bus, I was invigorated. The view was astonishing. Seriously, check it out online. The geology of the area is remarkable, making the town look like something contrived and built up for a movie or for a Disney attraction. Pointed "fairy chimneys" are everywhere. Noturally formed out of the rock of the land, many have been carved out by humans to live inside.
The Star Cave hotel picked me up and brought me the short distance to the hotel. Although maybe not the most attentive, they were great none the less. The hotel itself is built into and among the natural caves. I shared a room with Alan and it was easily one of the coolest rooms that I have ever stayed in anywhere. A cave itself, it had two rooms, tapestries on the walls, and was comfortably much cooler than outside. And the breakfast was awesome. Eating a pile of food, I met newly arrived Alan (Canada) and Andre (Polland/US), along with Gillian and Claire (both from OZ), who had already been around for a couple of days.
After breakfast, Alan, Gillian, and I went on the Green Tour. A packaged tour, it took us all over the are. We started with a panoramic viewpoint of the area. Our guide was good and explained quite a bit about the area. Next we went to explore one of the two underground cities. Remarkably big, and old, they housed many early Christian settlers and protected them from their enemies. In some cases, thousands would live in them and remain underground for 2 or 3 months at a time. Along with live stock, it's amazing that they could stand to do it.
We then had lunch by a stream, chowing down on a range of foods, while bees and flies buzzed all around. Honestly, they were some of the most persistent bugs ever. I don't know what it is, but it just seems that Egypt and Turkey have had the most insanely annoying flies. Fully charged with food, we made our way to the Ishara Valley. A mini grand canyon type of gorge, we poked around into ancient churches carved into the rock and simply had a chance to walk around, hear the birds and bubbling stream and smell some fresh air. At one point we even stopped at a small cafe that was built right into the stream, with stump seats placed in the water.
On our way back to Goreme we paused briefly for a view of Pigeon Valley. For many years, the people of the area relied on these pigeon houses in order to live. Sure, they ate some of them, but more so they gathered the pigeon poo and sold it as fertilizer. Nowadays, the pigeon holes carved into the rocks are just another cool aspect of this amazing land.
Back in town we met up with Claire and Andre for dinner at an old (in a building that is something like 400 years old or so). We all ordered the traditional dish which is baked for hours in clay pots. Not the best tasting food in the world, it did not matter, since the atmosphere was fantastic. The waiter came to our table, broke open each pot, and poured out chicken, beef, and veggie dishes that can be best described as a crock pot type of stew. The conversation was great, and as is often the case with travelers, moves into a discussion of favorite places and places that you would love to go. Adding in the hypothetical thought that you could travel anywhere without being constrained by money or permits, I chose a cruise to Antartica, while Andre went with the very cool idea of a trip to space, and someone else thought up a journey to North Korea. Hmmmm...where would you go?
Wed, Aug 4th
4:45 am. Alarm goes off, but just like being a kid waking up early on a school day for a cool field trip, I was much more excited than tired. What was in store for me was my first experience in a hot air balloon. And what's more, this was over a landscape that would render just about anyone speechless.
Jumping into the basket with Andre and Gillian, along with 8 other people (and we were actually in a smaller basket), we were soon lifting off. The flames of the huge torches, aimed into the balloon, were intensely hot and loud. But with each burst, we rose higher and higher. AT the peak we were about 600 meters or so above the ground. It was breath taking. I was amazed by how calm the wind was up high and at how good the balloonist was at controlling our movement. We dipped high and then low, almost scraping the ground. And at one point we seemed to hover just above the ground forever, seeming to not move at all.
Returning to the hostel, it was still just 7 am. We ate another mound of food and soon Alan and I were off (actually, I left and he was taken to the wrong place, but eventually met up with my van) on the Red tour of the area. Led by our guide Gamse, we saw many similar views as from the previous day. A towering cave castle and lots of views of the fairy chimneys, shaped as a camel, mushroom tops, a family of three, a rabbit, and kissing ducks. We went to the open air museum, which is basically an area filled with carved homes and churches, some of which are preserved quite well, complete with colorfully painted murals within them. To finish the trip, we stopped at a winery, where we tried some bad, but also some decent wine and also a pottery factory. Here we were taken through each step of the pottery making process and at the end, shown how to use a traditional pottery wheel. I was even given the chance to give it a go in front of everyone else. I started off OK, but soon the shape started to deteriorate and there was no coming back from it. I eventually just had to stop the wheel and laugh at my...wine pouring vessel, yeah, that's what it was.
The day ended with a low key dinner of pide (Turkish style pizza) with Alan, Andre, and Laura (OZ), followed by overnight bus (I ran into some MSU people on the way to the bus terminal...Go Green!) trip number two, this one to Pamukale.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Turkey - Days 2 & 3
Sunday, Aug 1st
After a few hours of sweaty, erratic sleep (yeah, without AC in the dorm, Turkey was looking to be just as uncomfortable and maybe even more so than Egypt) I had the decent hostel breakfast and was soon out on the streets with Dave. We first headed to Aya Sophia. Originally built as a Christian church in the 6th century, it had a dome that was so huge that it wasn't matched in size until St. Peters was built in Rome about 1000 years later. That blows my mind. Imagine if the tallest building in the world, for example, remains the tallest for another 1000 years from now. Crazy stuff. Anyway, hundreds of years later, however, the church was converted to a mosque, and now, it is a museum and remains as a fascinating mix of Christian and Muslim elements.
Built within eyesight of Sophia, by Justinian, is the Blue Mosque. Also huge and amazing to see, it originally had 6 minarets (towers used to call Muslims to prayer), which matched the number of the Great Mosque in Mecca. Since nothing could rival the Great Mosque, he had to send a 7th minaret to Mecca. Blue due to its tiles, it remains as a working Mosque to this day.
Not sure where to head next, Dave and I wandered the area for a while and eventually bought Abu (from Aladdin) style hats. Looking goofy, we made it back to the hostel, resorted ourselves, and then went on a long walk along the shore. We intended to take a scenic walk to the Bosphorus ferry port, but after a long way of walking in the blazing sun, we realized that we maybe went a bit overboard. Regardless, we eventually made it. The boat ride itself was quite relaxing, although not the most exciting trip in the world, taking us on a two hour trip up and back along the Bosphorus Straight, a strategic waterway that divides Istanbul.
After having a full-on night with little sleep, tonight worked out to be much more low key. I spent a few hours with Dan, a newly arrived friend who I had met in Egypt, sorting out our respective Turkish trips. And after that, a Kebab, shisha, and a beer on the rooftop terrace. Chill and with some good conversation. Not a bad way to end the day.
Monday, Aug 2nd
For a second straight day, Dave and I hit the city together. Having connected with a local couch surfer, Dave invited me along. We crossed over to the Asian side of town and met her at a cafe, spending a while just talking. She grew up right in the area, but had since gone to school in Australia, met a guy there, and was now on her way back for another degree. Beyond the cafe, she took us for a walk around town and brought us to a local place for lunch. Piles of food that I didn't recognize, it was fantastic. Good, cheap, and it would have been really difficult to order on my own. We continued on our walk, down a very commercial shopping street and to Gallata Tower, where we ran into a couple of German women from the hostel. One of them, Alina, was completely afraid of heights. I was surprised that she even made it up the tower, but once getting to the top, she couldn't take the final step out onto the walkway, instead clutching to the door jam and tentatively peeking her head out. Our last stop together was to a roof top bar for some Raki. A black licorice flavored spirit, it is famous in Turkey. To drink it, you pour a small amount in tall, thin glasses, then top them off with water and ice. The clear liquor turns cloudy white as soon as the water hits it. It's OK, but I don't feel the need to rush back for more.
With limited time before my bus, I scrambled over to see the Grand Bazar. Although it is indeed huge, it was very different than I expected. Filled with expensive, permanent types of shops, it was not the open market that I had hoped for. Oh, well, I hear the spice market is better, so I'll have to try to go there when I return to Istanbul in a week.
Last up for the day was my first overnight bus in Turkey, this one to Cappadocia. Through my travels, I have developed quite the ability to sleep on public transportation. Seriously, I can often fall asleep within moments of the vehicle starting to move. I even do it in friends' cars, especially when I am in the back seat. Anyway, this trip was terrible, as I had to face my Achilles heel...warm and stuffy buses. That's it. I can sleep on a cramped, smelly, dirty, bumpy ride as long as the AC is working or the windows are open for fresh air to come through, but the moment you take that away, even if the ride is perfect otherwise, I simply can't sleep. It's terrible. So there I was, with a double whammy of being in the back of the bus and having to deal with both the heat of the engine and the fact that the AC wasn't really reaching the back seats. Blah. I'd rather freeze on a bus anyday.
After a few hours of sweaty, erratic sleep (yeah, without AC in the dorm, Turkey was looking to be just as uncomfortable and maybe even more so than Egypt) I had the decent hostel breakfast and was soon out on the streets with Dave. We first headed to Aya Sophia. Originally built as a Christian church in the 6th century, it had a dome that was so huge that it wasn't matched in size until St. Peters was built in Rome about 1000 years later. That blows my mind. Imagine if the tallest building in the world, for example, remains the tallest for another 1000 years from now. Crazy stuff. Anyway, hundreds of years later, however, the church was converted to a mosque, and now, it is a museum and remains as a fascinating mix of Christian and Muslim elements.
Built within eyesight of Sophia, by Justinian, is the Blue Mosque. Also huge and amazing to see, it originally had 6 minarets (towers used to call Muslims to prayer), which matched the number of the Great Mosque in Mecca. Since nothing could rival the Great Mosque, he had to send a 7th minaret to Mecca. Blue due to its tiles, it remains as a working Mosque to this day.
Not sure where to head next, Dave and I wandered the area for a while and eventually bought Abu (from Aladdin) style hats. Looking goofy, we made it back to the hostel, resorted ourselves, and then went on a long walk along the shore. We intended to take a scenic walk to the Bosphorus ferry port, but after a long way of walking in the blazing sun, we realized that we maybe went a bit overboard. Regardless, we eventually made it. The boat ride itself was quite relaxing, although not the most exciting trip in the world, taking us on a two hour trip up and back along the Bosphorus Straight, a strategic waterway that divides Istanbul.
After having a full-on night with little sleep, tonight worked out to be much more low key. I spent a few hours with Dan, a newly arrived friend who I had met in Egypt, sorting out our respective Turkish trips. And after that, a Kebab, shisha, and a beer on the rooftop terrace. Chill and with some good conversation. Not a bad way to end the day.
Monday, Aug 2nd
For a second straight day, Dave and I hit the city together. Having connected with a local couch surfer, Dave invited me along. We crossed over to the Asian side of town and met her at a cafe, spending a while just talking. She grew up right in the area, but had since gone to school in Australia, met a guy there, and was now on her way back for another degree. Beyond the cafe, she took us for a walk around town and brought us to a local place for lunch. Piles of food that I didn't recognize, it was fantastic. Good, cheap, and it would have been really difficult to order on my own. We continued on our walk, down a very commercial shopping street and to Gallata Tower, where we ran into a couple of German women from the hostel. One of them, Alina, was completely afraid of heights. I was surprised that she even made it up the tower, but once getting to the top, she couldn't take the final step out onto the walkway, instead clutching to the door jam and tentatively peeking her head out. Our last stop together was to a roof top bar for some Raki. A black licorice flavored spirit, it is famous in Turkey. To drink it, you pour a small amount in tall, thin glasses, then top them off with water and ice. The clear liquor turns cloudy white as soon as the water hits it. It's OK, but I don't feel the need to rush back for more.
With limited time before my bus, I scrambled over to see the Grand Bazar. Although it is indeed huge, it was very different than I expected. Filled with expensive, permanent types of shops, it was not the open market that I had hoped for. Oh, well, I hear the spice market is better, so I'll have to try to go there when I return to Istanbul in a week.
Last up for the day was my first overnight bus in Turkey, this one to Cappadocia. Through my travels, I have developed quite the ability to sleep on public transportation. Seriously, I can often fall asleep within moments of the vehicle starting to move. I even do it in friends' cars, especially when I am in the back seat. Anyway, this trip was terrible, as I had to face my Achilles heel...warm and stuffy buses. That's it. I can sleep on a cramped, smelly, dirty, bumpy ride as long as the AC is working or the windows are open for fresh air to come through, but the moment you take that away, even if the ride is perfect otherwise, I simply can't sleep. It's terrible. So there I was, with a double whammy of being in the back of the bus and having to deal with both the heat of the engine and the fact that the AC wasn't really reaching the back seats. Blah. I'd rather freeze on a bus anyday.
Egypt Day 8 & Turkey Day 1
Saturday, July 31st
We finally arrived back to Cairo. A week of historic temples and tombs, along with a lot of sweat, was coming to an end. Dan, Billy, and I found our way back to the hostel by walking and the metro, since now for the second time they did not pick me up. Oh well, 0 for 2. A final walk around the area and then into the cab and onto the airport. It needs to be mentioned though, that our cab driver was a bit crazy. Zooming in and out of traffic, he made the trip go by in an instant. And if anyone got it our way, he had a series of horn options that duplicated police horns and sirens.
On the plane I met Amelia (Canadian living in Ireland) and Natasha (Australian), fresh off of their Kon Tiki Adventures tour of Egypt. Natasha was continuing hers with a trip through Turkey, so she had to meet the crew, however Amelia had less than 24 hrs before she would have to go. We all grabbed a cab together and Amelia was luckily able to get one of the last beds in the Bahaus hostel. We quickly got sorted and made our way down to the water, where tons of Turkish men, and no women at all, were sunbathing and swimming off of the rocks. Wandering around a bit, we eventually moved back uphill to Aya Sophia and the Blue Mosque. At this point, it was too late to enter, but the vibe of the crowd out and about between them, along with the view, kept us happy for a while.
We had corn on the cob on our return back to the hostel, where Amelia decided to get some rest in the hopes of rallying for the evening. I was hungry and anxious to explore, so I went back out for a wander. Soon realizing that I was thick in the center of the expensive, touristy area, I moved a bit farther off course and eventually found the Doy Doy restaurant. A huge place, the first few floors were empty, but I eventually made it to the rooftop. It was beautiful, as the sun went down and the lights of the mosque were turned on.
Back at the hostel, I went right up to the rooftop, where a crowd was sipping beers and enjoying the mingling of travel stories. As my luck would have it, since it was Saturday night, there would be a hostel sponsored pub crawl heading out at midnight. I sat down with a couple of American guys from my dorm room and soon Amelia joined us. We met Mary and Katie (OZ/Greece), some more Aussies, and a group of five guys from Florence. With another guy named Johnny as their vocal leader, it promised to be a good night.
At just past midnight we all piled into a Bahaus van. Oh, and I mean piled in! One of those 15 passenger vans, we probably fit in almost double that, with Johnny, Giacomo, and I standing up in the back, behind the last row of seats.
I think it was a bit later than expected, so we skipped the chill pub to begin with. Our first destination was a pretty cool, but empty bar that had a live band. A Turkish cover band with a hot singer, they played songs (sadly I can't remember which) that I would never imagine being covered at a bar. I ordered a beer and started to dance and most of the crew joined in. It got hot pretty quickly, so we soon had to head outside to their huge back patio. But before that happened, an Australian named Dave came up to me with a big mug of beer in his hands. He looked at my small goblet, laughed, and asked why I didn't get the large. With a smile on my face, I knew Dave would be a fun person to hang out with. Minutes later, with my mug in hand, I found him again. But, as I'm sure it's not a surprise, I was shown up again, as he now had two mugs. Yes, he was "double parked", but he was happy.
The next place, just down the street, was a club named "She". It was pretty crowded and the music was great. It was a mix of normal western tunes, remixed western tunes, and awesome Turkish songs that I had not heard before. After having one beer, Mary and I went back to the bar for another, but to our shock and disappointment, they were OUT OF BEER! They literally ran out of bottles and said that they were in the process of getting more...in an hour or so. Oh well, on to cocktails.
The dancing and sweating continued. And then we found the holy alter that was the raised dance floor with a big, pumping AC in the corner. Our group now resorted to dancing in front of the AC and it was amazing. Oh, and I think it was at full blast even though it was only set at about 30 degrees. I can't even guess how hot it was in that club. Definitely over 40 though. The night, or should I say morning, came to a close as we grabbed a cab, making it back to the hostel at about 4:30ish.
We finally arrived back to Cairo. A week of historic temples and tombs, along with a lot of sweat, was coming to an end. Dan, Billy, and I found our way back to the hostel by walking and the metro, since now for the second time they did not pick me up. Oh well, 0 for 2. A final walk around the area and then into the cab and onto the airport. It needs to be mentioned though, that our cab driver was a bit crazy. Zooming in and out of traffic, he made the trip go by in an instant. And if anyone got it our way, he had a series of horn options that duplicated police horns and sirens.
On the plane I met Amelia (Canadian living in Ireland) and Natasha (Australian), fresh off of their Kon Tiki Adventures tour of Egypt. Natasha was continuing hers with a trip through Turkey, so she had to meet the crew, however Amelia had less than 24 hrs before she would have to go. We all grabbed a cab together and Amelia was luckily able to get one of the last beds in the Bahaus hostel. We quickly got sorted and made our way down to the water, where tons of Turkish men, and no women at all, were sunbathing and swimming off of the rocks. Wandering around a bit, we eventually moved back uphill to Aya Sophia and the Blue Mosque. At this point, it was too late to enter, but the vibe of the crowd out and about between them, along with the view, kept us happy for a while.
We had corn on the cob on our return back to the hostel, where Amelia decided to get some rest in the hopes of rallying for the evening. I was hungry and anxious to explore, so I went back out for a wander. Soon realizing that I was thick in the center of the expensive, touristy area, I moved a bit farther off course and eventually found the Doy Doy restaurant. A huge place, the first few floors were empty, but I eventually made it to the rooftop. It was beautiful, as the sun went down and the lights of the mosque were turned on.
Back at the hostel, I went right up to the rooftop, where a crowd was sipping beers and enjoying the mingling of travel stories. As my luck would have it, since it was Saturday night, there would be a hostel sponsored pub crawl heading out at midnight. I sat down with a couple of American guys from my dorm room and soon Amelia joined us. We met Mary and Katie (OZ/Greece), some more Aussies, and a group of five guys from Florence. With another guy named Johnny as their vocal leader, it promised to be a good night.
At just past midnight we all piled into a Bahaus van. Oh, and I mean piled in! One of those 15 passenger vans, we probably fit in almost double that, with Johnny, Giacomo, and I standing up in the back, behind the last row of seats.
I think it was a bit later than expected, so we skipped the chill pub to begin with. Our first destination was a pretty cool, but empty bar that had a live band. A Turkish cover band with a hot singer, they played songs (sadly I can't remember which) that I would never imagine being covered at a bar. I ordered a beer and started to dance and most of the crew joined in. It got hot pretty quickly, so we soon had to head outside to their huge back patio. But before that happened, an Australian named Dave came up to me with a big mug of beer in his hands. He looked at my small goblet, laughed, and asked why I didn't get the large. With a smile on my face, I knew Dave would be a fun person to hang out with. Minutes later, with my mug in hand, I found him again. But, as I'm sure it's not a surprise, I was shown up again, as he now had two mugs. Yes, he was "double parked", but he was happy.
The next place, just down the street, was a club named "She". It was pretty crowded and the music was great. It was a mix of normal western tunes, remixed western tunes, and awesome Turkish songs that I had not heard before. After having one beer, Mary and I went back to the bar for another, but to our shock and disappointment, they were OUT OF BEER! They literally ran out of bottles and said that they were in the process of getting more...in an hour or so. Oh well, on to cocktails.
The dancing and sweating continued. And then we found the holy alter that was the raised dance floor with a big, pumping AC in the corner. Our group now resorted to dancing in front of the AC and it was amazing. Oh, and I think it was at full blast even though it was only set at about 30 degrees. I can't even guess how hot it was in that club. Definitely over 40 though. The night, or should I say morning, came to a close as we grabbed a cab, making it back to the hostel at about 4:30ish.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Egypt - Day 7
Friday, July 30th
The next morning we made our way to the Valley of the Kings. Again shown around by our best guide of the trip, Marco (an Egyptian with a random Italian name), we explored three tombs. Hmmmm... I don't know if I even remember which. Ramses (?), Tutmoses (?), and...? At any rate, they were great. Having seen lots of temples that were monumental in stature, yet eroded over the years, the fact that these retained their colors definitely set them apart. The tombs themselves were located within a pyramid shaped mountain on the west bank of the nile, since the setting sun in the west symbolized the afterlife (all of the other temples and houses were on the east bank). The tombs were begun as soon as a new king took power, therefore the longest ruling kings had the deepest and most extensive tombs. In all cases, there would be an opening, corridor, and crypt, with the larger ones including side rooms, stairs, and additional corridors. The walls of all but the oldest were plastered, carved, and painted, helping the king to appease the gods and prepare for the afterlife. The mummification process was done in order to preserve the body, since the belief was that you would become resurrected, using your body once again. The burial masks, shaped to look like the kings when they were alive, were placed on the mummies to help guide the spirits so that they could find the king.
Outside of the valley we moved along to the Valley of the Queens. Not as large and grandiose as that of the keys, these tombs may have surpassed them in terms of preservation of colorful wall paintings. Sadly, we were unable to enter the greatest tomb, that of Ramses II's wife, Queen Nefertari, since it is ongoing a never ending restoration.
And speaking of queens, we then travelled to the Queen Haptshisupt Temple. She was one of only two woman who ruled Egypt. In fact, she gained power and convinced the people that she was able to reign because she created a story in which Amun Ra (the sun god) took control of her fathers body and impregnated her mother. As a result, she said that she was not a normal woman, but instead, a child of the gods themselves. Beyond this, she kept the power over her 10 year old step son (who also happened to be her nephew and son in law, due to all of the intermarrying of brothers and sisters) for 20 years. Needless to say, he wasn't too happy by the time he gained power. As a result, many of her inscriptions and images were scratched away by him.
On the way back to Luxor we briefly stopped at two enormous statues, known as the Collosi of Memnon. The are in ill repair and are covered with pigeons, but are pretty cool nonetheless.
Upon arriving in Luxor, we had many hours to kill. It was only about 3 pm and we were not going to be picked up to go to the train station until 8:30 pm. So, we will wandered back down the road to a pizza place that we had visited yesterday. Simple, but much better than expected. It hit the spot yesterday and we hoped it would do the same today. While waiting, I went just across the road to visit a shop that I had also been to the previous day. In a week where the majority of the people that we came across tried to pull a fast one on us (which is too bad, because we met many really nice Egyptians), the shop keeper was awesome from the get go. Without hesitation, he told us the true prices, not the tourist prices... or even worse. His name was Ahmed, and I instantly felt good about buying from his small, family owned convenience store. In fact, he was from that exact area and had grown up in the apartment above the shop.
So, as we waited for pizzas for a second day, we bought sodas and sat upon his step. We talked a bit and when the pizzas were ready, sat back down. By now, his buddy Ahdam had come on by and the five of us were talking. Moments later, they invited us into the back of the counter, setting up a couple of plastic soda crates on the floor so that we could comfortably sit down and eat. Not only that, but then they pulled out a few more sodas and despite our brief protests, gave them to us on the house. For a while we just talked and had a great time.
Now, Ahmed was jacked, in a body builders way. And Ahdam was even more jacked. They were a bit surprised that none of us worked out, instead choosing to play volleyball, rugby, tennis, football/soccer, and cricket. But, I think it was Dan, all of a sudden decided that we should all have an arm wrestling contest. First up was Billy vs. Adham. After a bit of a struggle, Billy went down. Ahmed could not go, so next up was me vs. Ahdam. After a quick start, I beat him with my right hand. And yes, I'm fairly certain that I either got lucky or he let me win. So, switching to left arms, he wore me down and won. At this point, Ahdam was too tired to go against Dan, which I think was Dan's plan from the get go, but all of a sudden, in stepped another Ahdam. This new Ahdam was the most jacked of all. He went head to head against Dan and after making believe he was going to lose, triumphed pretty easily. I was next, and there was more of the same. And finally, as you can guess, Billy lost in the same fashion. Fun stuff. Definitely an experience beyond the travel books and one that I won't forget.
Wow, this is getting to be a long entry, but it seemed like so much happened while we were there. We went for a walk around town and ended up finding a cheap cafe right next to Luxor temple where we stopped for a beer. After a long celebration for graduation last Friday, this ended up being my first beer since. An Egyptian Stella, it was cold and hit the spot. But interestingly, this was not a quiet and relaxing break. Right next to us was a motley crew of older Brits. The four of them chatted away with each other and soon brought us into their conversation. Seriously, they were characters to say the least. Thick northern accents, having lived in Luxor for a while, they talked and talked. And, although it ticked off my Aussie counterparts, one of them just couldn't believe that it could be winter right now in Australia.
The next morning we made our way to the Valley of the Kings. Again shown around by our best guide of the trip, Marco (an Egyptian with a random Italian name), we explored three tombs. Hmmmm... I don't know if I even remember which. Ramses (?), Tutmoses (?), and...? At any rate, they were great. Having seen lots of temples that were monumental in stature, yet eroded over the years, the fact that these retained their colors definitely set them apart. The tombs themselves were located within a pyramid shaped mountain on the west bank of the nile, since the setting sun in the west symbolized the afterlife (all of the other temples and houses were on the east bank). The tombs were begun as soon as a new king took power, therefore the longest ruling kings had the deepest and most extensive tombs. In all cases, there would be an opening, corridor, and crypt, with the larger ones including side rooms, stairs, and additional corridors. The walls of all but the oldest were plastered, carved, and painted, helping the king to appease the gods and prepare for the afterlife. The mummification process was done in order to preserve the body, since the belief was that you would become resurrected, using your body once again. The burial masks, shaped to look like the kings when they were alive, were placed on the mummies to help guide the spirits so that they could find the king.
Outside of the valley we moved along to the Valley of the Queens. Not as large and grandiose as that of the keys, these tombs may have surpassed them in terms of preservation of colorful wall paintings. Sadly, we were unable to enter the greatest tomb, that of Ramses II's wife, Queen Nefertari, since it is ongoing a never ending restoration.
And speaking of queens, we then travelled to the Queen Haptshisupt Temple. She was one of only two woman who ruled Egypt. In fact, she gained power and convinced the people that she was able to reign because she created a story in which Amun Ra (the sun god) took control of her fathers body and impregnated her mother. As a result, she said that she was not a normal woman, but instead, a child of the gods themselves. Beyond this, she kept the power over her 10 year old step son (who also happened to be her nephew and son in law, due to all of the intermarrying of brothers and sisters) for 20 years. Needless to say, he wasn't too happy by the time he gained power. As a result, many of her inscriptions and images were scratched away by him.
On the way back to Luxor we briefly stopped at two enormous statues, known as the Collosi of Memnon. The are in ill repair and are covered with pigeons, but are pretty cool nonetheless.
Upon arriving in Luxor, we had many hours to kill. It was only about 3 pm and we were not going to be picked up to go to the train station until 8:30 pm. So, we will wandered back down the road to a pizza place that we had visited yesterday. Simple, but much better than expected. It hit the spot yesterday and we hoped it would do the same today. While waiting, I went just across the road to visit a shop that I had also been to the previous day. In a week where the majority of the people that we came across tried to pull a fast one on us (which is too bad, because we met many really nice Egyptians), the shop keeper was awesome from the get go. Without hesitation, he told us the true prices, not the tourist prices... or even worse. His name was Ahmed, and I instantly felt good about buying from his small, family owned convenience store. In fact, he was from that exact area and had grown up in the apartment above the shop.
So, as we waited for pizzas for a second day, we bought sodas and sat upon his step. We talked a bit and when the pizzas were ready, sat back down. By now, his buddy Ahdam had come on by and the five of us were talking. Moments later, they invited us into the back of the counter, setting up a couple of plastic soda crates on the floor so that we could comfortably sit down and eat. Not only that, but then they pulled out a few more sodas and despite our brief protests, gave them to us on the house. For a while we just talked and had a great time.
Now, Ahmed was jacked, in a body builders way. And Ahdam was even more jacked. They were a bit surprised that none of us worked out, instead choosing to play volleyball, rugby, tennis, football/soccer, and cricket. But, I think it was Dan, all of a sudden decided that we should all have an arm wrestling contest. First up was Billy vs. Adham. After a bit of a struggle, Billy went down. Ahmed could not go, so next up was me vs. Ahdam. After a quick start, I beat him with my right hand. And yes, I'm fairly certain that I either got lucky or he let me win. So, switching to left arms, he wore me down and won. At this point, Ahdam was too tired to go against Dan, which I think was Dan's plan from the get go, but all of a sudden, in stepped another Ahdam. This new Ahdam was the most jacked of all. He went head to head against Dan and after making believe he was going to lose, triumphed pretty easily. I was next, and there was more of the same. And finally, as you can guess, Billy lost in the same fashion. Fun stuff. Definitely an experience beyond the travel books and one that I won't forget.
Wow, this is getting to be a long entry, but it seemed like so much happened while we were there. We went for a walk around town and ended up finding a cheap cafe right next to Luxor temple where we stopped for a beer. After a long celebration for graduation last Friday, this ended up being my first beer since. An Egyptian Stella, it was cold and hit the spot. But interestingly, this was not a quiet and relaxing break. Right next to us was a motley crew of older Brits. The four of them chatted away with each other and soon brought us into their conversation. Seriously, they were characters to say the least. Thick northern accents, having lived in Luxor for a while, they talked and talked. And, although it ticked off my Aussie counterparts, one of them just couldn't believe that it could be winter right now in Australia.
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