Archive for the ‘Turkey’ Category

Back to Istanbul

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

I left Marmaris and made my way back up the coast towards Istanbul with a few stops along the way. My first was to the ancient Roman ruins of Miletus set in a valley surrounded by cotton fields. This site is enormous covering dozens of square miles with only a fraction of it unearthed. Driving and walking into the place one is on top of most of the city. The main site here is a large Amphitheater. Seems like all the ancient cities have a theater of some sort. I wonder what type of shows where played here? Who spoke to the people? What about? Why did people gather here? What class of people where in attendance? All sorts of questions flood the mind in amazement at such construction thousands of years old and yet I can see the same basic structure that we have today in modern day stadiums.

About 10 miles away across the valley is the Greek ruin city of Priene, set on a mountain side cliff. Built slightly before Miletus they overlapped in history by several hundred years, something I find fascinating. While both are built of stone there is a definite difference in the architectural style of columns and structures. I could spent weeks in Turkey visiting the hundreds of different sites. I feel free and can play like a child letting my imagination go with how life must have been.

My last night along the coast is spent in Kusadasi, a very modern hip western town with very little tourist wise to see. I picked it based on location for me to make it back to Istanbul. While here I had the great fortune of making new friends with Scott and Amanda, a couple from Austin, TX on an around the world journey as well. Only they are 4 months ahead of me and started in South East Asia. What great fun to share stories and exchange information on what and where to go with like minding people. If anyone’s interested there photo blog is www.amandaandscott.us

Ah back in Istanbul for a couple days to hit all the tourist sites. I make it to the Blue Mosque and watch as worshipers ritually wash their feet before entering for prayer. I roam through the Ayasofia, another mosque, and am amazed that in most places in the world one of the top tourist sites are places of worship. It’s incredible to me how ornate these buildings are and how much money must have been spent to build such lavish structures for the purpose of worshiping a higher power. In one sense it seems like a waste. Did the individuals, kings, pharaohs, emperors etc have egos so big they had a need to build one bigger or better than the last? Or is there some other meaningful reason to use such vast resources on these structures.

The Istanbul Museum of Antiquities is a collection of Roman, Greek, and Egyptian artifacts. It’s a much neater cleaner layout than the museum in Cairo, however the artifacts are just as amazing. Camera’s allowed and I’m elated to be able to capture pictures of such amazing craftsmanship. As I stare at a mummy of some Pharaoh, I wonder, if they had known several thousands years after passing they would become tourist attractions, have their grave sites invaded, stripped, and put on display for the public, would they have went to so great extent to preserve themselves? Would they have planned such ornate tombs?

I’m ashamed to admit I got hustled while walking around town and partially fell for it. In a crowd a kid with a shoe shine kit was walking in front of me when a shoe brush fell off the stand he was carrying with a clunk. I picked it up caught up to him and handed it back. He seemed grateful bowing in thanks and offered to buff my shoes for free. Not caring about getting my shoes buffed he insisted and I relented as it’s his way of saying thanks. One shoe into it he’s giving me a story about his mother in the hospital and I roll my eyes thinking this ain’t gonna be free. Sure enough when he’s finished with the sloppy quick job, he demands 8 lira (5 bucks). I’m incensed, this dirty little bastard begged me saying it’s free and now he wants money. I offer him a lira (75 cents) and he gets mad it ain’t enough. Pissed I toss the coin at him and walk off thinking he said it was free, so really I shouldn’t have given him anything. But hey I’ve got spiffy shiny waterproofed shoes. Later in the day roaming in a completely different section of town I discover how I got hoodwinked. Another guy with a shoe shine kit cuts in front of me and wouldn’t you know, with a small shake the brush falls off the kit and drops in front of me. The instant realization the falling brush was rigged to play on peoples helpful spirit, brings an enormous grin and laughter as I realize I fell for the little stinkers setup. He probably does this several hundred times a day and does pretty well with it. Wised up to it, I step on the guys brush and stroll past. It doesn’t take this guy long to turn around and notice I’ve blown past and he yells something, I’m sure some sort of insult. I walk ahead pull over and wait strategically to watch this guy play his trick. A second guy from a distance starts waiving his hands yelling in my direction as the guy with the shoe kit takes off in the other direction blatantly aware I’m on to their sham. I’m shocked he had a lookout and decide I’ll get the heck outta here. I wish I’d picked up the brush and thrown it over the bridge I was crossing. I wonder what kind of response that would have gotten. Probably better I don’t know.

My time in Turkey is drawing to a close. This is a wonderfully modern country on the outside with a mass amount of things to do and see for a tourist. As long as one doesn’t have to deal with the bureaucracy of government it’s an amazing place. I think in general it is a looked over destination by most American’s. In-spite of the shoe shine scam, the people here are very friendly, helpful, and genuinely polite. One will notice when riding a bus, subway, or tram if a women boards and there are no seats men will immediately stand and offer their seat to the lady. A gesture not seen elsewhere in the world. So simple yet it exemplifies the average quality of people in this land.

The Turkey pictures are posted as well as several videos from my time here. Also, I’ve went back through all the pictures and geo-coded them. Meaning if when on a picture page if you click on the slide show it will open a window of pictures where if you select a picture a Google map will show where it was taken. They are not coded to the exact location but rather to a general area. Ie the picture was someplace in “Tampa” etc. I hope this gives everyone an idea where I’ve been.

And now I’m off to the airport to catch my flight to Nairobi, for an African safari of a lifetime…

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Aegean Coast

Saturday, June 27th, 2009

Since rescuing the Kindle I’ve departed ways with Servet and have spent the past week making my way down the Aegean Sea Coast of Turkey by car and arrived at the Mediterranean coast town of Marmaris . I’ve stopped in numerous little villages and towns along the way as their beauty attracted me. Driving the coast here reminds me of zipping around hairpin turns on mountainous roads along California’s coast. The scenery is breathtaking, town after town, bay after bay, is filled with sailboats, yachts, and beach-side cafes, many of them overlooking Greek islands a stones skip away over the deep blue waters. I find interesting no matter how small a village or town there is a Mosque in each one. Even towns as small as 60 people. More intriguing while it’s obviously a Muslim country there are not many other outward signs of it. The bigger beach towns are thumping with nightclubs, discos, and girls dancing on bar tops. It seems odd to see an occasional Muslim wearing a headscarf, particularly on the beach when most are in bikinis and while in Morocco or Egypt it seemed the norm. It’s somewhat amusing to see such a contrast in people who believe the same religion.

A couple of the highlights thus far have been a stop in Ephesus a city of Roman ruins. Turkey I find has more Roman ruins than all of Italy and it also has more Greek ruins than all of Greece. The grand size of Ephesus is amazing to take in and to think a city covering hundreds of square miles could be abandoned like so many others of that time and become extinct staggers the mind. A people that where quite advanced and ruled the world no longer do. Makes me wonder, as an American we are the only remaining super power, are we that different than thousands of years ago. Will we remain a super power for generations to come, or with the wrong circumstances could we too become extinct? I hope not.

I made my way to Bodrum a highly touristic city on the Aegean Coast. What I’ve come to discover in three weeks of travel and three countries thus far is tourism in general seems to be down globally and the economic crunch back home is effecting the globe. The benefit is reservations are not required anywhere. I can pull into anyplace and easily find a bed. Even nicer is the hotels are so desperate I’ve got huge bargaining power. Walk in ask what the rate is and ask for a discount. If they don’t cooperate head for the door and that’s been producing 50% discounts. Not huge in terms of dollars as I’m still selecting budget accommodations. Ever dollar counts though. The downside is a town that can handle hundreds of thousands of tourist while there are thousands of vacationers seems dead. The bars, nightclubs, and restaurants lining the coast all seem to have just a few people. Traveling alone makes it hard to meet folks. I’d recommend anyone looking for a vacation to plan one now as prices are reasonable and if you’re with a group the slow pace would be a blessing.

I took a day to go scuba diving in the Aegean Sea. The underwater topography is barren and rocky with no corrals and limited fish life. It’s like swimming over rocky mountains and much different than most of my Caribbean experience. As I cruise over the bottom weightless in liquid suspensions, there is a large cargo plane intentionally placed by locals for me to explore. I see a huge cargo door and I’m thinking, dang, that would be nice to jump out of. For those that don’t know, my other love is sky diving. While I considered the dive only average, dive two proved to make the barren landscape well worth the experience. We encounter an octopus, many of which I’ve seen before, unique however is we were able to lure it out of it’s rocky hiding place and have a personal encounter to play touch and let it wrap it’s tentacles around my hands. Better yet, I have video to prove it. 2000 plus dives under my belt and that was a wondrous experience to see a creature which typically hides up close and personal.

Another highlight is my stop in Pammukale. Pammukale while remote and not close to anything else was well worth the 6 hours plus of driving to spend an hour walking around a one of a kind geological formation. The cliff-side in this village appears like melting snowbanks as water gently cascades down the side creating pools of mineral rich water. Standing on the hardened salt deposits I have the urge to pack a snowball and throw it at one of the many bikini clad women posing for pictures. Dang, hard salt won’t work and I guess my thoughts of an intro to a hot chick isn’t gonna work.

The area surrounding Marmaris my favorite so far, while touristy, is a picturesque enclosed bay surrounded by tropical green mountains on the Mediterranean. The bay is lined with hundreds of charter boats, yachts, fishing vessels, tall ships and more. The beach and beach-side walkway goes on for miles with bars, cafes, hotels, lined one after the other. Maybe I wouldn’t like this place if it where packed. I’m glad it’s slow so I get to see all of it and don’t have to deal with crowds.

I’m sitting at a remote beach bungalow a couple bays away with gentle breezes, lapping cool water on a pebbled beach cove, enjoying the last bites of a local caught fish, and dreaming wouldn’t it be great to one day return via sailboat. The coast and the terrain here is ideal for cruising and it would be easy to spend a few months here hopping from bay to bay.

Only a few days left in Turkey and I need to begin my journey back up the coast toward Istanbul to spend my last few days catching the tourist sites I missed before I head for an African Safari.

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Kindle Rescue

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

My delay due to waiting the weekend for Monday to acquire my Kindle from customs gave me the time to hang with Servet and her friends giving me a much better look into what life is like for Turks. On the outside life is very similar to the US, at least in Istanbul. Istanbul is a very modern city and of all the major European cities I’ve seen, which is a bunch, it’s prettier and more picturesque than most. This place could grow on me quickly. The city is divided into two sides by the Bosphorous River which runs from the Black Sea to the Marmara Sea.. The Asian side named as it is on the Asian Continent and the European side on the European continent, is the only place in the world with a ferry ride one crosses between two continents. This distribution of the city creates hundreds of miles of coast line dotted with beautiful parks, waterside cafes, ferry docks, homes, and more. My time has been spent exploring the Asian side with Servet, seeing where she grew up, visiting and having dinner with her friends, looking out over the blue waters wishing I were on one of the many sailboats cruising the coastline. The lifestyle and place I could adopt quite quickly. Of note we made a stop at a country club where one of her friends is members, and I felt like I was at a hi end club in Miami Beach, not what I would have anticipated.

Ah Monday arrived and now I can go get my much anticipate Kindle. While Turkey on the outside appears very modern it quickly becomes apparent why in some ways it’s still a third world country. One of Servet’s friends is an executive in the import business and called ahead pulling some strings to expedite the process. Our first mission is finding the UPS office at the airport cargo terminal. There is a good public transport system in Istanbul however, for a traveler, it’s a bit cumbersome to figure out and most of it is not tourist friendly. My morning journey to the airport starts with a taxi ride, 15 minutes of walking through a pedestrian market to the ferry docks, catching a ferry to the European side, a street trolley ride, subway to the main terminal, and then a half hour of asking numerous people for directions to an unsigned cargo terminal on the outskirts of the airport. Whew, UPS is found 2 hours into the excursion. They give us some paperwork and send us to the unmarked customs building next door for clearance. Through numerous inquiries we find ourselves hiking 4 flights of stairs in an non-air-conditioned building with 100 degree heat outside and successfully locate a guy setup by Servet’s friend to expedite the process amongst people running back and forth in no apparent order seeming to know what they are doing. After a lengthy interrogation of what we are importing with disbelief there is such a thing as an electronic book reader, we get drug down the stairs out around the corner of the building where there is a vine covered tin structure for shade filled with men in suits and briefcases standing next to makeshift counters filling out paperwork in the boiling heat. Paperwork complete we are told to provide a passport photocopy and are directed to a small room through a side entrance to the building where for a few cents the xerox machine is available with people clamoring all over to use it first. Now back around the building hike the 4 floors of stairs and oh, you need three copies of this document too. So back down the stairs around the building past the outdoor paperwork stand in the side door and wait in line to get copies then back around and up again. Ok, looks like we have the paperwork. Now we’re lead up another couple flights of stairs to the import czar. This guy is the king if he says no, we ain’t getting it. Another long line of questioning and disbelief that such an item even exist. For a moment I didn’t think he was going to approve it as he went on about how there is only a set list of items that are allowed in and this wasn’t on the list. Finally, he agrees, signs the papers, but oh there is customs fees. Down several flights to find the cashier where I pay a hundred bucks to get a stamp so UPS will release the package. Whew, what a ridiculous rigamarole. As we are going to leave, the guy helping expedite the process extorts us for helping out. 20 bucks please. Geesh!!Ok now we have the paperwork and catch a taxi across town to the UPS warehouse where the package is actually being held.

We arrive at the UPS warehouse worn out and amused how difficult this has been. UPS however wasn’t any better. Conversations with a few different folks lead to being sent to one office then the next all reviewing the paperwork and questioning what is in the package. Finally we’re led to a warehouse where someone brings the package, I’m thinking yeah, it’s here. Now into another room where they ask more questions and open and inspect the contents in front of us. You’d think we where smuggling drugs. The guy who opens the Kindle doesn’t speak English and just stares at the Kindle clueless as it has English text and packing stickers all over it. They’re satisfied what we’re claiming is in the package. Now to another office for more questioning and approval to be sent to yet another office where someone enters the paperwork into a PC and sends us on to yet one more guy to enter more computer stuff and oh, by the way, you owe 50 bucks for UPS storing the package. What the F! Fine, pay the damn extortion and finally get my Kindle rescued. Yeah!!!!!

It’s 4:30 we’re exhausted and hungry as we haven’t eaten all day,. I’m down $170 and Servet and I are both dismayed yet laughing our asses off at the ridiculous hoops required to get a package. We later find out what took us the greater part of a day was lightning speed due to a high up executive pulling some strings. Normally it would have taken 2-4 days of the same BS. How incredibly wasteful and ridiculous. Another interesting fact, if my friend whom forwarded the package hadn’t been honest about what they where shipping and/or it’s value it would have slid right through and been delivered. Boy do I wish they had just said it was a couple books instead of a book reader.

I can’t thank Servet enough for spending the day haggling on my behalf. As a native Turkish speaker she was immensely helpful and I have no doubt I would have been extorted significantly more had she not been involved. Heck I’d still be trying to figure the whole process out.

I’ve had my hands on it for less than a day and I can tell I already like it. I hope it turns out as useful as I hope considering what it took to get it. I’ll report on it more later as I discover its best use.

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Relaxing in Istanbul

Saturday, June 20th, 2009

I arrived in Istanbul exhausted from days of non-stop go go go activity and have been laying low. I spent the first day just casually walking around Istanbul getting a lay of the land and seeing what there is to do. Istanbul, to me, is no way a third world country. It’s clean, neat, organized, and more like visiting a modern European city. As I meander I come across beautiful Mosques, manicured boulevards, park lined ocean fronts with families barbequing, sailboats trimmed rail in the water in 20 knot breezes cruising up the coast, and a busy port with dozens of passenger ferry boats shuttling people to sets of small mountainous islands in the distance and other areas of Istanbul as it sprawls down the coast. While it is a Muslim country I can immediately sense a difference from Egypt and Morocco. Few women here are wearing the traditional head scarfs. There are people in shorts including some women and signs of getting a drink are readily available. It has a charm I can see spending days here.

My friends from Tampa, Servet and her daughter Cassandra, originally from Turkey, happened to be visiting friends and family here and it’s been wonderful to meet up with known friends. For the past three days Servet, a group of her childhood friends, and I have been laying by the pool drinking beers on Heybeliada, one of the islands twenty minutes off the coast of Istanbul. This place is a tranquil oasis away from the city. The only mode of transportation on the island is by horse drawn carriage or your own two feet. No cars, scooters, golf carts, or any sort of noisy mechanized device. What a place to recharge ones batteries and even more wonderful is doing it with local friends. The islands are forested with pines and scattered with stunning homes which I’m sure have stunning values. Tourism seems non existent as the small local village is lined with cafes, restaurants, and goods for locals with none of the typical trinket stores I would have anticipated.

I’m charged and ready to go back at it for the remainder of my stay however I’ve run into a glitch which may have me stuck in Istanbul for a few days. At the outset of this trip I made the decision to go hi tech and one of the new trinkets I purchased is the Kindle DX a new digital book reader from Amazon. However the product was so new, I didn’t receive it before departing. Thus it was shipped to a friend and they subsequently forwarded it to me here. Well, it’s somewhere in Istanbul but stuck in customs and they won’t release it and even my local friends are having difficulties figuring out what is required to get it released. It’s now the weekend and we’ll have to wait till Monday to attempt once again.

Why the Kindle DX? Amazon came out with the the Kindle around a year ago and it has been a revolutionary book reading product. Small lightweight and able to hold thousands of books. It would be a godsend to travelers as bringing reading books and guidebooks in ones pack are the equivalent of packing bricks. More advantageous is on an around the world trip such as I’m doing one can’t carry a guidebook for each country at the outset and has to find them in route. Meaning in Turkey I’d have to find a bookstore which has English versions of books for Africa, my next stop, and in Africa find a book for India the next stop etc. A necessary time consuming hassle I’d prefer not to deal with. The problem however is the original Kindle didn’t read PDF’s which the major guidebook companies sell over the internet. Amazon released the new Kindle DX, which reads PDF’s, just a few weeks before my departure and I pounced on the opportunity to be one of the first to test this new potentially revolutionary product. If it works as advertised I should be able to download guidebooks and carry them all in one small lightweight device. Now I just have to get it through Turkish customs. I am excited about this new toy and will be reporting on it’s usefulness as I go along to advise other travelers as to it’s pros and cons.

I’ve started filming some video for the first time. Attempting to upload the first of these has brought to light a lack of free press. My choice for sharing, YouTube, turns out is blocked by the Turkish government. Meaning nobody in the entire country can access the well known site. How puzzling and surprising for a country that seems so progressive. I’ve found an alternate streaming video provider and have posted the first short clip I took in Egypt while on the river boat cruise. You may watch it here. I’m very inexperienced with video and I’m shooting it with a digital still camera as I don’t have a video camera so this will be a fun diversion to practice and test in a very amateur way.

It’s wonderful to hang out with what is hopefully the first of many friends that will meet up with me during the trip. I have updated the itinerary page on finding flattop with my scheduled flight dates. Check them out and if you are interested in sharing part of this adventurous journey, get in touch.

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