Nothing a good sleep can't fix...

I'm feeling much better today. I ended up sleeping for 13 hours last night, 7 pm to 8am. I'm guessing tiredness was probably a contributing factor to my blahness. I was going to have a sleep when I arrived yesterday morning, and when I had a room, I jumped in the shower to find there was no hot water (realised after waiting in the shower for about five minutes with frozen toes) and the room was not heated at all. I hate sleeping when I'm dirty and stinky so decided to explore. Today was much, much better.

I saw some of the most amazing places ever. I really need to get pictures up, but will have to wait for another town... I'm thinking of moving towards the Mediterrainian with Olympus,Efes (Ephesus),etc tomorrow. So hopefully a better internet cafe.

The landscape around Kapadokya is difficult to describe, besides saying lots of rock that people have built into, snow covered mountains, old stone villages, and huge canyons. Pics required to believe if they can even begin to capture it. I went on an all day tour in a little Ford transit van with a bunch of other travellers. First stop an underground 'town'. This place was amazing... an intricate maze of 8 separate 'stories' used to hide from invading armies during times of war. There were chapels, bread making rooms, wine pressing rooms, storage rooms, huge communal living areas, numerous family rooms and even a creche room with play pens carved out of the rock that would be lined with animal skins. Very cool. I met a bloke before that grew up in that village... that would be the best cubby house in the world. We went for a trek through a valley with sheer cliff sides with rooms houses carved out. Played with cute puppy, used a pottery wheel, and generally we explored heaps of stuff. The one place we stopped may have been used for StarWars, if it wasn't here, it's very similar. Very, very cool and well and truly worth the $40. We were gone for 8 hours with lunch included.
There was an american bloke named John (in his mid 50's I guess but looks heaps younger) and I spent a lot of the day chatting to him. It was fantastic- he comes from Idaho which apparently has similar land formations so he knew a lot of the geology behind it. But more than that, he's had some amazing experiences with Turkish people too so we could relate and talk through a lot of stuff. He travelled around with a carpet salesman for a few weeks and had a lot of amazing experiences too, seeing the family networks, learning about carpets, and the weight on his shoulders he feels for his family as the one who has escaped poverty and can help the rest out... but fears his business could fold. I love the country but don't envy the poverty part of there life at all.

It was good to talk to someone who has thought in depth about the poverty and social structure. It was just what I needed. Someone to help process everything I've experienced. So very good.

He's even been propostioned too- however he had a young gay bloke hit on him. I do not envy him at all. I laughed quite a bit when he told me that. He's good value. I'll definitely be more careful about putting all Americans into one stereotypical box in future.

Anyway... there's some amazing photos to come. Just wait.

I'd love to hear you comments/questions

Thanks to everyone who has posted comment or emailed... much appreciated.

Blah

Merhaba (hello)
I'm only just getting the pronunciation of this word right after 7? days. Crazy. I'm not married yet... next Tuesday, your all invited. Actually I lie. But I have had big kisses on two separate occasions... from old blokes with lots of stubble that defoliates my cheeks. Lucky me... typical european style cheek to cheek one side and then cheek to cheek the other. Jokes aside, the two blokes who gave them were very cool and I value there affection and the relationship formed despite not speaking the same language.
The rest of my time in Trabzon had some really good bits.... but not being able to communicate in any depth frustrated me no end. There were bits where you figure something out and its excellent, but more often then not I had to give up on stuff much beyond the simple whats your name, where you from, etc with out lots of effort. A few times I'd just give up trying to translate and just talk in english with the vague hope they might understand. That didn't work. I was trying to tell one bloke I was frustrated that I couldn't talk to him, which he couldn't understand and it just made me even more frustrated. I almost burst into tears. Frigging painful. I want to go back to Trabzon but I'm definitly going to learn more of the language and I want to travel with friends in future if its a place where noone speaks english. For that reason I decided to catch the bus to Goreme in Cappadocia. It's a lot more touristy so I thought there would be some english speakers. The local turks definitely know more english but it's not the same as someone who you can just chat too. Unfortunately I haven't found any english speaking tourists yet being the off season. Maybe tomorrow. Plenty of japanese tourists but that doesn't help. Combined with the big bus trip I'm feeling a little blah today.
So I'm in Kapadokya... quite an amzing place. Throughout the entire region is housing, old churches, and underground networks carved from plumes of stone that jut into the sky and beneath the earth. I went for a wander around Gureme and will be taking a tour tomorrow to check it out. I wish I had someone to explore with. It just feels like I'm seeing it, like its a picture in a book rather than experiencing it with someone else. A bit surreal. The backpackers I'll being staying at typically has a lot of Aussies etc come through so hopefully tomorrow some more will be here.
Theres so much more I want to jot down from my last day in Trabzon but am really not in the mood and having trouble getting stuff out. Maybe tomorrow after a good sleep I'll be feeling better and it'll flow.
In case I don't- this is for my own reminder since this is my diary.
- Mehmet at pastry shop bored, frustrated, brooding single 24.
- Chocolate for Metsa and sewing man
- got Oya dictionary, wrote letter, and chocolate
- fixed trike for kids with dude smashing phone, how else make difference??
- saw inside church

Bus Trips and Marriage Proposals??

Hey All!!
I've arrived in Trabzon after a fantastic 18 hour bus ride. I wasn't sure what to expect from buses here.. I was pleasantly surprised. Big luxurious coach, better than McCafferties with stewards. So I'm glad I took the bus and not the plane. Just the most amazing trip scenery wise. Nothing beautiful as such, actually a lot was quite ugly but so different. Almost all the houses look old and dillapidated even when they're brand new. There's rubbish and rubble everywhere. I remember seeing pictures of street fighting in Kosovo and thinking the rubble looking housing was due to fighting, but that's probably what it was like before the fighting. There were some beautiful views. Seeing the snow capped Kickar mountains as we wound along the coast. The driving is crazy, but there is method. I'm not quite sure what it is yet. We didn't slow down for much. Despite narrow, rough windy roads our driver had no qualms pulling out to overtake trucks, even on blind corners or with oncoming traffic. Cars usually just have to head bush. A few times I just shut my eyes and I was glad I had 10 metres of crumple zone in front of me. If I have to sit up the front at some stage I will definitely get some video.
Trabzon.... an eastern city situated on the Black Sea with a view of Kackar mountains across the harbour. Should make a beautiful photo if the cloud lifts this arvo. No one speaks english here. Restauranteurs no a little.. as much as I know Turkish so it's pretty full on. I'll be investing in a proper english/turkish dictionary. Getting here pretty tired and having to catch a Dolumus (mini bus) was a bit scary, but the people are very friendly and it feels pretty safe, as does all of Turkey I've seen so far. Being a woman might be a different story.
I went for tea at a kebap place last night which was good. My meal (which filled me) plus 600ml water cost $2.50 Aus. Anyway, I was sitting with three uni students and started chatting to them with a bit of turkish, english and a lot of charades. Soon the waiter and waitress joined in. The students left and I was left chatting to mainly the waitress for quite some time. She was really nice. The waiter returned and chatted for a bit and then asked if I was married. When I said no, he gestured if I'd marry Oya. I acted dumb for a bit hoping that that wasn't what he was implying, but he was. Big NO!! I laughed half from amusement and half from shock. She was sad and he was disappointed. We chatted for a fair while after that and I'm going to go back with a better dictionary. It's the best feeling in the world to have the Ureka moments where you finally understand each other. I'm interested to know how the whole marriage thing works though. Many questions to ask cos the waiter had wife picked for him from when he was two, so I'm not sure why Oya doesn't. I'm also interested to see how they react when I say I'm Christian... I'm guessing she must be reasonably religious Muslim cos she wears a colourful head scarf and she was asking if I go night clubbing or smoke.
The place I'm staying is pretty good. Stinks of stale smoke and I think used to be a house of Natasha's (russian prostitutes), but cheap, comfy clean room and good brekky. Theres a catholic monastery that has rooms so I'm going to head there and see if anythings available for something different. Not sure what to expect though. Yesterday when I arrived I was wandering looking for it and a shop keeper guessed I was looking for it. So he shut shop and showed me the way. When it was shut, he led me to the other hotel I'd chosen from the Lonely Planet. This is pretty typical of the Turkish people... very friendly. It was funny when we were knocking at the monastery door cos the neighbours all come out for a chat, and there was a bloke that lived in Melbourne so he's wanting to chat... so hard to understand him but they all love chatting. I think Australia misses out by everyone having there privacy and locking themselves away. Community is cool!

Empty Grand Bizaar!!

The Backgammon Board I haggled for :)

Place to Relax in Palace

Cool Pebble Flooring for you Renovaters

Blurry Capture of Shields Colour

Shield of 'Mother of Pearl' - flash killed the colours

Looking up at one of the less decorated ceilings

A porch in second court of Palace

Silk Killim

Silk Killim I actually like - viewed hassle free in Government display

Holy Mother of Pearl!!

I thought this was an apt verbal exclamation while visiting the Imperial Palace today. Hooley Badooley-one very impressive place. I got a few photos which are pretty good, but the most impressive parts were off limits to cameras and they were amazing. Huge amounts of 'Mother of Pearl', gold, ornate tiles, marble (marble is very common here), beautiful paintings. If all you renovaters out there need inspiration- come to Turkey!!

Today I hung out with an American girl named Lyndsay who is currently residing in Sweden, visiting the Imperial Palace, Grand Bazaar and a few other places. (I finally got to the Grand Bazaar with her navigation :) The Grand Bazaar sells fabrics, leather goods, clothing, water pipes, backgammon/chess boards and loads of other stuff. I was quite surprised how quiet it was there today... very quiet. Monday is also a day shops shut as well, so this may have something to do with it. I haggled over a backgammon board for a bit... that's probably the only thing I'd really like to get but won't until I'm about to leave Turkey in a few weeks. The boards I like are a black wood with thin bronze wire and mother of pearl inlay. At the one shop I actually haggled, the price started at about $140 + $50 for chess pieces... the last offer he made was $35 for board and pieces when I walked away. I think they must have a pretty good profit margin. Can't wait till I'm actually buying - so much fun! I saw the same style and size of board later with a starting price of $70 so its worth looking around.
Better keep going if I'm to catch a bus tonight!

Basilica Cistern

Medusa's Head... not sure why they are used as support at base of column in water tank??

Basilica Cistern

Hanging out at the Hostel where many a game of Backgammon is played

'Asure' - looks like vomit but tastes really good! They have big pot of the stuff they keep serving from during the day.

Me mates Ibrahim and Marmet. Both of them were doing 'rabbit ears' to each other but then pulled out at the last minute :(

Ibrahim, Ben & Marmet

Can't be that hard

Habil - Master Seamstress and Topbloke

The Jacket Makers

Hi everyone,
I typed a log last night at the hostel where I've been staying, but combined with dodgy wiring, two computers, tv and heater in a room made for a light, the power dropped out and the log went to the abyss with so many other messages. Shame really.
My wandering has been limited quite a lot the last two days. Both my knees are sore to walk on, particularly down stairs. I've tried some stretches and they don't do much so I think I may have to rest for a bit... :( Maybe an 18 hour bus trip to Trobaz on the Black Sea. I'm going to get myself to the Otogar where the buses stop. If there's a bus leaving tonight for Trobaz I'll catch it, otherwise I'll head to Cappadocia on the 8pmer.
Despite the sore legs, or maybe because of them I've met some nice locals. Yesterday I wandered over to the Basilica Cistern (not too far away) and was greeted (accosted) on the way by a local. Normally I'd tell him to rack off but I had an afternoon to fill.
First stop was the carpet shop... a few cups of Cay (tea) later I got away from there (he was pretty hard to escape from), next stop was the leather jacket shop. I tried on quite a few jackets. I actually had that on my list of things I'd buy for the right price. They had some real nice jackets. As all salesman in Turkey ask 'How much you want it for?' I replied 'Guzel (beautiful) jacket, guzel, guzel... I don't want to offend.' 'How much?' I was out the back where they were making them so I kept saying 'I don't want to offend. Guzel jacket that I can't afford!' They wanted equivalent of $700 Aus and I offered $50. It's a beautiful jacket- full lamb skin so worth heaps more than $50 but I wanted to look around more. The salesman left after laughing that I couldn't even afford the stitching, leaving me to get to know two fine men (Ibrahim and Habil) and Marmit (16 year old boy) that make the jackets. (Ibrahim and Habil- if you are reading this... you will have to do a very good deal for me!!)
They are fantastic blokes. Hopefully I can get some pics up... a pictures definitely worth a thousand words.
I ended up staying out the back with them for about two and a half hours... a better measure would be six cups of Cay and four bowls of Asure later (sweet soup looking stuff with honey and lentils and berries??- I don't really know whats in it. It looks bad but tastes fantastic). I was really quite stuffed full when I left. We had a lot of fun though. Ibrahim was quite funny. When ever I complemented him he'd go to give me a high five and purposefully miss and than laugh. I taught him the slicking the hair back version which he found quite amusing. We found the word joker in the translation dictionary and he'd keep saying 'I'm the jerk, I'm the jerk'. I'm like 'No, no... not jerk, JOKER!' And he'd keep saying 'Yes, yes I'm the jerk!' Eventually I let him be the jerk cos he was very happy.
Amongst our conversations of countries, families, making leather jackets, etc I discovered they love chocolate... so today I popped around with few blocks of chocolate for them. They were pretty happy.

This bloke kept talking to the statue...

Maybe explains some of the Beeping. Lanes are optional I've found.

Wandering along the Bosphorus

Some stairs for Greg... I wish I had my bike

Crossing the Golden Horn

Some of the Colours in the Spicers Markets

Aya Sophya by Day

Houses on the Bosphorus

Another view from Bosphorus

Where I walked today... photo taken from Bosphorus river cruise

Looking from Europe to Asia

Aya Sophya by day. It was a christian church, but then was converted to mosque.

Ayo Sophya by night

The Blue Mosque

The Neighbourhood.

Hotel where I stayed first two nights.

Part of the Back Garden. Looking into old Roman Baths.

Cool Car (for Greg)

One of the many streets with no name I found myself wandering

Looking across Golden Horn to Northern European Istanbul

Interesting poster from Dubai Airport??

Masallah!! -she's all good (apparently)

Short and sweet tonight. I've walked all day and am sore. My knees are sore, my calf muscles are sore, my shoulders and back are sore.
I was going to go to the Bizaar... that was the plan, but being a typical bloke who can find there way without a map I never actually made it. I ended up at the bridge over the Golden Horn and thought I'd cross and have a look at a tower. Yet again I thought it would be easy to find being so big... but I missed it also. I got distracted with all the interesting things I was seeing so just kept walking, and walking, and walking. For about another 3 hours. Most of it was completely non touristy.
Cool things to note-
1. After climbing a hill on this tiny street past shanty type houses, and a building with fluid flowing out that looked surprisingly like urine, I stumbled onto a film crew filming what looked to be a turkish version of 'The Bill'.
2. As silly as it sounds, I was amazed that when you say weird words like 'Mahebe', people actually know what you're talking about, as if they use this word everyday. Amazing. I saw this one old bloke and said 'Mahebe' - hello with a big smile. He returned the greeting joyously and than continued chatting for a bit. I was disappointed to have to tell him in english that I could only speak english. We had a bit of a charades conversation after that. Thanks to Dave for the vocab and Di for many games of pictionary charades.
3. Met a nice carpet salesman.
4. Discovered Turks have shops and malls a lot like ours, and noone bugs you there.
5. Turkish mothers speak the same language to babies as Australian mothers.
6. Turkish people are really nice.

The Haggle

I felt much more at home today than yesterday, strolling at leasure past the AyaSophia and palace grounds before taking a boat cruise up the Bosphorus to within sight of the BlackSea. I'm still blown away by the achitecture, the mass of housing, the castles and general beauty of this place. Candy for the eyes. Unfortunately my eyeballs froze after about two hours along with the rest of my body and I was all amazing viewed out. Fortunately this is where we stopped at some small village. The lonely planet describes it with few word- small village that survives off tourists from sightseeing boat trips. True. I'm guessing this is how they subsidise a $7.50 four hour boat trip. Also a military installation there and some ruins.

I had lunch with Vinnie (totally not the stereotypical Vinnie of my mind), a kiwi who's been here for the last six weeks. It was so nice to be able to hang out with someone who speaks english. After enjoying some grilled sardines and a heater at overly inflated prices we climbed the mountain through a cemetry and scouted a ruined castle. It was very dillapidated. We came down a more civil route and passed a bunch of little school kiddies walking home along the narrow village streets from school. The boys telling each other jokes and kicking there heads back in laughter, and the little girls with there pink umbrellas huddled together telling stories. It struck me the multitude of different homes, school students around the world walk home too, but the friends are still the same.

I went to the Spicers Markets with Vinnie and learnt everything I could from him about haggling. The whole experience is a lot more enjoyable for me now. I even got a half kilo of figs for 2,150,000 lira instead of the advertised 4,000,000. If you're confused by the number of zero's, try using the money! The figs were good. It was pretty fun. We'd occasionally get stuck talking to people and make up fake names and country's we were from. I didn't last really long normally cos I have Australia written on my jacket and I talk Aussie. I'd tell them Vinnie was my brother and they'd usually have big grin, give up trying to sell stuff and have a yarn. I should mention Vinnie is a pretty small bloke of Chinese descent... they can tell we're as closely related as their cousin in Sydney.

I'm not sure how much longer I'll hang around here for... I'm tempted to stay in Istanbul for a few more days. There is heaps to see and so far I've only seen a small, touristy part of this 16 million people city. I will probably also shop for a beanie and some warm gloves tomorrow. Can't wait. I'm getting to know the local carpet salesman as well. I said hello last night, and tonight was introduced to the showroom. I've said I'm not going to buy anything, and won't, but as long as theres hope for them they'll offer me tea, beer, wine, etc. I'm not touching beer or wine, glass of tea and kept going. It's good!!

Turkish Drivers are .....

Just for interest I thought I would give my view on Turkish Drivers. I have thought about them for a while... and despite people saying they are crazy/dangerous/and a bunch of other synonyms, I tend to disagree.
True... turkish drivers do not indicate (I saw one car indicate today and I'm sure they were foreigners cos they looked scared), they merge into lanes without looking and regularly take up more than one, and they beep there horn lots, but upon much pondering of the fact there are many old taxis without dents I can't say there drivers are bad. I actually think the drivers here are better than most in Australia and a lot less aggressive.
Which is harder... looking over your shoulder when merging or slowing to let someone in. I think all turkish drivers have decided that latter. We'll all merge without looking. If you really think I should know you're there, just beep your horn once quickly and politely and we can all be friends.
What a bunch of lovely people!!

PS- Just an aside... I'm still not used to people driving on the right side of the road (as opposed to Aussie left) and I nearly got hit by a tram today. So much so that after beeping lots (I didn't know it was meant for me) he jumped on the brakes. I jumped off the road for another reason and then realised the tram was there. The driver looked very pissed. Ooops!!

Istanbul Was Constantinople

I am so exhausted.... today has been a bit straining. I wouldn't call it culture shock. I'm really amazed by this city, it is quite amazing. Completely different to anything I have ever experienced. Beautiful bits, mixed with mayhem, mixed with millins of shoebox apartment buildings, mixed with crazy traffic, mixed with amazingly huge mosques, mixed with rubbish laden shorelines crawling with cats (yes cats), mixed with windy cobbled narrow streets that are easy to get lost in and gazzilions of people. Istanbul is cool!

I landed at the airport at 7am (3pm QLD time) a bit tired. I wandered in circles at the airport for a while before catching the bus. Unfortunately none of the bus people spoke English so I chose a destination that looked closest to the Blue Mosque area of town and went. The bus stopped in a really busy part of town and the bus driver kept looking at me so I figured that was my stop. I climbed out and had no idea where I was so I started walking. No street names that I could see, so I just kept walking and walking... for about 4 hours. I eventually hit the water and figured it out from there. The lost part was quite enjoyable, but when I stopped to get my bearings the hassling started. It got me annoyed pretty quick. The whole- where you from... I have cousin live in Melbourne, where you stay, I know good hotel/shop/travel agent/rug seller/ restaurant/let me polish your shoes etc. It was so intense I couldn't actually look at my map long enough to figure out where I was. I eventually hooked up with Dutch tourists who had some idea and then bailed into a coffee shop where there was an Aussie and Canadian. Chatted to them for a while, calmed down some, and figured out where I was.

I finally found a hotel to rest my head and its really nice. Amazing little place built into old roman ruins. I just had a shower and feel much better. I'm off to do some more exploring and hopefully find this 'Doh doh' yummy food place. I finally figured that if you look intensly at a tourist sight and know what the sight is called and claim you are looking at the tourist sight, while really navigating... telling people you need no help and can get out of the hassling much easier.

The Simple Things

Just got to Singapore.... airplanes are cool!!! Well Singapore Airline ones are. Lots of yummy food, individual tv's with movies, video games, and a channel showing a big airplane flying from Brisbane to Singapore like we were. Most enjoyably though was the steaming face washer. So simple but oh soooo good. If I'm ever distressed give me a steaming face washer.

Man with a Mission

Three sleeps to go... so while I have ADSL I will learn how to WEBLOG!!

An Evenings Exercise

Resting at the summit of Tabletop

Figuring I would be leaving the country within a week and will potentially be seeing some BIG hills, I decided to get up close and personal with Toowoomba's own Table Top mountain... possibly one of the biggest treks in the vicinity of Toowoomba. This photo was taken after enduring a gruelling ascent with Greg and Ebby the wonder dog.