Tomorrow I fly out of Istanbul to Bishkek. I arrive Saturday morning at 4am (oy!), but will thankfully be met at the airport by a representative from the London School, where I'll be taking my Russian classes. I think I'm going to institute some strict English usage rules for myself for at least the first month that I'm there to really help my Russian come along. So I'll probably only be blogging once a week to start. Although, we'll see how disciplined I am.
But, before I head off to Kyrgyzstan, I wanted to reflect on some highlights and memorable moments from the last couple of weeks traveling around the Balkans:
-- Speed limit signs in Kosovo for cars, trucks and tanks. UN presence much?
-- The three Japanese girls on my Rila Monastery day trip who spent the entire trip singing. It was adorable...mostly.
-- People who ask where I'm from, then, when I say "The States" pull a "Oh, yeah, I could tell by your accent." I mean, it's not a secret. We all have accents. I'm not trying to hide it.
-- Learning a fun new card game from the staff at Berat Backpackers. The staff that outnumbered guests 2 to 1.
-- Somehow successfully translating between Spanish (which I speak an okay amount of) and Albanian (which I do not speak a word of) for an older Argentinian couple that I met on the bus to Kosovo who were trying to buy return bus tickets.
-- Ramadan bread!
-- Hiking all the way up to the fortress overlooking Berat. On my way back down, two Albanian guys in a car stopped and offered me a ride back down the mountain. I politely declined. And, although they didn't speak any English, I could tell that they basically said "Can it, fat boy. You look tired. I know you want a ride." So I took them up on it.
-- Getting in a discussion with some Romanian travelers in Skopje about EU expansion. Regarding Turkey, one of them said, "But do we really want 80 million Muslims in the EU?" His traveling companion deftly pointed out, "There are at least that many in the EU already. What's the problem?"
-- Sharing a look with an older Macedonian woman while climbing a mountain in Ohrid. We clearly both looked at each other and thought "If s/he can do it, I can do it."
-- 2 liter bottles of beer in Macedonia and Bulgaria. 2 liters! (And it was still cheaper than a pint at just about any bar in the US)
-- The Bulgarian taxi driver (who was clearly in his late 50s at the youngest) singing along to Celine Dion on the radio.
-- The hirsute German owner of Tirana Backpackers answering the door in electric blue shorts - and nothing else. That was pretty much all he wore the entire three days I was there.
That's pretty much all I can think of at the moment. I've got the day in Istanbul tomorrow, and I intend to spend it getting a haircut, doing laundry, and catching up on the Internet. I'll post some travel details from Kosovo and Bulgaria then.
İyi geceler!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Less Feeling, More Doing!
I've blogged a lot about how I feel about traveling and whatnot but haven't done a great job detailing where I've been and what I've seen. So let me rectify that now!
London
I had about a twelve hour stopover in London on my way to Istanbul. Fortunately, I lived in London back in 2004, so I knew a few places I wanted to hit. I hopped on the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station and caught the tube down to my old neck of the woods, Covent Garden. I meandered down the streets I lived and worked on and had a pleasant reminisce about my time in London. I then caught the tube down to the South Bank and walked along the Thames until I came to the Tate Modern, which is one of my favorite museums in the world. They didn't have anything major going on in the turbine space, but I still enjoyed the exhibits, as I always do. Finllay, it was off to Kensington to window shop and have a meal at Wagamama before hopping the Express back to Heathrow.
Istanbul
My flight got into Istanbul super late, so I didn't get to my hostel until after midnight. They unfortunately didn't have a record of my reservation (sigh), but managed to find a bed for me for the next four nights.
Over the next three days, I wandered the European side of the city, visiting most of the major sights: The Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, the cisterns, the Grand Bazar, the Istanbul Modern and Dolmabahce Palace. I skipped Topkapi Palace, because I remembered it really well from visiting in high school. I also took a two hour cruise on the Bosphorus, which was lovely, giving really great views of both the European and Asian sides of Istanbul. I ate heaps of kebab, drank a fair amount of Efes and generally had a really good time.
Tirana
I decided the best way to maximize my time was to fly to Tirana, Albania, and then travel back across the Balkans to Istanbul. Fortunately I was able to find a pretty cheap flight at the last minute, so on the 22nd, I took off for Albania. Tirana is a fairly quiet town with, honestly, not that much going on. I stayed three nights, but two definitely would have sufficed. I saw all of the major sights in town, which included the National Art Museum, the National History Museum (both of which were dead empty when I was there), Skenderbeg Square, the Blloku neighborhood and the Old Bazaar. I also did a day trip out to Kruja, the home to Skenderbeg, Albania's national hero for fighting against the Ottomans back in the 15th century. The town was nice, but I mistimed it and went on a Monday, when the main Skenderbeg Museum was closed. Whoops!
Berat
On several people's recommendation, I headed down to Berat, a UNESCO World Heritage City, much of which is preserved from Ottoman times. It's a small, easily walkable city with a cool fortress and castle overlooking the town. Unfortunately, the Albanians haven't quite yet picked up on the need to not litter all over their old sites. The piles of garbage everywhere took away from some of the charm of the town. But it was still pretty good. And I stayed at a great hostel with some great folks (Berat Backpackers), which totally made up for it.
Ohrid
After a night in Berat, I took a bus to Ohrid, Macedonia, home to the oldest lake in Europe. And a beautiful lake it is! Ohrid is definitely a tourist town for Macedonia, but it's still really nice and retains a lot of its old world charm. The town is built on lakeside hills and boasts a great fortress and some fantastic churches on a cliff overlooking the lake. I spent a full afternoon hiking around the sites and enjoyed most the fortress and its views of the city and the lake.
Skopje
I spent two nights in Ohrid and then headed to Skopje, Macedonia's capital. Most of the travelers I met said that Skopje had little to offer, so I came here with my expectations low. And while it doesn't have as much going on as many of the other neighboring capital cities, I found Skopje quite charming. The city is divided in two by the Vardar river, with the older parts of the city north of the river and the newer parts south. Most of the charm is certainly currently found in the older sections of the city, with narrow streets and shops piled one on top of the other. The newer section of the city is still trying to figure out its identity, and *tons* of it is currently under construction. But that's forgivable, as the city's only been a national capital for 19 years. The main square has lovely European architecture and heaps of cafes and bars along the way. I think this is going to be a city to be reckoned with in the next decade. In the meantime, it's still worth a visit.
Pristina
Today I took a day trip across the border to Pristina, the capital of the world's newest country (depending on who you ask), Kosovo. The city honestly didn't have all that much to offer, but the day trip was worth it just for getting a new country in the books. There's a ton of UN workers downtown, and there's a nice little pedestrian area. It was interesting enough to see, but an afternoon definitely sufficed.
And on...
I'm back in Skopje tonight and waiting for an overnight bus to Sofia. Overnight buses are kind of the bane of my existence, but it saves me a hostel night. All right...I'm off.
London
I had about a twelve hour stopover in London on my way to Istanbul. Fortunately, I lived in London back in 2004, so I knew a few places I wanted to hit. I hopped on the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station and caught the tube down to my old neck of the woods, Covent Garden. I meandered down the streets I lived and worked on and had a pleasant reminisce about my time in London. I then caught the tube down to the South Bank and walked along the Thames until I came to the Tate Modern, which is one of my favorite museums in the world. They didn't have anything major going on in the turbine space, but I still enjoyed the exhibits, as I always do. Finllay, it was off to Kensington to window shop and have a meal at Wagamama before hopping the Express back to Heathrow.
Istanbul
My flight got into Istanbul super late, so I didn't get to my hostel until after midnight. They unfortunately didn't have a record of my reservation (sigh), but managed to find a bed for me for the next four nights.
Over the next three days, I wandered the European side of the city, visiting most of the major sights: The Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, the cisterns, the Grand Bazar, the Istanbul Modern and Dolmabahce Palace. I skipped Topkapi Palace, because I remembered it really well from visiting in high school. I also took a two hour cruise on the Bosphorus, which was lovely, giving really great views of both the European and Asian sides of Istanbul. I ate heaps of kebab, drank a fair amount of Efes and generally had a really good time.
Tirana
I decided the best way to maximize my time was to fly to Tirana, Albania, and then travel back across the Balkans to Istanbul. Fortunately I was able to find a pretty cheap flight at the last minute, so on the 22nd, I took off for Albania. Tirana is a fairly quiet town with, honestly, not that much going on. I stayed three nights, but two definitely would have sufficed. I saw all of the major sights in town, which included the National Art Museum, the National History Museum (both of which were dead empty when I was there), Skenderbeg Square, the Blloku neighborhood and the Old Bazaar. I also did a day trip out to Kruja, the home to Skenderbeg, Albania's national hero for fighting against the Ottomans back in the 15th century. The town was nice, but I mistimed it and went on a Monday, when the main Skenderbeg Museum was closed. Whoops!
Berat
On several people's recommendation, I headed down to Berat, a UNESCO World Heritage City, much of which is preserved from Ottoman times. It's a small, easily walkable city with a cool fortress and castle overlooking the town. Unfortunately, the Albanians haven't quite yet picked up on the need to not litter all over their old sites. The piles of garbage everywhere took away from some of the charm of the town. But it was still pretty good. And I stayed at a great hostel with some great folks (Berat Backpackers), which totally made up for it.
Ohrid
After a night in Berat, I took a bus to Ohrid, Macedonia, home to the oldest lake in Europe. And a beautiful lake it is! Ohrid is definitely a tourist town for Macedonia, but it's still really nice and retains a lot of its old world charm. The town is built on lakeside hills and boasts a great fortress and some fantastic churches on a cliff overlooking the lake. I spent a full afternoon hiking around the sites and enjoyed most the fortress and its views of the city and the lake.
Skopje
I spent two nights in Ohrid and then headed to Skopje, Macedonia's capital. Most of the travelers I met said that Skopje had little to offer, so I came here with my expectations low. And while it doesn't have as much going on as many of the other neighboring capital cities, I found Skopje quite charming. The city is divided in two by the Vardar river, with the older parts of the city north of the river and the newer parts south. Most of the charm is certainly currently found in the older sections of the city, with narrow streets and shops piled one on top of the other. The newer section of the city is still trying to figure out its identity, and *tons* of it is currently under construction. But that's forgivable, as the city's only been a national capital for 19 years. The main square has lovely European architecture and heaps of cafes and bars along the way. I think this is going to be a city to be reckoned with in the next decade. In the meantime, it's still worth a visit.
Pristina
Today I took a day trip across the border to Pristina, the capital of the world's newest country (depending on who you ask), Kosovo. The city honestly didn't have all that much to offer, but the day trip was worth it just for getting a new country in the books. There's a ton of UN workers downtown, and there's a nice little pedestrian area. It was interesting enough to see, but an afternoon definitely sufficed.
And on...
I'm back in Skopje tonight and waiting for an overnight bus to Sofia. Overnight buses are kind of the bane of my existence, but it saves me a hostel night. All right...I'm off.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Rumbly in my tumbly
Ugh, my stomach is feeling a bit wonky tonight, so I'm going to stay in tonight and keep quiet and reflect on my first week out of the US.
This is the first trip that I've taken outside North America since I got back from South America at the end of 2007. And while some things are completely the same, I feel that others have changed a little bit.
I still feel comfortable in the hostel environment, hanging out with other backpackers...for the most part. I think it's good that places like the Balkans tend not to attract first-time travelers, so the average age of backpacker is more mid- to late-twenties. So I'm not super ancient compared to everyone else in the hostel. And I'm constantly reminded that sometimes a kickass hostel in a random city can make somewhere totally unmemorable memorable. For example, last night I stayed at the Berat Backpackers in UNESCO World Heritage city Berat, Albania. The town was somewhat interesting, although Albanians have not gotten on the "let's not throw all of our plastic bottles all over our ancient castle" bandwagon yet, but the hostel was populated by a wonderful, hospitable staff who made the night totally great.
I do, however, find myself with significantly less patience than I used to have for the "I've got the solution to all the world's problems, and I'll tell you all about it over this beer" type of person. One of the things that I've come to realize is that no country is perfect. No nation has it right. And I guarantee that your "solution" is probably you regurgitating something that you read for a university class. You can point at the US and tell me all the things that are wrong with my country. And I'll often agree that the things that are pointed out are flaws. But I will also say that there is not one country that doesn't have something royally screwed up about it. And I find that sitting around picking apart people's homelands is a waste of time and energy.
However, I love spending time talking about *travel* with other travelers. There was an excellent group of folks that I hooked up with in Tirana who was all quite well traveled. And we spent hours sharing our favorite travel anecdotes, hostel experiences, favorite cities, countries, meals. It was lovely. And it's kind of nice because I'm realizing that I've made the leap from being well-traveled "for an American" to just straight up being well-traveled. There will *always* be someone who's been places I haven't been, but more often than not, I can join in the conversation regardless of what part of the world is being discussed. Because I'm at the point where the places that I haven't been to (with a few exceptions -- Australia, Scandinavia) are the places that most people haven't been to. And that's kind of cool.
A random observation from this trip: I've met a lot fewer women travelers than I have on most of my other trips. I don't know if it's the region of the world or concerns about religion or what, but there has been a way higher percentage of guys in these hostels than girls.
Some actual travel content: Ohrid is gorgeous. It's a lakeside resort town situated in western Macedonia, and it's quite lovely. I wish I had more than two nights to spend here.
I think that the rough plan for the next week is to head to Skopje on Saturday for two nights (one of those days spent on a day trip to Pristina in Kosovo) and then on to Sofia for one or two nights and then Plovdiv for one or two. Because I have to be back in Istanbul in exactly one week to catch my flight to Bishkek. Which I'm quite looking forward to. I'm keen to settle in and see what adventures await me once I'm living in another country and not just traveling through.
Off we go!
This is the first trip that I've taken outside North America since I got back from South America at the end of 2007. And while some things are completely the same, I feel that others have changed a little bit.
I still feel comfortable in the hostel environment, hanging out with other backpackers...for the most part. I think it's good that places like the Balkans tend not to attract first-time travelers, so the average age of backpacker is more mid- to late-twenties. So I'm not super ancient compared to everyone else in the hostel. And I'm constantly reminded that sometimes a kickass hostel in a random city can make somewhere totally unmemorable memorable. For example, last night I stayed at the Berat Backpackers in UNESCO World Heritage city Berat, Albania. The town was somewhat interesting, although Albanians have not gotten on the "let's not throw all of our plastic bottles all over our ancient castle" bandwagon yet, but the hostel was populated by a wonderful, hospitable staff who made the night totally great.
I do, however, find myself with significantly less patience than I used to have for the "I've got the solution to all the world's problems, and I'll tell you all about it over this beer" type of person. One of the things that I've come to realize is that no country is perfect. No nation has it right. And I guarantee that your "solution" is probably you regurgitating something that you read for a university class. You can point at the US and tell me all the things that are wrong with my country. And I'll often agree that the things that are pointed out are flaws. But I will also say that there is not one country that doesn't have something royally screwed up about it. And I find that sitting around picking apart people's homelands is a waste of time and energy.
However, I love spending time talking about *travel* with other travelers. There was an excellent group of folks that I hooked up with in Tirana who was all quite well traveled. And we spent hours sharing our favorite travel anecdotes, hostel experiences, favorite cities, countries, meals. It was lovely. And it's kind of nice because I'm realizing that I've made the leap from being well-traveled "for an American" to just straight up being well-traveled. There will *always* be someone who's been places I haven't been, but more often than not, I can join in the conversation regardless of what part of the world is being discussed. Because I'm at the point where the places that I haven't been to (with a few exceptions -- Australia, Scandinavia) are the places that most people haven't been to. And that's kind of cool.
A random observation from this trip: I've met a lot fewer women travelers than I have on most of my other trips. I don't know if it's the region of the world or concerns about religion or what, but there has been a way higher percentage of guys in these hostels than girls.
Some actual travel content: Ohrid is gorgeous. It's a lakeside resort town situated in western Macedonia, and it's quite lovely. I wish I had more than two nights to spend here.
I think that the rough plan for the next week is to head to Skopje on Saturday for two nights (one of those days spent on a day trip to Pristina in Kosovo) and then on to Sofia for one or two nights and then Plovdiv for one or two. Because I have to be back in Istanbul in exactly one week to catch my flight to Bishkek. Which I'm quite looking forward to. I'm keen to settle in and see what adventures await me once I'm living in another country and not just traveling through.
Off we go!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Albania First Impressions
While Turkey is a country that has one foot planted firmly in the East and one firmly in the West, Albania at first glance seems to be a country that's still trying to figure out just what to do with these new Nikes that the Fedex guy just delivered.
I landed at Mother Teresa International Airport this afternoon at about 1pm. I had been advised by the owner of the hostel I'd be staying at to catch a bus downtown as it was one-tenth the price of a taxi. I found the bus, but it didn't leave for another 40 minutes. Deciding my time was worth the extra 15 bucks, I hopped into a taxi and was able to eventually get him to the Hostel Albania. After settling in, I ventured out into Tirana to see what the town had to offer.
The streets were quiet, and most of the shops were closed, which I attributed to the fact that it was Sunday afternoon -- or because it was Ramadan. Either way, the city had surprisingly little going on, even for a hot, late summer Sunday afternoon. I wandered down to Skanderbeg Square, the capital's main square on which the national opera house and old mosque are located. The square is currently undergoing a major modernization and pedestrianization effort, which at the moment leaves it looking a bit like a war zone.
I followed a road down to the Bllok neighborhood, which formerly housed the Communist party leaders and was off-limits to the rest of the Albanian citizenry. In the last two decades, the neighborhood has been turned into the trendiest part of town, brimming with boutiques, bars, coffee shops and hotels -- a perfect representation of Albania's embrace of capitalism. Many of the buildings here and along the way have been painted super bright colors, although I've been told that the bright exteriors belie the crumbling interiors, untouched yet by Tirana's rebirth.
After strolling for a bit longer and picking up a sandwich at one of the few shops that was selling food, I headed back to the hostel to wait out the rest of the afternoon heat. Once the sun went down, I ventured back into town and was met with a much more vibrant, alive Tirana than had been around a few hours earlier. Cafes were bouncing with people, the streets were full of cars and music was streaming out of restaurants. I found a spot that looked friendly and planted myself amidst the cheerful locals, ordering what I hoped would be a couple of types of kebabs and a large local beer. All for around $3. Nice.
So far the city seems to be a unique mix of Mediterranean, post-communist, burgeoning economics and tentative democracy. The people seem to have an optimism that comes from emerging from decades of totalitarian regime without the reckless abandon that often accompanies such a transition. I'm excited to explore more of the country, as I'm going to take a day trip to Kruja tomorrow and then head off to Berat on Wednesday before moving on to Macedonia. I like what I've seen so far, and I'm intrigued to see what more this captivating country has to offer.
I landed at Mother Teresa International Airport this afternoon at about 1pm. I had been advised by the owner of the hostel I'd be staying at to catch a bus downtown as it was one-tenth the price of a taxi. I found the bus, but it didn't leave for another 40 minutes. Deciding my time was worth the extra 15 bucks, I hopped into a taxi and was able to eventually get him to the Hostel Albania. After settling in, I ventured out into Tirana to see what the town had to offer.
The streets were quiet, and most of the shops were closed, which I attributed to the fact that it was Sunday afternoon -- or because it was Ramadan. Either way, the city had surprisingly little going on, even for a hot, late summer Sunday afternoon. I wandered down to Skanderbeg Square, the capital's main square on which the national opera house and old mosque are located. The square is currently undergoing a major modernization and pedestrianization effort, which at the moment leaves it looking a bit like a war zone.
I followed a road down to the Bllok neighborhood, which formerly housed the Communist party leaders and was off-limits to the rest of the Albanian citizenry. In the last two decades, the neighborhood has been turned into the trendiest part of town, brimming with boutiques, bars, coffee shops and hotels -- a perfect representation of Albania's embrace of capitalism. Many of the buildings here and along the way have been painted super bright colors, although I've been told that the bright exteriors belie the crumbling interiors, untouched yet by Tirana's rebirth.
After strolling for a bit longer and picking up a sandwich at one of the few shops that was selling food, I headed back to the hostel to wait out the rest of the afternoon heat. Once the sun went down, I ventured back into town and was met with a much more vibrant, alive Tirana than had been around a few hours earlier. Cafes were bouncing with people, the streets were full of cars and music was streaming out of restaurants. I found a spot that looked friendly and planted myself amidst the cheerful locals, ordering what I hoped would be a couple of types of kebabs and a large local beer. All for around $3. Nice.
So far the city seems to be a unique mix of Mediterranean, post-communist, burgeoning economics and tentative democracy. The people seem to have an optimism that comes from emerging from decades of totalitarian regime without the reckless abandon that often accompanies such a transition. I'm excited to explore more of the country, as I'm going to take a day trip to Kruja tomorrow and then head off to Berat on Wednesday before moving on to Macedonia. I like what I've seen so far, and I'm intrigued to see what more this captivating country has to offer.
Friday, August 20, 2010
On the road again
I'm into my second day in Istanbul, and I'm listening to this douchewad American make a scene in the lobby of my hostel complaining about the service. "I've stayed in hostels all over the world, and I know..." blah blah. Put your travel dick away, buddy. We all have one.
Anyway...
It's nice to be back on the road, doing the backpacker thing. I'll admit that something feels the tiniest bit off so far on this trip, but I haven't quite put my finger on what it is. Maybe I am, as my dad so diplomatically suggested, getting too old for the hostel scene. Maybe it's that I'm traveling in a place that I feel like I should know, having lived in Turkey for three years, and that feels just familiar enough to be disconcerting yet not familiar enough to be comfortable. Maybe it's because I know that this is a fake vacation, that I'm just killing time before my 'real' trip begins in Kyrgyzstan. Maybe it's just some weird jetlag. I don't quite know. I do know that it's not going to stop me. I've certainly hit bouts of malaise on trips before, and I've always found it best to just power through. There's always something worthwhile waiting once you break through it.
The last time I was in Turkey was 1997, when I was graduating from high school. And I don't know exactly when I was in Istanbul last. But it's nothing like I remember it. I think part of it is that I always came to Istanbul on either school or family trips. As I remember, we'd bus from site to site, fairly insulated from the real Istanbul -- not that there's anything terribly nefarious that requires insulation. But I don't remember Istanbul being this big or cosmopolitan or Western. I'm sure once I rip myself out of Sultanahmet and away from the tourist ghetto, I'll get a whiff of the more authentic Istanbul. But the sites must be seen, right?
And so I've seen them. Blue Mosque? Check. Hagia Sophia? Check. Grand Bazar? Check. Yerebatan Cistern? Check. Bosphorus Cruise? Check. I'm giving Topkapi Palace a miss, as that's one of the attractions that I remember clearly from visiting Istanbul in high school. I've got two more nights in Istanbul and haven't quite figure out what I'm going to do with the rest of my time here. I'm sure something will come to me. Something always does.
One thing that hasn't changed is the persistent misconceptions about Turkey -- and Islam -- by Westerners. I've already had a number of conversations about culture, politics and religion -- compounded by the fact that it's the beginning of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month in which most practicing Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. (The major benefit of traveling during Ramadan is that you can buy Ramadan bread, the traditional unleavened bread that Turks eat to break their fast. It's seriously the best bread on the face of earth.)
The comment that sticks out the most came from a guy that I met on my Bosphorus cruise. He remarked offhandedly that Turkey would never get into the European Union. I asked him why, and he said that it was just too different. Statements like that really irk me for a variety of reasons. While I know that there are political hurdles that still need to be jumped for the full accession of Turkey into the EU to occur, stating that Turkey's just too "different" is, frankly, ignorant. I would argue that Turkey and Bulgaria have more in common than Bulgaria and, say, Sweden. Yet Bulgaria is a full EU member, while Turkey has waited on the sidelines for 40 years. I don't purport to be an expert in European affairs, but I think simplifying it to "difference" between Turkey and the rest of the EU smacks of racism and Islamophobia.
Anyway...I didn't quite intend for this to become any type of diatribe, so I'm going to cut it short. I think tonight I'm going to venture out into Taksim to sample the Turkish nightlife. Should be fun...see you later.
Anyway...
It's nice to be back on the road, doing the backpacker thing. I'll admit that something feels the tiniest bit off so far on this trip, but I haven't quite put my finger on what it is. Maybe I am, as my dad so diplomatically suggested, getting too old for the hostel scene. Maybe it's that I'm traveling in a place that I feel like I should know, having lived in Turkey for three years, and that feels just familiar enough to be disconcerting yet not familiar enough to be comfortable. Maybe it's because I know that this is a fake vacation, that I'm just killing time before my 'real' trip begins in Kyrgyzstan. Maybe it's just some weird jetlag. I don't quite know. I do know that it's not going to stop me. I've certainly hit bouts of malaise on trips before, and I've always found it best to just power through. There's always something worthwhile waiting once you break through it.
The last time I was in Turkey was 1997, when I was graduating from high school. And I don't know exactly when I was in Istanbul last. But it's nothing like I remember it. I think part of it is that I always came to Istanbul on either school or family trips. As I remember, we'd bus from site to site, fairly insulated from the real Istanbul -- not that there's anything terribly nefarious that requires insulation. But I don't remember Istanbul being this big or cosmopolitan or Western. I'm sure once I rip myself out of Sultanahmet and away from the tourist ghetto, I'll get a whiff of the more authentic Istanbul. But the sites must be seen, right?
And so I've seen them. Blue Mosque? Check. Hagia Sophia? Check. Grand Bazar? Check. Yerebatan Cistern? Check. Bosphorus Cruise? Check. I'm giving Topkapi Palace a miss, as that's one of the attractions that I remember clearly from visiting Istanbul in high school. I've got two more nights in Istanbul and haven't quite figure out what I'm going to do with the rest of my time here. I'm sure something will come to me. Something always does.
One thing that hasn't changed is the persistent misconceptions about Turkey -- and Islam -- by Westerners. I've already had a number of conversations about culture, politics and religion -- compounded by the fact that it's the beginning of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month in which most practicing Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. (The major benefit of traveling during Ramadan is that you can buy Ramadan bread, the traditional unleavened bread that Turks eat to break their fast. It's seriously the best bread on the face of earth.)
The comment that sticks out the most came from a guy that I met on my Bosphorus cruise. He remarked offhandedly that Turkey would never get into the European Union. I asked him why, and he said that it was just too different. Statements like that really irk me for a variety of reasons. While I know that there are political hurdles that still need to be jumped for the full accession of Turkey into the EU to occur, stating that Turkey's just too "different" is, frankly, ignorant. I would argue that Turkey and Bulgaria have more in common than Bulgaria and, say, Sweden. Yet Bulgaria is a full EU member, while Turkey has waited on the sidelines for 40 years. I don't purport to be an expert in European affairs, but I think simplifying it to "difference" between Turkey and the rest of the EU smacks of racism and Islamophobia.
Anyway...I didn't quite intend for this to become any type of diatribe, so I'm going to cut it short. I think tonight I'm going to venture out into Taksim to sample the Turkish nightlife. Should be fun...see you later.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
In İstanbul
I'm here. Huzzah.
The trip got off to a great start when I arrived at the hostel and they had no record of my reservation. Oh well. I have somewhere to stay for the next few nights, and that's the important thing.
It's closing in on 2am in İstanbul (I've been ın town for about an hour and a half), so I'm going to call it a night and hopefully avoid major jet lag issues. But I wanted to let y'all know that I arrived safe and sound.
The trip got off to a great start when I arrived at the hostel and they had no record of my reservation. Oh well. I have somewhere to stay for the next few nights, and that's the important thing.
It's closing in on 2am in İstanbul (I've been ın town for about an hour and a half), so I'm going to call it a night and hopefully avoid major jet lag issues. But I wanted to let y'all know that I arrived safe and sound.
And we're off
I only have a couple minutes to type this as I'm paying (way too much) for Internet access at Heathrow.
But I've left the US! I took off from RDU last night on an overnight flight to London. Spent the day today meandering through some old stomping grounds in London. Visited the Tate Modern, which I always love, ate at Wagamama...good London stuff.
And I'm boarding a flight for Istanbul in about an hour. I'll be spending four or five days in Istanbul and then backpacking around the Balkans for about 2 weeks. Of course, I haven't decided where I'm going yet...that'll sort itself out. And then it's off to Kyrgyzstan Labor Day weekend.
More from Istanbul...
But I've left the US! I took off from RDU last night on an overnight flight to London. Spent the day today meandering through some old stomping grounds in London. Visited the Tate Modern, which I always love, ate at Wagamama...good London stuff.
And I'm boarding a flight for Istanbul in about an hour. I'll be spending four or five days in Istanbul and then backpacking around the Balkans for about 2 weeks. Of course, I haven't decided where I'm going yet...that'll sort itself out. And then it's off to Kyrgyzstan Labor Day weekend.
More from Istanbul...
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