Life is pretty good these days. I've
made it to Berlin, at last, and have already realized
why I wanted to come back here so badly. Meanwhile...
I got out of Turkey just fine. I made the ferry to Kos
just fine and was able to get a ticket to Athens for
that night. That just meant I had a mere 10 hours to
occupy myself before heading off on the boat. And what
a long 10 hours it was. Kos Town was dead. There was
nothing to do at all. I wandered around for a bit but
mostly just felt like an inconvenience as the only
tourist in a place where everyone just wanted to close
up until April. I figured the best thing to would take
a walk along the coast, find a stretch of beach and
read but my attempt was ruined by a string of ugly,
closer up hotels and restaurants that went on for
miles. The day was a total writeoff.
The night was as well. I had a snorer in my cabin and
ended up having to sleep on a bench in the restaurant.
It really was mindboggling how loud he was - even on
his side. But I did make it Athens and had a great
time there. I checked it at a very overpriced, yet
clean and comfy hostel right in the centre and went
straight out to check out the Acropolis and other
ruins. Despite the hostel being 5 minutes away, I
managed to take a wrong turn and it took me an hour to
get there. But it was nice, as I made my through the
twisting streets beneath the Acropolis. It was
definitely worth the effort. I thought I may have been
ruined-out after Turkey, but the Parthenon and
surrounding temples were the most impressive yet,
despite the ongoing restoration blotting the site.
I got back to the hostel, and, for the first time in a
week, there was actually people where I was staying.
Too many Americans doing the European pub-crawl
circuit for my liking, but still a good time. The beer
was cheap and Pass the Pigs was played. Then I made
the mistake of going on a night-walk of Athens, which
was more of a "here's a shitty bar, good luck" type
thing. So I dranked an over-priced beer and headed
off.
The next day worked out pretty well. It was warm and
sunny, so I spent the day wandering around with a few
people I had met. We climbed up to the highest hill in
Athens and admired the smog, then sat at an expensive
cafe on a nice side street. We were entertained by a
very funny street performer, who felt it necessary to
pull me out of my seat and dress me up in balloons.
All in good fun. That night involved more drinking
with too many Americans studying abroad and spending
the weekend in Athens to drink and be hungover. But I
did meet some good, fund people and we wound up at a
house party at one of the hostel staff's place.
Saturday I woke up hungover and without tylenol, so it
was pretty much a write off until I caught my flight
to Berlin. My plan was to head straight to Leipzig
(where I was going to see Dead Moon) but the hostel
said they were booked up so I decided to spend the
night in Berlin. Berlin hit me in about two seconds. I
got off the S-Bahn at Warschauerstrasse stop and right
away broke into a big grin. The walk up to my hostel
was only ten minutes but that was enough. There was a
group of skater punks drinking beer on the sidewalk,
some 80's styled rockers walking about, and the women
were oh so stylish and good looking. It was nice to
see signs of alternative culture after spending a
month in Turkey where everyone seems pretty much the
same. I didn't do anything crazy that night though, as
I was still recovering from the night before. Just a
beer, some reading and bed.
Sunday morning I woke up early to get to Leipzig.
Alas, it took far too long to get there and
essentially my day was wasted. I did go to the Stasi
Museum, but it was all in German, aside from a few
very brief English descriptions. But it was free, and
besides I was going to see Dead Moon. I was a little
hesitant about going on my own, but I thought there
wouldn't be too many people there and maybe I would
meet someone. Turns out I was wrong - the show was
packed with all sorts of people, and was much livelier
than a comparable show in Toronto. People went nuts
and the band was great.
I spent yesterday in Leipzig, which was nice enough
but there wasn't all that much to do. I was pretty
much the only tourist around, which was a little
awkward. I did my usual walk around, ate some chinese
food for the first time in over a month and then spent
the evening doing laundry in a bar near the hostel.
The machines must of been from Communist times, but it
took almost four hours to do one load. But they had
good food and Weissebeer on tap.
And that was Leipzig. I was up bright and early to
catch a train back to Berlin. I got off the train at
Potsdamer Platz. Last time I was here it was still a
big construction zone but now it appeared mostly
finished. After checking into the hostel I went for a
walk (how surprising). Strolled through very cool
Prenzlauer Berg, down to Museum Insel and on the
Brandenburg Gate. I don't know what it is about this
city, but it has a vibe unlike anywhere else I've
been. It was rainy and cold though, so I decided to
call it a day. But on my way to the U-Bahn station I
passed by the Holocaust Memorial and decided to check
it out. It was very moving and well done, but I have
to say that its not exactly the first thing one should
when arriving in Germany. The museum is underground
and the exit leads you into a grid of large blocks of
varying sizes, with the biggest ones right in the
middle. The ground is very uneven and the effect is
very awkward and disorienting.
Right now I'm back at the hostel. Its a very comfy,
homely place where I can sit back in the common room,
cook dinner and basically pretend I'm home. Except for
the fact that there's 5 people sleeping in my room and
I'm in Berlin, which, so far, is about as good it
gets.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Turkey - part 6
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Turkey - part 5
This will be my last e-mail from Turkey as tomorrow morning I am hopping a ferry to the Greek Island of Kos, en route to Athens and then Berlin. I can't say I'm sad to be leaving. The past week has been quite lonely as low-season is in full force and I've had several nights in a row with a hostel or pension all to myself.
Last time I wrote I had just arrived in Fethiye. I thought I was the only person in my pension there, but at breakfast the next morning I found out there was also a British couple staying there - Ally and Alex. Alex was there to Paraglide and Ally was there to be the good girlfriend and sit on the beach while he flew around in the sky. So I'm pretty sure she was quite happy when I said I was going to be heading out to the nearby ghost town of Kayakoy and then hiking over the hill to Oludeniz, better known as the Blue Lagoon.
We head off on the Dolmus to Kayakoy at about 11. The town was abandoned when all Ottoman Greeks were transferred to Greece some 80 years ago. Nobody took their place so the stone houses have been crumbling since then. There were some dogs running about and some sheep grazing, but thats about it. Finding the path to Oludeniz was quite tricky, so we spent a good amount of time wandering about the ruins until we got to the top of the hill and found the first marker. The walk through the pine forest was easy enough, and presented some stunning views of the surrounding coastline. It took about two hours and we stopped in Oludeniz for lunch, and to wait for Ally's boyfriend to show up. It was quite cold when we left but the
afternoon sun warmed things up quite nicely. Unfortunately I had neglected to bring my bathing suit so I didn't go swimming. We did however meet a Polish couple on the beach and agreed to rent a boat together to head out to Butterfly Valley the next day.
The trip to Butterfly Valley was pretty nice. Our group of four swelled to six as an American showed up at the pension and asked if he could join us. Lastly, just as we were about to leave, an Argentian woman joined us because she had nothing else to do. Once at the Valley we decided to hike up to the nearby waterfall. The valley got consistently narrowed and the path trickier as we went along, but it was worth it. Everyone seemed to enjoy the trip until we were just about back at the boat driver decided to rip us off. We had agreed to a price of 80 Lira but he decided he wanted 100, so he stopped offshore and demanded his money. We weren't in a position to argue
because one of our group had to catch a bus, but we were able to settle on 90 lira for the 6 of us.
Unfortunately the haggling over price soured the entire day. But I did go for a swim in the Blue Lagoon and the water was lovely, if a little chilly.
The next morning I woke up early and took off up to Pamukkale to see Hierapolis and the Travertines. The bus ride took forever, as it wound its way through the mountains, but the views were amazing so I put up with it. I arrived in Pamukkale and checked into a hotel that had been recommended. I got a private room with ensuite for $15, and then went to look for food.
And there was nothing. All the restaurants were closed so I was forced to eat a mediocre, over-priced meal at the hotel. I was the only guest, the bright side being the young man that worked there. He was eager to practice his English and he talked about his time in
the army, football, life in Turkey. He said he had been posted along the Iraq border during his two years with the army. He wouldn't elaborate beyond that, saying he saw things he didn't want to talk about. He also soundly beat me at backgammon, a game I have played many times here but still can't keep up with the locals at.
Pamukkale as a whole was somewhat dissapointing. The travertines, which are pictured as milk white pools of water on postcards, were more of a drab grey. Hierapolis was nowhere near as splendid as my Lonely Planet had made it seem. The one bright side was the thermal pool at the site, which had old Roman columns in it and was quite relaxing. I struggled to occupy myself for the day. There were no other backpackers around and the only other people visiting the site were elderly German tourists. I read for a while, did a crossword, and went to bed early.
Then it was off to Selcuk, which was much of the same. Once again I was the only guest at the pension. But, it was my last stop in Turkey and I was going to make the most of it. The next morning I would be hopping a ferry to Samos, so I wanted to leave Turkey in style. I visited the very impressive ruins of Ephesus, went for a nice walk around the country side, and treated myself to a good meal. Then I went to the local hamam. I knew I was in for a good scrub-down and massage when I saw a bunch of old men sitting around in their towels, drinking tea, and watching football. And it was great. Much better than the hamam in Antalya and I came out of it feeling very clean and very relaxed.
The next morning I woke up bright and early, hopped a mini-bus to Kusadasi and strolled down to the ferry dock - only to be laughed at by the port police and told to come back in April. There were no more ferries until then. At first I thought they were joking but then they pointed me to a travel agent across the street, where they confirmed that ferries to Samos stopped a
week ago. Nuts.
I spent the rest of the morning figuring out what to do. Eventually I found out that I could get a ferry out of Bodrum, going to Kos, and, hopefuly, from Kos to Athens. So I arrived yesterday in Bodrum and am once-again the only backpacker around and would really some fellow travellers to talk to. In hindsight I should have returned to Istanbul and taken the train from there to Athens. Oh well. In Bodrum I went to the underwater archeology museum, which, sadly, is not underwater, but has displays on finds from ancient shipwrecks. Its located in an old crusader castle and was quite interesting. Alas, Bodrum is a package holiday destination and I'm almost out of Lira, so I've spent most of the day trying to simply keep myself busy, which meant lots of walking around, and trying to find a comfortable spot to read and do my crosswords.
Tomorrow I will officially be done with Turkey. I have the ferry ticket in my pocket. I'm hoping Athens will be more exciting.
Last time I wrote I had just arrived in Fethiye. I thought I was the only person in my pension there, but at breakfast the next morning I found out there was also a British couple staying there - Ally and Alex. Alex was there to Paraglide and Ally was there to be the good girlfriend and sit on the beach while he flew around in the sky. So I'm pretty sure she was quite happy when I said I was going to be heading out to the nearby ghost town of Kayakoy and then hiking over the hill to Oludeniz, better known as the Blue Lagoon.
We head off on the Dolmus to Kayakoy at about 11. The town was abandoned when all Ottoman Greeks were transferred to Greece some 80 years ago. Nobody took their place so the stone houses have been crumbling since then. There were some dogs running about and some sheep grazing, but thats about it. Finding the path to Oludeniz was quite tricky, so we spent a good amount of time wandering about the ruins until we got to the top of the hill and found the first marker. The walk through the pine forest was easy enough, and presented some stunning views of the surrounding coastline. It took about two hours and we stopped in Oludeniz for lunch, and to wait for Ally's boyfriend to show up. It was quite cold when we left but the
afternoon sun warmed things up quite nicely. Unfortunately I had neglected to bring my bathing suit so I didn't go swimming. We did however meet a Polish couple on the beach and agreed to rent a boat together to head out to Butterfly Valley the next day.
The trip to Butterfly Valley was pretty nice. Our group of four swelled to six as an American showed up at the pension and asked if he could join us. Lastly, just as we were about to leave, an Argentian woman joined us because she had nothing else to do. Once at the Valley we decided to hike up to the nearby waterfall. The valley got consistently narrowed and the path trickier as we went along, but it was worth it. Everyone seemed to enjoy the trip until we were just about back at the boat driver decided to rip us off. We had agreed to a price of 80 Lira but he decided he wanted 100, so he stopped offshore and demanded his money. We weren't in a position to argue
because one of our group had to catch a bus, but we were able to settle on 90 lira for the 6 of us.
Unfortunately the haggling over price soured the entire day. But I did go for a swim in the Blue Lagoon and the water was lovely, if a little chilly.
The next morning I woke up early and took off up to Pamukkale to see Hierapolis and the Travertines. The bus ride took forever, as it wound its way through the mountains, but the views were amazing so I put up with it. I arrived in Pamukkale and checked into a hotel that had been recommended. I got a private room with ensuite for $15, and then went to look for food.
And there was nothing. All the restaurants were closed so I was forced to eat a mediocre, over-priced meal at the hotel. I was the only guest, the bright side being the young man that worked there. He was eager to practice his English and he talked about his time in
the army, football, life in Turkey. He said he had been posted along the Iraq border during his two years with the army. He wouldn't elaborate beyond that, saying he saw things he didn't want to talk about. He also soundly beat me at backgammon, a game I have played many times here but still can't keep up with the locals at.
Pamukkale as a whole was somewhat dissapointing. The travertines, which are pictured as milk white pools of water on postcards, were more of a drab grey. Hierapolis was nowhere near as splendid as my Lonely Planet had made it seem. The one bright side was the thermal pool at the site, which had old Roman columns in it and was quite relaxing. I struggled to occupy myself for the day. There were no other backpackers around and the only other people visiting the site were elderly German tourists. I read for a while, did a crossword, and went to bed early.
Then it was off to Selcuk, which was much of the same. Once again I was the only guest at the pension. But, it was my last stop in Turkey and I was going to make the most of it. The next morning I would be hopping a ferry to Samos, so I wanted to leave Turkey in style. I visited the very impressive ruins of Ephesus, went for a nice walk around the country side, and treated myself to a good meal. Then I went to the local hamam. I knew I was in for a good scrub-down and massage when I saw a bunch of old men sitting around in their towels, drinking tea, and watching football. And it was great. Much better than the hamam in Antalya and I came out of it feeling very clean and very relaxed.
The next morning I woke up bright and early, hopped a mini-bus to Kusadasi and strolled down to the ferry dock - only to be laughed at by the port police and told to come back in April. There were no more ferries until then. At first I thought they were joking but then they pointed me to a travel agent across the street, where they confirmed that ferries to Samos stopped a
week ago. Nuts.
I spent the rest of the morning figuring out what to do. Eventually I found out that I could get a ferry out of Bodrum, going to Kos, and, hopefuly, from Kos to Athens. So I arrived yesterday in Bodrum and am once-again the only backpacker around and would really some fellow travellers to talk to. In hindsight I should have returned to Istanbul and taken the train from there to Athens. Oh well. In Bodrum I went to the underwater archeology museum, which, sadly, is not underwater, but has displays on finds from ancient shipwrecks. Its located in an old crusader castle and was quite interesting. Alas, Bodrum is a package holiday destination and I'm almost out of Lira, so I've spent most of the day trying to simply keep myself busy, which meant lots of walking around, and trying to find a comfortable spot to read and do my crosswords.
Tomorrow I will officially be done with Turkey. I have the ferry ticket in my pocket. I'm hoping Athens will be more exciting.
Monday, November 6, 2006
Turkey - Part 4
How do you do? Tonight I'm in Fethiye. Normally its a busy meca for package-tourists and backpackers, but this being November, there's only two people staying at the Pension I'm out and the centre of town is absolutely dead.It's kind of eery. Tomorrow I'll be taking a walk from the ghost-twon of Karakoy to Oludeniz, home of the Blue Lagoon beach of postcard fame. Meanwhile, the past week:
When I last e-mailed it was morning in Goreme and I had a full day ahead of me before taking an overnight bus down to the coast. And what a day it was. Not knowing what to do, I decided to go for a walk in one of the valleys I had yet to check out. While strolling around, an old man appeared seemingly out of nowhere holding a bunch of grapes. He offered me some, and then beckoned me to follow him. He brought me to his cave home. I followed his lead and took off my shoes when I sat down, which lead to him seeing my holey socks. No problem - he produces a needle and thread and proceeds to sew them up for me. We continued to sit there, him talking in Turkish, me in English, neither of us having a clue what the other was saying.
After about 15 minutes of that I continued on my walk. I got back to town, but it was only 1pm, so I decided to hitch-hike up to the nearest town to explore the rock castle that dominates the countryside. A local offered to show me around, so I followed, but was very disappointed when he asked for 5 lira for his services. I thought he was just demonstrating that famous Turkish hospitality. I gave him a bit of change I had in my pocket and took off down the hillside. And thats when the dogs started chasing me. First there were two that started barking from up on high. Then a third that was tied to a rope. Finally, two more appeared and that started running towards me. I nearly shit myself, then, as calmly as possibly, picked up a big rock and tried to look meaner than them. It must have worked, because they didn't come too near and I made it to the road and back to Goreme where I caught my bus to Olympos.
I got to Olympos and it was raining. Fortunately the Pension I was in had some good couches, and Napoleon Dynamite was on TV, in English! I sat back and took it easy. It was like being at a friends cottage. That is, if your friends cottage was set amongst an orange grove, in a valley surrounded by mountains, amidst the ruins of an ancient Greek city. And there was a beach about 5 minutes away. Eventually the sun came out and I went for a walk. A big, stupid grin spread out on my face. Its the grin of pure bliss and it was the third time this trip I had it. I explored the scattered ruins and slowly walked down to the Mediterranean where I watched the waves splash up on the beach. That night we walked up the Chimaera - an eternal flame high up in the mountains above the sea.It was very, very cool.
The next morning I woke up and it was warm and sunny. Needless to say I grabbed my towel and my bathing suit and head straight for the beach. I went for a swim, lazed about in the sun, and remained fairly immobile for several hours on end. It was November 2, but I was on the beach and loving it.
The next day it rained. I was going to leave, but the night before some friendly Aussies showed up so I decided to stick around despite of the weather. We spent the day indoors, playing backgammon, cards, and just generally being lazy. We were joined later on by a Kiwi girl and that night I treated myself to a glass of scotch as we puffed on a Nargileh. It's a good life.
One member of our group was an Aussie who ran a pension in Antalya, so the next day I backtracked there with my new friends. Antalya is a really cool city that is shamefully overlooked by the backpacker fraternity (including myself, who skipped it originally). The old city has a great mix of Ottoman houses and Roman ruins and the view from the harbour of the surrounding mountains is amazing.
The real reason I went there was to try to get to Termessos, an ancient warrior city that managed to fend off both Alexander the Great and the Romans. Its way up in the mountains north of Antalya and is nothing short of spectacular. We (that would be Kat, Chris and Debs, my friend from Olympos) rented a car and made our way up there. We got off to a poor start. Or, rather, I got off to a poor start and forgot to take off the hand-brake at first. The car started smoking and we all freaked out. But a moment later everything was fine and we made it there fairly quickly.
The ruins were all quite splendid and the theatre was particularly impressive, with views down several valleys all the way out to the sea. The only downside was a chilling wind coming down from the north. I was basking in the sun a few days before, but now I was wishing I had brought my hat and gloves with me. We also visited a nearby cave that had been inhabited almost continuously for 25,000 years and got a delicious pide lunch at an unassuming little restaurant in the small town close by. Upon our return we went a Turkish Bath where I let an old man scrub me down, clean me off, and massage me.
And that brings me to today. I did some X-mas shopping in the morning and hopped a bus to Fethiye in the afternoon. The road cut inland and there was a smattering of snow about, despite the clear blue sky. But considering there has been massive flooding elsewhere in Turkey, and the news showed people building snowmen in Istanbul, I'm not complaining. I just don't think I'll be doing any more swimming.
When I last e-mailed it was morning in Goreme and I had a full day ahead of me before taking an overnight bus down to the coast. And what a day it was. Not knowing what to do, I decided to go for a walk in one of the valleys I had yet to check out. While strolling around, an old man appeared seemingly out of nowhere holding a bunch of grapes. He offered me some, and then beckoned me to follow him. He brought me to his cave home. I followed his lead and took off my shoes when I sat down, which lead to him seeing my holey socks. No problem - he produces a needle and thread and proceeds to sew them up for me. We continued to sit there, him talking in Turkish, me in English, neither of us having a clue what the other was saying.
After about 15 minutes of that I continued on my walk. I got back to town, but it was only 1pm, so I decided to hitch-hike up to the nearest town to explore the rock castle that dominates the countryside. A local offered to show me around, so I followed, but was very disappointed when he asked for 5 lira for his services. I thought he was just demonstrating that famous Turkish hospitality. I gave him a bit of change I had in my pocket and took off down the hillside. And thats when the dogs started chasing me. First there were two that started barking from up on high. Then a third that was tied to a rope. Finally, two more appeared and that started running towards me. I nearly shit myself, then, as calmly as possibly, picked up a big rock and tried to look meaner than them. It must have worked, because they didn't come too near and I made it to the road and back to Goreme where I caught my bus to Olympos.
I got to Olympos and it was raining. Fortunately the Pension I was in had some good couches, and Napoleon Dynamite was on TV, in English! I sat back and took it easy. It was like being at a friends cottage. That is, if your friends cottage was set amongst an orange grove, in a valley surrounded by mountains, amidst the ruins of an ancient Greek city. And there was a beach about 5 minutes away. Eventually the sun came out and I went for a walk. A big, stupid grin spread out on my face. Its the grin of pure bliss and it was the third time this trip I had it. I explored the scattered ruins and slowly walked down to the Mediterranean where I watched the waves splash up on the beach. That night we walked up the Chimaera - an eternal flame high up in the mountains above the sea.It was very, very cool.
The next morning I woke up and it was warm and sunny. Needless to say I grabbed my towel and my bathing suit and head straight for the beach. I went for a swim, lazed about in the sun, and remained fairly immobile for several hours on end. It was November 2, but I was on the beach and loving it.
The next day it rained. I was going to leave, but the night before some friendly Aussies showed up so I decided to stick around despite of the weather. We spent the day indoors, playing backgammon, cards, and just generally being lazy. We were joined later on by a Kiwi girl and that night I treated myself to a glass of scotch as we puffed on a Nargileh. It's a good life.
One member of our group was an Aussie who ran a pension in Antalya, so the next day I backtracked there with my new friends. Antalya is a really cool city that is shamefully overlooked by the backpacker fraternity (including myself, who skipped it originally). The old city has a great mix of Ottoman houses and Roman ruins and the view from the harbour of the surrounding mountains is amazing.
The real reason I went there was to try to get to Termessos, an ancient warrior city that managed to fend off both Alexander the Great and the Romans. Its way up in the mountains north of Antalya and is nothing short of spectacular. We (that would be Kat, Chris and Debs, my friend from Olympos) rented a car and made our way up there. We got off to a poor start. Or, rather, I got off to a poor start and forgot to take off the hand-brake at first. The car started smoking and we all freaked out. But a moment later everything was fine and we made it there fairly quickly.
The ruins were all quite splendid and the theatre was particularly impressive, with views down several valleys all the way out to the sea. The only downside was a chilling wind coming down from the north. I was basking in the sun a few days before, but now I was wishing I had brought my hat and gloves with me. We also visited a nearby cave that had been inhabited almost continuously for 25,000 years and got a delicious pide lunch at an unassuming little restaurant in the small town close by. Upon our return we went a Turkish Bath where I let an old man scrub me down, clean me off, and massage me.
And that brings me to today. I did some X-mas shopping in the morning and hopped a bus to Fethiye in the afternoon. The road cut inland and there was a smattering of snow about, despite the clear blue sky. But considering there has been massive flooding elsewhere in Turkey, and the news showed people building snowmen in Istanbul, I'm not complaining. I just don't think I'll be doing any more swimming.
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