Turkey - part 3

Welcome to part 3 of my travels. When I left off last I was in Cappadocia and was about to head off on a three day tour to eastern Turkey. Well, now I'm still in Cappadocia, but have had some good adventures since.

The tour started off well. I was picked up from my hostel (where I slept in a cave room) and we hit the road almost immediately. Our destination was the town of Kahta at the foot of Mount Nemrut, some 600km to the east. Back home this would take about 6 hours, but on Turkish roads in took about 10, including several stops along the way.

The first was at a Caravansarai - an ancient trading post set up along the silk road. It was in a dusty town and the locals were clearly as curious to see us - a mixture of Asians and Caucasians - as we were to see the Caravansarai. It was a dusty little town and I wasn't all that impressed with the trading post, but I can say that accomodations for travellers have improved immensely in the past 500+ years, and I'm
ever-so greatful for that.

The rest of the drive to Kahta was spent driving through the impressive Taurus mountains. We stopped once at a scenic viewpoint, and another time to try
"world famous" Mado ice cream. It tasted like regular ice cream but had to be eaten with a knife and fork because it was so thick.

We arrived in Kahta at about 7pm, checked into the hotel, had dinner, and were told we'd be woken up 4:15am in order to catch the sunrise from the top of Mount Nemrut. Unfortunately I was awake even earlier with a massive stomach ache and dizziness. None the less, I was in the mini-bus at 4:30, ready to be driven up the mountain. It was cold and rainy and the road up the mountain was clouded in fog. At times you couldn't see more than 10 feet ahead. The road twisted its way up and up, almost all the way to the top. We jumped out into the cold rain, and ran right into a nearby tea shack, hoping things would improve. Clearly there would be no sunrise on this morning.

Mt. Nemrut is the site of King Aniochus I burial tomb. Its the highest mountain in south-eastern Turkey and about 2000 years ago, at the top he had giant statues erected to the Gods, with one of himself alongside, probably with the assumption he would be joining them upon his death. Over the years the heads of the statues fell off and they now lie on the ground next to them. The site is quite impressive. Unfortunately, the thunder storm raging around us slightly dampened the
experience (pun intended). We explored the top of the mountain and then retreated back to the tea shack to warm up. We later found out that a Japanese tourist
had been struck by lightning shortly after we left the top.

By the time we left to drive back down things had cleared up and we were treated to splendid views of the surrounding mountains and valleys. We stopped for breakfast then drove off to Sanliurfa, near the Syrian border. Sanliurfa's claim to fame is that its the birthplace of the prophet Abraham and where monotheism was born over 4,000 years ago. Its an important pilgrimage sight and people come from all over to pay their respects. The old part of the city was very nice and the bazaar was fascinating because it is actually used by the locals, as opposed to the one in Istanbul, which is pretty much tourists only.

The next day was spent driving back to Cappadocia, with a few uneventful stops along the way. We got back Saturday evening, I checked in to the hostel and pretty much went straight to bed. Sunday was spent lazing around and yesterday I took a tour to the more remote parts of Cappadocia. We visited an underground city where Christians would hide out to avoid attacking Arabs and Persians. It went seven levels underground and people were clearly all very short back then because I spent most of my time doing the duck walk. After the underground city we went for a very pleasant hike in the Ihlara Valley - a very deep Gorge with a river running through it.

I also met a few people on the tour and last night we went out for a very faux-Turkish evening. After a meal of Lamb kebab (about my 20th kebab of the trip), we went to a local bar and ordered glasses of raki (like Sambuca, but better), and a water pipe. I got a nice little buzz going and at about 11 I went back to my room to sleep. And that I did, not waking up until 9:30 this morning.

Tonight I'm heading off down to the coast where I'm hoping to catch a late-year beach holiday. I'll be staying in a treehouse hostel in Olympos.

Turkey - part 2

I hope you're all well. Personally, I'm doing great and couldn't be happier. So far Turkey has been treating me great. The weather has been amazing (over 20 every day), and life is good.

Much has happened since I last wrote. I believe I was in Istanbul then. Now I'm in Capadoccia, pretty much smack in the middle of the country. The scenery here
is amazing, with kodak moments at almost every turn. But that will wait, first back to Istanbul.

The rest of my stay in Istanbul was great. I spent my time seeing the sights, walking the streets, eating the food, and even getting a taste of the nightlife. I
visited Topkapi palace, where many Ottoman Sultans lived it up, and left the treasures behind to show it. There were rooms fool of Chinese pottery, several
dedicated to priceless jewels, and a collection of memorabilia from the Prophet Mohammed. I also took in the archeological museum, showing off the ancient
finds throughout the empire. Most impressive of all was Alexander's tomb - quite possibly the most impressive sarcophogus ever. Also, unlike many other
museums of its ilk, this one actually displayed the skeletal remains of the pharoahs, not just their tombs.

Walking around Istanbul is how you really experience it. I took a stroll through one park where couples were making out on every bench - it was slightly
awkward. Elsewhere, women went almost unseen. One night we got taken out to a pretty shitty club with a Turkish band doing really cheesy covers like "Sex Bomb" and "I Will Survive". Downstairs they played bad hip-hop, but it was interesting watching the kids socialize. It looked much like any club back home. It was incredibly expensive though and I left before the band played the Blues Brothers medley. Ah well.

I must make mention of the great people I met at the hostel. Mostly they were Aussies or Canucks, but there was also a Swede, several Kiwis, and one guy from Iceland. I spent one day wandering about the downtown area with Chris, one of Canada's top figure skaters. And, on my last day, I was accompanied up the Bosphorous by two lovely and entertaining Australian girls. The views from an ancient fortress to the Black Sea and back to Istanbul were amazing. The greasy fish lunch was not so good.

Now I'm in Capadoccia. Getting here was an adventure. I was able to get a cheap flight out here, which I jumped at because I hate taking 12 hour overnight bus
rides, and the price difference was worth it. Unfortunately I decided to leave on the day after Ramazan ended, which is a hug holiday here. The tram out to the airport was absolutely jam packed. I watched five by before giving up and forking over for a taxi. Suddenly the trip wasn't so cheap. I spent the night in a dingy hotel (without hot water) in Kayseri before heading to Goreme, where I am now, having arrived yesterday at noon.

Goreme is a gem of a place and its no surprise there's almost more hotels and pensions here than homes. Its hard to describe the landscape. Its somewhat
mountainous and very dry but what makes it really stick out are the valleys filled with "fairy chimneys" - strange rock pinnacles that dot the landscape and
also provide shelter for many people. The room I'm in right now is actually inside one. Yesterday I took a hike around "Love Valley", which simply provided a
taste of things to come.

Today I walked over to the Open Air Museum, which consists of a series of churches, some a thousand years old, cut into the rocks. Most were decorated with frescoes, some of which have stood up quite well over time. Strangely, when the Ottomans took over the area they decided to scratch out the eyes of all the paintings, for some reason pertaining to Islam.

After that I rented a mountain bike and took off to explore the surrounding area. I stuck mostly to the main roads, but took the opportunity to duck into
valleys filled with fairy chimneys when possible. I also managed to take a nearly disastrous wrong turn on the way back. I though the dirt road I followed would
take me down into the valley but instead it simply ended at a cliff - with 30 foot drops to either side. Grudgingly I dragged my bike back up the hill to the
main road and cruised back into town the easy way. On the brightside, I did see a fox, and the views were amazing.

Tomorrow I'm taking a tour to Mt. Nemrut to see these: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemrut_%28mountain%29
It's a three day affair and the itinerary seems quite exhausting, but the price is right and they keep staring at me from the cover of my Lonely Planet, so I feel it necessary to see it while I'm here.

Turkey - Part 1

As the subject says, I'm in Istanbul right now. I arrived yesterday afternoon, after a really nice four day stay in London. I stayed with my aunt who provided excellent hospitality and pointed me out to places I haven't been to before. After spending the first day sleeping and getting over jetlag, I spent the next few days wandering about the city, checking out various markets, and making a stop at the British Museum, that great monument to the splendours of empire. I met some old friends at the Tate Modern to try out the new exhibit - a giant slide, and went for drinks at the oldest pubs in the city. My last night there was also spent out sampling the night life, before trekking across the city to the bus station, making my way out to the airport and catching a 6:15am flight to Istanbul.

Istanbul is a very impressive city. The drive into the centre revealed a city that has grown a bit too fast for its own good, but is still very impressive. Despite being a Muslim city, the downtown area could have been anywhere in Europe. The fashions were the same, and the stores included many western chains.

It was only as I made my way to my hostel in the old city that I realized what makes Istanbul so great. The walk took me over the Golden Horn, with great views
around the city and over the Bosphorous. Then, it passed right in between the Aya Sofya and the Blue Mosque, two of the most impressive sights I've ever seen. The hostel I'm at is really comfortable with a great lounge on the top floor and a patio overlooking the old city.

I woke up this morning for a decent breakfast and then found a couple of fellow hostellers and headed off to the Spice Bazaar and then the Grand Bazaar. Shopping in Turkey is an experience unto itself. Bargaining is part of the fun, and what makes it such an experience. You never take the first offer, and walking away can often bring you the price you want. Both Bazaar's have hundred's of boutiques selling mostly the same stuff - spices, tea, rugs, hookahs and more. I haven't bought anything yet, but I think I have a good idea what it takes to get the best deal.

On the way home I stopped off at the Aya Sofya and went inside. It was originally a church, then a mosque and is now a museum. A giant scaffold scarred the inside, but it was still incredibly impressive. The shere size of the building is breathtaking and the mosaics and murals show a really interesting mix of Christian and Muslim imagery.

Memphis road trip - part 3

Sunday morning Dan and I woke up at ungodly hour of 10:30 so we could make it to Al Green's church on time. We managed to shower, get packed up and checked out by 11 and 20 minutes later we were at the Full Gospel Tabernacle Church in South Memphis to see and hear the Reverend Al Green. Unfortunately he wasn't there, but his replacement was very worthy. We thought we were late but fortunately people were still settling in and the reverend was welcoming all the guests (mostly fellow hungover Oblivians fans). Unfortunately we sat in a bad spot so we didn't get to shake his hand.

This wasn't any boring church service. There was a band, a choir and several parishioners sang. The preacher was great - he was dancing around, calling out "Praise the lord!", "God is good!", "Hallelujah!" and more all the time. He'd invite the parishioners up to the front and would pray to get rid of their problems and talk about how the Lord saved them or will save them. Several spiritual songs were sung throughout the service, and man can these people sing. There was one women who was incredibly intense - she really looked like God was inside her. She had an amazing voice as well. All in all it was an incredibly experience. The passion and spirituality in the room was amazing and you could really tell what it all meant to the people there. The band was really funky and soulful and the choir could really belt it out. It wasn't quite like that James Brown scene in The Blues Brothers, but it was close. I donated a few dollars and we left at about 2:00.

On the way out of town we stopped by Graceland, which was just up the road from the church. We didn't go in or even see the house because it was set so far back. Instead we parked the car in the taxi stand, ran around the parking lot a bit trying to get a look at the place and finally settled for taking pictures next to the sign by the road. Then we were off. We filled up with gas tank and proceeded to kick it a full five hours non-stop through Nashville, Louisvillle, Kentucky, and other small towns before we finally took a break for more gas and some food. Then we plowed on for another long while pretty much straight to the border with minimal stops. This took us through Cincinatti which has a skyline very reminiscent of Montreal, especially as you cross the Ohio River and see the it backed up by rolling hills around the city. But there was no time for stopping and we kept going through Dayton, Toledo and Detroit. It was like being in a James Brown song. At one point there was a terrible fog on the road and I couldn't see more than ten or so white-dashed lines in front. It made for some scary and eerie, yet invigorating driving.

Finally, at the border we payed the toll, stopped at the duty free for cheap liquor and then headed through customs. Contrary to what you'd expect from two low-twenty-somethings in a dirty, smelly car, who've been driving for 13 hours straight and must look like crap - well, we made it through with absolutely no problems. We kept on rolling down the 401, finally back in good ol' Canada where we're no longer known as the Canadians, as we were in Memphis. The sky opened up, the rain came down in torrents and finally, when we were within an hour Dan's place in Waterloo, we hit the wall. Both of us were exhausted from a lack of sleep and 15 hours straight driving. So we pulled over, slept for an hour and then finally got on the way to Waterloo. We showed up at 8:30 AM after 17 hours on the road. I slept on the couch for a few hours, woke up and made the final stretch to Toronto, finally getting home just after noon on Monday.

Overall, it was an amazing trip. As I said back in part one, I don't know how I survived, but I did and I have no regrets at all. Now I just need to start a band.

Memphis road trip - Part two

Saturday morning I woke up around 11, which was way too early but I couldn't fall back to sleep. I wasn't hungover so Dan and I got moving early. It was hot out - 25 degrees and sunny, a nice change from the dreary fall weather back home. Our first stop was a garage to get the headlights fixed. Unwilling to actually drive around or do it myself, I took it to the closest garage and got ripped off. While we waited for the work to be done we went for a walk around "downtown" Memphis. Memphis is the most run-down city I've seen after Sarajevo, and Memphis never went through a thousand day siege. The roads were falling apart, the sidewalks are in horrible condition, there are boarded up buildings everywhere and its completely lifeless. No wonder so much trashy rock and roll comes out of Memphis these days. I couldn't imagine anything but sleazy, trashy, dirty music originating from the city - anything else just wouldn't seem right.

Our first stop was Sun Studios. It was much smaller than expected and seemingly in the middle of nowhere. It was surrounded by empty lots, run down shops, and boarded up buildings. But the Sun sign is still intact and the lobby was filled with memorabilia, lots of Elvis pictures and pretty much everything else you'd expect. We didn't take the tour because it was too expensive and we heard it's not really worth it. We left Sun and headed down to Beale Street, which is where Memphis blues originated and musicians from all over congregated and playd. Nowadays its mostly tourist trap, though some of its charm remains and one great, dicount store remains. Surprisingly, on a hot, sunny Saturday afternoon it was really quiet. I guess everyone was out seeing George W. Bush, who also happened to be in Memphis that weekend.

After getting the car we drove down to Stax Studios. We read our Eric Oblivian-produced map poorly and ended up on some side streets in a run down, black neighbourhood where it felt like everyone was watching us two white boys with the foreign license plate drive by. We made it to the Stax museum and it was awesome. There were great displays set up outlining the history of the label and soul in general. They had two walls displaying original copies of every LP, EP and single that Stax ever put out. The highlight was Isaac Hayes turquoise and gold cadillac/pimp-mobile. Oh yeah, the whole thing was backed by that sweet soul music that made the label so legendary.

At five o-clock the museum closed and it was time to check out King Louie at Legba, Greg Oblivian's record store. Recording pickings were slim as most of the good stuff was already picked over by all the out-of-towners who had been to the store before us that weekend. King Louie was too hung over to play so we missed out on him as well. We got our first real meal of the weekend and then back to the Red Roof for a nap. But that didn't happen so after an hour of watching Total Recall we finally gave up and commenced drinking with our motel neighbours from Atlanta.

Then we went back to the Hi-Tone for the Saturday night show featuring The Final Solutions, The Lost Sounds and Viva-American-Death-Ray. The first two bands were good, especially the Lost Sounds, who blew me away. Viva was pretty dull so instead I left to grab a 40 of Bush Light from the gas station next door and drank in the parking lot with a whole lot of other people. We talked about music, Goners, and drinking.

At some point we left and went to an after-party at someone's house. It took a while for people to get there but once things picked up they just took off like crazy. The guy's house was a veritable shrine to Kiss and he also had a killer music and DVD collection. We watched a live recording of Little Richard and that got everyone dancing and hollering. Next he threw on a documentary on the amazing, original one-man-band Hasil Adkins. The best quote being, "Hasil used to listen to Hank Williams on the radio and he thought it was Hank all alone playing all those instruments, so thats how he taught himself how to write songs".

Someone was driving back to the the Red Roof so I went with them. We were going to party some more but we were out of beer and the management forced us into our rooms. It was 5 AM, so it was probably for the better, since the next day we had to drive back home.

Memphis road trip - part one

I'm back from a whirlwind weekend in Memphis, Tennessee - where to begin?

A quick summary would tell you that the drive there was dull as hell. But the Oblivians made it all worth it and then some. Holy shit did they rock! Memphis was a lot more run down then I expected. The Stax museum was great, as was Al Green's church. Lots of cool, friendly people. Lots of partying, drinking, etc.. And not nearly enough sleep. In some ways I'm amazed I survived.

And now the long:

I left Toronto at about 7:30 Thursday evening. Got up to Waterloo at around nine to pick up Dan and give him a crack lesson on how to drive stick-shift so I wouldn't have to drive all the way. By 9:30 we hit the road with The Oblivians blaring, full of energy and excitement. And then we missed the turnoff to get onto the 401! We detoured around some country roads until we found our back to the highway. So far, not so good. The rest of the drive was so, so long. Getting across the border was surprisingly easy. You'd think showing up at customs at midnight saying you're going to Memphis for a show would lead to intense questioning, but not tonight. We drove for about 5 hours straight, playing every Oblivians release we had, when the headlights on my car burnt out somewhere around Lansing, Michigan. We pissed off lots of truckers by driving with the brights on for a bit, but their flashing brights and blaring horns was enough to send us to a rest stop for a very restless sleep in the car until dawn broke.

The second it did we got going again for the interminable trek through Illinois. Yep, nine hours of nothing but flat, featureless farm land from the outskirts of Chicago all the way to Memphis. We were going through the U.S. heartland, where people love their guns even more than they love Jesus. We stopped for lunch at a Subway restaurant. Dan is vegan, and he certainly raised eyebrows when he ordered a vegetarian sub. Not to mention our Canadian accents stood out about as much as they would in Australia. Pretty much every car in the parking lot had a bumper sticker praising either God, Jesus, or the NRA. At one point we passed by this massive cross to the side of the road. Dan drove for most of this stretch because I would have gone insane if I had to drive such a long, boring, flat stretch of road. Not to mention I could barely stay awake.

We got into Memphis at about 4:30 PM and made it to the Red Roof Inn pretty easily. It was nothing fancy but it was clean and had cable TV. The place was filled with people in town for the Oblivians reunion. We failed in our attempt to have a nap and instead headed over to the pre-show hotdog party at Murphy's bar. Taxis are notoriously hard to come by in Memphis, so we decided to walk. It didn't seem to far on the map, but I'm pretty sure we're the first people to walk those streets in decades. The sidewalks were falling apart and there was nary anyone else around. I had visions of being a victim of a drive-by. Of course, we made it to the bar safely. A M.O.T.O. cover band was playing and the BBQ was churning free dogs for everyone. Dan and I were both pretty out of it at this point so not much socializing was done, though one friendly Texas woman wrote "East Action" on my fists.

That was good fun, but it was really just a warm-up for the main event. At about ten we headed over to the Hi-Tone for the show. I began the festivities there with a shot of bourbon, followed by multiple beers. I hung out by the merch table while Greg Oblivian set things up and managed to score a t-shirt, a copy of the latest Oblivians release (basically their very first recordings) and a copy of the very first Compulsive Gamblers seven inch from 1992. And then me and Dan began to worry about where to stash our merch when our neighbours at the Red Roof, a really great group of people from Atlanta whom we'd only shared brief glances with at the hotel, let us keep our stuff in their little hiding place.

Which meant we could rock out for the Cheater Slicks. My memory of them is hazy because at this point I was so tired I had to sit down at the back. Which is one step above the guy from Portland, Oregon who admitted he got so drunk before the show that he passed out in the parking lot and missed everything. Everyone assures me the Cheater Slicks were great. Oh well. I'm only human, and unlike a large portion of the crowd, I don't do drugs.

At about midnight The Oblivians hit the stage. And let me say it is the greatest show I've ever seen. The band was absolutely on fire and the crowd was eating it up. Everyone was singing along and dancing and pogoing up and down non-stop. Greg Oblivian started things off just as I hoped with "Motorcycle Leather Boy" in all its "sissy-punk-faggot-ass-take-it-up-the-butt" glory. Greg played his songs for about 40 minutes, with some of Eric Oblivian's songs sprinkled in. I can't remember exactly which songs were played but highlights were definitely the sing-along to "Live the Life", "Vietnam War Blues", and "Pill Popper, pts 1&2" (the latter played with only 4 strings). Next up Jack Oblivian stood up and Greg went back to assume drum duties, while Eric stayed up front. Jack began with "Strong Come On" and continued through a whole lot of killer songs. The set finished with "Never Change" which killed. "Like a broken record/I play the same old song/And if I ever fix it/It'll still be wrong/I'll Never Change!" It was unanimously decided afterwards that this was the theme song to pretty much everyone there. At least for that night.

For the encore Greg came out playing Jack's right-handed guitar left handed. Pretty much on the spot he figured out how to play "Sunday You Need Love". Second song in the encore was a scorching "Mary Lou". The Oblivians closed the show with "I'm Not a Sicko, There's a Plate in My Head". The whole performance was so intense. They played for at least two hours and played pretty much everything. The only dissapointment was no "Bad Man", but I think that was more because Greg basically broke every string on his guitar so he couldn't play it.

After the show we all headed back to the Red Roof for an after party. Despite barely sleeping the night before I joined in the festivities. I ended up hanging out with some kids from Portland as well as a guy who used to play in The Woggles back in the early 90s. Everyone there was in a band except Dan and I. About 5:30 AM, while the party was still going, I finally crashed because I just couldn't stay up any longer. The surprising thing is that I never really got that drunk but it was still one of the best nights I've ever had.