Part 7: Berlin, London, and home

This will be the last bulk e-mail I send since I'm back in Toronto now and returning to work on Monday. It sucks, but it was a good time.

What can I say about Berlin? I spent a week there, and loved pretty much every minute of it. I'm not going to give a day-by-day account because that would be boring. And, besides, at this point its all blurred together. Berlin is one of the great cities of the world (possibly THE). It's one of those places that just exudes energy and life at all times of the day. Theres tonnes of cultural offerings, the nightlife is amazing, but mostly, just walking around is enjoyable Not to mention the beautiful women with excellent style, riding around on their bikes - all big plusses.

The average day would begin with me waking up, possibly a little hungover, enjoying a cup of tea, and then going out to see the city. I was staying at a very relaxing hostel in Prenzlauer-Berg, which is a real hipster neighbourhood filled with millions of cafes, bars, restaurants, and cool little shops. Generally I would walk down Kastianenallee before deciding what to do.

Sightseeing wasn't really a priority, and several times I would make way to one museum only to decide that I wasn't really up for it. Last time I was in Berlin I spent every day jumping around from museum to museum and this time I wanted to do it differently. Thats not to say I didn't go to any. I visited the Pergamon Museum one evening when it was free to admire the ancient Greek altar that they had so carefully dismantled from its original location in Turkey. I also popped into the German History museum to satisfy the history nerd in me. The Berlinische Gallery was also quite impressive with some very good modern art and photography exhibits. And, how could I miss the worlds only Ramones Museum, with its 300 bits of Ramones memorabilia? Mostly though I spent my time wandering between Prenzlauer Berg, Mitte and Kreuzberg, with one foray to the East Side Gallery in Fredrichsain. I never did head west of the Brandenburg Gate - hopefully I didn't miss much.

Nights were always busy. After spending a month in Turkey and only spending two nights out in my whole time there I wanted to enjoy the Berlin nightlife. Sometimes I would hang out with people from the hostel, others I would make my own fun. My first night I went out on my own to Kreuzberg to catch the Mojomatics at Wild at Heart. The show was pretty good and I met Alberto, a Spanish guy who was about to open up his own record store. It was good timing because I was about to leave when I started chatting to him and his friends. Three hours later I was finally on my way back to the hostel, and I dozed off on the tram but fortunately woke up only two stops too late.

That was Wednesday night. Thursday I found out that a friend of a friend was DJing at this place near the hostel called Dr Pong. I gathered up a few people, telling them I had no idea what to expect and off we went. And it was great. The bar had a ping pong table in the front room and a communal game was being played. People walked around the table in a circle and took turns taking shots. If you missed, you were out until a winner was decided, and then a new game was begun. David played music "that was good for walking around a table to," as he put it. I made the final once, but really, there was one girl who dominated the table and would flash you an evil grin every time she'd knock you out.

I also spent another night hanging out with Alberto, and his two, beautiful, Spanish lady friends. We went to White Trash Fast Food Bar where he seemed to know everybody, included the wait staff and free drinks were common. It all culminated Saturday night as a group of people from the hostel were going out on a pub crawl and I agreed to join them. We were two Aussies, a Quebecois couple, and two Danish girls. I can't go into details because my parents are reading this, but it was a good night that lead to a lazy Sunday and a delicious, all-you-can-eat brunch.

I'm sure there are things I'm missing here. I bought a pile of books at a really good English bookstore, and Alberto let me into his record store to spend some more money there, though not as much as I could have. One thing that kept going through my mind while there was, "I wonder if they hire non-German speakers?" It is a place I would like to move to for a bit. I guess its time to sign up for German courses and send out some resumes.

That was my week in Berlin. Before flying home I had to go back to London for two days. I stayed with my friend Guy and we started a band called Les Bagles. We got drunk, played music, went to see the Borat Movie and that was about it. The flight home was delayed by three hours, which was no fun at all. Yesterday it was cold and rainy, and I had to walk to the post office to pick up the package I had sent home. There was Turkish apple tea in the parcel, and drinking it brings me back. But seven weeks is a good amount of time and hopefully going back to work won't completely drain out my soul.

Turkey - part 6

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. 

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.

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.

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.