My king size bed
My pets
Not using a money belt or worrying some one will steal my passport
English, though not as much as youd think
Non-smokers
Being honestly married to Hannah
Modes of transport that do not make me nauseous
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Things i miss:
Moving on
Today we come down off the mountain and go back to istanbul. Good bye peace and nice people, hello museums and pushy sales people.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Tomatoes and cucumbers
We just had the most amazing meal of "Turkish pancakes" consisting of some thin flat bread with cheese and scallions and spices inside. And a glass of wine all under a grape arbor overlooking the mountains we just hiked around. Oh and the ocean, over which later we will watch the sun set. This shit is insane.
When I was sitting with Jeff in their pension Daniela (chief negotiator extraordinaire) and her trusty associates were negotiating for a private yacht tour so the seven of us wouldn't have to be bothered by the masses. The next morning we sailed.
Started off glorious, sitting on the front in our bathing suits and sunglasses as our boat floated through turquoise waters towards little uninhabited coves where we would put down anchor and literally dive into the mediterranean. I didnt want any annoyances to interfere with my enjoyment so i cut off my hair with my trusty swiss army knife and tossed the curls into the sea.
At lunch time things got a little rough when we stopped and sat on the rocking boat to eat. Despite pre-medicating, wrist bands and various Ginger products I was stuck to the hot front middle of the boat where it was most still while the rest ate swordfish in the shade. When finally we were moving again i recovered only to be stopped again later in a wavy cove and decided it was better to tread water for an hour than feel sick. So while tea and cookies were served I swam, then got tired and clung shivering to the side of the boat. It was a low moment. How anyone could have a low moment in such a paradise is not clear even to me but there it was. Despite the luxury I was happy to be back on land.
Our friends left for Istanbul the next day and we headed a little up into the mountains to this rustic retreat where retarded new age hippies come to fast for weeks but we came to eat. Delicious vegetarian turkish dinner and breakfast are included which is good because we are pretty isolated. We eat crackers for lunch except today and swim in the pool and nap and read. We had to get this far from the possibility of doing anything to really relax.
When I was sitting with Jeff in their pension Daniela (chief negotiator extraordinaire) and her trusty associates were negotiating for a private yacht tour so the seven of us wouldn't have to be bothered by the masses. The next morning we sailed.
Started off glorious, sitting on the front in our bathing suits and sunglasses as our boat floated through turquoise waters towards little uninhabited coves where we would put down anchor and literally dive into the mediterranean. I didnt want any annoyances to interfere with my enjoyment so i cut off my hair with my trusty swiss army knife and tossed the curls into the sea.
At lunch time things got a little rough when we stopped and sat on the rocking boat to eat. Despite pre-medicating, wrist bands and various Ginger products I was stuck to the hot front middle of the boat where it was most still while the rest ate swordfish in the shade. When finally we were moving again i recovered only to be stopped again later in a wavy cove and decided it was better to tread water for an hour than feel sick. So while tea and cookies were served I swam, then got tired and clung shivering to the side of the boat. It was a low moment. How anyone could have a low moment in such a paradise is not clear even to me but there it was. Despite the luxury I was happy to be back on land.
Our friends left for Istanbul the next day and we headed a little up into the mountains to this rustic retreat where retarded new age hippies come to fast for weeks but we came to eat. Delicious vegetarian turkish dinner and breakfast are included which is good because we are pretty isolated. We eat crackers for lunch except today and swim in the pool and nap and read. We had to get this far from the possibility of doing anything to really relax.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
pictures!
ın order from top to bottom - backwards chronologıcal order -
mt nemrut at sunrıse
balloon rıde over cappadoccıa
hıkıng ın cappadoccıa wıth tour
ınsane hookah bar where they wouldnt brıng us the bıll and kept brıngıng us drınks
blue mosque
more later!
mt nemrut at sunrıse
balloon rıde over cappadoccıa
hıkıng ın cappadoccıa wıth tour
ınsane hookah bar where they wouldnt brıng us the bıll and kept brıngıng us drınks
blue mosque
more later!
Sunday, July 24, 2011
paradise found
some friends are making plans for the group tomorrow and i am chilling with jeff (one of the boyfriends) in the pension letting them negotiate it out. as soon as we started the planning my blood pressure skyrocketed so i decided to trust hannah with my vote, she's much better at groups than i am.
so. we are in fethiye now, which you should google image search because it's beautiful. we arrived here yesterday on an airplane from sanilurfa which is on the border with syria and 107 degrees. our tour of the area guaranteed an air conditioned bus and an english speaking guide, neither was true so we sweated our way from site to site and just sort of looked around. fortunately, the looking was incredible. there are so many ancient ruins around there that they don't even bother to take care of all of them, it's crazy.
description of sleep in last week:
-monday night, night bus to cappadoccia, did not sleep, proceeded to tour until 9p.
-tuesday night slept well.
-thursday morning woke up at 4am for hot air balloon ride (champagne served afterwards in the landing field, i still have a thistle in my finger.) started east turkey tour, got on hot van and toured until 9p, ending in a hotel with green-lit stairs and roaches.
-friday "morning" woke up 2:30am to get on bus by 3a to see sun rise over giant head statues at mt nemrut, toured for the next 19 hours. not until midnight did we have next day plans arranged, bought plane tickets and hotel from iphone.
-saturday morning up at 7a, proceed to airport and 4 hour layover in istanbul, then to west coast, where now we are, in a hotel with a pool and jasmine vines that scent the air over looking the bay.
last night we were about to go to sleep after fish and wine dinner when our phone rang and we were told that daniela and emilie were downstairs! (high school friends). so we drank another bottle of wine with them and went to sleep at 1:30am.
this morning i washed our sweaty, dust-covered clothes from the last several days by pouring dr bronners over them and stomping on them in the shower. critical as i only brought 3 pairs of underwear. turns out the $6 lace target underwear is as comfortable and quick-drying as the $25 fancy traveller underwear.
i hear our friends outside the door so i should conclude.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Sleepless in cappadoccia
Now we are in urgup small town full of cave hotels, wineries and ceramics. This evening walked a kilometer out of town to a winery. (exist now in metric and 24 hr clock. Luckily we are nurses and know the 24 HR clock). Tasted 3 wines and liked the most expensive (of course, what can I say it was complex). Now we carry heavy bottle until we find room with fridge to properly chill.
We arrived yesterday morning exhausted after an overnight bus ride to a hotel which claimed it had never heard of us even though the tour sent us there and then charged us 10 lira for breakfast. The proprietor took pity an let us shower in dirty rooms. Not all in group so lucky.
Odd little tour guide picked us, 6 Australians, 1 Fillipina, and 2 hungarians up, drove around, explained little (but did say he would "organize our programmation") then took us to shopping areas presumably to earn commission. We did go to underground city where early christians fled carved out of volcanic ash but it is 7 stories down with narrow long passages and I panicked after five minutes and fled backward shoving Japanese tourists aside to find air. H was nice enough to come out w me.
Apparently the system is tour companies overbook hotels and then put you in where you fit only where that is seems to change every hour. Eventually we were settled in to room looking like a convent with stone walls an altar and two sparse twin beds.
After sleeping for 11 wonderful hours this morning was much improved with different guide ( who kept pronouncing unique as eunuch which was amusing in context), hiked in beautiful scenery resembling new Mexico with crazy volcanic formations, drank fresh orange juice and saw frescoes of Jesus painted thousands of years ago.
Tomorrow 4:45am hot air balloon ride!
Oh interestingly we had to write our parents first names along with our own to check in to hotel here. To embrace my wife I have to hide in the bathroom.
Oh also twice we have accepted offers to drink apple tea and chat with store owners. V nice.
We arrived yesterday morning exhausted after an overnight bus ride to a hotel which claimed it had never heard of us even though the tour sent us there and then charged us 10 lira for breakfast. The proprietor took pity an let us shower in dirty rooms. Not all in group so lucky.
Odd little tour guide picked us, 6 Australians, 1 Fillipina, and 2 hungarians up, drove around, explained little (but did say he would "organize our programmation") then took us to shopping areas presumably to earn commission. We did go to underground city where early christians fled carved out of volcanic ash but it is 7 stories down with narrow long passages and I panicked after five minutes and fled backward shoving Japanese tourists aside to find air. H was nice enough to come out w me.
Apparently the system is tour companies overbook hotels and then put you in where you fit only where that is seems to change every hour. Eventually we were settled in to room looking like a convent with stone walls an altar and two sparse twin beds.
After sleeping for 11 wonderful hours this morning was much improved with different guide ( who kept pronouncing unique as eunuch which was amusing in context), hiked in beautiful scenery resembling new Mexico with crazy volcanic formations, drank fresh orange juice and saw frescoes of Jesus painted thousands of years ago.
Tomorrow 4:45am hot air balloon ride!
Oh interestingly we had to write our parents first names along with our own to check in to hotel here. To embrace my wife I have to hide in the bathroom.
Oh also twice we have accepted offers to drink apple tea and chat with store owners. V nice.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
"can I help you spend your money?"
Hotel clerk was too busy to help us find a train ( didn't seem to be occupied but we took his word). Walked to train station was told no trains to e turkey. Came back depressed and drank half bottle of Spanish wine from airport on balcony. Napped.
Take two. Email friends to say we are going to meet them after all in west turkey. Spend hour figuring out which airline to use. Internet fail. On way out to buy in person clerk states finally called train and we can go to different part of e turkey near where Antiochus is buried under giant stone heads. Fabulous but must run to station before close. Streets crowded w tourists and we sweat our way there only to be told no more sleeper cars for women. Can't travel with men. Ok. So back to plan must find travel agency to find plane tickets south to meet friends. Wander and sweat more.
Find agency at random. When we state our intended destination (west turkey to meet friends) the guy misheard h and thought she wanted to go to nemrut dagi (big stone head place). Fate! So he plans us a trip there and tours to cappadocia (strange rock formations and cave hotels) and a balloon ride. And thinks we can pay cash which we cannot.
Leave tour agency grateful to hand over itinerary and money so we can relax. Find food at restaurant called oceans seven (hehe). Then to bar and hookah lounge in backpacker area... Friendly at first then like hotel California we could not get anyone to bring us the bill. Literal tourist trap. Finally shower wash clothes in sink and bed at last.
Take two. Email friends to say we are going to meet them after all in west turkey. Spend hour figuring out which airline to use. Internet fail. On way out to buy in person clerk states finally called train and we can go to different part of e turkey near where Antiochus is buried under giant stone heads. Fabulous but must run to station before close. Streets crowded w tourists and we sweat our way there only to be told no more sleeper cars for women. Can't travel with men. Ok. So back to plan must find travel agency to find plane tickets south to meet friends. Wander and sweat more.
Find agency at random. When we state our intended destination (west turkey to meet friends) the guy misheard h and thought she wanted to go to nemrut dagi (big stone head place). Fate! So he plans us a trip there and tours to cappadocia (strange rock formations and cave hotels) and a balloon ride. And thinks we can pay cash which we cannot.
Leave tour agency grateful to hand over itinerary and money so we can relax. Find food at restaurant called oceans seven (hehe). Then to bar and hookah lounge in backpacker area... Friendly at first then like hotel California we could not get anyone to bring us the bill. Literal tourist trap. Finally shower wash clothes in sink and bed at last.
rooftop terraces
merhaba. greetıngs from ıstanbul. we had breakfast on a rooftop deck.
that was from hannah. ı sent her back up to the room to work on somethıng else because she ıs gettıng antsy about goıng to the traın statıon to fınd out when we can go to eastern turkey. our entıre plan depends on what day the traın leaves but the websıte ın englısh ıs terrıble and our turkısh ıs worse.
last nıght we had dınner on a dıfferent rooftop deck rıght ın front of a gıant and hıstorıc mosque. no ıdea whıch one ıt was, there are a lot. when the call to prayer sounded durıng our kebab-feast you could hear speakers all over the cıty lıke a call to prayer choır.
the hotel ıs nıce - thank you trıpadvısor - and no one offered us sıngle twın beds when we arrıved. we were all ready to say oh weve been frıends sınce hıgh school and have shared beds many tımes so no need to change around any reservatıons. thıs tıme around davıd stokman ıs my faux husband and krıs mendez ıs hannahs. apparently they were unable to get away from work long enough to joın us on thıs voyage. they are wıth us ın spırıt.
that was from hannah. ı sent her back up to the room to work on somethıng else because she ıs gettıng antsy about goıng to the traın statıon to fınd out when we can go to eastern turkey. our entıre plan depends on what day the traın leaves but the websıte ın englısh ıs terrıble and our turkısh ıs worse.
last nıght we had dınner on a dıfferent rooftop deck rıght ın front of a gıant and hıstorıc mosque. no ıdea whıch one ıt was, there are a lot. when the call to prayer sounded durıng our kebab-feast you could hear speakers all over the cıty lıke a call to prayer choır.
the hotel ıs nıce - thank you trıpadvısor - and no one offered us sıngle twın beds when we arrıved. we were all ready to say oh weve been frıends sınce hıgh school and have shared beds many tımes so no need to change around any reservatıons. thıs tıme around davıd stokman ıs my faux husband and krıs mendez ıs hannahs. apparently they were unable to get away from work long enough to joın us on thıs voyage. they are wıth us ın spırıt.
Friday, July 15, 2011
istanbul via madrid
we were worrıed we would starve en route. ınstead ıberıa aırlınes fed us so much that they had to roll us off the plane. travel was uneventful. slept on the hard polıshed floor of the gorgeous madrıd aırport, ı wonder who desıgned ıt. must have been someone who never slept on an aırport floor or they wouldnt have used such cold granıte.
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