Just a quickie before I do a proper photo update tomorrow: I left Istanbul on Friday last and have made my way down the Aegean and then the Mediterrean coast of Turkey since then. I started off with two days in Izmir, Turkey's second largest city, then a night in Selcuk to see the ruins of Epheseus and the Temple of Artemis, then a night in Fetiyeh preparing for a four day Med cruise which has just delivered me to the little town of Olympus.
Before I left Istanbul, I visited a 'hamam' or turkish bath and got a massage. The guy who massaged me can only be described as a big fat sado masochist. He started with an exfoliation which was paramount to skinning me alive.... then slapped me down on a marble surface and proceeded to generally beat me up in a very violent manner. After punching me in the gut for about five minutes he started bending my extremities in directions that they're not supposed to be bent in... It was very sore and every now and then I let out a little shriek (like a little girl) which only served to have him increase the ferociousness of the violation and grumble Turkish insults at me.
Will post photos tomorrow.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Hey Shithead, how about a kebab
Jesus fuck... where do I begin... I've been kept off my feet in this whirlwind of a city for the past few days, generally trying my best to 'be turkish'.
I met this really cool local guy who I've been hanging around with. He lives in France and is only visiting so he's taking the opportunity to do 'the tourist thing' as well and generally be my tourguide.
First of all, the lingo: My turkish is actually coming along quite well. I've got to the point where I can sit down at a cafe and pretty much order what I want and have all the rudimentary dealings with the waiter with him thinking that I can talk turkish... It's only if he queries anything or seeks to deepen the friendly banter, that I am unmasked as a fraud with a limited number of multipurpose word conjectures and generic grunts. Tonite I learned all the bad words so that I can pepper my language with these, making me by default 'more natural'.
On Monday we went to the Princess Islands for a night. They're these islands off Istanbul in the Sea of Marmara where the local tourists go. They don't allow motorised propulsion on the island so everything is horse and carty (very quaint but slightly malodourous). Spent the day lying on the beach trying to get some kind of base before I hit the south and the med. As I said though, the tourism there was mainly turkish with the occassional arab, so I kinda stuck out like a sore thumb. (Ye know those haribo cola bottles... think about a white one of those lying amongst loads of brown ones).
Other than that, have been consuming vast amounts of tea and beer (in alternating binges) and have been trying some of the local chow (which ain't all that bad). I've done 'some' touristy stuff, and I do feel bad when I hear about all the museums that other people have seen, but I really couldn't be that arsed doing anymore museums.... I might go to a Hamam (Turkish bath) tomorrow. So I'm gonna do a runner tomorrow and leggit down to Izmir, Turkey's second biggest city and a bit beachy... Will post a photo or two soon.
L8r.... C
PS: For those of you who were wondering, Turkish Delight is disgusting here as well.... yes, it still tastes like soap!
I met this really cool local guy who I've been hanging around with. He lives in France and is only visiting so he's taking the opportunity to do 'the tourist thing' as well and generally be my tourguide.
First of all, the lingo: My turkish is actually coming along quite well. I've got to the point where I can sit down at a cafe and pretty much order what I want and have all the rudimentary dealings with the waiter with him thinking that I can talk turkish... It's only if he queries anything or seeks to deepen the friendly banter, that I am unmasked as a fraud with a limited number of multipurpose word conjectures and generic grunts. Tonite I learned all the bad words so that I can pepper my language with these, making me by default 'more natural'.
On Monday we went to the Princess Islands for a night. They're these islands off Istanbul in the Sea of Marmara where the local tourists go. They don't allow motorised propulsion on the island so everything is horse and carty (very quaint but slightly malodourous). Spent the day lying on the beach trying to get some kind of base before I hit the south and the med. As I said though, the tourism there was mainly turkish with the occassional arab, so I kinda stuck out like a sore thumb. (Ye know those haribo cola bottles... think about a white one of those lying amongst loads of brown ones).
Other than that, have been consuming vast amounts of tea and beer (in alternating binges) and have been trying some of the local chow (which ain't all that bad). I've done 'some' touristy stuff, and I do feel bad when I hear about all the museums that other people have seen, but I really couldn't be that arsed doing anymore museums.... I might go to a Hamam (Turkish bath) tomorrow. So I'm gonna do a runner tomorrow and leggit down to Izmir, Turkey's second biggest city and a bit beachy... Will post a photo or two soon.
L8r.... C
PS: For those of you who were wondering, Turkish Delight is disgusting here as well.... yes, it still tastes like soap!
Sunday, August 3, 2008
The Plan
So, day three is going well. Spent yesterday sunbathing, visiting the grand bazaar, had a typical anatolian meal and generally walked a lot. I've also got a turkish mate here who's been showing me around and today we're gonna drive up the bosphorous and generally chill out. The food last night was good... lots of good meat and meatbally type things (really tasty lamb)... had a yoghurt drink with it called ayran (which I remember all the turks in Berlin drinking), a really nice dessert which was a mix between a creme brulee and a rice pudding, and turkish coffee (which is essentially caffeine heroin and should be taken intraveneously).
Also, I came up with a plan for the rest of turkey. It goes like this: Istanbul - Izmir - Bodrun - Antalya - Konya - Cappadoccia - Ankara (Southwestern Anatolia & Med) and then from Ankara - Trapzom - Van - Urfu - Vanin in the East before crossing into Iran
That's all for now... peace out. C.
View Larger Map
Also, I came up with a plan for the rest of turkey. It goes like this: Istanbul - Izmir - Bodrun - Antalya - Konya - Cappadoccia - Ankara (Southwestern Anatolia & Med) and then from Ankara - Trapzom - Van - Urfu - Vanin in the East before crossing into Iran
That's all for now... peace out. C.
View Larger Map
Friday, August 1, 2008
Afternoon Tea
Just spent the afternoon getting tea horsed into me by a very sound french-speaking turkish dude. He's from the Kurdish area of Turkey and explained the whole 'kurdish' thing to me... (I will post something on that when I understand it more).He wouldn't let me put my hand in my pocket... sound as fuck these turks!
C
Lift Off
Okeedokee so, here's blog post number one from the road... arrived into istanbul yesterday!Seems to be a pretty groovy place so far. Last night when I arrıved, I went for a walk around the old part of the city and generally arsed around knockin brewski's into me for a while. It's warm but not unbearable... Had a good sleep last nıght despıte the fact that some halfwit aussie robbed my bed and I had to sleep on a bare mattress. (I'd forgotten about the joys of budget travellıng and dormroom banter)...I decided to start this trip as I aim to continue so I'm going super mega budget for now. (Last time I went away, I spent most of my travel budget in the first two months and I'm not going to let that happen again.... although I wouldn't take back a single one of those buenos aires steaks....mhhhhhhhh.... drooooool!).
So when I got to the airport last night, rather than my usual taxi (I get a taxi to the bathroom in dublin) I took a combination of metro, tram, bus and walking to get to the hostel. It took about two hours and several little diversions. While I was walking along, they did the 'call to prayer' thingy (mcchhchchcalllllllahahahahahahmccccallallalahahaha.... allahhhhhhhhhhmchmchmch), which is a bit mad altogether ... no doubt there'll be more on that in later posts. And all that with my 22kg rucksack on my back and 9kg backpack on my front. By the time I got to the hostel, I was sweating like a blind lesbian in a fish market, but the water was off so I couldn't have a shower. Fear not though, cos I am ridiculously well prepared and have a complete kit for 'no water' cleaning which I was chuffed to be able to use on my first night.
Soooooo, aaaaannnyyway... what else is there. Got up early this morning and had a super-mega-cheapo brekkie of .... bread with honey... (Honey's actually very tasty, I always thought I didn't like it for some reason). Then I had a look at the blue mosque today and have been generally walking around the city... I've just crossed to the north of the city and walked up a big hill and am now shagged altogether, but I'm going to persevere until I get to Taksim Square where all the action is supposed to be.
May Allah be with you all...
Ur man in Istanbul... C
PS: Actually, I'm on the western side of istanbul and haven't gone to the 'Asian' side yet. And seen as the trip is going to be 'Asia', this really this isn't part of it, it's more like a 'precursor' or an 'amuse-bouche'... haha
So when I got to the airport last night, rather than my usual taxi (I get a taxi to the bathroom in dublin) I took a combination of metro, tram, bus and walking to get to the hostel. It took about two hours and several little diversions. While I was walking along, they did the 'call to prayer' thingy (mcchhchchcalllllllahahahahahahmccccallallalahahaha.... allahhhhhhhhhhmchmchmch), which is a bit mad altogether ... no doubt there'll be more on that in later posts. And all that with my 22kg rucksack on my back and 9kg backpack on my front. By the time I got to the hostel, I was sweating like a blind lesbian in a fish market, but the water was off so I couldn't have a shower. Fear not though, cos I am ridiculously well prepared and have a complete kit for 'no water' cleaning which I was chuffed to be able to use on my first night.
Soooooo, aaaaannnyyway... what else is there. Got up early this morning and had a super-mega-cheapo brekkie of .... bread with honey... (Honey's actually very tasty, I always thought I didn't like it for some reason). Then I had a look at the blue mosque today and have been generally walking around the city... I've just crossed to the north of the city and walked up a big hill and am now shagged altogether, but I'm going to persevere until I get to Taksim Square where all the action is supposed to be.
May Allah be with you all...
Ur man in Istanbul... C
PS: Actually, I'm on the western side of istanbul and haven't gone to the 'Asian' side yet. And seen as the trip is going to be 'Asia', this really this isn't part of it, it's more like a 'precursor' or an 'amuse-bouche'... haha
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Busy, Busy
Can't sleep so I thought I'd share my to-do list with you:Updated in red as of Thursday the 24th
- Get vaccinations... need at least a HepA and B booster Done with Typoid as well
- Get an indian visa done with a Pakistani visa as well
- Get a new credit card Ordered, should be waiting at home
- Get a spare battery for my camera Should be waiting at home
- Start packing not started yet
- Get a dental check-up and deep clean of the choppers Done and done
- Get a health check-up Done, but need to go back tomorrow as blood pressure was high
- Sort out my frickin' health insurance Should be waiting at home
- Get Malaria tablets and antibiotics Done and Done along with €300 worth of other medicinces/supplements/health stuff etc.
- Buy an eBook and download virtual books Can't source one of these in ireland and not enough time to get it sent over... must survive with traditional books, Doh!
- Fill my MP3 player (courtest of Dan Donleavy records) Not done... maybe at weekend.
- Finish the final essay of my Project Management course (eight months overdue) Snigger... never gonna happen!
- Move my shit out of Helen and Paula's place and move back home Tomorrow is the big moving day
- Photocopy all travel documentation To Do over the weekend
- List itinerary/embassy's etc for the oul' pair To Do over the weekend
- Cancel anything that takes money out of my bank account (gym, ntl, those Concern astards) Done
- Generally stop procrastinating and get my finger out... See above list of undertakings and demonstration of this week's productivity
Oh fuck, it looks a lot longer than I thought it was... not so fucked anymore, still need to book Monday's flight to Istanbul though!
Saturday, July 19, 2008
T minus 9 days and counting...
For those of you that I haven't seen in a while or for those of you that don't know me, I've been working in Dublin, Ireland for the past two and half years and have decided to take eight months off and go overland from Istanbul to Jakarta (see above for the route).The last time I was away (as in away-away, not holiday-away) was South America for eight months, two and a half years ago (click here for that blog), so I'm well due a little odysee.
So... Why Asia, I hear you ask! (The internal monologue begins...). Well, I had a couple of routes in mind for the next time I go away:I would have quite liked to fly back to Colombia and pick up where I left off on my last trip by continuing up into central America, maybe finishing up in San Fran (I'd be quite attracted to Panama, Nicuragua, Guatamala and Mexico). However, as much as I enjoyed South America, I thought that this time around, I needed something kind of different (perhaps more challenging).
Similarly I was considering a sojourn in the Middle East and Africa, perhaps from Istanbul to Madrid, down through the Arabian peninsula, the horn of Africa, crossing central Africa, up the West African coast and back into the good ol' EU through Gibraltar. The opposite argument applied here: Perhaps this was a little too ambitious, travelling in Africa is a different ball-game... there ain't an established gringo trail (not that that's what I'm looking for, but sometimes the familiarity of it can be comforting).
Peace Out.
Conor
So... Why Asia, I hear you ask! (The internal monologue begins...). Well, I had a couple of routes in mind for the next time I go away:I would have quite liked to fly back to Colombia and pick up where I left off on my last trip by continuing up into central America, maybe finishing up in San Fran (I'd be quite attracted to Panama, Nicuragua, Guatamala and Mexico). However, as much as I enjoyed South America, I thought that this time around, I needed something kind of different (perhaps more challenging).
Similarly I was considering a sojourn in the Middle East and Africa, perhaps from Istanbul to Madrid, down through the Arabian peninsula, the horn of Africa, crossing central Africa, up the West African coast and back into the good ol' EU through Gibraltar. The opposite argument applied here: Perhaps this was a little too ambitious, travelling in Africa is a different ball-game... there ain't an established gringo trail (not that that's what I'm looking for, but sometimes the familiarity of it can be comforting).
So, I decided in the end for Istanbul to Jakarta... This should bring me through some combination of the following countries: Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, China, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.Here are some reasons for the choice of route:
- Good combination of 'gringo trail' countries (i.e. India/SE Asia) and more unexplored countries (Iran/Pakistan/Burma).
- Like the food (food expectations, in order of travel, are: Kebabs, kebabs, kebabs, curries, curries and curries)
- Don't speak the lingo (a challenge I didn't have in South America)
- Weather
- East-West contrast (Istanbul as the gateway - plan to touch the western side of the Bosphorous with my foot to mark 'point de depart')
- Sociopolitical importance of Iran
- Religious variety: Islam, Hindu, Buddhism etc.
- Beaches
- Variety of climate/landscape
- China, India as BRICS
Peace Out.
Conor
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