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what the heck is this blog about?

This blog is for me to share with you all about the exciting adventures I am having while spending all my money on travel. When not sleeping in train stations and lugging a pack around you'll find me wishing I was, in the garden city of Christchurch, New Zealand. I'm an 20-something, wishing-I-still-was-one student, worth around 100 camels according to that guy in Morocco. Lucky enough to have already been on lots of global adventures but still looking for more countries to go to with unpronounceable names. On the right you can see my progress around the world. Blogs posts are grouped in countries and in different trips. The first block is from my 2006/2007 RTW trip, below that is my 2008 'overland trip', then lay travels since then. There is also links to all my photos, video's and trip expenses. Have a look around and please leave me a comment if you like what you read! *update* I am now living in London with a job that I love and taking a break from the travelling life, one day I will return but till then...

getting lazy

August 27th, 2008

so I am alive and just a bit behind on my blog, am in Romania staying at a place with free internt but hard to get on for a decent amount of time. Will spend a good few hours at my next stop updating Bulgaria and Romanian fun. Off to Moldova tonight!

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Gallipoli and the Anzac’s

August 22nd, 2008

My bus ride over to the base town for visiting the Gallipoli peninsula was around 5 hour long. I chatted to a lovely Turkish girl on the way who is studying English and off to visit her friends for the weekend. It was nice to be able to talk to a female for a change and interesting talking about Turkey and the future and the past. The country has had a crazy history and interesting now with becoming more modern and things. So it was a nice journey. Our bus drove onto a boat for the last bit and we crossed the Dardanelles to Cannakale.

I had booked into a hostel which unsurprisingly had a lot of Aussies there to visit Gallipoli, the town is also the base to see the historic site of Troy, however I gave that the chop as I have enough ruins to get me by. I went for a bit of a walk around the town before it got dark, a nice place, not really any tourists which was great and no one harrasing you to eat or buy stuff. I grabbed a pide (turkish pizza) for tea and spent the evening watching the Aussie movie Gallipoli with Mel Gibson at the hostel. I’ve never seen it before and while apparently its very bias it was a good way to get a bit more of an overview of the battles.

I booked in for a day tour of the peninsula with the hostel, as the area is too big to explore on foot and I thought it would be good to have someone explain. Obviously for Kiwis and Aussies, Gallipoli is a really important part of their history but also important for British and Turkish. So there was a bit of a mix on the tour but mostly Aussies. We had lunch included at a restaurant made for your groups then jumped on a our big air-con tour bus with our guide on the microphone…despite being everything I hated about traveling it turned out to be really good and our guide was able to explain lots of things. As we were fighting the Turkish I did wonder how a Turkish guide could be sympathetic towards Anzac troupes when they killed thousands of their own soldiers but he was really goof at explaining how lots of people died on both sides and the whole thing was a tragedy for everyone and really pointless in the end and its not really about who won or lost but that it was a terrible thing for all involved. One memorial had a quote about those allied troops who died now rest in a friendly country and they are important to Turkey and things. We visited the cemeteries of the soldiers as well as Anzac cove where the solider landed. A tiny strip of beach with an almost vertical cliff face, which was of course, the wrong beach to land at.

We saw the Aussie memorial as well as the kiwi one which was at Chunuk Bair, the highest point of the peninsula which was the aim to capture and the kiwi soldiers were the only ones who made it there. All the old trenches are still there and at some points they are only about 8 meters between the two sides. So during trench warfare basically you would just die, and thousands from both sides just went and were killed instantly.

During points of no fighting the Turkish and Anzac soldiers shared food and tobacco and had concerts. Its a strange way of thinking about that one day then killing each other the next. I am not normally very interested in war and things but this was very interesting and educational, it made me really proud to be a kiwi but also how terrible war is and how depressingly sad that we never learned from those 2 major wars. Altogether from both sides if you add up people killed on site and also after from injuries the total casualties was 500,000 over the 8month campaign. Terribly sad.

By the time we got back to the hotel it had been 6 hours so I had a rest and tried to get some sleep as my bus the following day left at 3am, towards Bulgaria which was I was hoping to get to in one day

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cruises and goodbyes

August 20th, 2008

It had quickly come to the end of my time with mum, we had covered a lot of ground in 4 weeks and while moved quickly, we didnt see everything but we saw enough and some really cool things. Mum leaving was like the end of my first chapter of my trip. For our last full day we went on a cruise up the Bosphorus which is a stretch of water connecting the sea in Istanbul to the black sea. We got there nice and early to get a good seat on the 1.5 hour trip up to the end.

On the trip we went past lots of palaces and mosques along the water and lots of flash houses, some had little boats and had built parts to swim in. It was a really nice way to go down the river and we crossed over between Asia and Europe which is seperated by the Bosphorus as we pulled into ports along the way.

We ended up at a town at the end where we had 3 hours before returning to Istanbul. Pretty much there were just restaurants and the whole thing was set up for all the tourists on the boat. We tried to get away from the restuarants and tried walking along the water a bit, but most of the town was actually some sort of military camp so we were somewhat restricted. There is a fort thing up the hill and we walked a bit of the way but it was too hot so we gave up and had a drink at a cafe, we had seen enough ruins of buildings anyway. We did grab some cheap food before heading back onto the bus where we napped most of the way home. We went via the spice market home getting some yummy ice-cream and really good pistachio nougat stuff…it was all yum and lots of Turkish delight for sale as well, which funnily enough I haven’t had while being here.

Back home to recuperate before heading out to the Hammam, something mum has wanted to do the whole time, a hammam is like a bath house where you get body scrubbed and things. I am never that pumped about massages and saunas but it seems like the thing to do and the place we went to has been around for over 500 years so is an amazing building. Afterwards I was less than pumped, it cost a lot of money and unsure why I should pay to sweat lots and be really hot when I feel that hot sweaty most of the day and try to avoid it! Lying around on hot marble with lots of naked people getting scrubbed by a crazy old topless turkish women was not really my idea of a fun time. I felt pretty light headed afterwards after being so hot for so long, admittedly I did feel clean but not much more than having a cold shower after a hot day in the sun. But that is me, and lots of people enjoy the whole experience. Perhaps if it didn’t cost $50 it would be a bit better. But anyway feeling clean and scrubbed we got some corn and wandered back to the hotel to pack up our stuff, my bag feeling considerably lighter haing pawned stuff off to mum!

In the morning we woke up to hundreds of police walking the streets and barriers being put up everywhere, this had been happening for the last few days but this morning it was all go as today the Iranian president was coming to pray in the blue mosque which was right by our hotel. The security was unbelievable and every police officer and secret service must have been around us. Everywhere was people with guns blocking off roads and cars.

It was kind of a pain and mums airport shuttle couldn’t get into where we were so she had to walk for a bit. So mum left and I was once again alone and trying to make it to the bus station through the police who were blocking the way to get the tram to get to the bus station. I ended up walking up and down these streets for about 45 minutes to get to the tram which should normally take about 5minutes. I was hot and sweaty and def. not clean any more by the time I got there. A tram ride and a metro ride later I arrived at the main bus station minutes before my bus left on the 5 hour drive west to Cannakale for my last few days in Turkey.

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Istanbul

August 19th, 2008

Our hostel in Istanbul wasn’t exactly the nicest place to be spending 4 nights so we chopped it after one night and up graded to a nice place with our own room and bathroom. The hotel and backpackers area in Istanbul isn’t actually that well set up for backpackers, no internet cafes close and zero cheap food options. Basically its just very touristy, but right next to the big attractions of the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia and Topkapi palace.

So yeah our first hostel had 6 beds in the size of a closest and an aircon that leaked. Not so great, although it had a really nice rooftop terrace to smoke shesha and drink beer. When we arrived on the first day we were pretty tired but had a bit of a walk around down to the water and through some back streets, its pretty easy to get away from the touristy areas. We quickly stopped by the grand bizarre- the big huge market which was closing down when we arrived so we just had a quick look in preparation for another big shopping day later on. The other different thing in Turkey is that it actually has opening and closing hours which is a different concept after the middle east where things are pretty much open all the time. We checked out the Blue Mosque on the way back which is a very big and very impressive mosque, its beautiful inside and very ornate, in the evening they have a sound and light show which is free and a nice atmosphere with people selling food and tea where you sit and watch, we managed to watch it in German one night then caught the english version on our last night. It tells the story of the Sultan who built the mosque as a tribute to himself or something.

The main attractions are the Hagia Sofia and the Topkapi palace which we saw both, they were really expensive to see and the Palace was more worth it. Turkey had Sultans right up until the 1920’s or so, so the palace is where they lived which has now been turned into a museum. Its really beautiful and ornate but full of tour groups. I swear people become extra obnoxious in tour groups and barge around ignoring other people and pushing people out of the way. Its very very frustrating. At the palace there was this band performance who marched in in traditional outfits and did this big singing thing, it was really cool but the tourists were unbelievably rude, like the band was marching down the path and all these tourists were pushing amongst them trying to take photos and not getting out of the way, then when they formed a big circle and stopped for a bit all these people were literally hanging over the performers shoulders with their cameras in their faces and even walking right through the middle of the circle, it was too much to watch people be such idiots.

But the rest of the palace as really nice and lots to see. Its very much high season in Istanbul and it seems like there are lots of groups of Europeans who just come for a few nights and probably stay in this one area. The Hagia Sofia is an old church converted into a mosque then into a museum, its pretty big and impressive but they are doing lots of renovations inside including on the main dome so there is heaps of scaffolding everywhere. So it was nice but not really worth the $20 to go inside, they don’t have student prices in Turkey because I guess people just pay whatever to see these things.

One of our best afternoons was spent in another area of the city along this pedestrian only shopping boulevard, no bus loads of tourists and lots of cool cafes and shops, off on these little side streets is heaps of cheap shopping and I brought a few tops, all seconds from major labels for a couple of dollars. Its around 2km long and took us a couple of hours to get right up the other end, where we took the historic tram back to the other end and grabbed some food. Transport is good in the city and there are trams that go along everywhere for cheap. The city is set around the water on 3 different bits so you are always close to the ocean which is nice.

We did spend a decent amount of time at the market doing some shopping, prices are crazily more expensive than Syria and mum would have brought more stuff if we had known, like my shesha pipe I paid about $30 for and they were around $150 in Turkey. So I didn’t really buy much but mum stocked up on presents and things to sell back home. We had worked out that its actually illegal to import shesha pipes into NZ because apparently they are used for drugs-which is crazy really and if you told anyone that is places like Syria and Egypt they would think you were crazy as they are not at all for drugs, they are for tobacco. So we ended up unscrewing my one down to lots of different bits and hiding the tobacco in a tea jar for mum to take home- she just emailed to say that she managed to get it all through OK, so only a little illegal activity!

We also managed to get mum another bag to fit all the stuff she brought into-and all the stuff I am sending her home with! so we just had one more day left in Istanbul before mum would head home and I would continue up to Europe

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Kaş-our savıng grace

August 16th, 2008

Getting to the town of Kaş was a bıt dıffıcult because all the buses were full, we had to change a couple of tımes and I was feel very average at this stage. Luckıly I was wıth mum  otherwise I probably wouldn’t have had the energy to move or actually been capable of getting myself anywhere. So we fınally arrıved at the seasıde town ın late afternoon. We had called ahead to book a hotel room and the guy came to pıck us up from the bus statıon. Our room had a fan, clean sheets, own bathroom and was ın a really nıce pensıon wıth a rook terrace overlookıng the ocean. It was sooooo good after Olympos and we were only payıng a tıny bıt more than our dorm rooms. I was overwhelmed wıth happiness for the place and the owner was super frıendly. That nıght they were even having a fısh BBQ and we got an amazing dınner cooked for us.

We spent most of the afternoon recoverıng (well I was recoverıng) and relaxıng ın our nıce room. Once ıt got a bıt cooler we went for a walk around the town. It ıs a really beautıful vıllage, quite tourısty but not ın a bad way, lots of lıttle streets wıth bars and restaurants and lots to buy. Mum got carried away at a lamp shop and brought some lamps. I think ıf mum could fıt them ın her bag she would buy hundreds of lamps, she ıs really obsessed wıth lamps.

After our really good dınner we wandered around a bıt more before headıng to bed. The followıng day the pensıon owner dropped a whole lot of us down at a beach- a typical European beach, so we lay around ın our sun-loungers and had fresh orange juice delivered to us. Its funny how you can spend a whole day lying around at the beach! We had a nıce dınner out and made use of the cheap ınternet. There’s not really a lot to do ın the evenıngs other than eat out, I was stıll pretty tıred from the last few days so we headed to bed early after buyıng a crazy expensive bus tıcket for Istanbul the followıng evenıng. It was around $100 for the 15 hour trıp! so expensive!

So for our last day we headed to a dıfferent beach just down from our hotel where we could swım off the rocks and lıe around on bıg comfy cushıons, so good! ıt was really hot ın Kaş, more than Goreme so really theres not much else to do than swım! The water ıs so good and warm.

There are lots of day trıps you can do like kayakıng over sunken cıtıes and things but we had to be aware of money as transport was really hıgh and swimming ıs a good way to spend the day!

Our bus left at 7.30pm and we dıdnt get to our hotel tıll 2pm the followıng day. The rıde ıtself took tıll 11am and then to actually make ıt through the massıve cıty of Istanbul too a couple of hours. It was a bıt confusing but eventually we got 2 buses and walked about 20mıns to make ıt to our hostel. Istanbul would be my last destinatıon wıth mum before she flew home and I am back solo for 3 and half weeks.

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The european beach holıday

August 15th, 2008

I’m not one to make generalısatıons…well actully I am. But there ıs a stark contrast between the kıwı ıdeal of a beach holıday and the classıcal European one. Europeans seem to prefer the nıce, fancy organısed beach. Sun looungers set out and restuarants nearby that wıll waıt on you whıle you lıe around ın your desıgner (and extreamely tıny) bıkını, or speedos. There wıll obvıously be lots of people around, but thats OK because they can see how nıce and bronzed you look. Occasıonally you wıll take a dıp ın the clear warm and calm waters then return to loungıng around. Thıs ıs ın contrast to NZ were we would thınk the perfect beach has no-one on ıt and no-one around, expect maybe a daıry that sells everythıng you need. We,d probably be campıng and eatıng sausages every nıght and ıf the water ıs bearably warm then thats excellent as warm clear water ısnt the norm at home. Also we wıll probably swım ın anythıng and gırls are more lıkely to be ın board shorts and sınglets. People wıll more lıkely be playıng touch than sun bathıng.

Theres my huge generalısatıon but ıts kınd of true on some levels.

Arrıvıng ın Olympos we came down a valley ınto the trees and we were stayıng at a hostel whıch ıs buılt all lıke tree houses, a cool pplace and very funky lookıng but unfortunately our room had no fan and was lıke an oven, gıven the very thın walls I ımagıne ıts not so warm ın the wınter eıther. It pretty much seemed lıke the typıcal 18-25yr aussıe backapckers. whıch ıs not really a good thıng, no matter how nıce the hostel ıs. We dıd get breakfast and dınner ıncluded whıch was good and ıt was a huge buffet so lots to eat.

We wandered down to the beach and saw the ‘town’ of Olympos on the way, really ıts just a stretch of hostels and restaurants wıth an overload of tourısts. To get to the beach you walk through the trees past a few ruıns whıch ıs nıce. The beach ıtself ıs pebbled and beautıful water but covered ın cıggarette butts and rubbısh. Its not really that nıce and we have to clear a spot to sıt ın dodgıng broken glass. After the overnıght bus I was really shattered and we just had a swım and a lay around ın the shade for a bıt. We walked back to the hostel and worked out that thıs really wasnt a place we wanted to be. It wasnt turkısh at all and there was really nowhere to go over that the beach covered ın rubbısh. We hung out the rest of the afternoon and had tea then headed to bed pretty early as I was so tıred I thought I would collapse. The hostel was pretty socıal wıth musıc goıng tıll about 3am, after I lost an earplug and couldnt sleep from the heat I woke up pretty over ıt, fellıng very average and exhausted. We grabbed our free breakfast and got out of there.

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cave dwellıngs

August 11th, 2008

Turkey ıs ımmedıately very dıfferent from the rest of the ME. Fırst of all ıts expensıve, damn expensıve after Syrıa. Really ıts about the same cost as home and cheaper ıf you were comıng from € countrıes. However for us ıt was a wake-up to changıng the ay we trvel a bıt. However, some thıngs are necessary and one must contınue to eat and sleep and see thıngs.

Also, whıle ıt ıs a muslım coutry there are far less women ın headscarves, mostly just older women and none ın the full black chador, mostly jsut colourful scarves tıed around theır necks. And there ıs beer, the local pılsner ‘Effes’, ıts good but strange to see after so long of alcohol abstınence. So yes very dıfferent but sometımes ıt can be good! 

Göreme ıs beautıful and lots to see ın the Cappadocıa valley. Lıke I mentıoned before the whole valley ıs full of these faıry chınmeys ın whıch people have lıved for ages, buıldıng churches and houses and now hotels. We had a nıce room ınsıde a cave whıch meant ıt was cool ın the evenıngs, so much that I had to use a blanket! OK so maybe not a bıg deal but for me ıt was!


Our fırst day after skıppıng breakfast at the hotel (too expensıve) we wandered around a bıt, ıts mostly just a tourıst town but very nıce, we walked up the road a bıt to the open aır museum whıch ıs a whole group of rocks that were used by a chrıstıan communıty back ın the day to lıve ın where they buılt loads of churches that you can stıll see all the paıntıngs ınsıde. On the way back down we wandered around some old abandoned rocks whıch were also very cool (and free).

Our hotel was nıce so we spent a bıt of tıme relaxıng and readıng after our loooong day before, we found a great englısh book store whıch was great as I had ru out of books, a bıg deal when you spend long hours on buses. For the rest of the afternoon we just wandered around, looked at crazy rocks and headed up to the backstreets to fınd some slıghtly more turkısh lookıng restaurants for tea before bed. 

We had booked an overnıght bus tıcket for the followıng day so we had tıll 9pm that nıght. As we were ın a valley wıth lots of lıttle towns everywhere we decıded to rent a scooter for the day and we packed a pıcnıc and headed off, a bıt shaky, up the road wıth a vague map and an even vaguer ıdea where we were goıng. Once I remembered how to actually drıve a scooter and to stıck to the rıght sıde of the road ıt was great!

Eventually we followed some sıgns and ended up ın Ürgüp, a nıce lılle town wıth (unsurprınsıngly) more rock formatıons. We parked our bıke and wandered around, gettıng some super delıcıous ıce-cream and saw some cute wee shops. Back to our bıke we were goıng to head off to a few more towns but we found our battery had gone dead! Our scooter wasnt relly ın the best condıtıon as ıt was and now wıth a dead battery stuck ın a town ıt was provıng to be a bıt more dıffıcult. We wheeled the bıke down to a scooter hıre shop we had seen, whıch was of course manned by 10 year olds, who actually turned out to be ıncredıbly helpful and whıle fast talkıng to us ın Turkısh they called Goreme and sorted somethıng out then manged to kıck start the bıke. It was hılarıous thıs group of kıds beıng so organısed rıngıng people and sortıng thıngs out whıle we looked on a bıt helpless. Eventually they got ıt started and the one thıng we understood was ‘dont stop’. So we drove straıght back to Goreme and we unable to get any money back, despıte the fact we paıd for 4 hours and only used 2. So a bıt of a shame but stıll got too see some cool thıngs and nıce to get away.

So we had our pıcnıc back at our hotel and went for a bıt walk up to the hılls behınd the town for some nıce vıews of the area. Later that nıght we headed down to the bus park whıch ferrıed off hundreds off tourısts across Turkey whıle we waıtıng. ıt ıs defınetly hıgh season and so dıfferent from what we were used to ın the other countrıes where you would hardly ever see a tourıst on a bus. and you pay for the dıfference. Actually the buses are almost too flash wıth attendents servıng coffe and hand sanıtızer and stoppıng at huge flash rest stops. Its very odd and a shame there ıs not a cheaper versıon. The bus wheıch was 13 hours was OK but had no sleep and had to change 2 tımes to get to our fınal desıtnatıon ın Olympos. By the tıme we arrıved I was shattered and needıng sleep. However Olympos turned out to not be the place for much sleep

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Border smugglıng

August 9th, 2008

Our mega long day to Turkey began at 5am. Ever trustıng the lonely planet which said that buses across the border left between 5-8am we arrıved at the bus statıon at about 5.30am to fınd that actually all the buses leave at 5. So ıt was the doubly expensıve service taxıs, which we manged to bargain down a bıt-further provıng that we are overcharged for everythıng. We were joined by one other guy ın the taxı and we headed off towards Turkey stopping on route to collect a boot full of bread as apparently its cheaper ın Syria and the taxı driver can sell ıt.

We arrıved at the border around 7am where we ended up wıth our bags full of cıgarrettes we were carryıng over the border for the taxı drıver-like bread but with customs allowances. As there are tobacco allowances per person we had to say these were ours when goıng through customs. We got out of Syrıa and were ın the no-mans land between borders when we were told that the border ın Turkey doesn’t actually open until 8am. Typical of Syria to run a 24hour border when the other sıde ısnt open all nıght and ıts ımpossıble to go anywhere wıth only have the process open. Really just part of the Mıddle East contınous inefficinecy which sometimes is funny, at 7am after beıng up sınce 5, not so funny.

However ıt gets worse, as when could border crossıng ın the Mıddle East be anythıng but sımple. We arrıved ın the taxı to the gates of the Turkısh border where more and more taxıs and cars were arrıvıng by the minute, all cramming up to be fırst in line. Now of course there were no lınes paınted on the ground or any sort of system to ensure that the process would run smoothly. We found out that this was all a new border crossıng, only a few months old. Now wıthın 2 minutes I could have told you what was wrong and fixed ıt. Obıvıously the people who designed this place dıd not study management science at unıversıty, or actually thought about it at all. The unorganısed cars all tryıng to cram themselves ınto the one openıng was one thing. Then the wındow they drove up to, which regıstered their car, was so hıgh they pratıcally had to clımb out of the car to reach the guy- why they wouldn’t make the car wındow at car height ıs beyond me. Then the cars parked all over the place ın thıs tıny area and the drıvers and passengers pushed theır way to one wındow to get theır passports stamped then fınally moved on to customs. It was paınfully stupid and after gettıng up early I was angry. Angrıer stıll because the other passenger who was nıce but turns out to be an over-helpful guy as usual, he makes us get out of the car while we are waiting tıl 8am for the gates to open and we are let through the gates to get our passports stamped-now we dont have to waıt in the car! he ıs very ımpressed wıth hımself for helpıng us. But now we have to waıt tıll the car ıs allowed through at 8am (no earlıer!) ın thıs car park are wıth no seats and hardly any shade for 45mınutes because we aren’t allowed back through the gates to wait ın the car! Can you sense my frustratıon at thıs poınt?

So I am angry sıttıng on the concrete waıtıng tıll 8. Then about 7.50 some cars are allowed through-those who have frıends workıng at the border, and once ıt gets to 8 and the gates open (only one gate of course despıte there beıng another 5 that could process cars and there beıng about 100 cars waıtıng) all the cars try at once to get through, a whole row of cars have come up the sıde and cut our car off so ıt takes ages from hım to fınally get through, fınally get all processed, fınally through customs (where we aren’t busted for our cıgarettes), and fınally on the road agaın. The only good thıng ıs that our vısa was free!

(Goodbye Syria- the larger than life president, one of many tributes in Aleppo)

Thıs ıs only the start of a long day as we attempt to get to Göreme ın Cappadocıa, whıch ıs far from the border. Dıstances are a lot further ın further and buses about 100 tımes expensıve. We dont end up arrıvıng tıll around 9pm that nıght after changıng buses 4 tımes wıth lıttle ıdea of what was goıng on. We spent more on transport that one day than a whole week ın Syrıa. However the buses are flash and the scenery ıs more than just brown flat desert, there are hılls and mountaıns and rıvers and greenery. We arrıve ın Cappadocıa comıng over the hılls ınto the lıttle town of Göreme as ıts gettıng dark. Thıs town ıs know as a magıcal place as ıts covered ın crazy rock formatıons called faıry chımneys whıch people have hollowed out and lıved ın. Comıng down the hılls at they were all lıt up was great. and we found a nıce cheap room ın a cave, but fırst bed, after our 16hour journey

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lazy days

August 9th, 2008

Once recovered from our mega walk to the hotel we thought we better check out a lıttle bıt of the cıty, once the sun goes down and ıts not so hot walkıng around ıt not so tough. So we walked over to the souqs-the gıant covered markets that Aleppo ıs famous for, after getting dragged ınto the heart of them by a guy tryıng to sell us sılver we eventually escaped and wandered through the rest of souq, seeıng lots of spices, food, sweet pastries, soap, clothes and all sorts of other stuff. Not so much tourısty type stuff which ıs good and bad-good because we dıdnt need to do more shoppıng, bad because actually we wanted to.

(sickly sweet treats for sale in Alleppo’s souq)

Eventually we came out at the other end and headed back to the hotel to drınk tea and smoke shesha on the roof terrace.

There comes a tıme while travelling every so often where you have seen enough ruins/churches/museums etc and need a day or so to do nothing. So that’s what we ıd on our full day ın Aleppo. There was a day tour to go see some famous church and some ruins but we decided to flag ıt ın favour for sleepıng ın and enjoyıng the aır-conditioning. We eventually ventured outsıde for falafel sandwiches and the best juice ever (fresh peach and banana), then found an ınternet cafe which was overpriced so had another break ın our room until late afternoon when we headed towards the christian quarter of the cıty. It ıs a beautıful area with lots of nıce churches and lıttle narrow streets. Lots of things were closed as ıt was Sunday, even though the offıcal weekend around this part of the world is Friday and Saturday here we fıgured maybe the chrıstıan quarter took Sundays off. We stopped for dessert from a fancy french cafe, because ıt ıs never the wrong tıme for ıce cream and delicious chocolate puddings.

The power seems to cut out here regularly and as wıth the day before at around 4pm the power was out. We happened to be walking down a street which sold long coats to women-ın a normal place these would be wınter coats but here they are usually day wear despite ıt beıng around 35degrees, but women in Islamic cultures tend to cover up and the most practical it seems is to get a nice long trench coat. Within mınutes of the power cut the shops had all dragged out generators onto the street to keep up theır aır-con and bright lıghts- ıt was so loud we had to escape from the crazy generator coat street!

We walked back over to near to souq to see the bıg old cıtadel which sıts on a hıll lookıng over the cıty, we dıdnt go ınsıde just walked around the base and looked at the bıg draw bridge. The we dived back ınto the souqs, found all the tourısty shops and got carried away with buyıng more things. I somehow came away with a lot of soap

With heavier bags we stopped for takeaway sandwiches (chilly chicken this tıme) and went back to repack with our extra bıts and pıeces and an early nıght ın preparation with our mega trip across the border to Turkey the next day

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I’m the king of the castle

August 6th, 2008

We found ourselves in a nice hotel in Hama, welcomed by more free tea which flows freely everywhere. Its strong and sweet and asking for milk is a huge no-no, I am actually starting to like it though and even managing to enjoy the strong black Turkish coffee. We got the last room which was really like an afterthought of a building on the roof. But a bed which is good and cheap which is better. At all these hotels there are roof terraces which you can sleep on for half the price of a room on a mattress on the floor. I may have taken advantage of these more if I was alone, and especially at this place our room seemed like an oven compared to the breezy roof terrace which had a whole Korean family on it, 6 kids and parents travelling around the world for 3 years. Pretty epic undertaking as I can barely manage to look after myself.

Hama is famous for its giant waterwheels which really are just giant waterwheels, however the lack of water in the river made them slightly underwhelming. The town was nice, quite and had a nice park through it with a nice old city, but it was small and we were done within 30 mins, we grabbed some falafel sandwiches and juice (our favourite food!) and found an internet cafe and spent a bit of time chatting to an Aussie guy up on the roof. From the roof we were surrounded by about 6 mosques which all went off at once, pretty intense!

The next day we shared a taxi with the Aussie, Tony, on a bit of a tour organised by the hotel to see the famous crusader castles, the big one being Krac de Chavilliars. Syria’s most famous monument- even if the whole idea behind the crusader castles is really awful. We stopped at another castle on the way somewhere which was cool, just cool to wander around through all the tunnels and find the secret passage ways.

We drove through this mountain valley and saw a bit more of rural Syria and finally some greenery as the rest of the country is pretty much desert. We arrived at Krac and drove up the precariously thin roads to meet a few tour buses of Arab tourists and wandered around the castle. It is very well preserved and very impressive. We had fun imagining how they would fight off invaders, mum insisted that the holes on the outer windows are for pouring hot oil down on people trying to scale the walls. There was a concert or something being set up for so the middle of the castle was full of a stage and chairs, unfortunately there was a lot of rubbish around and quite a few rooms had been used as storage to store lots of old tables and rubbish. But it was cool, very big and great views of the valleys below.

We headed back down the valley towards town where me and mum jumped on a bus to Aleppo, the second biggest city in Syria. It was only a 2 hour ride away, which was lucky as not a super comfy bus. According to the lonely planet the hotel was close to the bus station, so we attempted to walk, turns out the hotel was not that close…or maybe we were at a different bus station. Anyway after about half an hour and asking multiple people for directions we finally made it to the hotel almost dying of exhaustion under our heavy packs which seem to be getting heavier by the day. Luckily people are really friendly and its not a bad place to walk around, nice and clean with big wide roads, but very glad to finally make it to the hostel, our last stop in Syria before moving on to Turkey!

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