Safe haven in Istanbul.

After so long relying only on hotels, we're once again couchsurfing and we're being hosted - for the second time - by our friends: Ercan and Ebru.

We continue to explore Istanbul for one day and half, the city with which we started this journey, almost a month ago.
It's really interesting to see so many changes and to discover the transformations the city has been through, since the last time we strolled it's streets. So, while revisiting some places, we take a stroll down the memory lane - just to compare the present and the not so distant past.
The streets are packed with a lot more tourists now and the local small entrepreneurs take advantage of the situation: there are taverns everywhere - offering all sorts of goodies - especially ice-cream and boiled corn.
We couldn't resist the temptation and already ate three corns in Sultanahmet area. And since we have some more Turkish lira left to spend, we'll try various dishes from the local cuisine.
Also, it's time to buy some souvenirs and add some goodies to the small stash we're carrying for our friends back home.

Cappadocia - part II (meeting locals, trying pottery kebab and making pottery).

Beside just hiking, we also experienced some other interesting things while in Goreme village:

First, the day I started feeling sick, we searched for a place to eat a good soup, hoping it will help my condition.
We ended up in a cozy restaurant being run by a family. Although there was a huge language barrier and we barely understood each-other, we had a great time with the four old women preparing "ravioli".
While I ate soup and drank two coups of "çay" (tea - pronounced "ceai"), Andra joined in preparing that dish together with the old ladies.

A short summer rain caught us inside the restaurant, so we stayed there until it stopped half an hour later.

Off the beaten track in Cappadocia.

It's a shame we had to postpone writing about the wonderful Cappadocia, but it's not too late to do it now. The memories are still fresh, we have plenty of amazing pictures and there's a perfect setting for recollecting and writing: we're both laying on a couch from the hotel's exterior bar, inhaling mixed scents combined with the fresh mountain air, and listening to a good choice of songs.

The people below have started a camp fire as well.. so, let's just start the story-telling:
The first minutes in Cappadocia were quite silent, interrupted only by the camera's shutter clicks and remarks like: "wow", "look at that", "and that".. The scenery was quite unusual and amazing, with cone like structures that were used by people for various purposes, including as houses. Everything looked so fairytale like, that we wouldn't have been too surprised to see hobbits getting out of those weirdly shaped houses :)

Licking my wounds under the Mediterranean sun.

With the feet tucked below a hot curtain of sand, and the head protected under a shallow shade - cast by the nearby rocks, I'm waiting for Andra to come out of the water.

The Olympos village (Turkey) is not exactly what we expected, but it's still a good place to relax - especially now when we're getting closer to the end of our Middle Eastern pilgrimage.
The village itself is placed in a small valley surrounded by mountains, while the sea washes the shores approximately 1 kilometer away from our hotel. A tree house hotel that packs a lot of Turkish and international tourists. So many that there's a long line advancing slowly towards the people serving us dinner in the evenings.
There is one small inconvenience to this place: the showers with fluctuating water temperature; they seem to be a problem in all huts, not just ours.
However, in my case, 6 years in a university campus have thought me to anticipate the change of temperature and avoid being frozen or burned by the moody water jet. Also, I've learned to make rapid changes, so that the water stays constant for longer periods of time.
I've tried to come up with some instructions for Andra, only to discover that it's just instinct and reflex, no universal formula. There are some guidelines though:
- don't open the water flow to maximum - it gets more vulnerable to pressure drops caused by other people using the showers or toilets; it also limits your control options.
- millimeter rotations can induce the desired effect, so refrain yourself from making major adjustments (the slowly growing anger can easily influence the hand).
hmm, my mind is playing with words again: "the most minute changes induced in a system, can cause an imbalance or the desired effect. We rarely need drastic decisions in our quest for achieving a certain purpose. Just aim for the snowball effect, instead of a system that needs constant tweaking".
I have no idea if I read something like this somewhere, or it's an ad hoc personal creation.

Back to using the showers, it's a small sadistic pleasure hearing Andra fighting with the hidden enemy that plays with the water pressure. And the sounds she makes... we joked about that she's feeding the imagination of our neighbors from the other side of the thin wooden wall.

...

The shade is my enemy and my friend..here on the beach, while I fight a sore throat and a bit of a cold that threatens to morph into something worse.
I'm trying to find that "happy place", but it's not always working ...writing keeps me busy for a while.
When everything will fail, I'll put my hopes in the can of beer that is slowly getting warmer in the sand; the alcohol will numb the senses for a while and help me enjoy the scenery.

I move forward with the towel, to catch up the advancing shade. I plan to tuck the feet again under the hot sand, close the notebook's lid and deeply inhale the sea breeze ..through an insensitive nose.. maybe I'll feel something in the end.

In a Turkish hospital..

"It's not a matter of IF, it's a matter of WHEN!"

I've heard this saying a lot, when documenting about Middle East and stomach problems or food intoxication.

I didn't expect it to hit me so hard.. and in Turkey. I would have bet on any of the other countries, especially Egypt.

Long story short, in the picture above it's me in a Turkish hospital, with an annoyingly long needle in my vein and two packs of ice under my arms - to keep the high temperature in check.

Before I got to the hospital it was horrible: powerful nausea, upset stomach, high temperature and really cold feeling in the same time, moments when I felt that I was about to pass out..

Flight to Cairo

It started raining heavily in Istanbul in the morning we left (it rained in the previous day as well), so we headed directly towards the airport, accompanied for a while by our host Ercan.

It turned out that it was worth it to carry with me the "LOST hoodie" (received 2 years ago when working on the LOST game) and the rain cover for the DSLR.

Before the trip I was really close to decide upon leaving them at home, as I thought that there were little chances for rain in the areas we're visiting. Anyway, I would have regretted it.

The hoodie was also a cause for having some fun at the airport. While in line for Passport Control, an Italian couple noticed it and the guy asked where/when did I buy it. When I told him that I work in the gaming industry and that I received the hoodie while working on the Lost game, he asked if he could touch me :). Then we had a nice 5 minutes talk about traveling and couchsurfing.

The flight was scheduled to leave at 14:00, but it was delayed. It seems that there was a problematic passenger and the authorities escorted him out of the plane (we didn't see/hear any commotion, so it probably happened in the 1st class isolated space).
The flight itself was bumpy, with quite some turbulence that made us regret the food we ate on board (a really nice meal though, offered by Egypt airlines).
Upon landing, it was interesting to see Cairo from above, ..it looked "sandy". The heat wave that hit us when getting off the plane, was unexpected. Shukran Allah for the air conditioning inside the airport :)

As you can see we're trying to learn a few words and phrases in the local languages. So far they proved a bit useful; but they're definitely not a must, as most people know basic English.
Shukran (thank you) and Salam Alecum (peace be with you) get instant positive responses, especially the latter which seems to disarm people and make them treat you with more respect (and less hassle).

More about Cairo in 1-2 days.

Two days and two nights in Istanbul.

Istanbul is a city of contrasts, placed on two continents, with an European side and an Asian side divided by the Bosporus strait.

We enjoyed the European side for its many tourist attractions, interesting mosques, architecture and easy to navigate streets. As for the Asian side, we appreciated it for the nice narrow streets and general architecture. Unfortunately, in two days we didn't have enough time to explore both sides, so we focused more on the European one that had the tourist attractions: Hagia Sofia (considered the eighth wonder of the world), Sultan Ahmet Mosque (or the blue mosque), grand bazaar, spice bazaar, hippodrome of Constantinople, many other mosques, an interesting cemetery with a restaurant inside, pottery shop & textile shop with live demonstrations (Andra participated in both ways at a demonstration, first in the audience and then on the wheel).








We were hosted on the Asian side by a wonderful Turkish couple.
From them we learned many interesting things about the Turkish language, culture, religion, differences & connections between our two countries (it seems we have many words in common - thanks to the ottoman influence in the past).
They took care of us exactly as we take care of our couchsurfers, so we felt just like home in their nice apartment. Comfortable couch, pink bedsheets :) (we have some pink slippers for our couchsurfers), wi-fi and two lovely turtles that I enjoy feeding.
It was great to have Turkish tea and coffee together; the tea glasses were interesting and the coffee came accompanied by an eatable spoon made out of chocolate!


Now, some interesting facts.
- We arrived in Istanbul around 5:30 in the morning and decided to visit until the open hour for the exchange office and public transportation. It was the best decision we took (we could have waited in the tourist agency instead, and get bored to death). It was great especially because there were just a few people outside at that hour, and we could see the hippodrome and Blue Mosque in a quiet (almost serene) atmosphere. The first time we entered the mosque, it was such an impressive sight, almost breathtaking. The silence and the echo were unbelievable.
It is was far less nice to visit the same places again, with a lot of crowd around us. So, we'll repeat this experience with visiting at early hours, as often as we can - for the rest of the trip.

- Our daily budget was around 15 euros per day, for each of us, enough for free sightseeing and eating. As said in the beginning, Istanbul is a city of contrasts: clothes are a lot cheaper than in Romania (in bazars and some shops), food prices depend on the location (you can eat plentiful traditional meals from kiosks; restaurants can be really expensive though - especially near tourist attractions), transportation is quite expensive (1$ per ticket) and there's no way around it; the city is huge and you can't walk everywhere.
It's best to choose each day an area with many concentrated attractions, rather than jumping from one place to another, as it will cost you also a lot of time beside money.

- Turkish hospitality is amazing. You won't experience it everywhere, but when you encounter it, it is overwhelming. There was this bakery boss that started asking us where are we from (we were just searching for corn flower to prepare "mamaliga"/polenta for our hosts), then he offered free cookies. The next day we passed by his place, he saw us and yelled "ce faci"/"how are you" in Romanian, then gave us other free bakery specialties - despite our initial refusal. He wanted to know many things about us: where we work, if we're married (we did a funny head salute when he heard that we are together for 7 years). The next day when we went to offer him a small pottery pot, we found out from his workers that he told everyone about us :)








- Call for prayers from all mosques. This thing happens 5 times per day and it can be easily heard inside the houses. The mosques have really loud speakers; the locals say they are too loud, but we liked it. They don't start all in the same time, but random, and the sounds build up in the first minutes, then slowly fades away. It feels relaxing every time..

I intended to upload more photos, but the internet here is incredibly slow, almost the same in Istanbul. So, I will never complain about internet speed in Romania :)
You can see more photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/IonRazvanCiuca/Istanbul?feat=directlink

Middle East trip - on the way to Turkey.

Merhaba dear readers.

I am writing this first post from the trip - while in the bus towards Turkey; but, by the time you'll read it, we would have already reached Istanbul and posted it successfully.
Right now we're in Bulgaria, probably 70 km away from Veliko Tarnovo, which we briefly saw almost an hour ago.

Anyway, since I have a nice story to tell you, let's start from the beginning.

It's the little things that matter.
We kind of finished packing in the last moment, just in time to reach the bus. Half an hour later, after arriving at the agency, it turned out that the bus timetable was different from what we were told on the phone and we were scheduled to leave in two hours. It was ok, the time passed quite fast and we used it to prepare our bellies for the road ahead :)
During the 2 hours stay, the Turkish driver told us at least three times to go in and have a coffee. Normally, I thought he was interested in the money and just wanted to convince us to go inside and buy things from his agency.
My initial thought changed drastically after two hours drive in the bus. At first they constantly offered us cold water from the refrigerator, then cookies, ice-cream!, tea and sodas; free ..of course :). So, the coffee he so nicely mentioned was probably free as well.
All these came accompanied by smiles from the two guys serving us. It would have been perfect if there were girls instead of guys :D. Ouch! Punch from Andra. I deserved that :).

Back on topic, the drive through Bulgaria was amazing. We passed through Bulgaria's beautiful country side, with its waved hills and continuously changing landscape. And 45 min ago we saw an incredible sunset. The pictures taken through the windows don't do it justice..

A passenger just dropped his glass of water on the floor. "No problema, No problema" came the quick response from the smiling Turkish guys, "we'll give you another one". All this happening on a nice & calm Turkish music in the background.

Turkish hospitality experienced way before reaching the country. Nice. Can't wait to see the country.

It's quite dark inside and I can hardly see the keyboard. Also, it started raining outside, so perfect setting for sleeping. It's time to rest the heads on those nice inflatable pillows that we brought with us.

One month on the road - preparations and travel plan.

The deadline for the one month traveling is closing fast and we're not yet ready with the most important aspects.

One thing we've done so far was to change the blog's template. Hope you like it :).
I worked really hard for two weeks in order to have it looking and working properly.

About the To Do list, our priorities look like this:
- visas for Syria, Jordan and Egypt;
- vaccines (don't know what exactly, but we're going to visit a polyclinic and find out more);
- backpacks - we've already ordered these ones from Amazon:

We preferred this model as it has side opening, allowing quick and complete access to the content, unlike top loading backpacks which require going through everything in order to reach the stuff placed at the bottom.
Also, there's a removable day pack in front of it, which is great to have on shorter trips while the rest of the luggage is back at the hotel.

- neck wallet:

There were cheaper models to choose from, but we decided on this one because it has a slash-proof strap and very good reviews.

- universal power adapter:

Couldn't find a proper adapter here in our town, so we ordered this one as well.
Taking into account the number of gadgets that will need recharging (notebook, two cameras and two phones) we'll have to throw in - a multiple outlet, as well.

- flashlight:

Well.., I'm not sure about carrying a flashlight, but Andra suggested to take one with us. So, since I already wanted a dynamo recharging flashlight, I ordered a good one (good price, nice reviews, waterproof). We'll see if there will be any situations where a flashlight will come in handy.

Total investment for the stuff ordered from Amazon - a little over 280 euros.
Too much for one month traveling, but OK taking into account that we'll also use these for the one year around the globe ;).

Let's continue with the list. Below are things we'll buy here in our town:
- emergency and first aid kit with usual content: bandage and disinfectant for wounds, pills (aspirin and analgesics for headache, stomach pills, antibiotics etc), compass, fire starter, whistle and other stuff.
We might buy one kit or just buy items separately (only the ones that are useful for us).

- vest for photographic equipment:

I'll take with me all lenses for the dslr camera (50mm, 18-135mm and 50-200mm), as I would hate to miss good photo opportunities because of lacking equipment.
So, in order to have quick access to them and be able to change fast, I'll be looking for a vest like the one above.
Special photographic vests are incredibly expensive (prices start from 70 euros), but I found that they're not that different from normal ones which are at least three times cheaper.
I'm also considering a special photo equipment belt, as an alternative. A lot more expensive though ~ 50 euros; also - too obvious and maybe uncomfortable in certain situations.


- pants 3 in 1:

I discovered them a couple of days ago and thought that they are really interesting: can help in lowering the number of clothes we'll have to carry (pants are usually the heavies clothes).
Andra immediately shared my excitement and we decided to go and check them out (next week).

- sleeping travel pillows:

We all know how hard is to sleep in a moving vehicle so these are very good for taking a more comfortable nap in such situations. They keep the head from moving too much sideways or falling in your chest.

- bandannas:

As Joel mentioned in his blog, a bandanna is like a multifunction tool - useful in many situations.
I already have one for motorcycle rides and it's great; so, one more is needed - for Andra.

Well, right now I can't think of any other stuff to put in our backpacks, except clothes and usual accessories one has in the house.
Anyway, we're open to suggestions, so feel free to give us ideas :).

Our route is: Turkey, Syria, Jordan and Egypt - in 30 days - starting from the end of May. Except for Istanbul and Cappadocia in Turkey, we haven't decided yet about what exactly we should see in the other three countries.
We'll update the travel plan as soon as we have a more precise route defined.

Joel - with his vast experience - is helping us a lot by answering to our many questions. Also his blog is a very good resource for long term traveling.

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