Time for an update

Izmir, Turkey

Yeah, I'm still alive. And no, I haven't forgotten about the blog. As alluded to last time I haven't posted in a while 'cause I've been stationary and there hasn't been so much to talk about. Well, I recently made a short jaunt over to Cyprus and thought I would show some photos and talk about the place a bit.

In short: don't go to Cyprus in the off season. Busses stop running, the weather is a a mild 20 degrees (although not so bad for November when one thinks of Canada!), stores close for lunch and don't bother to re-open, and forget trying to do ANYTHING on Sunday.

Nevertheless, there were some highlights. As many of you know Cyprus is divided into two countries, the Turkish north and the Greek south. Nicosia is the last divided capital in the world, placed square in the middle of the border. There is a UN controlled greenline that is still very active and stringent (although quite passable) border checkpoints. Luckily the country is moving steadily towards reunification so the world's last divided capital may not be divided for long.

The UN controlled Green Line

Border checkpoint between North and South Nicosia

Additionally, Nicosia has the biggest comic store I've seen outside North America so that was a plus. I didn't get over to the Roman ruins of Pafos, thanks in large part to the lack of busses, but I did manage to see a good deal of the Turkish north and the land has a lot of natural beauty. Dusty plains lead to green fields, towering mountains, and beautiful blue coastline. There are castles and ports in Girne, ancient churches in Famagusta and everywhere, Greek cathedrals converted to mosques. I don't think the catholics particularly approve but from the outside observer it makes a fantastic sight.

Yours truly in a ruined cathedral, Famagusta



Nicosia's biggest Mosque and former church



Girne harbour

A 3000 year old boat discovered off the coast - now inside Girne Castle

Former cathedral in Famagusta

Interior of the same Mosque

Cyprus also contains what could possibly be the most overrated monestary of all time. It's a four hour drive from the capital through windy backroads and small Turkish villages before finally tıy reach a long white building looking something like a barracks and a crummy tourist market. The end. Enjoy your stay. But it did have a good view:

View a few km down the road from the monastary

Unfortunately I don't have much to say of the Greek side except that their version of Nicosia is a little nicer with a few more conveniences. Limassol is a nice city but again busses are a problem. If you go, rent a car.

As for me, I have some good news to report. As of this Saturday I will be published in the Medicine Hat News. I'm pursuing papers more regularly over the last week and it seems to be paying off. Hopefully soon I'll have some bigger publications to announce.

Also I have a job here with a company called English Life that may or may not be worthwhile. THe pay is poor (although for Turkey it is outstanding. I make twice what my friends do for half the hours), and they want me to sign a one year contract which I will but do not intend to honor... hmm... world traveller... can you say flight risk? Still, they need me as much as I need them so for now it should work out okay. Right now I am thinking I will continue the expedition in another season or two. Gotta re-save some money after europe.

I also still await the near mythological laptop. It's current status is "stranded in Taiwan" with a couple false alarms for sending it. I've wanted to buy a second one in Turkey and sell it later but it's too hard to find a used one here that's reliable and the new ones are expensive as hell. I may be forced to continue with internet cafes for the foreseeable future. If you ever do a world trip and plan to make money while you travel by writing... well... GET A LAPTOP FIRST YOU FUCKING MORON! Little things you learn along the way... :)

Anyway, in the next few weeks I will post again with a special treat for all you engineer types. I have some part way numbers for you. I also plan to post a map of my progress one day. We'll see if I can sort some computer stuff out.

A bonus shot of the view from my balcony at home in Izmir

Surreal Freedom

Izmir, Turkey

Well first off, anyone who isn't sure if they should go to Turkey or not... GO! There is just so much here it's unreal... or surreal you might say. See what I mean? :

They call them Fairy Chimneys. Basically it's like the badlands on steroids. Not normal steroids either, I'm talking genetically superior, hardcore, pro wrestler steroids. In one place you can climb through passages that weave in and out of mountains, crawl through the sewers of ancient underground cities that put the ones contructed in Vietnam during the war to shame, or go out for a night on the town where you can watch Turkish belly dancers while eating and drinking all the local food and booze you're capable of.

Oh not to mention if you head over to the coast you can see some of the most impressive ancient Roman cities in the world. Or maybe you'd rather visit Troy or chill out in a tree house in Olympos. I know it sounds like I'm writing a tourist propoganda piece but damnit Turkey is an amazing country!

I think I managed to travel through it in the most inconvenient way possible as well, going north then south then west then east then west again only to eventually head back up north once more. Anyone ever heard of a circle? Oh well, I will try to actually plan China a little better.

I'm not sure how much I can say about these places without just showing you the pictures so I won't try. Here are some photos of some of the most impressive sites I have ever seen:



The Open Air Museum in Göreme

One of the valleys in the background

One of the fairy chimneys


I climbed to the top of this badboy. Four levels and to get to the top I had to climb up what's in the next pic!

This tunnel is straight up and about 4m long. Oh and it's cut into the roof 3m from the ground. Hard to reach!

Me and my climbing buddy!

Horse stable in the chimney

My hotel in Göreme. Yes. It's a cave.

Trapped in the underground city! Damn inpenetrable grates!

Rockin' out after my escape

A passage in the underground city

Which way is up?? It's like one of those paintings!!! You know.... with the stairs?

Ancient roman city of Ephesus

Ephesus theatre. Huuuuuge.

A different theatre in Pamukkale.

The Tavertines in Pamukkale

A brief stopover in Greece to pose for a photo.

The other thing I wanted to do with this post is fill everyone in. For those not stalking me on facebook, you probably don't know yet that I am planning to stay here in Izmir for a few months. Well at least two anyway until my visa runs out. I think it is not too difficult to renew for another 3 months so chances are I will be here into the new year.

The reason is hinted at in the last post I made. It gets really hard to leave so many amazing people and Izmir has some of the best. Only two or three other places I've been have I felt so comfortable and met so many wonderful people (Riga comes to mind - actually, that may be the only other place that's comparable). And with my money running low and the need for english teachers in Turkey relatively high, I thought why not? In four days I managed to land myself three new best friends and a girlfriend. What's not to like? I'm learning the language at record pace and hope to be able to hold down a conversation in a month or so. Knowing my luck I will probably just have it figured out and will be on my way to China.

The main reason I'm Still in Turkey! Sedef!

So what's the plan while I'm here? Hell if I know. Try to work somewhere, try to sell some travel articles or short stories back home, keep writing in my novel... We'll see. All I ask is that my income goes into the black and I hold steady until I hit up China! The good news is The Toronto Star (biggest paper in Canada) liked an article I wrote for Cappadocia but have already done a similar piece. They said I should submit something else to them so I will. In the mean time I'll send that article around to some of the other papers. See if there are any other takers.

That's it for now. I'll keep you all updated and start loading some of those old photos I keep talking about from Europe once I finally get my computer.

The hardest thing about traveling

Izmir, Turkey

I'm back in Izmir for the second time now. And not for the city, there's really not too much here. It's just a big city with a lot of university students. But the people here. The people here are worth a second visit and many more after.

It's a hard thing to explain, the connection you can make with a place without even realizing it. It's also pretty rare in my traveling experience but Izmir, a place I originally never intended to even go, has created a strong one. And the reason is all because of the people.

Before I left people often asked, "are you scared traveling alone?" "Aren't you worried?" etc etc. The answer was always no. I always said people are people are people. They're the same everywhere. As they say in Vietnam: "same same but different." Turns out I was right. At least for Europe. I've had no problems and have had only excellent experiences.

Someone asked me a few weeks ago (I think it was Jurgita!), "what's the hardest thing about traveling alone?" The answer is meeting others. Not the meeting itself, that's easy. Too easy. I've always been good at creating relationships and now I am even better. But meeting all these wonderful people in different places around the world and then leaving them after only a few short days, now that's hard. Even the leaving wouldn't be so bad if you were coming back, but you're not. Chances are good you'll never see them again. Since this trip started I've added more than 60 people to my facebook account and they're all fantastic. I've met a dozen people that could be best friends. I've even met a few girls that would definitely be keepers if I lived in the same place. Almost all of them I will never see again.

I know never is a long time and anything can happen between now and then. And I'm certain to see some of them. But it's true. The world has gotten smaller but it's just not possible to maintain a close friendship with so many people accross so much space.

Fortunately, there are some good things that come out of it as well. When you know you only have a few days with someone(s) than you make the best of it. You don't waste time because if you do (even though it sounds cliche) you'll never get another chance. It teaches you to let go and enjoy the moment because if you don't, you'll always regret it, even if it's just a coffee at Starbucks.

It's possibly the most important thing I've learned so far and I'll be taking that lesson with me the rest of my life. Unfortunately saying it and explaining it in words doesn't do it justice. All I can say is next time you go traveling, don't stay in secluded hotels and take taxis into the city center to enjoy a nice dinner for you and your traveling companion. Meet people. Meet everyone. Because even if a person is kind of dumb, everyone is smarter than you'd think.

I'll post some more about some of the places I've visited since Fetiye soon.

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