May He Prosper . . . .

I stayed at the Harmony Hostel while in Istanbul - www.istanbulharmonyhostel.com or on hostelz.com - www.hostelz.com/hostel/156426-Harmony-Hostel. It's a wonderful little hostel very near the bus-line and within walking distance of the central part of town. A very nice ambiance, with pillows on the floor, free meals, open areas where guests and staff can get to know one another, great place for single travelers to meet others. Have I said it all? The hostel is above a carpet shop and when open there's always the sign out front: "Harmony Hostel - same same only different."

Turns out I helped them sell this magnificent bedspread to my friend, Claudia.

Ugur works there. He's a Kurd, self-taught English, a peace worker in my eyes, one of the best in the world. He's from a small Kurdish village in southeastern Turkey, one of the many threatened by flooding from the development of dams in that region, that predominantly Kurdish region. Person by person he spreads truth and peace. He shares his thoughts, gleaned from a difficult life, that violence and hatred are not the path to justice and peace.

When I leave Istanbul he carries my luggage to the bus stop and waits with me for the bus to arrive. We sit together on the bench and chat, this old American woman and this young Kurdish man. I take his photo.

"Ahhhhhhh . . ," he says wistfully, as he looks out across the park. "The women I see here are so beautiful. I would never be able to see women such as this in my own village."

My Love Affair with Istanbul

I fell in love with Istanbul. It's one of those hot love affairs - eight days and I must seek respite. Even though I did manage to avoid most of the tourist sights. Well, actually all of them that required a fee, me being me, the original cheap-skate. No, really. I just hate paying $20 to stand in line with 100s of people gawking at bright shiny things. It's just not my style. And seriously folks, I'm trying to see if it's possible to walk around the world for under $50/day. So far so good. I'm doin' it, except when I add in my airfare, then it bumps it just over the $50/day mark. Not bad, eh? I'd like to get it lower but it's hard. In spite of my tight budget I did find some things to forever love about Istanbul.
The colors . . .

The Grand Bazaar

The ferry ride on the Bosphorus . . . .

The beautiful mosques . . . .

Hiking in the Belgrade Forest . . . .

Prince's Island and the Turk students having a picnic . . . .

Eyup . . . .

The other travelers I met . . . .

Ugur and the Harmony Hostel . . .

Cappadocia. For the past few days I've been in Cappadocia. Once again, I look at the tour posters and find out where all the tour groups are going then I head in the other direction. Consequently, I have had some magnificent hikes, seen some amazing landscapes uncluttered by tourists (except for the few solitary birds like myself) and visited some still quiet and remote ancient ruins. I hope those following my blog can sort out my photos. I'll have to give a slideshow when I get home. Just uploading my photos is time-consuming and it's difficult to find time to blog so I must just do it quickly on the run. I'm hauling my heavy laptop around with me. I had thought to send it home with friends I was meeting in Istanbul but I've decided it's worth its weight because it allows me to upload my photos off my camera and keep a decent journal.
I'll be here in Goreme for one more day. Next stop: Safranbolu, an old Ottoman Empire city. More photos soon, I promise! :o)

A week in Istanbul

I'm beginning to get the hang of it around here. I found a new hostel to stay at that costs only $15/night (it's $20/night where I'm staying now). But most importantly, the new Hostel, the Harmony, has a kitchen for guest use. That makes a huge difference. I've managed to find a few small markets where I can buy fresh fruits and vegetables and yesterday I learned the location of a large market where I'll be able to find other things. I'm beginning to learn the secrets of traveling cheap. Transportation costs must be kept down, which means staying in one place for at least a week if not longer.

I've been in Istanbul a week and though my expenses are low, they can go lower. I completely avoid the tourist traps, where thousands of people queue up elbow to elbow and inch their way through. I did buy a couple of scarves (and Claudia brought me 3 books from Margot) so now my pack feels extraordinarily heavy. Hence, when the totally handsome, suave Turkish salesman comes up to me I'm now really strong when I say, "I don't buy anything I have to carry." When he says, "We can ship!" I simply tell him the truth: I don' t have a house to ship it to and I don't want to buy stuff just to put into my storage shed. It's as easy as that.

I love Istanbul. We'll see how long this love affair lasts. I'll be here two more nights then I'll move down to Capadoccia for 5 days. The young people I met when I first arrived (they're on a 37-day adventure tour, camping, etc, cheap, sounds way cool) will be camping near Capadoccia so I plan to meet up with them again and maybe spend a few nights camping out. Then I'll come back to Istanbul and will most likely stay here until at least the middle of May. I've decided that I'll probably only make 2-3 stops on my way to Switzerland: Bulgaria, where I plan to stay at the Rila Monastery, high in the Rila Mountains; Sarejevo, Croatia; and Montenegro. I'll take sleeper trains or buses between each of these places.

Today I'm heading out to the Belgrade Forest, a forested area 20 km north of Istanbul. I asked the guy at the desk here about it and he had never heard of it, he'd never been there, and thought it was a long way away. :o) Interesting. I only read about it in one travel guide but it sounds amazing. Locals go there for a day away from the city, but mostly on the weekend. Here's what my book says:
"The Belgrade Forest is the only sizeable piece of woodland in the imediate vicinity of Istanbul. The forest is made up of pines, oaks, beeches, chestnuts and poplars, beneath which a profusion of wild flowers grow in spring.. . . the park's [main] attractions are the relics of the dams, reservoirs and aqueducts use for over 1,000 years to transport spring water in to Istanbul.The oldest structure, Buyuk Bent (Great Reservoir), dates back to the early Byzantine era."

I expect to spend a day in relative peace and quiet, just as I found on Prince's Island, all free of course except for the cost of transportation - which is cheap, fast and easy. This is an exciting, beautiful city but I will totally enjoy a little forest walking. I haven't had much of that in the past year. So that's how it all goes. Love & Light to all.

Wow!

Good morning or afternoon or whatever it is wherever you are.

Two of my friends cancelled their trips. the other two are coming, but they're doing guided pre-packaged tours so i won't see much of them.

I'm going to plan my itinerary somewhat around theirs but they move around a lot and that gets expensive. I'm trying hard not to spend too much money. I'm keeping track of all my expenses now that I'm on the road. I'm spending more than I want to. Each day I think, okay, today will be a cheap day then something turns up. I've settled into Istanbul at a hostel which charges $17/day and will be here for 4 more days so hopefully I can keep things down. [Note: I later found the Harmony Hostel, less expensive, great atmosphere, two meals a day included. My orignal plan was to move about a lot but now I've decided to limit my moves to no less than every three days. There are sooo many places to spend money here and it's all soooo inviting. The food here is outrageously delicious and there are restaurants and food carts about every 10 feet. Ah, you can't imagine - breads and pastries and ice cream and salads and it's all laid out so beautifully, so artistically. Every restaurant has a window full of amazing foods, cooks working, etc. The hawkers are the best in the world. They're not aggressive but very very nice, very handsome and it's hard to ignore their niceness. :o) Really nice people. honestly nice. If you're not interested in what they're selling they ease up and instead will invite you to share a cup of Turkish tea and a chat (as one carpet seller did yesterday) or give you a sample or give you directions or even walk you to your doorstep. I was even approached by a male prostitute. Imagine that?!?!

I had an amazingly wonderful day yesterday just wandering around in a daze. I've decided if you spent your entire life shopping in Istanbul you'd never be able to visit all the shops here. Everything glitters and shines and invites you in every way possible. A bright, lively beautiful city. I tried the hooka yesterday. Yum, yum. The smoke is so delicious. It's not tobacco, it's some mixture of dried fruits and grass, just plain green grass from the ground. People smoke them all over the place and now I know their appeal. It's like eating but not. Today perhaps I'll take a ferry ride up the Bosphorus if the weather is nice. Yesterday was a bit cool and overcast but the sky cleared in the afternoon. If I don't do a ride then I'll just walk around in a delightful daze again. I'm fine with that.