Turkey
This is the final installment of "The Nomad Speaks." I'm in Istanbul,
Turkey where I've been hanging out for a few days. It's an easy place to
stay. Practically everyone speaks English, Latin character set, cheap (and
tasty) street food and the people are super friendly. The only confusing
thing is the Turkish lire. One million = 1 USD... trying to count the
money is time consuming because of so many 0's.
Istanbul makes for a great starting/ending point of a trip, but it's too
touristy for any real culture. Sure you see muslims walking around in the
standard garb, a mosque on every corner and the call to prayer
reverberating through the streets five times a day, but there are bus loads
of tourists on every corner in Sultanahmet. I checked out other parts of
Istanbul (Taksim, Beyazit, Kumkapi, Suleymaniye) and it's much better --
fewer tourists. I've seen a few women dressed in burkas, but they're quick
little buggers... I haven't been able to snap a photo of any. I would love
to see other parts of Turkey -- maybe another time.
It's been a good trip. In one sense, I wouldn't change a thing... in
another, I would do it completely different. My only regret is that I
didn't get as much exposure to "traditional" Eastern European culture as I
would have liked. I know it's out there, but much of it has been obscured
with Western influences. To find it, I think one would have to explore
deeper into the countryside (Glazhone for example) and spend many weeks
walking/hitching between villages. If a bus or train goes there, it
probably has too much Western influence. Eastern Europe was just too tame
for my tastes... perhaps if I had visited Ukraine, Moldova, Russia and the
Baltic countries it would have been different. Talking to other travellers
though, all of these countries are basically the same, they are just in
different periods of re-development. I've seen enough of the "rebuilding
post-communist" countries.
At the beginning of my trip, I quickly realized I bit off more than I could
chew. My original plan was to stick to the countryside and take trains
from Estonia to Turkey visiting villages in every country along the way. I
quickly realized this was impossible. It would take years to cover this
area in any real depth. Ideally I would backpack (walk) the whole way
staying in house/barn/shed/whatever whenever I could... in my Bibler the
rest of the time. I had a taste of this with my friend Rich last year on
the Pennine Way in England and Scotland. Anyone who knows me, knows that
I'm a purist at heart and this seems like the perfect "nomadic"
experience. Someday I'll do something like that again, in another region,
where they don't speak my language and their culture is different than mine.
I'm not sure where I'm headed next. No real plans, no real time frame.
I'll have the winter to think about it. Hopefully I can get a job at a ski
resort to help offset some of my expenses and to work on my telemark
technique (or lack thereof). I'm looking forward to winter. Next spring
I'll probably be in another part of the world... someplace a little more
exotic and a little off the beaten path.
Turkey where I've been hanging out for a few days. It's an easy place to
stay. Practically everyone speaks English, Latin character set, cheap (and
tasty) street food and the people are super friendly. The only confusing
thing is the Turkish lire. One million = 1 USD... trying to count the
money is time consuming because of so many 0's.
Istanbul makes for a great starting/ending point of a trip, but it's too
touristy for any real culture. Sure you see muslims walking around in the
standard garb, a mosque on every corner and the call to prayer
reverberating through the streets five times a day, but there are bus loads
of tourists on every corner in Sultanahmet. I checked out other parts of
Istanbul (Taksim, Beyazit, Kumkapi, Suleymaniye) and it's much better --
fewer tourists. I've seen a few women dressed in burkas, but they're quick
little buggers... I haven't been able to snap a photo of any. I would love
to see other parts of Turkey -- maybe another time.
It's been a good trip. In one sense, I wouldn't change a thing... in
another, I would do it completely different. My only regret is that I
didn't get as much exposure to "traditional" Eastern European culture as I
would have liked. I know it's out there, but much of it has been obscured
with Western influences. To find it, I think one would have to explore
deeper into the countryside (Glazhone for example) and spend many weeks
walking/hitching between villages. If a bus or train goes there, it
probably has too much Western influence. Eastern Europe was just too tame
for my tastes... perhaps if I had visited Ukraine, Moldova, Russia and the
Baltic countries it would have been different. Talking to other travellers
though, all of these countries are basically the same, they are just in
different periods of re-development. I've seen enough of the "rebuilding
post-communist" countries.
At the beginning of my trip, I quickly realized I bit off more than I could
chew. My original plan was to stick to the countryside and take trains
from Estonia to Turkey visiting villages in every country along the way. I
quickly realized this was impossible. It would take years to cover this
area in any real depth. Ideally I would backpack (walk) the whole way
staying in house/barn/shed/whatever whenever I could... in my Bibler the
rest of the time. I had a taste of this with my friend Rich last year on
the Pennine Way in England and Scotland. Anyone who knows me, knows that
I'm a purist at heart and this seems like the perfect "nomadic"
experience. Someday I'll do something like that again, in another region,
where they don't speak my language and their culture is different than mine.
I'm not sure where I'm headed next. No real plans, no real time frame.
I'll have the winter to think about it. Hopefully I can get a job at a ski
resort to help offset some of my expenses and to work on my telemark
technique (or lack thereof). I'm looking forward to winter. Next spring
I'll probably be in another part of the world... someplace a little more
exotic and a little off the beaten path.