Movements...

I'm in Argos right now. I say Mycenia this morning (not much to write home about after Ephesus.) I'm heading to Athens tomorrow night, and fly to Rome on Friday the 3rd.

I don't think I'm spending much time in Italy. It's a place I can see just as easily later in life. So I'll spend a few days in Rome, then quickly exit (hopefully by ferry) to Croatia. I really got to give it up to Croatia. They seem to be willing to post a schedule, albeit reduced for the winter, and more or less stick with it.

More details will follow.

Westernized world...

I know that I've returned to Westernized standards:

• The public busses have seat belts. I haven't seen a seat belt in months.
• Butt-gaskets: I don't know how else to describe them. You find them in bathrooms. They are the thin paper shaped as an outline of a toilet seat. You put one down before you sit down. These were on the train from Turkey to Greece. Bonus: There's also soap in the bathrooms.
• Sidewalks: They are even, not blocked (usually) by a score of motorcycles and somebody's ad hoc shop, and they have ramps to the street.
• Coffee: Nescafe isn't considered "top of the line" breakfast beverage.

Photos... All caught up

So I'm all caught up with the photos...

I have purchased a train ticket for Greece. I need to double check on it, but I think I go tonight. The only reason that I'm uncertain is that what the man at the station told me does not match with the published train schedule. I'm going back to the station to try again... So hopefully, the next time I leave a message, I'll be in Greece.

Last continent...

Check this out...

I got this from Bonzo, who got this from Lynne. Check this out:

Your Linguistic Profile:

70% General American English

10% Dixie

10% Yankee

5% Midwestern

5% Upper Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Return to Istanbul...

I've got an overnight bus to Istanbul, and, hopefully, a train to Greece the next night. I'm convinced that I have to go to Athens, but hope to immediatly get another train out. I know there are more "hopes" that "wills" in there, especially for me. But I think it will be easier to sort things out once I'm in Greece. The language barrier should be lower.

I put up some photos of Ephesus. Think "St. Paul's Letter to the Ephesians" or "Council of Ephesus", you'll begin to understand the history in this place. I hired a guide, and I faithfully took notes. So the gallery should be a nice social studies lesson...

I've loaded some other pictures, but not commented and such... I have a day in Istanbul to kill, so maybe some of that will be taken care of.

Don´t worry, I worked for a multinational...

And by that, I mean that I learned all of the good securıty practıces. Use the fırst stall ın the bathroom. Get through airport security quickly, while safeguardıng your belongıngs. And avoıd public demonstrations in a foreign land...

I was sıttıng ın a café yesterday, and a group of four to fıve cars drove by, all draped ın the Turkish flag. Taking note of the last rule, I asked the café owner what it was all about. It´s about servıce...

All Turkısh men must serve 15 months ın the Army upon turnıng 20. (It was 18 months, but as part of reforms designed to gaın acceptance ınto the EU, it was dropped to 15.) Every three months, the 20 year olds must report to the government. The "parade" ıs just the guy´s friends wishıng hım well.

I took an overnight bus yesterday. It stopped ın Aksaray (somethıng close to that). When we pulled ınto the station, there were people everywhere, probably 250 or so. They were waving the flag, dancıng, sınging, and even tossıng draftees ın the air. It was great to see such support from the community, and such a happy congregatıon.

So, while I really wanted to get out and take a few pictures of the joyous occasion, I remembered my training, and stayed safely in the bus.

Horses

Let´s finally add horses to the list of animals that İ´ve ridden. I went on a horseback rıde yesterday. And I´m back on a Turkısh keyboard, so some characters won´t come out rıght. But İ dıgress.

It was only a two hour experıence, but stıll enough to let me know that I wıll stıck to rıdıng my bıke. İt probably wasn´t the best idea to have a ride before an overnight bus trip, but ıt´s a little late for that...

Four dogs followed us on this ride. About halfway through, one independent dog decided not to follow the boy whıstlıng for hım. I had to get off my horse and wait whıle the boy went back for the dog. I thought, "What a fine time to get a picture!"

It wasn´t untıl after the horse started to wander away that I realızed the great wisdom ın the boy´s partıng instructıon: "Hold onto the reıgns."

Have I mentioned that I'm sleeping in a cave?

This area, Cappadocia, is famous for its rock formations. It's where the Hittites hid. Indeed, I saw an underground city yesterday, 30-80 meters underground. They only let us go down to 35 meters, however, around 100 feet.

The area was formed by volcanic eruptions. Most of the rock is easy to carve out, and indeed, it's a common practice. So my pension has rooms in a cave. I have electricity and a radiator for heat.

I've tried to add photos, but blogger seems a bit uncooperative right now... I'll try again later...

Turkish Baths...

So I had a Turkish bath while in Istanbul. I felt quite clean and exfoliated.

They give you a towel and a locker for your belongings. No problem. I walk into the main bathing room, and my glasses instantly fog up. "This isn't going to work," I thought, so I had to place my glasses in the locker.

It did make moving around interesting. It's wet everywhere. So the deal is that you have a large, round marble slab that is magically heated. It has a slight curvature so that water will run off of the edges. Around the circumference is a gutter. There are also spigots around the slab where warm water emerges.

So you lie on the slab until the matron is ready to give you a bath. She pours the water, scrubs away, and indicates when to turn over, sit up, etc. Communications between us were also difficult as she turned into a blob when more than a foot away from me.

It was a bit odd being given a bath. Usually, it's something only the very young, the very old, or the very sick experience. But like I said, I was nicely exfoliated upon release...

So I don't feel so bad...

In Istanbul, I received a lot of guff from fellow travelers about stupid questions that Americans had asked. Now, I don't feel so bad.

We were having a discussion about the riots and protests throughout the Middle East due to the publication of depictions of the Prophet Muhammad. There was an Aussie who had been in the Middle East for awhile. Long enough to cover Egypt, Dubai, parts of Africa, and end up in Istanbul. So his question was, "So who is this Muhammad guy anyway?"

You have to make a concerted effort to remain that ignorant...

More movements...

After delving into the ferry schedules on the Greek side, I have come to the conclusion that an overnight train is in my future. I've heard they're not bad, and that I can get a discount with the student ID I got in Egypt. (Apparently the country allows them to be issued to anyone under a certain age. I used it with some success, but I happen to attend "London University," a rather non-existent place.)

Anyway. I'm in Goreme (insert umlat over the o). It's beautiful. I'm taking a tour tomorrow, and doing some hiking the next day. Night of the 21st, I'll take another overnight bus to someplace with natural springs. I don't remember the name, and I don't have it in front of me. I'll spend a day there, as they are also supposed to have an excelent necropolis (cemetary over the ages). I'll hit Ephesis, city of "more complete" Roman ruins. Then I'll head back to Istanbul to get a train to Greece. The train stops short of Athens, but I want to visit Delphi, so I'm hoping this can be smoothly integrated in my transport arrangements. We'll see...

Photos...

I put up some more photos before smugmug when pppbbbtttt on me. I'll do more later. Some of the Turkey photos have been commented upon...

Photos...

So I have the Egypt photos finished. I have uploaded some of the ones for Turkey, but have not rotated/added comments, etc.

www.wheresmarcia.smugmug.com

Camera usage...

So I went to see the Whirling Dervishes last night. It's a religious ceremony for Sufists. To you and I, it's four men spinning around like a top and not falling down when they stop. Amazing it is.

I noticed that all four men tilted their head to one side or another. Not having the space to try to spin rapidly, I haven't investigated if this helps with balance. Needless to say, it is on the agenda.

But I reached a new high with my digital camera. No flashes were allowed, and the band was playing in low light. So I used the manual settings and adjusted the exposure to get some good pics. Or at least better than the ones the camera could do on any of the automatic settings. I used the same method to get a few shots of the dervishes. But as they were whirling, they are a bit of a blur. It just adds something to the experience...

Something else to add to the resume when trying to explain this "year off."

Movements...

I'm taking an overnight train to Cappadocia tonight. The busses are supposed to be great. You get tea/coffee/cake. I'm excited about the cake. The area is famous for its rock formations. I expect to be there two to three days.

After that, I'll head to Ephesus. It's the site of Roman ruins. I've been told that they are more complete than the ones in Rome. It's easier to imagine what the city would have been like.

The original plan was to take a ferry to the Greek Islands. This time of year, they may not run due to bad weather, or not enough people. I want to see Rhodes. So I'll head down the coast and suss out what my chances are. If I can't get to the islands, I'll head back to Istanbul to catch an overnight train to Athens (27 hours). I may try to move up my flight to Rome depending on the exact timing. The flight is currently set for 3 March.

Opinions...

So I went to the Aya Sophia. It started life as a church, and was then converted into a mosque. Now, it's a museum. And museums are full of school groups.

I'm standing there reading my book, describing all of the mosaics. The kids encircle me, encroaching on my private space. So I look up and say, "Hello."

I look around and get no response, and go back to my book.

Then, one boy says, "English?"

I reply, "Yes."

One girl asks me where I'm from, and given the reply, gives me a thumbs up. "America is very good."

I tell them my name, and they have me repeat theirs. They are herded off to the next point of interest...

Contrast this to the opinion of most of the Europeans I meet. They see Americans as loud, insecure, and bad dressers.

I feel maligned.

More photos...

I finished the India photos. I added more to the Jaiselmer pics. I had deleted some from the card (accidentally) but had them backed up on the MP3 player.

I also added the first two days of Eqypt. At this rate, I should be caught up by the end of the week...

MH

Out of Africa...

Cheesy title, but what did you expect?

So I'm in Istanbul. It actually reminds me of Chicago. It's cold. There's snow on the ground. It's a nice modern city with all kinds of shops and a great tram and metro. It looks very Westernized to me.

The keyboard is a bit different, but only for the punctuation.

Anyway. The mobile works again. It was having some issues in Egypt. I will be here for a week or so, and then figure out what to do. I need to be in Athens by 3 March, and I want a couple of days in Athens itself. I was planning on going down the coast of Turkey, and taking a ferry to the Greek islands. Being winter, the ferrys run twice a week, and only if the weather is good. So I may end up exploring mainland Turkey, and going to Greece overland. I've heard it's warmer in Greece, so that my win out over the coast...

Hope all is well...

More photos...

I spend a few hours behind the computer, and I'm most of the way through the India pics. Take note of the Streets folder. There are a few shots in there that look a bit odd. I put the camera on the "sports sequence" mode. It takes an image every few seconds. So you get to see, sort of, what I saw on my bus rides across India. Let me know what you think of it...

Sit down for this one...

So I went diving yesterday. It was an Adventure Dive, which means that I'm with an actual instructor. There's a course part, a dive briefing, and you do the dive. It's a step to get an Advanced Open Water certification.

You must carefully monitor air consumption when diving, especially the deeper you go. Since you're under greater pressure, a lung full of air at 30 meters requires about four times the number of air molecules needed at the surface. So your air goes quickly.

I look at the guage at nine meters. We haven't been down very long, and I've used five bar out of 200. I look again once we're down to 27 meters. It hasn't moved. I hit it. Still nothing. It's not that I can't get air, it's that I don't know how much I've used. I show the gauge to the instructor, and we abort the dive.

This is the best instructor I've ever had. So I wasn't really freaked out. I knew that I would be ok. And we made it out just fine. The company gave me my money back, and gave me a free dive to give me some confidence back.

So my lessons learned... Get into diving at home, and buy my own equipment. I can then maintain it in my usual exacting manner.

And the other is a "trust you gut thing. The certifiying agency, PADI, encourages new divers to take these courses. I think of it as a way to practice skills with an instructor. But I thought that I should get more dives under my belt. It was almost as if I didn't know what to do with all of the book info that I get. Indeed, I can answer all of the instructor's questions, but don't can't instinctually apply the knowledge. So I'm taking Harry's advice, and just going to dive a lot before I think about worrying about the advanced stuff...

Lots of stuff...

I'm currently in Dahab. I'm going diving tomorrow. They'll be a couple of deep dives, but I'll be with an instructor.

I'm heading back to Cairo a day early, on Friday. I need all of Saturday to get a guide book for Turkey, ship some stuff, etc.

I posted some photos from Thailand. I know I'm well behind. I just didn' find spots in India that I could easily upload from. I'll spend some more time in Dahab uploading. It's fairly fast, and about $1 (USD) for an hour...

Hope all is well...

Let's add donkey's...

to the list of animals I've ridden on the trip.

We went to the Valley of the Kings today, and rode donkeys to get there. The ride there was ok. The ride home, I ended up with an evil donkey. The animal was very slow, but when it went fast, it was a very uncomfortable ride. I should have worn a sports bra.

The tombs were great. The colors here are better preserved than at any of the other sites. So you get a better impression of what it must have looked like.

Egypt has been impressive. I'm not so sure about being on a tour, however. I feel like I've been more of a tourist than traveller. It's very hard to find out about modern Egyptian life. I've hit the highlights, but always with a group of mostly Australians... Since everyone is in a tour, you don't feel so odd. But while the going has been easier than for most of my countries, I'm not really getting the same experience...

And now that I'm far enough in the post that my mom knows I'm ok, I'll discuss the police convoys. There are certain areas of Egypt, basically Luxor and all parts south, where foreigners are not allowed to freely travel. All busses/taxis must be part of the police caravan. They take down the number of passengers and their nationality. Officially, we're a group of eight Austrailians. If we indicate that there's an American aboard, we get an extra security detail.

Basically, they want to make sure that no one hurts me. I've been impressed with the security that I've seen at the sights. Tourist police everywhere, and always stationed at high points overlooking the sites.

I head to the beach area tomorrow. I hope to dive...

Be in touch later...

India

It's not the wrong title, but I had to wait until I was less sleep deprived to write this:

I was in Trivandrum India, and searching for a guidebook for Egypt. I wasn't prepared for the lack of organization of the bookstore. They had "classics" in one area, guidebooks grouped together, but no real organization. You could find all of Pico Iyer's books, but not adjacent to each other, or even in the same aisle.

So I was browsing to see what I could see, and found "Being Indian" by Praveen Varma. The man is a diplomat, and the book focuses on the real psyche of Indians. His theory is that there are certain characteristics that Indians, in general, share. Some stereotypes are deliberately propagated - Indians are highly spiritual -when they serve a purpose. I'm not saying that I agree with everything in this book, as it does discuss generalizations about a nation. There are exceptions to every rule. But it did seem to explain a lot of behavior I witnessed.

We assume that people are elected to be the voice of the people, and that the government should serve the interest of the people. I may have watched too much West Wing, but I believe the vast majority of civil servants believe in their country and want to serve it in some way.

I assumed the same to be true in India. India is the world's largest democracy. Nearly one billion people wield power in a parliamentary system. We heard so many people complain about the corruption of officials. Bribery, even for small things, is necessary to get a civil servant to act. But the book postulates that democracy acts as a way to legitimize power. The "perks" of the job are a display of power, as are the "favors" handed out. There is a public condemnation of the corruption, but privately, a certain moral flexibility pervades. It's morality at a practical level; it can't be wrong if you gain from it.

The book holds that Indians are very focused on gains. They go to the temple and make offerings. They ignore the poor, the filth, the smells around them. The Western mindset says, "How spiritualistic to be able to focus on their prayer" but, in fact, the Indian is just ignoring anything which is extraneous to his pursuit. The Indian went to temple to ask the god for something. All that is around him is not of his concern.

I don't want to sound so negative about India. Democracy in India has given minorities a stronger voice then ever before. Coalitions are formed in a parliamentary system, and minorities may be needed to form the government. There are forces that are leading to a greater inter-Indian identity. With the IT boom, people are moving from one area of India to another. The changing demographics have a way of muting the radical voices. India has never attacked another country, and has shown great restraint in the use of its military. There is great tolerance.

The biggest lesson to me was about my assumptions. I tend to assume that something is mostly similar to me, instead of mostly different. I see McDonalds, Coke, and jeans, and assume that a country is becoming "Westernized." But "Westernized" is more a mindset than fashion accessory. I'm learning which parts of what I hold as "true" are indeed so.

Not on the ferry...

I was not on the ferry that sank...

No worries. I'm not set to take any ferries while in Egypt.

I survived the felluca trip. Two days of no toilets and no showers. Some people are falling out of their chairs in astonishment at this statement. But like I said, India has done wonders for me...