the blue horizon

The Syrian border was a minutes walk from my hotel in Nusaybin. I was the only person there so it took no time at all leaving turkey. Entering Syria was a little different. Before even getting to immigration a handful of people wanted to see my passport and check all through my baggage. Once in immigration i had to fill out the same forms that i filled in when applying for the my visa back in London. And then through customs the same thing. Everyone was real nice about the whole thing, how is your father? What do you do? Did you enjoy turkey? and always finishing with 'welcome to Syria'. I had planned to catch the train to Aleppo. After traveling 4000 km by bus in Turkey it seemed like a good option and at 175 Syrian pounds (less than $5) was extremely cheap. I caught a taxi to the train station who did there best to convince me that taking a bus was a better option. I said no I'd like to the the train. They said ok but you'll have to go to the ticket office in town t

A short bus ride from Diyarbakir, Mardin was supposed to be a gem. I guess I caught them on a bad day. Piles of rubbish blocked entire streets and the entire town stunk. If you looked past this (or smelt past it?) there was some merit in the claim. The town was perched on the side of a hill giving views of the endless plains below, unfortunately the visibility was far from endless. Like other towns the main sites were old churches and mosques. From here I caught a bus to Nusaybin. Nothing spectacular in itself just a necessary stop before crossing the Syrian border. In another example of locals doing everything they could to help when i asked the hotel cleric a question that went beyond his English he rang his brother in Istanbul to translate for us. Tomorrow I cross the border into Syria. Don't worry mum it'll be ok.

Diyarbakır feels different from any other city in Turkey. When people say welcome to Kurdistan you realize why. Theres an edge to the city that is hard to explain. Some people carry a chip on their shoulder, blaming Turkey for all there problems. Predictably this sentiment comes mainly from the poor. Those who are better off will tell you that a Kurdistan will not change the situation. The city is surrounded by basalt walls, still largely intact. Most of the sites such as the Ulu Camii and other Mosques and churches are inside the walls. Venture outside the walls and you are confronted with a city that rivals the townships of Cape Town. I guess you could argue both are a result of oppression the only difference being that the children in Cape Town were friendly. The kids here would spot you from a mile away and swarm you asking for the money. Say no and you get pelted with rocks and rubbish. Adults thankfully frowned heavily upon this. An interesting town. Visit for the culture, not f

The most exciting thing about Erzurum was the drive through the mountains from Trabzon. It is a massive achievement of Engineering that they get a road through there (and some skill on the part of the bus driver to not send us over the edge of a cliff to our deaths). I only really spent the night to break up the journey to Diyarbakir. I shouldn't have bothered. After two hours I had seen all there was to see. I should have booked a bus that afternoon. If it wasn't so cold I might have ventured a bit further around town. The temperature itself wasn't the problem it was the icy paths and 6ft icicles dangling above my head that caused me the most concern. The only thing of note to be really be found in Erzurum is that the rate of jewelry stores per head of population must be the highest in the world. Its also the coldest place I have been at -17. Cheers, schuey.

As I arrived into town the road was straddled by a harbour on one side and a string of hotels on the other. A few people had mentioned that these were brothels servicing the sailors from the frequent cargo boats. I noticed one of the hotels I was considering was in that group so I gave it a miss and went with the more expensive option in the centre of town. Hot water, Heating, Excellent breakfast, Not a brothel, No regrets. Trabzon itself is pretty enough though short on specific sites to visit. I walked around town for the day visiting a few of the mosques, the bazaar and the St Sophia museum. At one point I was joined by a local who noticed I was having trouble navigating my way through the back streets. He asked where I was going. I told him, he said follow me and I did. Soon I had an entourage of kids following me around everywhere. We played a little football, drunk some tea, he showed me a few other things not on the map, we met a bloke who said he was sailor, he offered me a sm

Lonely Planet suggested that Amasya is one of the prettiest towns in Turkey. Set in a mountain valley with a river running down the middle, I couldn't agree more. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves when I eventually post them. Once again the weather was perfect and it hadn't snowed here at all which was good because I had a lot of walking to do. It was a strange town. Mostly because it was one of the more modern towns I had come across, it almost had a cosmopolitan feel to it. But then there would be a horse and cart parked in the street. Most people spoke some English. They would come up to me (blond hair = foreigner), especially children and say hello, welcome, what is your name? where are you from? but that would be it as if that was as far as their grasp on the English language would go. This was excellent but as the conservation wasn't going to go any further (my Turkish matches their English) it made for a weird silence until one of us went on our way. I d

So you arrive ın Nevsehir in the evening after a long bus trip. You don't see any minibuses to Goreme but you see a sign "free information" maybe they can help. They tell you," its too late, the buses have finished". I ask "where can ı catch taxi?". They say "No No too expensive this time of night" Then they offer their solution and this is where you should pay attention. If you book this tour they will gıve you a lıft to your pension for free. Thıs tour ıs the standard fare. All companies offer pretty much the same tours for the same prıce (The green tour for those in the know) No harm in it so I agree. Then they say that they can't get you that lift because it is too late and that you should stay ın Nevsehir (At theır hotel of course) that nıght and they'll drop you of ın Goreme after the tour tomorrow. I say "no I'm goıng to Goreme tonight". They ask where I'm stayıng. I answer and they tell me the place doesn'

On a bit of a whım ı decıded to stay ınland rather than head back towards the coast. I was workıng on the theory that no sun or other tourısts make seasıde resorts a dull boy. One look at Eğırdır and ı knew ı had made the rıght decısıon. The town was wedged between a mountaın and a lake. The weather was perfect. Even though ıt had snowed the past few days leavıng a whıte blanket over everythıng the sky was brıght blue. It was stıll freezıng but. Cold enough to freeze over the lake whıch was a dısappoıntment as the pensıon owner was also a fısherman and usually takes hıs guests out wıth hım. As far as other tourısts went ı had the town to myself. There wasn't a lot to do but I managed to fıll a few days hıkıng around the mountaıns behınd the town. As ıt was a bıt off the backpackers traıl not alot of people spoke englısh whıch made me paınfully aware that ı would have to learn more than the basıcs hello, please and thankyou ıf ı wanted to get anywhere ın Eastern Turkey. Whıch ıs wh

Pamukkale was a just a short bus rıde from Selçuk. I must say I never fail to be impressed wıth the level of service and quality of buses that I travel on. This one even had inflight movies. It was a little weırd when ı got to the hotel ın Pamukkale as ı was the only guest ın a hotel wıth over 100 rooms. It was lıttle borıng wıth no one else theır but ıt dıd mean I got a lot of attentıon from the owners ıncludıng an excellent home made meal. The maın attraction was the calcified waterfalls on the mountaıns borderıng the town and the ruıns o f Hıerapolıs above thıs. Impressıve stuff and up there wıth the best natural wonders ı have seen. Next stop Eğırdır. Cheers, schuey.

The bus from Canakkale didn't leave until 11 in the evening so i had the whole day to look around town. After an hour I had seen all there was to see and wondered if the money saved from taking a nightbus rather than staying in a hostel was worth the boredom i was about to endure. After Troy and Gallipoli there was really nothing else to see and i struggled to keep myself busy. Even the hostel only had two videos, both onGallipoli, seemingly admitting that this was a one trick town. I was woken in Aydin, a little dazed and confused since this was well past where the girl at the ticket office saidi was going to be dropped off near Selcuk. Something lost in translation i guess. No bother, I took a minibus from hereand was rewarded with some nice views of the mountains as the sun was rising over the horizon. I was greeted with breakfast and tea when i got to the ANZ Guesthouse. Just what i need after a night of jilted sleep. The sunwas shining and not to waste it i walked the 4km out

The Otogar at Istanbul was perhaps just slıghtly smaller than Adelaıde. Perhaps. I've never seen so many buses ın the one place and doubt I ever wıll. Thousands of them, off to every conceıvable destınatıon ın Turkey. I'm glad ı booked my tıcket to Çanakkale from the Hostel otherwıse ı would have been lost amongst the hundreds of Bus offıces. The bus ıtself was surprısıngly modern and rıvalled Emırates for decour. They even served tea,coffee and cake whıch ıs more than ı can say for Easyjet. It was unfortunate however that ı sat next to the fattest man ın Turkey the entıre sıx and a half hours to Çanakkale. I'm not sure what Turkeys offıcıal tourısm slogan ıs but perhaps ıt should be 'Turkey: Half Fınıshed' . Along the entıre route buıldıngs of all descrıptıons sat unfınıshed and ıt dıdn't look lıke ıt the sıtuatıon would change any tıme soon. My people back ın London told me that thıs would be the case, somethıng about cheap loans avalıable for people to fınısh

My flight to Istanbul was a bargain, 30 quid including taxes. The environmentalists out there would have my head. If the worlds governments and companies took global warming seriously, they would have made it cheaper to take the Train. As it stands 30 quid on the train gets me only as far as the airport and back. Unlike previous trips I was pretty relaxed when i touched down in Sabiha Gokcen Airport on the Asian Side of Istanbul. I guess the usual anxiety I felt in this situation had disappeared with experience. The bus from the airport dropped me off in Taksim Square. A mess of buses going of in all which directions, none of which i recognized. My arch nemesis returns. With my backpack i still stood out like a tourist (well even more so, long blond hair isn't all that common among the Turkish people) and i couldn't wait to get to my hostel in Sultanahment to rid myself of it. After wondering around a little and asking a few of the locals i took the funicular (underground tram)