May 2012
168 posts
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Eastern Turkey (Journal Excerpt #11)
[May 13, waking up in Erzurum]
“About the room in the hostel: fake hardwood floor, purple bedsheets, a little useless TV, a red night light, the standard water jug & glasses you find in every hotel that no one’s ever brave enough to drink from.
The view from our window captures the rusty beauty of Turkey quite well: decaying buildings, clothes hung out to dry on little balconies...
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Eastern Turkey (Journal Excerpt #10)
[May 12, arriving in Erzurum]
“When I wake up next we’re in Erzurum and the bus drops us off on a random side street. The town has gone apeshit crazy because Galatasaray won the finals and apparently this city has thousands of fans. We take a 10 lira taxi ride as close to the city center as we can, stopped by a wall of honking cars, cheering fans, chaos and confusion. The driver...
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“This is the sort of traveling I want to do. No backtracking. Know enough of the...”
– Eastern Turkey (Journal Excerpt #9)
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Eastern Turkey (Journal Excerpt #8)
[May 12, the bus through the mountains]
“You wake up and you’re in the mountains.
‘We’re going up,’ says Galen.
We try and snap an amateur photo of the earth dropping away from the side of the road into a forest valley. We’re driving at cloud-level. Next we’re over the pass and descending through a wood-n-nail village that seems about ready to...
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Eastern Turkey (Journal Excerpt #7)
[May 12, on route to Rize]
“Coastal highway. Overcast sky. Thick tree-covered hillsides to the right. Hotels and hollow buildings, always a mosque and clothes hanging from the balcony of a tall earth-toned apartment complex: stone, cement, brick, crumbly and left to ruin by weather —yet still inhabited. Long tunnel.
A city emerges, tree-lined streets, that familiar Turkish appeal....
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Eastern Turkey (Journal Excerpt #6)
[Saturday, May 12: Trabzon]
“I view the world with wide eyes so as not to narrow my scope and be disappointed with what I’ve limited myself to see.
Dinner at Kalender.
Drinks with the Australians during the Trabzon game.
Nice to have that ‘abroad’ experience of meeting other travelers from other countries. Got some South Korean coins from Chell, who was offering them to...
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Eastern Turkey (Journal Excerpt #5)
[Friday, May 11: Trabzon]
“We hiked the neighborhood up the hill to a nun’s monastery, catching curious glances from kids playing on the slanted streets and bits of conversation from the older women watching them from the shade. We were looking for the park when we found the monastery, which, sadly, was under restoration. Still a fellow on crutches with one lame leg gladly invited...
