G'day, how you goin'?

Turkey was immensely enjoyable. I loved the people, the landscapes, the culture and the food. I will treasure my time there for years to come. Though I was there for just over 3 weeks, I could easily spend another few months, as there was so much more to do and see that I barely touched on. So, rather than feeling like I’ve seen enough of Turkey, I feel just like I was at the beginning of my discovery.

From the apricot centre of Malatya, to the sweeping horizons of Mardin. From Adana to Ankara, Istanbul to Erzurum. Each town or city had its own identity and felt completely unique. Finding a favourite amongst these would be nigh on impossible.

I tried a Hamam at long last in Adana. It was a really enjoyable, thoroughly relaxing experience. I came away feeling completely refreshed with skin feeling tighter. The building itself was typical of the Hamam design. Several domes could be seen from outside, with several tiny, spherical glass windows, which presumably helped heat up the chambers. The walls inside were all white, and the seating was, as with the rest of the interior, made of an opaque-white marble. 

 

Each dome was a different chamber or room. There was the main entrance leading into a room with a huge vat of presumably cold water, then the main chamber, which had more sections surrounding it. In the centre of the main room was a large raised, circular platform where you laid on your back facing the ceiling, feet pointing outwards. On the perimeter of the chamber were several wash bowls, also made of a solid piece of marble, above which were two stylised taps. After you had relaxed yourself and lost half your weight in sweat you washed yourself in these basins, with a plastic bowl.

Australia

My flights started from Istanbul, stopping in Singapore for 4ish hours, then heading on to Sydney.

The flights themselves (my first in maybe 7 or 8 years) weren’t so bad. I had no idea how cramped economy seats could be though! Barely enough room to stretch my legs out on either plane. In comparison trains and most of the buses I’ve been on have a luxurious amount of space. I was impressed by the inflight meals though, and getting free beer on any trip certainly boosts points that little bit higher. Perhaps it’s a different story on the more budget airlines. I used Qantas and Turkish Airlines.

Though I barely slept on either flight (too much entertainment available in the headrests infront) I did catch a few glimpses of a stunning sunrise as we were coming in to land at 5.30am. It was unlittered by buildings, spread out above a vast quilt of cloud. Then I got my first look at the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge which had me grinning with the gradual realisation that I was indeed in Australia.

Once I’d given myself a day or so to recover from the jetlag I really started to enjoy Sydney. My early thoughts, as I was wandering around sluggish and travel-worn, were that the city looked as I’d imagine a big American city would look. With the wide roads, endless skyscrapers that teased the clouds with their height and colourful, brightly lit advertisements. This was certainly an incomparably different place to Turkey - and that was just the beginning.

From the Sydney airport my first priority was to find a place to lay my head down for a few hours.

After I’d taken some cash out from the Airport cashpoint and armed myself with a map containing locations of a bunch of hostels, I took the Airport Link underground train to the centre. Once there, it took longer that I would normally take to decide on a hostel, but I was tired and confused so kept walking in circles for some reason. All part of the fun.

I finally settled on a place named ‘790 on George’ (as in George Street) and paid some AU$80 or so for a three-day stay . I really like the Australian Dollars... they come in bright colours, have a plastic see-through window and are apparently ‘surf-proof’. There’s also a familiar face on the back of the coins and on the $5 notes! 

 

The hostel had 7 floors and a seemingly endless stream of people going in and out. There seemed to be a large proportion of Australians staying there, which when I thought about it made sense, given the size of the country. The other nationalities you are likely to bump into are (in no particular order) English, Irish, Japanese, Malaysian, Chinese and a maybe the odd New Zealander (even though I can’t tell their accents apart yet). I also got talking to a Turkish guy who noticed I was using a Migros (Turkish supermarket) bag.  

Once I’d paid and got a handful of bedding I took the lift to my dorm room on the 6th floor. Once there I lay down, shut my eyes and promptly passed out for 7 hours, from 9am to 3pm. When I woke up and checked my watch I was surprised at how much time had gone by, while still feeling immeasurably knackered and like I’d been run over.

I decided to go for a walk and get some air. I even managed to gather my thoughts enough to buy some socks from a little army surplus store - to replace the one's revealing big toe. After I’d eaten and wandered around a bit more I spent the evening doing a whole lot of not very much. 

On the third day I was feeling more awake and the jetlag had all but disappeared. I walked across the Harbour Bridge and took some pictures just as it was getting dark. I’d ended up in a residential area, facing the Opera House and the distant skyscrapers – a great sight as night drew in and everything was lit up. 

 

 

So after three brief days in Sydney I decided to make my way down south...

I went to the train station after I'd checked out of the hostel and hoped to do my tried and tested method of looking at the departures board and going somewhere that sounded cool. On this occasion, there were works going on on the New South Wales lines, so this wasn't going to be how it was.

The gent behind the counter pointed me towards the bus ticket office the floor below and there I purchased a ticket that was valid for 3 months, for as many stops as I'd like between Sydney and Melbourne. The price seemed right so I went for it. It turned out to be perfect timing aswell, as just as I was waiting for my bus, it began pounding with rain outside, bringing the stint of amazing weather to an abrupt end.

I made just two stops along the way, mainly because I was getting tired of actual COLD weather (in Australia?!). I stopped in the town of Nowra, which turned out to be quite quiet and mediocre. Essentially a typical suburban town with a few rows of shops and some small restaurants. I ended up spending the night (the most expensive night I've spent anywhere I have to point out!) in a cosy 3-star bed and breakfast calling itself the White House. It was an incredibly comfortable place, furnished in a traditional style with big old-fashioned furniture and creaky floorboards. It cost me $99 for one night. 

My other stop was the more upbeat and picturesque Eden. This place, being bang on the coast had the benefit of a couple of beaches, though still incredibly cold due to winds from the sea. I stayed for two nights in a dorm above a pub, of which I was the only occupant. During the day I walked along the beach and it was good to breath in the fresh air and read amongst the shelter of some rocks.  

From Eden I headed straight onto Melbourne, where I have been for maybe 12 days. I will stay here until the 8th November, waiting on a bank card and a Tax File Number (which I will be needing when I start earning) before heading slightly north. I'm enjoying Melbourne and slowly adapting to the Aussie lifestyle, which includes good beer, kangaroo steaks, amazing weather (mostly) and more of a laid-back attitude to life. 

In other news, I've booked 28 days in Sydney from the 15th December until the 11th of January 2010. The cost - $915.00.

Kiev - Sevastopol - Istanbul

Ok, where to start...

Well, first off, I missed the 1655 to Kiev, as I strangely assumed it would be at the same time the following day, instead it surprised me by being 10 minutes earlier.

It wasn't so bad though, but this is the second time I've missed a train in Warsaw, must be something to do with the streets being longer than you expect, from looking at a map. In the end I was glad to have a train going from very early in the morning the next day (only had to pay the reservation again) as there would have been little sleep anyway.

Which brings me onto the border crossing. 

The passport and Immigration checks, which I have to admit were a little unnerving took the best part of 2 hours. Perhaps it was that I didn't have a return address to give them for my departure from the Ukraine, or the fact that a guy in full military get-up would throw a glance in my room every few minutes. Maybe it was just being the sole English-speaker in the whole train that did it. Either way, I'm sure you get used to it. 

After you were stripped of your passport and the Arrival and Departure Immigration card, the train then went into a huge shed where the train's wheels were replaced from the standard European (4' 8½") gauge to Russian 5' gauge. This was a system implimented to cripple the movement of the Nazis, and hasn't been updated since. Still, it was quite cool being lifted inside the train, maybe a meter or so into the air, while a team of engineers changed the wheels. You understand now, why I was glad that I wasn't fighting to get some sleep while all this was all going on!

So, Kiev then.

When I arrived here, I was faced with lots of grey, beat up Ladas, Babushkas selling fruit and other foods on the corners and even more of the military. This is when it dawned on me that I should've taken the time to learn even a little bit of Cyrillic. In the end, after a lot of running around trying to find anyone who spoke English (and failing) I hesitantly made use of a taxi after a couldn't get a response to "Metro?". 

If you ever get to Kiev, you'll understand when I say it looks better at night. During the day you'll notice the horizons are all dominated with grey apartment blocks, and a very strong Russian influence (as you'd imagine). One thing that did disappoint me though, was how Western the place felt once I'd started to explore outside the doors of my hostel, after my first full night's sleep. There were McDonald's, Starbucks and lots of the other global giants. Funny then, that the only place where you could rely on someone being able to speak a few words of English were restaurants and cafes.

I suppose I was just hoping to find myself in a place with very few similarities at all with home. Maybe I'd have to go into the deepest parts of Russia to get away from all that.

I spent 3 days in Kiev, probably too much as by the end of the second day I felt like I'd seen most of the main sights. There were a good few churches dotted around, some topped with gold domes which looked all the better when the sun shone on them. On the 3rd day, as I was hanging around with a dude from Atlanta who spoke a little Russian, I went along to the Lavra monastery. 

This was all well and good on the surface - some impressive structures and a good view of the surrounding areas. The main attraction though, for me at least, were the catacombs, where you could look at loads of mummified monks. You had to go down with a special candle and the women had to cover their heads. It was quite an intense, almost claustrophobic experience and I felt out of place at times as people were crossing themselves above each monk, when I was just comparing which box of wrapped up bones was the largest. 

We also went to the nearby Museum of the Great Patriotic War, where the Mother Motherland monument dominated the skyline. Sounds a little dull, even to myself, but then Kiev didn't seem to have a mass of things to do. Probably, if I'd have had the same insider knowledge as in Warsaw, I'd have more interesting things to talk about.

From Kiev it was another overnighter train to Sevastopol, the Southern-most part of Ukraine, closed to the public as recently as 1996. This, aswell as being considerably warmer, was more interesting, but the language barriers still remained.

I went to the famous ex-submarine base in Balaklava (yeah, that knitted garment of the same name was first used here), witnessed open-air karaoke and got confused at how quickly it went from dusk to absolute pitch-black at 8 o'clock sharp. 

The submarine base could've been something straight out of James Bond. It was concealed within a mountain and submarines, submerged, would enter, completely undetected from the outside. There were also some amazing views of the port from atop the nearby hill, with the port on one side and the Black Sea on the other. 

As for the karaoke, I don't think I'll be forgetting that any time soon. Something about a woman with a greasy mullet singing Tatu songs in Ukrainian that tends to stick. Cheap beer definitely made it even pass as entertainment. 

After a two-day ferry from Sevastopol (handy having someone Ukraine book tickets for you. Was impossible to get anything more recent than 7 years ago on the Internet in the way of information) I am now in Istanbul. The ferry wasn't bad at all. Meals were included and there were at least some English-speakers to keep me company. 

I'm only going to be here for tonight, heading to Greece tomorrow with any luck on yet another overnight train, spending a week island hopping, then looking toward a solid month in and around Turkey. 

Hamburg, Dresden, Prague

Hamburg was nice enough, though with the saving of money I wasn't upto much other than the usual wandering around. I ventured into the town and watched a bit of the Polizei(sp?) band playing some jumpy numbers before they packed it in when the rain started to sprinkle.

Dresden was beautiful. I enjoyed the Altstadt (old town) side of the bridge more than the Neustadt side, though the new town did have the golden horserider. Bet that's worth a pretty penny. Twas t-shirt-clingingly-hot again.

Following that I was out of Germany and into Prague to give it a proper once over this time, and it didn't disappoint.

Though obviously suffocated with tourists during most of the day, there is too much in Prague to pass on. Yesterday I spent a good 6 hours walking around the Old Town attractions including the Cathedral, the Old Town Hall, the Astronomnical Clock and of course Charles bridge (which was sadly half covered in scaffolding). The main square had a nice array of various food stands, from Jewish cuisine to chicken kebabs on a skewer... and of course pints of draught beer for less than a quid. Didn't take me too long to figure out the currency (1€ = 25Kc), can't wait until the denominations get ridiculous...

I've been gradually getting into meeting people in hostels again, though I was perhaps slightly indifferent at first (the conversations can tend to be a bit samey). Today a very talkative and upbeat chap introduced himself when I was sat alone like a plum, eating breakfast I'd bought, when unknown to me, it was provided free in the hostel. 

Anthony was another Couch Surfer and he spent a good amount of time showing me the ins and outs of the system. All I need to do now is pluck up some courage to give it a try, apparently at least 2 weeks in advance is a good time if you're looking for a couch to sleep on. 

Before rushing off to catch his plane back to London, Anthony showed an interest in meeting me in Turkey inbetween September 20th and October 20th, which would be cool.

After he he disappeared I got myself lost on the way into town. Might have had something to do with getting the tram in the wrong direction! This time amongst the beer drinking I caught the Jubilee Synagogue and Prazsky Hrad (Prague Castle) and more pavement pounding. 

Tomorrow is going to contain at least 15 hours of trains, aswell as a disgusting 840 start from Nadrazi Holesovice train station so I treated myself to a nice meal this evening, totalling about 200Kc / 8€ / £7someting. I had a good old beef goulash with a side of grilled veg and a pint of cold Gambrinus lager.

I've come to understand that its only reading books that keeps me awake on long train journeys. Music, computer and view gazing all do little to prevent the inevitable slip into daydreaming some 20 or 30 minutes after departure. Little bit irritating to be fair.

Anyway I can't believe tomorrow it will be a week already since I left home... time flies. Going to short my clobber out then try and get a good night's sleep.

Quick update

Mmmhmm yeah, I´m definitely running behind on updates.

Munich, despite the weather, is really good. Yesterday I was on another of those free walking tours, same company as the one I took in Berlin. I took it because I got to 2 in the afternoon without much idea about what to do, and what better way to kill 3 hours than wandering around a city, founding out where the Bierhalles are.

The group was quite cool.. consisted mainly of engineers from Singapore who were in Munich for a conference.

I´m on my last day in rainy Munich, spent 2 nights here. Next I´m heading to Nuremberg, later this evening. With any luck, shortly after that, I´ll head down to Interlaken and meet up with a guy I met on a train from Cesky Krumlov. After Switzerland I´m undecided whether or not I will go back to Slovenia for a 7-day metal festival.

Before Munich I was in Slovenia, before that Italy. In Italy I started in Rome, headed to Palermo in Sicily, then Naples and Florence. Italy was incredibly hot and incredibly expensive. Gelati was had in much abundance, as was pizza, pasta and beer. Palermo was slightly more touristey than I would´ve guessed, but there was still a good atmosphere there.

Naples, the best place in Italy for pizza (aslong as its either a Marinara or a Margherita) and ice cream was also really good. I´ve been previously with the family many years ago, but it was still pretty new to me. Went up Vesuvius again (awesome views up there) and found it incredibly tranquil at the top.

Florence was good, didn´t really stand out for me though. I stayed in the infamous MichelAngelo Camping ground in a 3 person dorm-tent. Really good views of the city up there, aswell as being walking distance from one of the replicas of MichaelAngelo´s ´David´.

Rome was maybe the hottest place in Italy. I took a metro on my first morning to the Vatican and worked my way back, checking out most of the main sights. Did so much walking that day that I reduced my poor feet to blisters. The next day I got a few more stares than usual as I had adopted a stylish limp.

To get to Italy I took a ferry from Split in Croatia, and I was in Zagreb previous to that. Split wasn´t very exciting at all to be fair, 15mins and you saw all the "sights". Just a port really, with a few restaurants and bars. I much preferred Zagreb, a much prettier town.

Budapest came before Croatia aaaand before that Austria (Vienna and Salzburg).. think I´ve got that right.. or near enough. I have a feeling I´ve already spoken about Budapest.

Salzburg I really enjoyed. Despite the shitty weather it was a beautiful city, and my accommodation was at the top of a huge hill, overlooking the town. There I enjoyed hearing Mozart being pumped out of every building (apparently he was born there, but left when he was 24) and pretzels the size of your head. Sadly I passed on the opportunity of a ´Sound of Music´ tour. Next time.

Well I´m going to wander around a bit more now and hope the rain clears up.

Looking back

Tito & Tarantula were awesome last night. Really grimy, bluesy, rock. It was especially cool when they invited people onto the stage for 'Woke up Blind'. They played for a good 2hours and I'd have watched them for a further 2.

All in all the night cost about 15€, including 2 beers, a kebab and the ticket.

Anyway, before I got to Budapest I was in Bratislava, Slovakia. They've had the €uro since January this year, so it was still inexpensive there, but I'm sure it'll get to cost more before too long.

I didn't realise at first, but this was where they set that Quentin Tarantino associated film 'Hostel' (still refuse to watch it - at least until I get back). The hostel was great, it had a themed bar in the cellar with artwork on the walls, red lighting and other stuff, made to look like Hostel. There was also an ugly-as-hell British Bulldog, who was a resident of the hostel. Really funny; walked around like a gorilla and just looked grumpy all the time, like an old man.

Beer was ridiculously cheap in Bratislava, the best I could get was 1,10€ for a half-litre. And it was actually good! Of course you could also get to the supermarket and pay less than 2€ for 2litres of 10% beer, but times weren't that hard.

I was in the hostel for 2 nights, and I met a good few people. There were the 2 Canadians (can only remember that one of them was called Pierce), a Chilean called Milton, Dave, a guy from Indiana... and a couple of Finns, amongst others.

Though Bratislava was a very small town, it was a good place to spend a couple of nights. On my first evening there I went off with the Canadians, and saw most of the sights in some 20 or 30 minutes. Then it was the beer.

Apparently this place is quite popular with the British Stag parties solely for the cost of everything, luckily there weren't any there this time! Another fun thing to do was to count how many times you would hear the word 'Budapest'. Everyone had something to say about it as they'd either just come from there, or like me, were heading that way.

So I'd definitely head to Bratislava again, but maybe not for much more than 3 days, as there isn't too much to do.