Just Riding My Bike...

Paradise on Ikaria

2009-05-24T02:38:00.000-07:00

Isa and I found our way to the unspoiled island of Ikaria.

After a few days of camping on a beach in the south, we drove to the other side of the island and found paradise.

Welcome to Nas

At the beach we met Daniel, a German artist, who has been living in a cave along the Chalares River for the past month.

He gave us the tour of the area, including this beautiful waterfall.

We also briefly met this friendly old man who was one of the many communists exiled to this island.

After a few days, Isa continued west while Daniel and I hung out with some friends, waiting for a paniyiri.

The afternoon brought music, dancing, food and wine.

And everything was plentiful.

An old man dancing on the table.

The quality of this photo corresponded to the drunkeness.

And the aftermath...

On our way to Greece

2009-05-23T04:44:00.000-07:00

Isa was on her way home to Bruxelles.
And I had to find my way back west to Istanbul to catch my return flight home.
So I ended up securing my bike to the top of her car and traveling with her.

Isa is filming her own artistic style of L'Odyssée based on Homer's epic poem.
She has a Super 8 camera with a box of film and a handheld audio recorder.
At random times while driving she would stop to capture a scene for her film.

During the days that we rode across Turkey we found some vastly beautiful camping spots.

Sometimes the grass is greener, a portrait of happiness.

These are our fishermen friends that we met one morning.
They made us breakfast and çay.

When we reached the west coast, I still had a few weeks before I had to be in Istanbul for my flight.
So, after reading a bit about the Greek islands, I decided to continue along.

Relaxing while waiting for a ferry.

On our way to Greece

A dirty old man, a beautiful young woman, and a mountain top finish in Nemrut Park

2009-05-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

Nemrut Park is filled with mountains, rivers, valleys, wildflowers, grazing animals and everything else that makes picturesque scenery.

I stopped at this improvised tent and asked the old man inside if there was a place for me to camp. He invited me to sleep in the tent. We drank çay, ate dinner, and tried to make a conversation out of two very different languages.

Then as I was about to fall asleep, I felt a hand caressing my leg and his foot getting a bit too friendly with me. So I got up to take a piss and when I returned, I took my sleeping bag to the opposite corner of the tent.

The next morning as I was preparing to leave, the old man was not smiling as he was yesterday nor did he offer me any çay. And as I pedaling away, he was started belligerently yelling at me.

Anyway, I continued cycling through Nemrut Park, with that negative experience overshadowed by the natural beauty of this area. The road up to Nemrut Mountain was crazy steep, and the weather changed with the altitude from warm and calm to blustery frigid winds and even snow.

Reaching the mountain top was probably the most physically exerting time of my life.

And at the top I met Isa, a belgian cinematographer, and Antone, a devout typist who is also from Belgium.

They were the only 'tourists' at the top and immediately I could sense something special about these two.

Caves, Castles, and Abandoned Tour Buses

2009-05-19T03:32:00.000-07:00

From Konya to the Coast

2009-05-18T23:37:00.000-07:00

Sean went his own way towards Ankara as Jonas and I continued to Konya.
One of my main reasons for revisiting Konya was to try etlietmek, something closely resembling an elongated thin crusted pizza.

Large produce market and bicycle repair alley in Konya

Covered heads and covered bicycle parking

After a second visit to Konya, Jonas and I took a bus south to the Mediterranean coastal town of Side.

Side is a tourist trap.

The warning signs are as follows:

-The prices listed change from Turkish Lira to Euros

-Everyone speaks German

-Shops are lining the streets selling knockoff clothes and kitsch items

This is the jewel adorning Side's beach.

If I showed the foundation of these remains, you would only see pale skinned, flabby tourists taking pictures of one another.

We found a rare patch of forest to camp for the night.

Tomorrow Jonas will head west to catch his flight back to Germany as I cycle east along the coast.

Caravansarai on our way back through Konya

2009-05-18T13:12:00.000-07:00

Behold the architecture of the Sultanhani Caravanserai.

Trekking in the Ihlara Valley

2009-05-18T12:17:00.000-07:00

My guess is that the Ihlara Valley is a place that was relatively unknown before Lonely Planet highlighted it.

The majority of the frescoes in the Byzantine churches were vandalized.

Most of the people depicted had iconoclastic facelifts.

This particular scene had a written narrative added to the story.

And this is Jesus Christ

Friends in Cappadocia

2009-05-18T11:09:00.000-07:00

This blog has been neglected for too long.

I now present to you, Cappadocia.

And here are my new travel companions, Sean and Jonas.

So I am now traveling in Turkey

with an Aussie and a German

Yet I feel at home in Milwaukee when I see this:

An empty bottle of Miller Genuine Draft alongside the road.

Çay and Cigarettes

2009-04-03T05:44:00.000-07:00

At least three times a day, I am stopped or waved down by men sitting around at the Çay Evi (tea house). These exclusively male hangouts are located in every village, town, and city in Turkey. They mainly accommodate middle to third aged men playing backgammon and/or fumbling with their Tasbih, both very macho things to do...in Turkey.

I always stop to meet new friends and, without fail, a tulip shaped glass of black tea is offered to me with an excessive amount of sugar beside it.

Next comes the cigarette. I politely decline.

Speaking of smoke, this internet cafe might be the smokiest internet cafe in the world.

I must leave now.

Konya: The Citadel of Islam

2009-04-03T04:56:00.000-07:00

This city is so so so interesting. Lets start with a ratio of inhabitants to discos/bars.

Over two million people: ZERO

Nightlife is nonexistent and it was very apparent as I sauntered through the dark and empty streets with a slight feeling of uneasiness.

My accommodations: The Aziziye Otel, no thanks to the Konya Couchsurfers, ıs located on a particularly dark street corner. The hallways were straight out of a David Lynch flick, and the people staying there were beyond Queer.

There was Mustafa who followed me everywhere, including the restroom.

And there was the Iranian man who I chatted with in the lobby for twenty minutes.

Then he hugged me.

He_______did_______not________ let________ go.

During the daytime, the city had a totally different feel. The obscure streets from the night before became bustling markets. Everyone I met was super friendly and the bike racks were at overcapacity.

Did I mention the Mevlevi Order (Whirling Dervishes)?

Not Just Riding My Bike

2009-04-03T04:29:00.000-07:00

Drizzle, rain, and occasional hail plagued me for a full day of riding through some brutally steep mountains. And in the evening, as I was huddled into my tent, I noticed a drop in temp and the transition to snow.

The next morning, my bottles were frozen and the snow continued to fall. After a few hours of being wet, freezing, and numb, I arrived in Kütahya and found the otogar (bus station) and took the next bus south to some better weather.

I chose the most religiously conservative city in Turkey, Konya.

My Favorite Building in Istanbul

2009-03-22T00:15:00.000-07:00

I love finding old, rundown buildings.

Istanbul has many of them scattered throughout the city, overshadowed by new development. This one is located a block from the bustling Taks1m bus station.

Front View__________ Back View___________

Most of the windows are boarded up with doors.

I went to take a closer look.

Upon closer inspection, I noticed the padlock was unlocked.

So I went inside.

Obscure shadows, spraypaint on the walls, random junk scattered about.

Evidence of squatters and drug use.

Then I heard a noise in the next room and almost wet myself.

With no backup, I grabbed my bicycle quickly left.

Then I relieved my bladder alongside the building.

This was the view.

Random pics in Istanbul

2009-03-20T09:58:00.000-07:00

Mart1, standing next to me, invited me out to a club called Babylon for her friend's birthday. They had their Oldies But Goldies retro dance night...featuring Efes Pilsen and cheap sunglasses

This is not a joke, not something I found while surfing my regular racist websites.
This is the most popular street advertisement in Istanbul.

An exellent name for a carnivorous hangout

Istanbul Premıer

2009-03-15T03:04:00.001-07:00

Everythıng Is Crazy!

I flew ınto Istanbul around 9am and put my bıcycle together. My Aunt Fılız, who grew up ın Istanbul, gave me a contact lıst of famıly members here ın the cıty. I showed an address to the ınformatıon employee at the aırport he told me to take a bus to the ferry statıon and take a ferry to the southern area of the Asıan sıde.

When I reach thıs area I talked wıth a few people and found out that I needed to be on the NORTHERN AREA OF THE EUROPEAN SIDE of the cıty. I was ın the very opposıte area of where I needed to be.

No Problem, or so I thought.

Tel Avıv ıs crazy for cyclıng, but Istanbul ıs absolute suıcıde. It took the entıre day to rıde through thıs large, unknown cıty ın the cold, pourıng raın. When I reached my destınatıon, I felt shattered but my sm1le rema1ned as I met my Turk1sh relat1ves.

Tel Avıv

2009-03-15T02:17:00.000-07:00

So much has happened ın the past few weeks. I travelled all over Israel from March 2-12 wıth an organızed tour group of kıds ın theır early to mıd twentıes. The tour group was called Oranım and the tour guıde, Ron, knew everythıng about everythıng.

After the tour, I stayed ın Tel Avıv for a few days before flyıng to Istanbul on the 14th.

Lets talk about Tel Avıv.

I became frıends wıth a worker at a bıke shop and he let me leave my bıcycle there overnıght to avoıd theft. So after cyclıng all over the cıty, I found a dıscrete spot on the beach to sleep. In the mıddle of the nıght, I woke up to a cat walkıng over my legs. Thıs I dıd not mınd, but I dıd mınd the nauseatıng smell of pıss that ıt left on my sleepıng bag! And then as I am tryıng to get back to sleep, I hear someone runnıng ın my dırectıon. When I open my eyes, I see that he ıs runnıng rıght at me. I jump out of my sleepıng bag and the guy runs rıght past me and pukes a few feet away ın the bushes. If the smell of cat pıss wasnt bad enough, the mıxture of puke made ıt unbearable. I moved farther down the beach. No more problems for the nıght.

The next mornıng, I became frıends wıth Ron Cohen, an Amerıcan doctor who has an apartment ın Tel Avıv. He also has a SWEET Brompton foldıng bıcycle whıch I am VERY VERY envıous of. We rode around the cıty for a whıle and vısıted an outdoor artısan market. later we went to a drum cırcle that goes on every Frıday around sunset where hıppıes gather to let loose, dancıng, drınkıng, smokıng, and of course drummıng. It ıs ın an ınterestıng locatıon at the beach, alonsıde a rundown buıldıng that used to house an aquarıum of dolphıns. Later ıt was a dance club but there was a bombıng there a few years ago and now it is vacant. The fascade ıs rıddled wıth graphıttı and 1t hosts a small store sellıng candy and beer.

At the drum cırcle there was a gırl standıng next to me speakıng englısh wıth her frıends, and Ron asked her where she was from. Coıncıdentally, we grew up ın the same neıghborhood and went to the same schools. Our parents even worked together. And we both had flıghts early the next mornıng! So we splıt a cab to the aırport and hung out untıl our departures.

At the aırport, I became frıends wıth a Japanese guy named Ikuo who was on my flıght to Istanbul. Some people are so comfortable to talk wıth. Ikuo ıs one of these people. He ıs a professor of relıgıon and was vısıtıng relıgıous sıtes ın Israel. I hope to Vısıt Ikuo ın Japan.