How to eat cheap and healthy in Turkiye? Cumartarsi Bazaari!

Every Saturday down the street from the Superdorm is an outdoor farmers market where I try and do all of my grocery shopping for a week. Here I can by fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs, and sometimes meat and cheese. Glory to me because this place is as cheap as can be, and all the produce is fresh. Nowadays I try to cook and eat cheaply as much as possible. My current problem however is that none of my roommates have stuff to cook with, and they don't cook in general. So basically, if I wanted to cook in my own room I would have to buy the expensive hot plates, pans, and plates myself. I have bypassed this though by using other peoples stuff. I have relied primarily on Lessa, Caroline, and Emily for there stuff for the past couple of weeks. I typically just make myself a warm sandwich, cook up a chicken breast, make a fried egg, pasta, or, my personal favorite, a fried egg sandwich with cooked ham and cheese on it. Unfortunately, I have been concerned about recent health hazards, so I have done my best to avoid swine. So as a substitute I use Turkey (the bird) instead, which is Hindi in Turkish.

My favorite things to get at the market though are bananas, apples, oranges, strawberries, eggs, peaches, peynir (white cheese that is salty), onions, red pepper and an occasional fish. I feel like I'm for some reason at a higher level then most people at Bogaziçi when it comes to cooking. FYI: the only cooking I have done before coming here is frozen pizza. For one, very few of the Turks in the Superdorm cook at all. In fact it is all the foreign students that cook. Most of them don't even know how to, which baffles me because all it requires is for one to follow directions, and a little common sense. However, I have not resorted to trying to cook anything easy like microwavables (we don't have microwaves) or frozen pizza (it doesn't beat HomeRunInn pizza anyway). However, the Turks who reside in the Superdorm are more likely to be higher up in terms of social level/status then the average student and are perhaps not accustomed to cooking for themselves.

The one thing I miss though is the orange juice back in the states. The orange juice here tastes as if it is watered down. The fresh made orange juice you can get from any juicer is always a nice drink, but it is rarely chilled. Therefore, orange juice is rapidly becoming more dismal as the temperature increases. Among other things I miss, foodwise, is good Pizza, Chinese food, and Chipotle Burritos. One thing about Turkish food is that it is great. I love it, but it gets very boring after a while. Turkiye needs to diversify its cooking, and it needs to incorporate different recipes from different cultures. It needs deep dish Chicago Style Pizza!

Pizza, Bad Scifi Movies, Icecream Sandwiches, Mongolian BBQ, Futbol and Good Beer

Basically Spring Break has dwindled down my personal spending money to zero, so I have been trying to be as cheap as possible to ease the burden of my home support. It all started though with the crazy idea of watching a scifi movie that is so bad, its funny. The scifi was Flash Gordon! It was the second worse film I have ever watched. The worst film was by the one I saw the week later, which was pretty much Turks doing their own version of Star Wars. It was by far the worst movie in the world. I was laughing for a little bit about how bad it was, but overall I was just astonished by how the film sucked so badly! That is what it has come down to. I don't have enough money to go out to Taksim or Besiktas like all the other students, and I don't have enough money to eat out at nice restaurants anymore. I have been raiding people's kitchens all so that I can cook for myself. Anything to cut down on expenses. I was so desperate that I postponed getting a haircut for a couple of weeks. It was getting to the point where I actually had hair growing over my ears. It was at that time I buckled down and paid for a haircut.

So on weekends, I typically hang out with Lessa, Ross, Ohad, Maddy, Vilena, Ali, and Gorkem on the weekends. We either make a potluck dinner together which consists of a certain meat (either chicken or lamb) and then noodles with whatever we can throw in with. I have so far provided cheap desert such as icecream or bakliva found at the local Megacenter. One night I provided lamb and made lambchops for everyone (proof that I am honing my cooking skills). Last Saturday night, I provided my labtop which was used to watch House Md. on and to listen to my wide selection of music which included Steven Hawking (aka The Hawkman) typing his hit "E=mc..." and Vance Gilbert's "Country Western Rap."

Two weeks ago I did branch out to go to a cookout with Leyla. I met a couple of people from Britain who were also studying at Bogaziçi. They served up some delicious fish, burgers, kofte, and chicken wings. It all came with grilled vegtables, and a nice assortment of beverages which ranged from Coke and Fanta to Efes, Cheap Red Wine, and Raki. For all future travelers to Turkey, raki goes together with fish very well, and nothing else! Raki and grilled chicken is a disasterous combination. It was fun though. I got to see a different part of the city, meet new people, find out more about who is looking for apartments, and find out who is looking for new tenents to look after their apartments for the summer. It is possible that Leyla and I might live together since we are looking for additional roommates to help split the rent with. Later that night, I left the cookout to go back to campus to watch Sportsfest. Sportsfest is this event at Bogaziçi that happens every spring where schools from all around the world come to compete in a variety of different sports competitions. The openning ceremony occured the night before and it involved traditional dances from each of the host countries. I got to the Waltz along with Irish Tap Dancing all before traditional Turkish Dance. It was cool.

Anyhow, my three friends, Nadine, Ryan, and Fauna, were playing for Bogaziçi's Girls Soccer Team, so I decided to root them on for the rest of the night. They were very successful that day playing two matches and sweeping them both. The match I watched was Bogaziçi vs. Bulgaria's team. It was fun.

This has what my free days have been like though lately. I stay close to campus, I avoid the expensive outings, and I study and work. Thankfully though that is about over.

(took me a while to finish this post since I was busy)

The ashamed student...

Getting back from Spring Break, I only had three weeks left of classes and then two and a half weeks of finals. Here at Bogaziçi University, they spread out the finals to ensure studying. However I came back fully unprepared for the Matrix Theory midterm that was taking place the Tuesday after I get back. Needless it is to say that I did not do well on it. From what I have gathered from other people, none of my fellow exchange, and special students are doing well this semester either. The only ones who are doing well are those whom only took the minimum 9 hours. I am taking 17. Also this school is tough. For all of my classes, I have to compete against the brightest students in all of Turkiye. Even though I speak English as a first language, it doesn't matter for the courses I am in. I have realized that you can get by learning math in a non English speaking environment as long as theorems, and problems are explained through the universal language of math.

I am also ashamed to be an American student. Outside of the US, math is taught vigorously and strenuously. In the United States they suger coat it! It is the same with Economics. At ISU they don't integrate math with Economics much. I have had to do that myself. Thank god for my math background before coming here, because I know for a fact that an average Economics major at ISU wouldn't even be able to survive at Bogaziçi because ISU does not stress the math component enough. Very few American universities do. I should have gone to the U of I for that reason alone.

Either way my grades have a very large variation. I am close to failing one of my classes, and for another I am doing very well (A-). It was disheartening to hear however the average grade point average at this school of geniuses was 2.1 on a 4.0 scale. However, I have plegded that the next three weeks are going to be productive, and that I will do everything in my power to be higher then the average at this university.

For instance there are a couple of guys who are studying abroad here who have used the opportunity to study abroad to pretty much just travel abroad, but there is no possible way they doing good in all of their classes. I refuse to be like this. I have felt a little ashamed about how I did go over the line on expenses for all my travels and how I have had to ask mom and dad for money. It would be a terrible waste in tuition money to just come here and slack off. Some students don't see the harm in this, but I do. One of the reasons I came here was to see what a rigorous, highly competitive school was like, and to try and cleanse myself of the stigma associated with students at ISU. ISU isn't a horrible school, but it does celebrate mediocricy in my field of Economics way to much for me to give it much respect. The only reason I stay at ISU is because of the people I have met there, and the fact that I can walk all over the Economics Department and really show off.

Bottom Line: I have been blessed to have parents that are able to invest in my own education, and it would be dishonorable to waste their investment. I am not going to travel outside of Istanbul until finals are over.

Selçuk, Ephesus and Sirince (May 1-3)

Pictures of this part of the journey can be found here:

Seçuk, Ephuses, and Sirince

Going from Fethiye to Selçuk = long-ass-bus-ride! Ugh...it killed the ultimate high that I was in from paragliding. Vilena also split from us to see a friend in Pamukale. I was still a bit in despair about my camera and that kept me from wanting to be social throughout the bus ride. I just wanted to sleep and be alone with my thoughts. Thankfully I snapped out of it by the time we got to Selçuk and settled into the Tuncay Pension. When we got to Selçuk it was incredibly convenient. One of the brothers who ran the Pansiyon was there waiting there to pick up backpackers like ourselves. It was kind of nice actually because this way we didn't have to worry about finding a cab to take us to a pension.

The pension was nice. It had a very nice courtyard with a fountain in the middle, and the pension had to two very interesting guests: a fun dog, and a very crazy cat. I enjoyed the cat a lot because it was very playful and curious. It would to playfully claw at me and bite me but I am getting used to playing with cats. By the time I get back to the states, I might actually get Boots to warm up to me more.

We walked around town for a little bit just taking in the scenery and the relaxed small town pace. Selçuk is another one of those towns that interestingly enough is built upon centuries of history. In fact some of the houses that we saw were no doubt perhaps over a hundred years old. Most of them were built on previous foundations. What is also interesting is that Selçuk is another one of those places where it is possible to see a notable set ruins right next to a fast food pide place. The town is located in a valley that surrounded by mountains that is about 4 miles away from the ocean. It is also a very liberal place.

We walked to the main center to see the Basilica of St. John who actually came to Selçuk (Ephesus at the time) supposedly twice: once with the Virgin Mary, and the second time in old age where he wrote his gospel. The Basilica was actually built in the 6th Century AD by Byzantine Emperor Justinian. However we only got to see the outside of it because it was closed by the time we got there. That was a pity. Warning to all future travelers: the antique coins people try to sell you are not authentic! IF THEY WERE THEY WOULD BE WORTH MORE THEN 3 LIRA!

We looked at a carpet store where I continued to pester the shop owners to teach me about carpets. They didn't know much and we quickly left without buying anything. We went to a kebab place that was recommended by the locals for some cheap and fabulous kebabs and they were right. We got a deal where they cooked for us a variety of kebabs all on one huge plate for the three of us to share. I also ordered Raki just to see how it went with Kebabs...bad combo. The owners of the store laughed at my combination. We also got a good look at the Byzantine Aquaduct that is still perfectly standing. This area of Turkiye can easily brag that it has more ancient ruins per square kilometer than any other place in the world. Here, history isn't just brought to life, it is kicking and screaming!

After dinner, the girls went back to rest, relax and to talk. I wanted to get out for a little bit and just enjoy the locals a little bit more, and to perhaps practice some Turkish. The first place I went to see was a carpet place that specialized not in Turkish carpets, but in Kurdish carpets. I didn't go into the store though because I was more interested in conversation at the time. The store's owner was Kemal, and he told me how Selçuk is actually suffering because of how travel agencies have allied with the Hotels in the surrounding areas monopolize the tourist industry. It is sad because when tourists come they hardly spend more then two hours in the town itself. Therefore local industries have begun to feel the pain of lost profits. Kemal was very upset by it because very few people would come in and buy his carpets and instead buy them from the factory made outlets outside of Selçuk. These guys were the first ones to give me an honest to god assessment, and lesson on Turkish and Kurdish carpets. I felt bad for them, and then I told him to give me a couple of his business cards. I told him that I could pass them out to some of the tourists in Ephuses when we would be there the next day. He was glad to hear that I was willing to help him, but he didn't think it would work. I eventually parted his company and made my way down the street.

Down the street I was intercepted by two guys who owned a restaurant. They asked if I would to order something and I said in Turkish that I have already eaten. They were taken back by me speaking Turkish, and my eagerness to learn that they asked me to sit down with them to just have a conversation. They were very surprised that I was a student because they don't typically get to many of us. Most people my age from the states that visit Turkiye are backpackers. They were some what thrown back by the fact that I was studying at Bogaziçi and they immediately thought that I was some kind of genius. Either way, I got to enjoy some free çay, bread & olive oil, and later on baklava which was brought out by a friend of the two that ran the restaurant. He was a German Turk, who goes back and forth from Germany and Turkiye to run restaurants and such. What was also interesting though was that he lit up an actual joint right in front of me. I knew it was a joint because I saw the dried up cannabis that rolled, and the smell was unmistakable. This part of Turkey is very liberal!

The next day, we woke up early to go see the mega ruins of Ephuses after breakfast. Oh my god, this was the best Turkish breakfast that I have ever had n my life. The man/woman who made the bread was freaking awesome. It was better than Panera bread! I doused it with chease and olive oil and feasted on it along with the fresh orange slices, the fried egg given to us, and the endless amount of peynir, tomatoes, and cucumbers. But back to Ephuses. We got a bus to take us there and it only took about 5 minutes. We should have honestly just walked. When we got there, I was taken back by the ungodly amount of tourists that were there! Ephuses was invaded by armies of obnoxious, ignorant, stupid camera wielding tourists! I have probably said this a hundred times on this blog and I will say it one more time: "I am not a bloody Tourist! I am a student and a resident of Turkiye!" It was so bad that two people actually took my picture as if I was apart of some ruin. One was a woman from Japan. She even motioned that she wanted me in the picture. Now either I was some hot young man who she could now fantasize about in the future, or she thought I was a white Turk because I was trying to talk in Turkish to a guard. The second person who took my bloody picture was a Turkish girl who was probably in high school. She was probably like: "Look at the pale, fair haired person who is turning red from the sun! What a funny German/American." God that was annoying. I asked her in Turkish, "what are you doing" (Ne yapiyorsun?) and she backed off thinking that I was actually just a very pale Turk.

Ephesus was pretty cool though. There is so much history here! So many famous figures throughout history have been to Ephuses. A lot of history behind Christianity took place inside modern Turkiye, which is surprising to most considering that it is almost 99% Muslim. The Third Ecumenical Council was held here in 431AD and this is where teachings of Christianity spread throughout the Middle East and Europe. One lesson you should take from Ephesus is this: if enemies are close, it is best to build walls (defenses). The tale of Ephesus can be described as being taken over by one stronger force after another all because it was in a position that was impossible to defend without city walls. It was first an Athenian settlement founded by Adroclus, son of King Cordus of Athens. Read up on the myth behind its founding. It is quite interesting. Of course at the time of its founding, the sea wasn't seven miles away but actually laid right next to where the ruins lie now. When the Persians came, all the Ephusians could do was draw out a rope telling the Persians to not cross unless they wanted to incur the wrath of the Gods. No surprise then to say that it didn't work. Then Alexander the Great retook the city, and the city grew in importance due to its beauty and location. During Roman times, it was the capital of Asia Minor.

The ruins had a lot to still offer though, and it gave you a great feel for how an ancient city was laid out with its theaters, neighborhoods, markets, hamams, and other places of interest. The huge theater was particularily fun because a bunch of tourists started doing the wave and quoting Shakespeare. Also for some reason there was this one Turkish woman who might have been one year younger then me who was eying me constantly. It was a funny game of trying to stare at each other and not get caught. Eventually we stopped caring but she left in a hurry with her group and she waved goodbye. I was about to pursue her, but I was separated by this one very fat man who was speaking I believe German. Basically the passage way out of the theater is a small tunnel and I had to go through it to follow and after the group got out, this one entered going to opposite way. From that moment on that man scarred me for life. We also went to see the church of St. Mary which was surprisingly different in architecture as compared to the other sites in Ephuses. For instance it used more clay then marble/stone, and the buildings around it definitely had a Christian like feel to it considering that many of them had concave walls creating a circular feel when inside.

After Ephesus, I went to go discuss carpets some more as the girls went back to shower. After that I returned to Tuncay Pension to find that the girls left. I assumed that they were coming to get me so that we could go and get dinner. So I waited while talking to the manager of the Pansiyon. After 30 minutes of waiting I realized they probably got hung up in a carpet store, and the owner realized it as well. He then brought out Beer and nuts for me. Soon later his uncle, the friendly neighborhood narcotics officer showed up and sat down with. Regrettably, I can't talk much more on this site as to what the conversation was about because I don't want to damage the credibility of the pension, the owner, myself, the officer, or Selçuk itself. All I will say is that Selçuk is a very liberal place. It like a hippy commune seeking a return to a more traditional, peaceful and natural life. Bottom line though is that I had fun at the pension.

After the beer and nuts, which really hit the spot, I set out to find the girls thankfully they were close by, in the same set of carpet & kilim stores owned by the same man that I talked to the night before. We had a very interesting conversation. However, to be honest, I was a little pissed at the girls for not telling me where they were and telling me to meet up with them back at the pension. Either they took the time to get away from me to have some girl time (which I have never protested to), or they were about 110 minutes late in getting back.

We hung out with the store owners then entire night, looking at Kurdish carpets and finding and playing with the cats from Van. They had these very rare cats that are only found in Eastern Turkiye. They have thick white coats, and they commonly have multi colored eye sets. For instance, one cat that I was playing with had one eye that was blue, and the other being green. They were fun because they were kittens all except for the older sister. They all spoke English very well which was nice, and they were all fun characters. I actually got into a wrestling match with one of them who was an oil wrestler. Needless to say, he destroyed me on the carpets. It was a great night though.

The next day, we just wondered around a little bit, and went inside to actually see the Basilica of St. John. It offered a fantastic view of Ephesus, the ocean out in the distance, and the mountains around us. I just found some shade, sat down, and looked out for about an hour letting thoughts just randomly pour into my head. It was incredibly beautiful and peaceful.

Afterwards we went to Sirince, a small village about 7km east of Selçuk. It could be a peaceful idyllic place but it has now been invaded by off the boat, cruise ship tourist agencies bringing loads of tourists by bus loads calling the town the "Authentic Turkish Village Experience." It had a population of about 960, and it seemed that most of the locals sold the soul of the village to turn it into a parody with high priced souvenir shops and restaurants all along the main street. The girls loved it, I felt a little encroached by all the tourists again. It made me miss touring Turkiye when it was still snowing. What was good though was that the local farmers made some pretty interesting fruit wine that I expressed interest in trying. Too bad the girls told me to go test wine so that they could go off by themselves again. Their exact words were I believe, "you came here to taste the wine and to do your whole wine tasting thing. Go and do it already!" Yeah...I wanted to go off and drink nice wine by myself even though that looks incredibly bad, especially in Turkiye.

Thank god the wine was good. I was able to find other random people to try wine with but they were a little hesitant to open up with me because I was probably a little disturbing being all alone. I did buy two bottles though: one with peach, and the other one was made from black berries. I did run around by myself for about three hours and by time I was getting extremely pissed off about the fact that I was getting ditched. This was junior high all over again. The girls pushed me away, claiming good intentions (lies of course), and then made damn certain to not run into me. So junior high. And if they are reading this, I will only say one thing more, "Do you deny it? I know you guys probably found me irritating after a couple of days but you can at least say what you are thinking to my face because both of you can't lie to me without me knowing."

I eventually ran into the girls talking to a restaurant owner off the main street. He was interested in teaching them Turkish, and he was providing them with free samples of wine. I became a little obnoxious, waltzed up to them pretending not to know that they were there and then made eye contact. Sarcastically, I blurted out, "Oh my god! What are you guys doing here?" They didn't pick up on it. So I enjoyed their free wine, Lessa would continually growl at me for tasting her wine (and on occasion slap my hand) and I tuned out them and entered my own little world until the the guys sister showed up. She was a mathematician, and as soon as I learned that I immediately became interested, and told her that I was studying math. We had a nice conversation though about how she worked in a bank and about how people who study math have a completely different mindset then just straight business people (which is for the most part true). She also told me to stick with it, and said, "If you understand math and can apply it, then there isn't anything that you can't grasp." I can now say that I am set on graduating with a double degree in Economics and Mathematics. It was fun though. We cracked math jokes at everyone else's expense, and it was even more glorious to know that they didn't have a clue what we were talking about. That ended the day on a high note because I actually got to talk to someone for more then 30 seconds!

We went back to Selçuk to catch a train to Izmir. Once in Izmir we were dropped off at the Airport where we took a cheap flight back to Istanbul (1 hour) and then a crazy cab ride from the airport. We got back home (i.e. the Superdorm) in less then 15 minutes from the airport. That is a record time! How was it done? The driver was traveling around 200 km/h (125 mi/h). Holy crap that was a fun ride. If we hit something we would have died. But we didn't and we were flying at the edge of our seats.

I am definitely coming back to Selçuk though! I loved the town, and I am quite appreciative that it wasn't invaded by tourists like all the other places. The people there though were the best!

The Ultimate Pick Me UP: PARAGLIDING

I was upset still about my camera, but for the briefest of moments I was incredibly happy that day. I got to do something so out there, and so daunting to most people that I can't help but create for it its own blog posting. Basically, I woke up early in the morning lamenting at the fact that I wouldn't have a camera to take pictures of the experience. However on the bus ride to Ölüdeniz, I was reassured by Vilena and the people taking us paragliding that they would provide all the photos and video that I could possibly want.

Basically we traveled all the way to the top of a mountain at an altitude of 2000m high. The paragliders unfolded the parachutes out in front us to see. The first group that went had some trouble but they demonstrated how easy it truly is. Basically the parachute is laying on the ground and your connected to it. All you have to do is to start running downhill and the air will pull the parachute into the air. You keep running until the parachute is right above you and then that forward momentum would take care of the rest. Your legs will lift off the ground and soon enough you will be in flight. This how me an my pilot did it exactly. We just ran down the mountain and the parachute did the rest.

And that is exactly how I did it. I first met my pilot.
Then, we unloaded the parachute. Personally, I was hoping to just jump off a cliff and then just pull the flap.
I got psyched in my decked out helmet.
I got ready...
I started walking...
I took off into a run...And Sir Isaac Newton did the rest.
And we lifted off the ground!


I'm flying!~!~!
View from above:
Remind me why I'm not a pilot yet?
Thanks to Vilena K, I have these memories forever on my backup hardrive, on my computer, and on my blog.
Never quite had a rush like it actually. It made me want to sing:

I've waited for this moment
All my life and more
And now I see so clearly
What I could not see before.
The time is now or never
This chance won't come again
Throw caution and myself into the wind.

There's no promise of safety with these secondhand wings
But I'm willing to find out what impossible means.
A leap of faith.

Parody of an angel
Miles above the sea
I hear the voice of reason
Screaming after me
"You've flown far too high boy now you're too close to the sun,
Soon your makeshift wings will come undone"

But how will I know limits from lies if I never try?

There's no promise of safety with these secondhand wings
But I'm willing to find out what impossible means.
I'll climb through the heavens on feathers and dreams
'Cause the melting point of wax means nothing to me.
Nothing to me
Nothing to me

I will touch the sun or I will die trying.
Die Trying.

Fly on these secondhand wings
Willing to find out what impossible means
I'll climb through the heavens on feathers and dreams
'Cause the melting point of wax means nothing to me
Nothing to me
Means nothing to me
Miles above the sea.

~Thrice, The Melting Point of Wax

Fethiye and the Lycian Way (March 28 to May 1)

For pictures:

Fethiye and the Lycian Way

When leaving Olimpos to get to Fethiye, we traveled along the coastline following a very ancient path known as the Lycian Way. It is actually, from what I here a pretty cool trekking trip that would take 5 days, and it would end in Fethiye. However, we couldn't do it since we didn't have that kind of time. We traveled by bus instead. The island you see below is actually the Greek island of Megiste.

We got there late in the evening, and Kristina wasn't feeling good. It was a mixture of headache, dizziness, and homesick (missing the man of her dreams). It was too bad. Once we got to where we stayed, Ideal Pension, the rest of us decided to go out, see the town at night, and to get some food. We were fortunate enough to find an open fish market, where we could by are fish directly, and then give it to a restaurant that would cook it for us. It was actually quite convenient. Vilena got a small fish, and Lessa and I shared a medium sized Sea Bass. The meal was "çok guzel" since they gave us fish sauce that blew tarter sauce out of the water. It enhanced the taste of the Sea Bass, and I was once again in fish heaven. Apparently, we should have bought our fish directly though from the boats that were docked in the harbor because the market buys it from them, so they get a take in the profits, which increases the costs for the consumer. If only we knew to cut out the middle man...

That night we sat down with a couple of people from all over. There were surprisingly a couple of Americans and Canadians that were staying in our Pension. American's are not the biggest tourist population in Turkiye, especially not around Fethiye. Turkiye gets actually more tourists from Germany, and Russia. Fethiye however is a tourist haven for the British. I have no idea but everything in Fethiye seems to be catered to the Britts. I have seen so many Fish and Chips restaurants that it started to creep me out that I was having trouble finding a place where I could enjoy a good kebab.

The next day, Lessa, Vilena, and myself went walking around, and we found a hilltop to roost on to take some great pictures of the city below. The bay area is naturally protected by outside weather interferences making it a very nice vacation spot. The outer bay area has 11 or so islands. We could have seen them but we decided to go on a different boat cruise in Ölüdeniz that took us throughout the bay area there and allowed us to see St. Nicholas island. Fethiye has quite a bit to offer however. Its nightlife is new to the scene but, from what I have heard, is very popular. It hosts all the comforts of small western towns and plus some additional comforts only found in Turkiye. I actually fell in love with the area because it was very similar to Antalya in matters of how mountains run along the ocean, and how there is a lot of history behind the areas settlement. It was first founded during around 450BC as a Lycian colony. Lycia is the area of Anatolia that forms the peninsula in modern day Southern Turkiye. It was later conquered and added to by the Romans. Then came Arabic invaders, then the Seljucks, the Crusaders, and finally the Ottomans.


Lycian burial tomb. Someone important was obviously buried here...if he requested this in a will then I think he over exaggerated his own importance. Honestly, people who ask for their own memorials...
There's me going somewhere that was out of bounds. It was, however, just another lonely tomb.

After we finished with the hill we continued to walk around and we found a lot of areas to further experience and explore. For instance, there was one area of town where there was a lot of shopping outlets. The girls then only had one thing in mind. They went shopping, and I scoped out the place in search of any good deals. This little town however is still pricy at first. I say at first though because you can always haggle with the shop owners for a much lower price. Needless to say though I got bored, and went back to the pansiyon where I enjoyed tea with the owner and set up a cruise for us the next morning and paragliding for me the following day. Sweet!

The cruise we were on was a nice choice by me for an all day activity. Basically it consisted of cruising to see the Blue Cave, swimming and laying out at Gemile Beach, seeing the Lagoon, and hiking around St. Nicholas' Island. It was a fun time. I almost went waterskiing actually but they were offering water skiing with out a proper slalom ski. They only had a pair of skis meant and the one I could slalom on was in horrible shape. Dad, you spoiled me with an awesome ski and now I have trouble accepting anything less. Once again the water was extremely clear and clean, and it was a pleasure to swim in. A little on the cold side, it didn't take long to get used to it. I enjoyed it immensely. Unfortunately, Vilena was the only one willing to join me more then half the time. Everyone one else on the cruise were older tourists coming to see the sights, and the few that were my age decided not to swim. I tried to inviting. I invited others in, and I was trying to show how much fun it is to dunk someone (Vilena) but no one hardly came in so I swam by myself most of the time. St. Nicholas' Island was a very small Island in the Lagoon that surprisingly had a lot to offer in the ways of ruins. A lot of it was kept in tact very well, and the entire island was covered with them. I was pissed that we had so little time there because the guys running the tour screwed up majorly in leaving on time. St. Nicholas' Church was very much still intact besides the roof. Actually this is where the actual St. Nicholas lived for some time to give away his immense fortune to help others. Overall, it was a fun little getaway. I enjoyed it immensely. I just wished however that when I was exiting the van when we arrived back at the Pension, that I checked my bag for my camera. I don't know how it happened, but somebody reached in my bag and snatched my camera. I can't even fathom who did it! The bag was next to me the entire time, and the people I was sitting next to did not seem like the type to steal due to the severe hypocrisy. The couple I was sitting next to were both obviously culturally conservative. The woman was fully covered, the man hardly spoke a word to any westerner, and the man hardly ever let the woman out of her sight. I even figured before hand that there was no chance that these people would steal. The only other alternative would be is if someone working on the cruise grabbed it when I wasn't looking while paying the bus driver. But the guy would have had only ten seconds to nab it and the couple I was sitting next to would have seen it! I know that when I was on the bus that I had it, but when I left the bus it was gone (and so was the bus). I was very upset about the whole thing. I didn't care as much for the camera as I did for the memory card. I had over 400 pictures on it! Those preserved memories of mine were worth more then my bloody Canon Power Shot! It gets me incredibly angry when I think about it. Who in the hell would steal my camera. The people in the bus were obviously well enough off to not be forced to steal, so why in the hell take my memories?!

I was upset the entire night, and entire next day. There was however one exception to this...

A heaven called Olimpos (April 25-28)

This part of the trip was just incredibly relaxing and at the same time taxing. We caught a dolmus from Antalya that dropped us off on top of the mountain face overlooking Olimpos. Olimpos is a very small place whose only source of income is tourists, and vacationers. There is a town by where we stayed, but we didn't see it. Basically the entire place is made up of small, cheap pansiyon's (hostels) that blend in incredibly with the local surroundings. Many pansiyon's offer actual tree houses, and bungalows to stay in. We stayed in a bungalow for a little more space and privacy.
Our first night was eventful to say the least. We got there awfully late coming from Termessos. By the time we got there and got situated, it was dark and the evening chill and relaxation started. We stayed at Bayram's Pansiyon. This pansiyon isn't known for parties or alcohol like Kidir's up the road away from the beach. This place was for wary vacationers to sit back and relax. It was incredibly pleasant. We arrived just in time for dinner. The dinner wasn't anything to brag about, and would later come back to kill the zen, so to speak. After dinner, we huddled around the camp fire, meeting and talking to other people who were staying there. I got up a conversation with a couple of Aussies from Perth, western Australia. One I believe belonged to the stolen generation of Australians who had both Aboriginal and White parents, and were taken away for reeducation to work in white society. They were literally dragged away from their families kicking and screaming. I got to learn about that sad story that night. I did share a beer with the guy, and we started talking about what there was to do around here.

One important feature regarding Olimpos is that it is backpacker's paradise. It would be rare to see a typical vacationer/tourist here because Olimpos' pansiyons do not offer all the comforts that hotels in Istanbul would offer. The rooms, might be authentic, but are much more shabbier then the rooms of a typical hotel. For one, you don't have to worry about heat in a hotel, but in a pansiyon the heaters sometimes cut out or, more likely, don't give enough heat. Also, hot water is sometimes hard to get in a Pansiyon, especially on a cloudy day since most Pansiyons run on solar energy to heat their water. The pansiyons of Turkiye offer inexpensive lodging, excellent info, and an improvised way of entertaining their customers. For instance, at Bayram's I got to enjoy backgammon, good music, and turkish çay all around a camp fire close to the beach. Most important though is the info. Since most backpackers improvise in finding a way from point A to point B, they rely upon local sources to help them. Pansiyon's typically have counterparts in other parts of Turkiye that they could suggest, and be able to tell us how to get there. However, this point I believe is muted by the fact that Turkiye is the easiest place to get around.

There are buses that go everywhere in Turkiye, so you don't need a car, and you don't need a plane ticket to get around in Turkiye. Travelling is also far less expensive here in Turkiye as compared to the states. In the states, most times you have to have your own car to conveniently get around, or hope that a train goes straight to where you need to go (and it seldom does). The other option is flying, but I can say for certain, that to fly in the states is expensive as compared to the cheap airline carriers in Turkiye. For example I flew from Istanbul to Antalya for about 85 lira or $54! A flight like that with the same distance would be minimum of $150.

But back to the point. What makes Olimpos backpacker paradise is the fact that it is filled with people who are looking for a more authentic experience that could educate them. Also what I love is that many backpackers carry with them one item for leisure. For some it is a labtop (me since Kristina needed to use it and offered me a discount on plane tickets if I brought it), a book, an instrument, and for some it is something else. Either way, what they bring with them on their travels typically gets shared with everyone they meet and it offers a way for us to share our experiences. For instance, I shared my blog with a couple of other's who where keeping blogs about their trips and the amount of knowledge gained from that alone was unparralleled. It's funny. I have felt that I have learned more on my little travels this semester then what I have learned in the classroom (granted I haven't been the best student this semester).

Apparently Olimpos is definitely for any kind of outdoorsy person. I knew from Loney Planet, my Christmas gift from Megan and Tim (thanks again!), that there was sea kyacking, scuba diving, snorkeling, swimming, hiking, jeep safaris, rock climbing, and rafting. What I didn't know was the detail. There were a lot of ruins hidden away in the foliage surrounding the entire camp area, which offered fun hiking routes. There were also a lot of sea caves along the coast close to the beach. He also gave me a list of places that I could climb. He did warn us though that the beach was very rocky, and not much sand.

I wish I could have done all of that though. After dinner, my stomach was beginning to scream. Typically I don't get sick when I am in such stress free conditions but I was. I took the meds I brought with me and tried relaxing. It worked for about an hour and I was able to fall asleep. An hour into sleep, I woke up with my stomach on fire. This set off warning signs in my head because never has a stomach problem come upon me so quickly. The punch line though was that I got sick, but this wasn't the usual bought of sickness because it was accompanied with a fever to begin with. Typically a fever doesn't come until after my first bought of sickness.

Lessa and Kristina were amazingly helpful. I am incredibly thankful to them. They got me a free ride to the hospital where they restored my fluids that I was loosing, where I heard the scary news of me having not just a classic spew, but a nasty little stomach infection. That explained a couple of differences I was noticing in my sickness (I don't think anyone wants to know the details though).

I went to private Turkish hospital, which was just like a typical hospital in the US except one thing was different: it was still cheaper! Even though it was expensive to me since I am poor, the bill was much less compared to previous trips to the ER in the states. I also recieved the same treatment. The one thing I didn't like though was how at the end of it they loaded me up with way too many prescription drugs to take to help my stomach handle food and fluids in my stomach. I took the medicine to cure my infection, but I stopped taking the other stuff after the first day and a half. I also got to practice my Turkish with the nurse who didn't speak a single bit of english. I got some excellent practice in. My use of "var" and "yok" is now greatly improved. Bottom line: I hate America's health insurance. I don't care what political camp your from, because we can all agree that it is broken!

The drugs worked brilliantly but I was still recovering from loosing all of my energy. I decided to have a quick meal at the hospital, rest some more and leave early. The doctors said I should stay for another night, but I was incredibly stubborn. I was in Olimpos and on vacation, and the hospital was the last place I wanted to be. If I wanted to recover anywhere, it would definitely be on the beach at least. Also, I was incredibly worried about the bill so I convinced the doctors I was fine. They told me how to take my meds, and they also told me (Dad, your going to love this) to stay away from soda pop and alcohol for the rest of the week. I was happy to agree. I wish they also said stay away from Bayram's cooking as well. Apparently, there are two other Pansiyon's that offer superior cooking then Bayrams and they take pride in that knowledge.

I got a cab back to Olimpos: bad idea. Turkish cab drivers are still insane drivers. Being in the back seat on bumpy windy roads was incredibly nauseating. What was worse was paying him. I scanned him out of a few Lira though because I told him I didn't have that much Lira but I did have dollars. I figured since the value of the dollar was going to go down as the summer went on, it would be a nice time to use it (and play the cheap student card). As soon as I coughed up the money, I tried walking into Bayrams but once I reached my bungalow I got sick again. My friends saw this though, and they started complaining about how I left the hospital to quickly. I told them though I was fine. This led to problems that never quite dissipated throughout the entire break. They thought I was being egotistical, even though I am fully capable of reading my own body. I was fine, and I never got sick after that. However, the way in which I was shrugging it off was definitely my egotistical side coming around. It got to the point where Lessa got so angry with me that she called me an asshole. She was right in calling me that though. After that happened, I gathered up my stuff, took a nice shower, and went to bed to sleep. I didn't quite want to face them because I still felt like shit, and I was in no mood to either argue to or to get lectured. After about four hours of sleep, I decided to rejoin my friends. I got a cold shoulder the entire night, and when they talked to me they kept asking how I felt. That night was awkwardly quiet with respect to Lessa and Kristina. I apologized constantly, but after the fifth time I stopped believing that I needed to elaborate how sorry I was. They were still mad about how I came back early, and how I didn't notify them about my situation. However I explained that my phone wasn't on me (which I would later realized I left in the pansiyon in Antalya).

Thankfully, Vilena showed up to enjoy some of her Spring Break with us. I talked to her for a while. I also ordered a very plain and regular meal consisting of rice and soup with Apple Juice. I ate slowely that night. Needless to say I went to bed early that night. I was starting to really worry about my Spring Break. Because I got sick and was very defensive about me returning early, I gave off the impression of being an egotistical ass (this was the first time in my life that I have ever been accused of such), and I wasn't sure how long I could just nod and agree. My friends had grounds to accuse of me of such, but the cold shoulder and lying routine didn't help. I can always tell if someone is bothered by something, and I can tell how someone views me by just looking at their body language, and how they speak. Very few people can lie to me and get away with it so I have always insisted on people being brutally honest with me. If they are brutally honest then I can understand how they feel, and perhaps try to accommodate. If they aren't then my trust in them starts wearing thin. So when my friends started being more silent towards me, and said that everything was "okay," I knew that they were full of it. But I already ruined the zen of the trip and I wasn't going to destroy it even further by opening my mouth.

The next morning, I woke up and had a very delicious breakfast (omlet) which went down well due to the meds I got from the hospital. I avoided talking about me, and started asking about what was the plan for the day, and talking to Vilena. Basically I wanted to see what all there was to do in Olimpos because I spent two of my nights in recovery mode. If I only had one more night in Olimpos I wanted to make it worth it. I checked first with the other Pansiyons about possibly doing other things. This was when I wish I brought my own rock climbing gear. It was ridiculously expensive to just do one climb. I decided however to just take it easy, hike around to see the ruins, lay out on the beach, read a book, swim in the ocean. I actually got to do some swimming and once you got used to the water's temperature, it was rather quite nice. The water was extremely clear. I had no trouble seeing all the way to the bottom. To bad there wasn't a reef nearby because then snorkeling would have been an option. There are some ship wrecks farther out into the see, but you have to be scuba certified to do those. The hiking was amazing though. There were so many different trails to go off of, and small, well hidden little buildings built back during the Hellenistic period. This place is an archeologist's wet dream. Ruins litter the entire park and lie along the coast. There are two fortresses on either side of the river inlet. I got to explore both of them. The view and the scenery was just peaceful.

The main reason why I love Turkiye: they have done a good job protecting their heritage, culture, and history. They also don't try to impose on their natural surroundings human progress as what America has done. I didn't see one condo, apartment complex, or super mega center/shopping outlet here. It was just a small village lived in bungalows and tree houses running on solar power.

Before I went exploring however, I took a dip in the ocean with Lessa to explore an old sea cave off in the distance. Now she was also sick with a lung infection that was filling her lungs up with mucus, and I just got done getting sick, but we both decided to hell with it. It actually did a lot of good for both of us. I felt my old strength return to me, and the salt water in her mouth and possibly up her nose if she wasn't careful probably did help get some of that crap out of her lungs (she probably won't admit it though). The cave was impressive, but because we swam there we couldn't bring a camera.
The rest of the day was the occasional hike, and laying on the beach reading and listening to music. It was exactly what I needed: a great location to relax. Getting back when it was getting dark and cold, Bayram's Pansiyon still had that great chilled atmosphere about it. I played a little backgammon, and chit-chated with other people. By the end of the night I was almost fully recovered.

That night we also went to see the natural torches of Olimpos. In the mountains behind the village, gas seeps out of small vents and sometimes they catch fire. Therefore, you have eternal flame. It was cool, but it was even more cool that Energy Giants haven't tried mining for it.

The next day I did more of the same. Walking around, swimming, and hanging out on the beach. It was peaceful. However, it was getting to the point where we had to move on. We would have left sooner, but we missed the bus that we were going to take because Vilena was late getting back. She encountered a hiker tore up his leg pretty bad on a fall, and she was busy playing EMT. We instead caught the one two hours later. We said our goodbyes, and I was offered a to come back during the summer where I could work at the pansiyon in return for a small pay and lodging. Working in paradise and being completely independent in the process...sounds tempting.

Leaving Olimpos, we were traveling on the Lycian Way on our way to Fethiye.

Here is more pictures from Olimpos. Thank you Lessa and Kristina for providing them.

A heaven known as Olimpos

Termessos (April 25)

Termessos is a ruin that is to the north west of Antalya. Ruined only by treasure hunters and earthquakes, some of the ruins remain intact, where as much of the stone and marble used to build the city was recycled for nearby Roman and Byzantine settlements. Alexander the Great actually encountered this city in his march towards the east. He couldn't take the city though, and Alexander, according to the histories, was forever furious by the mere presence of Termessos. Anyone who comes here though can see why.

Termessos is unlike many of the ruins situated in Turkiye in that it resembles more of Machu Pichu in Peru. Termessos was established high up in the mountains overlooking the Bay of Antalya, and the interior plains of Turkiye. The climb up the mountain would be tedious and trying to fight an army uphill would have been extremely costly. A small number of soldiers could easily defend this location against armies numbering in the thousands. What defeated this city however was much simpler: an earthquake that brought down the aquaduct.

Termessos is just impressive due to the glorious view that it provides. It definitely gives you an idea of the terrain of Turkiye. Also the hike around is glorious. There is no park security at the ruins so it is okay to sit down in the theater or to walk on them. You are really not destroying them because the large stone bricks support them are designed to support thousands of pounds. If only I was with a group that didn’t mind breaking a couple of rules. The cistern of the ruins was extremely impressive. However to get down into it, you need another person on top to be able to pull you up. I didn’t have to ask Kristina or Lessa to know that they weren’t going to do it. There was a sign that said to not enter, and they will follow it. However, a sign like that is for liability purposes, not for fear of damaging the ruins. I wanted to see more, but I didn’t have the support to do it, so I kept my mouth shut.

Sidenote: Back home everyone knows that I like to scare my mom a little in order for her to get used to the idea of me doing something similar but not as extreme. It is my effective way into making her and others open up to new ideas, and new things. It’s also entertaining to a certain extent (I hate to admit it). However, mom never likes it when I do it and thankfully she loves me or else she probably would have killed me a long time ago. There is no such love between my traveling comrades and me. They are my friends, yes, but they don’t put up with my manipulative tactics, and they don’t have the same patience for me as mom does. Therefore, every snarky, crude, joking, and outlandish thought that comes into my head every minute needs to be constrained because I don’t want to loose friends, and I especially didn’t want to loose any during Spring Break.


At one point though I tried getting into a cistern from a smaller opening. However I was having trouble fitting through it, and my friends were protesting the entire way (except for Lessa who was quite enjoying my futile attempts into entering). They were even kind enough to take the picture of me you see below. This would make a nice picture to send my mom for Mother’s Day come to think of it. Welcome to the Hamam.
Us goofing off in the Theater...See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Say No Evil.
I also did some interesting climbing. I saw an interesting set of ruins at the top of a cliff. I knew it would be dangerous to climb up, but that is only if I slipped. It was actually a very easy climb considering there were many places to put my hands and feet, and I was able to position myself in a matter where my back could wedge itself up on the side of the cliff, so that if I did slip, I could stop myself. When I got up there, I noticed that I was in what used to be a Lycan house. The house wasn’t the most interesting part. The view was.

Now it is on to Olimpos!

Antalya (April 23-25)

Me decked out in my backpackers backpack. I was an official backpacker in Turkiye...Magnum!


This spring break adventure has been accompanied by Kristina and Lessa. We took a cab to the Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul and got on a cheap flight to Antalya. The flight departed late at night and the in air time was only one hour. We arrived in Antalya around 9:00pm. We then had to find our way to Sabah Pansiyon located in Kaleiçi, the old historical part of the city. We had to take a bus all the way to Magavat and then walk from the bus stop to our Pansiyon in the dark for a couple of kilometers. It got to be a bit draining. It was interesting navigating though. We eventually asked a policemen where to go and he guided us. Thankfully I understood the basics of how many lefts and rights I needed to make (solda = to the left, sağda = to the right). We eventually found our way to the pansiyon, and then went out to get a little dinner. We then decided to hit the sack since we were all plenty tired.

We woke up early the next morning to explore the old city and to look at the city from the side we were on. The geography of the area is absolutely something to die for. The city is on one of the clearest bodies of water you will ever get to see and close by are mountains with still snow at the top, and it was in the high 70s. Perfect weather!


We then hooked up with our friends Merve and Mert, the locals who acted as our guides to the city for the entire time. It was great having them around. Regretably, I checked my email that morning to find out that I was rejected for a position next school year as being an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant (UTA), which I know I deserved considering knowbody has been able to beat me out in economics at ISU for the past three years now. Thankfully my peturbedness didn't last the entire day, and I cheared up with the scenery. It was just when we weren't doing much or in between doing things did I start getting a bit more morbid. I have a feeling that my friends noticed too. I hope I didn't affect them.
Either way, the old city was by far one of the most elegant examples of human civilization possible. All of the houses were white washed with red clay-coned roofs. They all had courtyards and inside was decorated with flowers, fruit trees, tables, and great conversation with wine or çay complimenting it. If I ever have a house, I am going to model it after what I saw here in Kaleiçi. There was this one that was set up as a restaurant and tea place that had a small pool filled with turtles, and old fashion lamps that would light up the courtyard/garden with their candle lights. Also, the old city is surrounded by a series of ancient walls that are still standing today. Many of the structures are actually ruins themselves but just built up, and upgraded. For instance many of the courtyards and houses still had ancient statuary from the Roman period. Hadrians Gate was also extremely impressive. Se pictures at the top for a better look.
Another cool thing that I got to witness in Kaleiçi was a lot of old craftsman still living and working in the city. For instance the man below the text has been making glass art all of his life and he is very talented. He made Kristina an interesting vase with a blue Nargule (All Seeing Evil Eye) created inside the glass. It was worth it watching him do it for us. We decided to go down to the famous marina built by, I believe, the Romans. We just sat around to admire the view, take in some sun, and for chit chat by the water. It was incredibly peaceful. I got to do some much needed relaxing here. The picture below is Con (like John), the little baby boy kitten whose mother abandoned him after one week. Merve found him that day, and was unable to let him go. Con was cute. He pretty much slept all day until he got hungry. Regrettably, it still only wanted to take food from its mother's tit, and the bottle was something Con didn't want. He would turn his little head every time we tried to make him drink. We had to force formula on him a couple of times. Poor little guy. We started to grow weary of the old city, and we asked Merve and Mert if there were any places in Antalya that are must sees that aren't too touristy. They immediately came up with an awesome idea. They took us to the Duden Falls, a relaxing set of waterfalls helped created by Roman aqueducts and the river under it that is about 10km north of the city. We actually got to eat lunch there, and Mert drove us to a fanstic, hidden-away place that offered fresh sea bass as their specialty. It was somewhat expensive, but this is fish and I am me. I dug in! After we finished Lunch we walked up bit to get to the actual main set of waterfalls. They were located inside a park that did require entrance fee, but we had our Muze Kartlar (Museum Cards) that provided us free entrance. We walked around and took in the beauty that surrounded us. It looked like Rivendell from the Lord of the Rings to be honest. We were able to go behind the waterfall in series of caves.

After that, Mert had to go run an errand so while he was out Merve guided us along the coast so that we could explore more of the city. We went to Ataturk Park where we got to see different busts, pictures, and statues of all his achievements throughout the park even though I swear I have heard of all of them already...he's literally everywhere! This area of the coast however lies on cliff edges overlooking the bay. It offered us a fabulous view. Too bad it started to rain on us. Thankfully we were able to ditch inside a restaurant where he had çay to wait it out. While there we also attempted to feed Con but he was resisting as usual. It would whine when we forced fed it, and it whined when we took him out of his blanket...

The beach was somewhat impressive but it is not like the beaches in Florida that are dominated by sand. These beaches are dominated by small rocks of different kinds. A rock hound would be in paradise here where as a sun bather might have to bring an extra towel to cope with the rocks. Mert however soon came back to pick us up and they took us back to their place to meat their parents and to have dinner with them. This was by far the most interesting part of the day. Their parents were very welcoming and I got to experience a real Turkish dinner with a Turkish family. I also got an opportunity to brush up on my Turkish but that was incredibly difficult with Kristina being with us. She studies and lives in the land of the languages, and she is picking up Turkish really fast. Therefore, she is the first to answer any question directed towards us enabling her to practice more. The dinner was delicious. We had Kofte, meatballs, with several other sides and appetizers. I am a huge fan of the eggplant here, and the rice with chickpeas in it. The salad was alright. I miss the Thousand Island Dressing though back in the states because salads in Turkiye usually just come with Olive Oil.
After dinner it was like Turkish Nights with an Arabian twist. We started talking about Turkish folk dances and Mert busted out his labtop to show us different folk dances performed in different parts of Turkiye. After that we started talking about belly dancing and then I pushed Lessa into showing off her belly dancing capabilities. She was a dancer for a majority of her life so I figured belly dancing would be no problem with her and it wasn't. She performed marvelously well! Mert was obviously into the atmosphere of the evening so he decided to add an Arabian twist to the festivities by dressing up as a stereotypical Arab and doing a Walk Like An Egyptian Dance. He then proceeded to perform his own version of the Belly Dance. I was definitely better then mine (but that isn't saying much). We then proceeded to go out on the town, so we went to a disco overlooking the bay. It was a fun and happening night of Efes beer, different assortments of nuts, and dancing to Disco Disco Partizani!

The next day we walked around the old city some more after we checked out. We then decided to hit up Termessos and from there go on to Olimpos. I wish I had more time in this city. It is a definite must for anyone traveling to Turkiye. For more pictures visit here:

Antalya and Termessos