Off to Thailand

I gotta keep this one short for now. We left Istanbul, landed in Abu Dahbi, then came to Bangkok. We are safe. We both caught colds on the airplane, and are not feeling well. Hopefully tomorrow we'll be better I will write once we get more situated. We are staying in a "flop house" and are still trying to figure everything out. The house is free.

Turkish Hospitality

The hospitality of the Istanbulian people is overwhelming at times. When walking down a street full of shops and restaurants a man is paid to greet you and try to usher you into the place of business. He will normally say "my friend..." and point to empty chairs, followed by "we have beer, wine, food, everything is possible here. We have roof top if you wish". This goes for almost everything in the city. The 'greeter men' will ask you questions and try to befriend you just to get you inside. Let's say your lost or need directions somewhere. They are more than happy to tell you where to go and if its not to far the will walk you to the front door. This morning (around noon, we stayed out until 6 am) we wanted a traditional Turkish breakfast, the greeter man at one place said that it was not available anymore because of the time, but walked us three blocks to another place that he knew had it. He asked us to come by for dinner and we said we would. Tonight we passed by the same man and he remembered us, asking why we didn't eat with him. I couldn't believe he remembered us. There is over a million people living in this small area we are in, and with the tourist, about four million. After 12 am there are 15,000 drunk people in this ten block radius we are staying. These numbers all come from the owner of the hostel we are staying at. We have told so many greeter men our stories, dreams and plans, along with our names (which they remember) that walking down the block takes us five minutes. We have come up with a restaurant free path to get home. Its has become critical.

We found our good buddy Brett again. That's three countries we have traveled with him. Croatia, Bosnia and now Turkey. Completely on accident. Brett lives in Phoenix and we have convinced him to move to Denver. We'll see what happens.

Thanks to Bretts computer you may now have pictures....

The Greedy Conductor, and the Brutal Peel

The train proved once again to be a great means of travel. We were comfortable and warm in our double sleeper. The down side to this tiny train was there was no snack car. So we were pretty hungry most of the way, but we managed just fine.

When we got to the Turkish border the conductor woke us up and started talking about cigarettes and Jack Daniels while handing me money. Still in a sleepy daze, I refused all three. He explained again what he wanted in a very heavy Turkish accent and I finally understood and agreed. Mr. Turkish conductor wanted me to buy him goods at the duty free shop. Two bottles of Jack Daniels and three cartons of cigarettes.

The train sat at the border for about an hour while the passengers handled there business. When arriving in Turkey you must purchase a visa (for $20) then get your passport stamped, then any shopping you would like to do. The man issuing visas was asleep when we got there and after waking him up, he was quite grumpy. We payed with $100 bill and when we asked for our change he started yelling at us because of his math error. Hilarious. I got the conductor his goods and a carton of Camels for me. I love duty free shopping. After customs were checked, the conductor came by for his goodies and we found out he had others on the train do the same for him. He must have left with a couple gallons of whiskey and a few thousand cigarettes. At-a-boy!

We finally made it to Istanbul. The city is absolutely stunning. We arrived around 9 am leaving the whole day to explore it's offerings. The hostel I booked is quite over the top with a restaurant and roof top bar.

Zoey and I decided to get freshened up after our two day journey by going to one of the oldest bath houses in Istanbul. This place was gorgeous, built in 1710 it was as traditional as you could get. Do you ever take your car to get it washed? Not the automatic kind, but the real washing, where two or three guys really get it detailed? That's what this was like. I had a fat Turkish man very thoroughly and quite roughly scrub nearly every part of my body. After the peel, he laid me on a stone and washed me with soap, followed by a massage, then he washed my hair. The whole ordeal took about an hour and a half and was about $40. Quite enjoyable. I don't think I ever want to shower again. I could get use to someone washing me everyday!

The rest of the day was spent walking around, eating delicious food and coming up with an attack plan for this massive city. Four days isn't enough to see everything. But since we are both back to 'healthy' working order we want to get in as much as possible. I turned in around 7:30 and hope to get up early in the morning.

The Trot Has Finıshed

We made ıt Hooray...

Ill tell the storys later. But ın the meen tıme. Thıs ıs where I am

Trottin of to Turkey

Belgrade was a really nice city. News flash: Serbia is no longer the bad boy of the Balkans. Once dismissed as drab Belgrade has many fine things to offer.
This was the first city however that actually felt foreign to me. The written language is all in Cyrillic alphabet. There is no guessing what anything says.

I used my time in Belgrade as a 'work day', sitting in front of a computer for a few hours. We now have money properly moved around, we are carying American dollars and Euros, we have a place to stay in Istanbul and plain tickets to Bali look super cheap. The internet cafe was nice I found. They played trip-hop music, it was dark and you could smoke and drink while using a computer.

I hit up a casino on the way home and played for the better part of an hour on 500 dinar (about $7). Didn't win anything but it payed for the free drinks. Because of the inflation here casino nights would be a blast. It made the max bet on most machines five cents.

I went to bed early and woke up at 6 am to head to the train station. Tickets were fairly cheap to Istanbul and we made the train with no problems. We will be residing in a sleeper car made for two for the next 24 hours. That's the longest time on a train I have done yet.

Should be in Istanbul around 7 am on the 25th

Turkey Trot update

After taking a bus that left at 7 am on the 22nd we arrived in Bar, Montenegro seven hours later. We had planed to take a night train to Sophia, Bulgaria, but were sadly misinformed. That train didn't run anymore. So we took a night train to Belgrade hoping that it would be on time in order to catch another train to Istanbul. Our train was some how 3 hours late. At least we didn't pay for the connecting train. The train to Istanbul leaves tomorrow (the 23rd) around 7 am. So we get to see a little bit of Belgrade. I am excited.


The money here in Serbia is beautiful. Very inflated. They have a 10 billion note. about $700


Very dead and tagged Moving stair case


Same place


Graff everywhere


Cool building


So many buttons

Goodbye Europe, Hello Adventure

I am sad that the European leg of this journey is coming to an end. What a blessing eastern Europe has been. Without planning for it, the former Yugoslavia has been the most interesting area I have ever seen. The very complicated, and incredibly brutal war that happened here is still fresh in the minds of the locals. I never felt unsafe or scared while walking around, but I never felt that I was suppose to be there either. Walking the war ruins in Mostar was emotional and heart breaking. I knew that going inside the bank would defiantly peg me as a tourist to all that saw me go in, but it was something I needed to see. I don't know why, but I did. Inside the bank everything is trashed. All the windows are broken out leaving glass everywhere. The bank was seized by the aggressors while it was still in operation. Through out the years everything has been ransacked and scattered. All the computers have been busted up. All the filling cabinets have been emptied and kicked around. Snipers used the building to kill many people and you could still feel their presence somehow.

The war still continues in Mostar, but its a silent war. When the war started, peaceful people who identified themselves as Yugoslavians, then had to realize that they were either Bosnian (Muslim), Croats (christian), or Serbian (orthodox) and figure out what to do; whether they were to fight or flee. The government has started a "human experiment" by allowing all three groups to attend high school together in the same building. Sounds like growing, but really all three groups have different classes and different curriculum leaving the next generation with three different histories of the war. That and the extreme bigotry of their parents is really pulling the city apart. The city is still divided by the front line (the major highway) Croats on one side and Bosnians on the other.

During the last election in Mostar a Croat didn't win the seat of mayor leaving many people upset. They recalled the election and nothing has come of this. They are left without a mayor. Because of this all city planning has come to a halt. The hostel we stayed at has bought a new building and wish to create a new better hostel, but can't until the mayor signs off on the plan. I was told that in a protest the city brought a donkey on to the streets asking people to vote it into office just to have the position filled. Could you imagine what these people are dealing with?

I would love to come back and spend more time when I can.



The real adventure is about to begin. We are hoping to run into some friends we have made along the way in Turkey. We have named this part The Race for Istanbul or the Turkey Trot, as I like to call it.

Leaving from Mostar we are taking a bus to Budva, Montenegro in order to catch a train that will hopefully get us to Sophia, Bolgaria. From there we are hoping to get a train direct to Istanbul. Zoey couldn't find any information about the trains in English, so were just hoping this is the way we should go. Yea adventure!!!

We are planning on get some camping done, weather permitting this week. Spending more time in Bosnia was great but now we only have four days in Turkey. Should be great non the less.

I honestly can't believe I will be in Thailand in seven days!!!!!

Picture day ... Hooray!!!

Do to the cold in Bosnia, hostels have been the safest bet for us to keep warm. We were really psyched about camping but not here. Hopefully in Turkey.

The last two hostels we stayed at have been really nice and cosy. We stayed two nights in Sarajevo, and three nights in Mostar. The best thing about hostels, is the free Internet use. So I can get more pictures up.

Tomorrow (the 22nd) we are going to head down to Montenegro and try to catch a train to Istanbul. Sounds like fun huh? Last weeks pictures that needed to go up
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The New Family. It was funny, we ran into Bret again in Sarajevo. And in Mostar, a girl there knew him from Serbia. The eastern Europian backpacking comunity is quite small.


Looking out the tent while camping.


My wicked shower scald a week later. Don't wory its better


Amazing stencil 2"x3"


Really cool wheat past graff



SARAJEVO



This is the last existing part of the Bosnian tunnel that saved so many life's


Old men playing real big chess in Sarajevo


A little girl, singing for money in the cold rain. Unfortunatly this is one of the worst forms of child labour. If you give into it, you encourage it. If you don't give thees children may have to continue begging until late at night to ensure a meal or to avoid a beating. What a dilemma. We were told to give them food.


Rooftops the day we left Sarajevo



MOSTAR


Mostar river


nice view from the old town


The famous Old Bridge in Mostar


We walked around a 14th century castle


And climbed this tower


You only live once


this is us climbing up some rocks, freezing


No regrets


War ruins in Mostar


A war ruin being rebuilt.


More ruins


The bank. This is right on the front line of the conflict. Snipers took over the bank and kill lots of peopel. One of the tallest buildings in the city


This is inside near the roof inside the bank.


This is the view from the roof of the bank


Really sick graffiti inside the loby of the bank


The floors of the bank are trashed. They are covered with broken glass, bank papers, trash, and bulet shells.