Tuesday, December 11, 2012

The travertines, Hieropolis, the spa city + pissing rain

I'm writing this post on the bus en route Konya for the Mevlana Festival, the wonders of smartphones aye?! But read on & be entertained.

The travertines are calcium deposits that form terraces on the mountainside. Looked at from afar, it appears as if snow. To visit the ruins through Hieropolis one must first traverse through these travertines, but barefoot as no shoes are allowed on them. Wohoo!! Now where do I sign up? It does however provide one with a sense of adventure ala Lois & Clark. The travertines are hard to the touch but the submerged ones feel like mud from the floor of Port Dickson. An experience nonetheless.

Hieropolis, the ancient spa city in Pamukkale dates back to 190BC. Hieropolis was a cure centre but sadly as witnessed by the abundance of tombs in Necropolis they may not have done such a stellar job.

The ruins are a sight though, I bet even more majestic in summer or spring with all the play of lights and no rain pissing on your parade. It's a royal pain in the arse walking through the rain with winds lashing, temperatures in the 7°C range.

As usual I shall not keep you, yes you my captive audience for long. May the pictures transport you to Pamukkale through my lense.

Monday, December 10, 2012

Hagia Sophia and the bite

The Hagia Sophia. Nuff said. I cannot and will not be able to express in words how truly resplendent it is, I only wished its walls could talk for I could then sit and be regaled by stories of centuries ago. I will allow my photos to speak for itself.

Oh but for the cold! The kind of cold that permeates to the core of your being, with a bite of a bulldog that will not let go. If you're imagining it, stop! It's not like that. It's cold yes, the wind makes it worse yes, the rain don't help yes, I'm thankful I was born in summer all my life, Malaysia yes but you adapt, you assimilate and you enjoy.

What will the morrow bring? Who cares? I don't. I know I'll enjoy it whatever the bazookas it is.

The Bosphorus. Then Pamukkale.

The Bosphorus. I first remembered reading about the Bosphorus in some spy novel involving submarines. Having finally laid eyes on it, she did not disappoint.

On a clear sunny sky we set out on a cruise to the end of the Bosphorus. The last stop, Anadolu Kavagi was a fishing village where we got to enjoy some fresh seafood. A welcome I tell you after all the kebabs I've wolfed down.

With a somewhat heavy heart I left Istanbul Saturday night to Pamukkale, a 12 hour bus ride south. Pamukkale hosts the ruins of Hieropolis and travertines. I'll expound on its magnificence once I've visited on Monday.

In the meantime, enjoy this serving of the Bosphorus and Pamukkale.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Istanbul, Ferdinand dah sampai

So I've had a full day here now in Istanbul and as Capt. Obvious would put it, it sure as hell is different but allow me to backtrack just a little to the day before.

The pride of Malaysia skies, MAS had a 1 hour delay for my flight and me being a genius, I thought I'd read somewhere that we have a 2 hour difference with Istanbul, hence the flight would take about 6-8 hours. Not bad aye?! Wrong. Istanbul is GMT +2, KL is +8, which effectively meant it was a 12hr flight. Ai caramba!! it wasn't too fun for me, there's only so much reading, walking, movies one can watch.

The airport, immigration were seamless albeit a bit dour. But it was sunrise and the city looked beautiful. Time to rock and roll. Got a little lost looking for the hotel but manage to find it we did.

Checked in, kicked back and enjoyed the:

a. Farmers Market
b. Blue Mosque
c. Exterior of the Hagia Sophia
d. Fisherman's Wharf (my creation)
e. Galata Bridge
f. Spice Bazaar
g. Food!!!
h. Alley & streets with no name to me.

Istanbul is an old modern city, quaint, charming, non-judgemental. I'm somewhat taken by it.

The rest I will allow you to enjoy in pictures.

PS: It's 0913 now in Istanbul, the room sprung a leak at approx 0515 earlier but no unfortunately it didn't rain women.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

The Day Of the Jet Plane

Finally done packing. Wasn't as difficult as I figured it'd be. I guess having traveled a bit prepares you for that.

Don't honestly know though if I've got all I need for Istanbul but I suppose therein lies the thrill. We'll see when we get there aye?! Weather forecast for today was 5°C with light rain, tomorrow its 9°C with no rain, let's hope that stays true.

As I'm kicking back here to the sound of the rain, I'm reminded of all the planning, anticipation, nerves that went into this trip, it wasn't harrowing, far from it but not without its drama either, no thanks to Air Asia.

I'd also like to take this chance to wish all of you that I didn't have the chance to speak personally earlier, a Christmas full of love with family and friends and a New Year that welcomes you with open arms.

All my love.

On a side note I'd also like to give special mention to Salmi, a homeless friend of mine, she always had a cheeky laugh, a joke, incessant with 'sirap merah'. She moved on yesterday, she was trying to escape from a police raid, jumped into Sungai Gombak and drowned. A waste of a life, rationale given is to remove this vagrants from portraying KL in a bad light. Where then I ask is the compassion for a fellow human being?

Sunday, December 2, 2012

The Day Before the Jet Plane

So I've mainly created this blog piece to keep me family, friends perhaps updated on how the 1-month of gallivanting across the Middle East will be like. I leave on a jet plane Tuesday, 12.30am (MY time) to Istanbul, scheduled to land at 6.00am. I honestly cannot wait to open my eyes to the Bosphorus and all its splendours. The Hagia Sophia beckons with its charm and old-skool love. Cappadocia with its dwarf-like cave hotels and loads more of course. This being the inaugural post I shall not keep you folk for too long, safe to say I'm very much psyched and excited. The picture above is actually a view from the hotel terrace where I will be spending my first night, Saruhan Hotel. 45Euros a night.