Welcome to Croatia (day 1--Zagreb)

Oh Croatia. As i blog, the Beatles 'In my Life' randomly shuffles on. Though the message is about people and not places it is difficult to forget that first line: 'there are places i remember all my life though some have changed'. I rarely get cheesily nostalgic (well, maybe not), but i'm pretty certain i'll never be able to forget this Adriatic nation.

Perhaps mostly because I entered the dark season of my summer 2009 travels (life?); a week (that turned into months) marred by self-doubt, sadness and panic attacks. Not because of the place but omnipresent nonetheless. I think I saw much of the country in a haze, and still i found it enchanting. so that definitely says something.

A week after arriving home from Turkey, Jen and I ventured back out on the travelly path on our first 'proper' backpackers' adventure together. We toured roughly seven different cities/parts of the country in a little over a week, starting in Zagreb (due to a cheap flight or two) and winding our way down to Plitvice National Park, over to Zadar, coaching over to the island of Pag, 5am ferrying over to the island of Rab, puke ferrying over to Rijeka and then bussing to Venice via Slovenia (passport stamp, woo!), Trieste and final destination: canal-city Venezia.

Day One: The nation's capital, Zagreb
We had no intention of staying in Zagreb for longer than a few hours, but one of the joys of travelling on the cheap without pre-booking accomodation is that you must be flexible. After missing the only coach down to Plitvice we booked ourselves into a cavernous hostel at the edge of the city and made for pizza, cheap wine and a bit of a wander.

It was the first and only time we stayed in a hostel over the course of the country, and the experience was quiet, clean and cheap. definite benefits. see below for other highlights, which i couldn't possibly begin to name.



our first view of a city found whilst carrying a tote bag stuffed too full with the thoughts of the rainy london we'd just left


the sky matches the car!


my first flag sighting


central square close to the cathedral covered in lots of scaffolding




america needs more of these


gathering twilight

I think my favourite part of zagreb was sitting in an outdoor restaurant right next to a water fountain that turned into a let's wash our produce from the local market, bathe our dogs and start a large water fight all in one. People gathered. and talked. it felt so very budapest meets prague meets we're cooler because the sea is only a couple hundred kilometers away. and who could blame them?

Pamukkale, Hierapolis (and a carpet factory)

So I'll begin with my extensive wikipedia-gained knowledge...Pamukkale actually means 'cotton castle' in Turkish. And cotton castle it was. We headed there on the second day of our Turkish excursion to the centre of the Aegean region after a bus journey through villages with sheep, sheer coastal cliff drops and some stunning forests. what a pretty country.

Pamukkale was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988 and we quickly were taken with its beauty. The geology nerd in me was especially appreciative of the inherent learning opportunities. In the end, we kicked off our shoes (walking on the deposits with shoes is something of a crime, and men in orange jumpsuits resembling prisoners chased people around screaming in turkish), had a wander and lamented dropping one of our cameras into a warm pool of calcium carbonate.


from far away, it could be a mountain covered with snow (minus the fact it was roughly 35c outside, etc)


and closer


the travertines--sedimentary rock deposited by water that flows from the hot springs in the area (also in threat due to what is most likely low water pressure due to tourism in the local area)


up close


incredibly slippery!


i couldn't stop taking pictures, and i don't think i fully grasped what i was seeing/standing on


my hat matches the geologic wonder that is the water!


the pools from another viewpoint

Pamukkale is also home to the ancient city of Hierapolis, which is (and i may have my facts wrong) the home to Apollo. The ruins stand just north of the baths, and we wandered that way as well. The temperatures were near scorching so we were allowed to put our shoes back on.


Cleopatra's Swimming Pool (legend has it this is where Cleopatra gained her extensive beauty)


the ruins of Hierapolis (the ancient city built on the site of Pamukkale) and imposing Cökelez Mountains in the background




Jen, on the famous Amphitheatre


our final stop on the way home was at a turkish carpet factory. after getting the brief tour, we were sat down and given coffee/tea while men unfurled carpets in front of us with a sort of camp panache akin to male models. it was brilliant.



coffee with our carpets, thank you




thank you, Turkey!
good trip, sunny trip, trip with hospitable people and ridiculous adventures.

Ephesus

on day four of our Turkish adventure Jen and I forked over 60 euros to head into the heart of western turkey on an airconditioned coach with forty other european/american/iranian travellers and one lovely, if not sarcastically dry, tour guide, ahmed.

we were thrilled. leave the tack of bodrum? check. explore life in the real Turkey? check. have a proper night's sleep away from 5am pool antics? triple check!

Day One: Ephesus--ancient ruins and one of the seven wonders of the world
Day Two: Pammukale--calcium deposits, ruins and a carpet factory

you've gotta love cheap tours if only for the many stops at leather factories, jewelry factories, carpet factories that must subsidise the costs along the way. that and bad highway-side restaurants that serve dodgy buffets en masse.



Stop 1: a lovely inland lake (Turgutul?) with blowy, blustery wind (much appreciated after scorching hot days)


welcome to one of the world's ancient wonders!


and now i must admit another one of my ridiculously philistinish travelling moments...i enjoyed ephesus only because i forced myself to. most of the time i was thinking, it's hot, i'm in the closest thing to a desert i've seen in a while and really this is a big pile of glorified rocks uncovered and moved around to show us the semblance of ancient civilisation. i'm a bad person, i know.




then again, i blame this passionate disinterest on my father's passionate interest for spending hours in front of the mummies and archaeological sites at various museums across america...


a fine example of greco-roman architechture


staring down a privy built for sixty


i LOVE headless statues. and this statue had practicality written all over it. instead of comandeering a new statue every time a new emperor came into power, the Turks got smart and opted to replace the head only. earliest signs of economic frugality?


Nike, the goddess of victory. men would touch the statue's left breast before battle or a long journey for good luck. hence, its worn down nature. bastards.


the library, located eerily close to the ancient brothel.


jen, me and our tans. many times on the trip, turkish men would learn our names and then sandwich themselves between both of us, squeeze our shoulders, close their eyes and make a wish. apparently it's cultural good luck to meet two people with the same name at the same time. who knew?


the view from our peaceful balcony. two minarets!


after a wander in the local village

late now! more later!

Kos, Greece

By day three of our Turkish adventure, Jen and I were itching for some proper culture or at least a greek salad. Thankfully this was not hard to come by and we hopped on the hour-long, thirty euro ferry to Greece for the day.

We only had six hours on the island and actually did have to remind each other that we needed to go back to turkey, if only for our suitcases full of hats and shoes. Keep in mind that Kos is not known as a hub of culture and fine art. In fact, it's quite the opposite. but in comparison, well, we were in feta cheese heaven.


getting off the ferry...


stop number one. i think we were so adamant on finding a good greek salad because all across Bodrum, restaurants advertised them. then we ordered them. and just because the greek islands are an hour away doesn't mean that you know how to make a greek salad.


minus the greek salad though, there is a lot of shared culture and religion


ancient ruins very close to Kos Town


The Central market


Frappes at this wonderful coffee shop/bar/restaurant hidden in the back of a little jewelry shop


beach bar




just lovely, lovely, lovely.

Bodrum, Turkey

end of July and early August 2009

Jen and I researched and then ventured to Bodrum, Turkey shortly after my return from the Isle of Skye. Our expectations were high, as we'd spent the previous summer holiday in stunning Santorini, which was actually only a stone's throw away from the south coast of Turkey.

we wanted: sun, culture, good greek/turkish food.
we got: a loud, stinky, hotel, trashy british holiday makers, emaciated, dirty stretches of sand disguised as beaches and english breakfasts abound. and now that i'm looking through my pictures i'm realising i've taken very, very few in bodrum itself. kind of my rage against my own expectations. but on the upside there was sun.

By day three, enough ridiculous things had happened so we just laughed and laughed and laughed. in the end though, we had a fun, though not classy week, and got ourselves turkish massaged, excursioned to the inner, ancient bits of turkey, found potential husbands in a turkish rug factory, got zodiaked to our 'party gullet boat' and learned that two people with the same name are of good luck to others.

we very much used Bodrum as a base for bigger excursions and spent roughly three days there. more photos of Ephesus, Pammukale and Kos, Greece to come.

the highlights:


the road to Gumbet beach, a 3K trek from our hotel


Bodrum Harbour


gathering twilight near the harbour and one major plus to meditteranean life: shops and sidewalk stands stayed open until very, very late


Bodrum centre itself is known as the Turkish riviera, and the colours in combination with much of the architechture, the friendliness of its people and the weather makes that understandbly so. then again...Halikarnas, Europe's biggest nightclub is also located here, so who knows?


the harbour by daylight


the dolmus. a not entirely safe experience


in the grand bazaar


small delight of a beach bar that we managed to stumble on


despite my vegetarianness, i couldn't help but be fascinated by this kebabby wonder of meat and veg spun into one


a good place to buy tea trays, lanterns and hookahs

so i guess overall, i would say if you want cheap full english breakfasts, music in your hotel until 4am, burping contests in the lobby, tacky, neon signs and very little turkish culture, bodrum's your destination!