olympos, ruins on the beach (living in treehouses).

An overnight bus brought us to the coast and we stayed two nights in the city of Antalya, where we spent the majority of our time back on the beach. The weather was back in the high 20s and we were once again avoiding the cold weather in our hometowns, making this trip the never-ending summer.
We hopped on a "dolmuş" (small bus) and drove one hour along the coast to a mountainous area called Olympos. Here we stayed in a treehouse right off the beach—the accommodation that Olympos in famous for. There were no busy streets or tall buildings, actually no real buildings at all—just lots of pine trees, mountains, and treehouses in a valley. During the hot days, we would walk along a path with old Roman ruins on either side of us, blended in with trees and streams, and come out of the forest onto a large sandy beach. It was incredible to swim in the warm water and look back at the mountains and see the old ruins poking out of the trees.
One night, after a delicious home made dinner (free!) from our treehouse owner, we took a ride up the mountain to The Chimera: groups of flames that shoot out spontaneously from the mountainside in eternal fires. No one is really sure what causes the fires (or rather the gas that fuels them), but they have been burning for a long time and probably will burn for a whole lot longer. The flames at night made the rocks, and the people sitting around them, glow in warm colours and with a view down to the sea, it was nice to just sit and relax and look. And that was all we really did in Olympos. Sit in one of the cushioned huts in an orange tree grove, or on the beach, or beside a set of ruins–not roped off and free to explore. And at the end of a long day of nothing really, we would climb back up to our treehouse to rest for another day on the beach.

A nice evening in Antalya.

Our treehouse.

capaddocia, strange land (living in caves).

After five nights in Istanbul we left to Ankara, an inland stop on our way to the so called "Turquoise Coast". Whenever we told someone we were going to Ankara, their reply was always quick and sharp "only one night, right?" It seems that people living in Istanbul don't really like their capital city. It is a busy city like Istanbul, but with not as much character, not any coastlines, and full of government buildings.
Luckily, we had a connection in Ankara, a former student of my dad, who was able to show us around Ankara and even better—get us cheap accommodation right on the beautiful university campus. It was a nice break staying in a private room in the quiet campus—a change from the seemingly always full 12-bed dorm in Istanbul. We were also able to see Ankara from a local's perspective and were able to fit in a full day of seeing Ankara's interesting sights. Our gracious host also insisted on paying for almost everything, and when it was time to leave, I think we both agreed that Ankara was not nearly as bad as everyone said it would be (an obviously biased opinion).
Capaddocia was next. We hadn't heard much about the area but everyone who had been there said we had to make the trip to see the eerie landscape. Some volcano erupted there a long time ago and from the 4th to 11th century refugee Christians carved churches, monasteries, and houses into the honey-coloured rocks and built underground cities. We stayed in a hostel that was actually carved into some rocks and so our dorm room was a giant dark cave with bunk beds. We walked through the valleys of pinnacles and rock faces and explored many of the countless holes in the rocks that opened up into big rooms or churches. It seemed that almost every rock was dotted with doors or windows, some unreachable because of their height and some caved in over time. Sometimes, tunnels connected the rooms and it was incredible to see how intricate some of the houses were. We would crawl through small tunnels, our crouched backs scraping the top, seeing how far we could get lost in the rock.
One day we rented scooters and drove to the biggest underground city. Capaddocia's weather was the coldest we had felt in a long time and the light rain made the drive a challenge. With tears running down our faces from the wind and rain (or maybe one truck who sprayed us with needle sharp rocks), we drove through small poor towns being chased by school children. After an hour or so of burning the world's most expensive gas (about $2.50/litre), we reached the underground city and explored its great depth.
Capaddocia exceeded our expectations but the cold weather was starting to make us miss the sun. It was a good thing the rest of our trip predicted some of the world's best beaches and sunny Mediterranean weather. To the Turquoise Coast, we headed.

Some of the weird landscape.

Living in a cave.

istanbul, crazy-busy-insane-good.

Istanbul is a gigantic city, meaning lots of diversity in people and places—in fact it's split between Europe and Asia, bringing a whole new meaning to being in two places at once. With its rich history, beautiful sights, and crazy-busy-insane-ness, there is much to love about Istanbul, and the fact that there isn't really any other place like it.
Even though it can be an overwhelming, and sometimes rough place to be, the feeling of being in a city with such character and activity is very energizing.
During the day, we would fill our time with seeing the sights that were offered: underground basilica cisterns, peaceful mosques and the crazy grand bazaar and at night we would hang out with new friends from our hostel. One night, Galatasaray was playing a match so we went out to a bar and watched the game on tv. Locals celebrating a birthday/watching the game were also there and it was cool seeing normal Turkish youth hanging out at the bar. Even though Galatasaray lost, we all sang happy birthday and danced to Gangnam Style which is the most popular song in Turkey it seems. They played the song three times throughout the night, everytime it was met with much dancing and cheering.
On our second final night in Istanbul, we said goodbye to Miguel on our hostel's rooftop terrace and played funny games that the Germans staying at the hostel taught us. We parted with Miguel in the morning as he was headed to Germany for Oktoberfest and Alex and I were exploring more of Turkey. With now only two of us, we were off to Ankara—our first stop of many in Turkey before making our way to Greece where we would fly back to London. Istanbul seemed to be the middle of our trip—it was the longest trek to get there and it was where we split our group—and now it feels like we on our the end side of our trip. I think I'm excited to be heading back home soon, but I also realize that I will quickly miss the adventures that I've been having. It won't be as easy coming home this time too, as I won't be able to fall back into my friend groups and familiarity. I guess my travels will be coming to an end soon but I won't be getting that comfortable life back anytime soon. Maybe that's a good thing.

Blue mosque during prayers.

We love the simplicity and story of the Turkish flag.

journey to turkey.

After Dubrovnik, we left on a bus to Sarajevo in Bosnia. This would be our first short stop on our long journey to Istanbul, Turkey. Sarajevo was held under siege from 1992-1996 in the Bosnian War and an average of 330 shells hit the city every day . As a result of the recent war, many buildings were still marked with bullet and shrapnel holes and it was obvious that the city was still in the process of rebuilding. Even with its recent tragic times, the city was still beautiful, particularly in the area of its people. Our hostel owner had been on the front lines in the war and offered us a war tour which we eagerly accepted. Up the mountains of Sarajevo, we travelled in his car and along the way we would get out and walk through trails of the forest where the majority of the fighting happened. Having someone tell us about the war who was actually in it was very powerful. This is where his friend was shot. This is the trench where he slept for a year, missing his family and wondering if he would be alive in the morning. Bullets, shell fragments, and old food cans still littered the ground and of course mines were still in the area so we had to make sure we stayed on the trails. Our honest guide ended the tour with his plea for peace and for people to start seeing the differences in others as beautiful.
We left Bosnia with a good impression of the city after 2 nights and we took the train to Belgrade, Serbia. We were tired and annoyed and we knew that it we were still 24 hours away from Istanbul. Thankfully, Serbs are very helpful people and when we arrived and were looking for our hostel, we actually had three different people come up and ask us if we needed help. Belgrade was interesting with its strange blend of architectural styles-old beautiful detailed buildings and modern ugly grey apartment buildings. I had a bad sleep and woke up cranky so I split off from the other guys and explored Belgrade by myself. After a visit to the interesting Nikola Tesla museum (who the Serbs love, as do I), I sat in a café and sipped coffee as I watched people. I recharged with my much needed alone time, and it would turn out that I would need it for the next and final leg of our journey to Istanbul.
We booked an overnight train to Sofia and planned to catch a bus from there to Istanbul. We were in money saving mood when we booked our train tickets and decided not to get the beds on the train but instead take our chances with a compartment on the train. We hoped that it would be only us three in a compartment and that way, we could stretch out and maybe catch some sleep. Just as the train left, and we were smiling at each other at our luck at getting a compartment to ourselves, a man walked in and took a seat. He introduced himself as a Bulgarian music producer and showed us his songs on which he rapped about bringing back the 90's. He seemed genuinely kind and he would constantly ask about English words which we were glad to answer. Maybe this new companion wouldn't be so bad, and though we would be squished, sleep wasn't out of the question. Then the police knocked on our door. They informed us that this train was used by Gypsies to smuggle tobacco across the border and that we should not sleep unless we wanted our bags stolen. The entire night was filled with many stops and searches and gypsies running up and down the train hallway, trying to find places to store tobacco in the walls of the train, and running off the train into the forest beside the tracks. At one point, a gypsy put her bag in our compartment, and once we passed the border, she took the bag back, profusely thanking us and crossing herself as our compartment was never searched by the border guards.
We arrived in Sofia extremely tired and were very thankful that our Bulgarian friend was able to help us get on a bus to Istanbul. We were met with free drinks, food, wifi, and tv screens on the back of every seat-a first showing of the very nice Turkish buses.
After two very different cities, a few restless nights, and helping gypsies smuggle tobacco across the border, we had finally made it to Istanbul.

I read this book while in Sarajevo. A very strange experience.

My grumpy day in Belgrade.

The train ride to Belgrade; less eventful than the gypsy train to Sofia.

Dubrovnik to Sarajevo to Belgrade to Sofıa to Istanbul.

an istanbul haircut.

Miguel decided it was time for him to get a haircut because his hair was longer than he liked it. Joel decided to get a haircut because he was bored.
The place was right by our hostel and we were drawn in because the price was only 15 lira ($8) and there were lots of people inside (all men including the hairstylists). They seemed very happy to have foreigners in their place and after Miguel and I quietly wished each other good luck we were ushered to our chairs immediately.
I was offered two options, "scissors or machine," he said pointing to the electric trimmer. But oh, how prepared I was, as I pulled out my iPod with a picture from google images and pointed to it. "Something like this. Machine on the sides and little bit of scissors on top".

With Britney Spears playing in the background, we got the full treatment-hair washed, cologne sprayed, and of course a nose strip. Other men in this place were also getting facial masks. I guess Turkish men really care about their skin.

The haircut was done quickly and after lots of gel and hair spray, I looked like Pauly D from Jersey Shore. But at least he tr ied.

After some change in styling, it's not much different then what it was before: good haircut, good price, good Istanbul. 

dubrovnik, pearl of the adriatic.

We ended the Croatian part of our trip in the city of Dubrovnik, a place with an old town right on the water, surrounded by tall city walls and filled with narrow well lit streets. If you're going to ever go to Croatia, go to Dubrovnik. In fact if you're ever going to Eastern Europe in general, make the effort to stop by this city.
The old town in Dubrovnik is very busy, even is later September, but for a reason. After a day of swimming off secluded rocks into the crystal Adriatic Sea, we would make our way from our hostel (which had a great view of the city and sea) down a long set of marble steps with walled houses on either side. We would reach the "old pile", which is the stunning gate to the old town, and enter the marbled streets with tall buildings on either side and narrow entries which shot off from the Main Street down quiet alleys. With plenty and lanterns and well lit churches + monasteries, in a way it felt a little like walking through Disneyland, we joked.
Our long stay (5 nights) allowed us to thoroughly explore the place and gain energy for our next leg (making the long trek to Istanbul, Turkey). I feel like we're slowly gaining more travel experience and I in particular feel like I'm learning the contradictions of travelling. Like how the idea of travelling is something grand and romantic but when you are backpacking, it can be exhausting and challenging. It's hard to constantly be moving spots, and not getting much sleep, and having to always plan your day. It can be humbling to be a foreigner in a new country where no matter how hard you try to communicate and plan, some things just end up out of your control. I was charged a ridiculous extra for asking for Parmesan at a restaurant (yeah it's funny) but I was told off for asking how much beer was at a different place. When you arrive in a new city, exciting and interesting and full of possible adventures, it can be very tempting to just sit in your hostel all day long to catch up on rest. Travelling is hard work, but at the end of the day, when you're watching the sun set over the Adriatic while sitting on rocks by the ocean outside of tall castle walls- it's nice to feel that moment when you realize the joy of being alive in this world-even if it's gone in the morning when the bus to your trip out of the city never comes and you have to run down a hundred steps to catch an expensive taxi to a coach bus that leaves in 10 minutes.

The city walls.

Our spot on the rocks, outside the city walls.

The view from our hostel.

Cliff jumping and sun tanning.

zadar, tales by the sea.

I think I'd like to learn to sail eventually and get myself a boat and just live on the sea for a year or so. Seeing all of the boats from all different places at the marina gave me a very strong urge to just sail out into the middle of the ocean and see where the currents took me.
There isn't much to do is Zadar aside from walking the old city's marble streets or sitting in a café or on a beach. And after a first night of almost being ripped off by a taxi driver, being offered drugs by someone heading to the airport, and being left by our bus driver while we sat and watched- it seemed like walking, sitting and eating were the perfect activities for the next three days. So that's what we did.

During the day, it got very hot and it felt like the middle of summer in our shorts and t-shirts. We would go out to the sea wall where there are long stairs leading to the water and we would sit and listen to the "Organo Marino"-a sea organ that works by water rushing air through pipes. The waves would create different melodies and to sit on the stairs watching the sea and listening to the sea organ was a very peaceful experience.

Every night we would grab a few beers (which are cheaper than pop or juice), go find a spot on the beach, and watch what Alfred Hitchcock called "the world's best sunset". Sometimes we would just watch, other times we would talk, and once we shared music with each other from iPods until it was dark and time to head back. Somehow we would always miss the actual moment of the sun dipping below the horizon, so our last night we left very early and waited but realized that the day's overcast skies would mean no visible sunset for that night. Instead, we watched a local football (soccer) match on a concrete field and when it was dark we saw "Il Saluto al Sole"-a giant solar powered disc on the sea walkway that lights up at night in random wave patterns.

On one particularly hot day, we went out and searched for a sandy beach (rocky beaches are more common in Croatia). After some walking, we finally found a small section with not too many people and so we laid in the sun and swam in the clear water. A perfect way to spend the day in a lazy city.