http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/tamam/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from tamam en-us Sat, 30 Aug 2008 05:14:45 BST Sat, 30 Aug 2008 05:14:45 BST Found among the abundant treasures that comprise magical Syria highspeed internet connections are not.So I am finally getting around to tossing a few more pictures up from those blissful days in June.In unrelated news here's a link to Matt's blog httpistanbulletins.blogspot.comHe seems to be enjoying life in Turkey. http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/blog-317530.html Have I mentioned yet that I love this city... http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/blog-314185.html Summer life in 304stanbul does it get much better than thisI am temporarily living with a very wonderful and interesting collection of people.We lost Ltfiye in the Levent bazaar the other day. Permanently in gear she went from vendor to vendor negotiating relentlessly all transactions. Matt and I had drifted away from the clothing and household goods part of the bazaar and were drooli http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/blog-311603.html I think my remarkably low expectations for Ku351adas305 actually allowed me to enjoy it more once we got there. Sure the seaside is cluttered with mammoth cruise ships. Sure restaurants list their prices in Euros on their allEnglish menus. Sure the sand on the beach has been almost completely obscured by the densest possible coating of towels umbrellas and flesh. Sure the souvenir http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/blog-307907.html Here are a few more images of my adventures around Turkey with my mother... http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/blog-303918.html The heat in Hasankeyf was a fierce test of our stamina. Thankfully we both passed but my camera failed miserably and now only takes pictures with horizontal stripes. Though even with a frustrating setback like that it's hard to complain about much of anything right now. We have after all lately been spending most of our time in paradise...Our next stop was unforgettable Savur. We rolled http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Southeastern-Anatolia/Mardin/blog-301920.html Into the arrivals gate she stepped looking a bit confused perhaps but with a big smile on her face. Welcome to Turkey mom We hopped a Hava351 shuttle to Taksim and her adventures began. After lunch on 304stiklal Caddesi we headed to 304stinye to take it easy for the rest of the day... until the party that is.Ltfiye kept me up into the wee hours the night before rolling grape l http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Van-/blog-299610.html As a sort of disclaimer to my mates this entry is in no way me 'avin' a laugh. My continued fascination with the skilled and widely varying ways in which the Brits wield the English language stems from sincere admiration and at times downright awe. I would love to be able to one day take the lift up to my flat but regrettably I understand that it will always be an elevator that delivers m http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Merseyside/Liverpool/blog-295602.html I left off after an inadequate description of one of the world's finest castles though I had already started my new adventures in Damascus by then. It's all a bit of a blur. Time for more catching up.After the castle we were dropped off by a bus station in Homs which appeared to be a rather uninspiring city. After using what we unfortunately discovered later were not actually the worst toile http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/South/Damascus/blog-290062.html 30 SECOND RULE 30 SECOND RULEI shouted as Jen and I scrambled to rescue the Goldfish crackers that had spilled all over the floor... We arrived at the Syrian border around 1100 in the morning Friday the 13th unsure of how the day would play out. Technically US passport holders are supposed to jump through a lot of hoops and spend a lot of money in the process in order to get tourist v http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Syria/North/Aleppo/blog-287515.html Summer in 304stanbul does it get any better than this I arrived a little over a week ago and have since been buzzing all over town finding surprises at every turn. Sercan and Jaki have a new flatmate Ltfiye a longtime friend of Jaki's from 304zmir. I was pleased to discover that her English is virtually nonexistent. Hopefully we can learn a lot from each other this summer.Wednesd http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/blog-283250.html A few really busy weeks nice weather and a headful of thoughts too personal to blog about are collectively responsible for postponing this entry. Life is full of all types of surprises.Three weekends ago Bahar 350enlikleri Hacettepe niversitesi's annual Spring Festival took place. It was also my first visit to our large handsome stone amphitheater probably the nicest thing ever buil http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Central-Anatolia/Ankara/blog-276259.html The bustling border crossing at Hopa was nothing like the sleepy rural countryside post I had crossed to enter Georgia two days earlier. Tractor trailers vacationing Russians and a much more official borderish mood filled the air and made it rather unpleasant. To the left handsome tall green Turkish mountains rose up to towering heights. To the right the Black Sea stretched out coldly http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Black-Sea/Trabzon/blog-273175.html I left off between countries a strange place indeed to be waiting around...Time zones languages climates cultures and dogs were are swirling together there in between Anatolia and the Caucasus Europe and Asia or perhaps Asia and Europe the former Ottoman Empire and the former Soviet Union the day and the night the Lira and the Lari and a bunch of relaxed guards who were almost as con http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Georgia/blog-271268.html The weekend started as all weekends should on a Wednesday. ocuklar Bayram305 Children's Holiday meant no classes wooohoooo I found a dirt cheap plane ticket and landed around noon in Kars setting of Orhan Pamuk's novel Kar Snow which I still haven't read the Englishtranslation of it that I found in 304stanbul in paperback cost more than the plane ticket to Kars. Anywa http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Eastern-Anatolia/Kars/blog-270934.html So thaaaaaaaaaat's what all the hype is about. Just 3 hours north of Ankara is the lovely town of Safranbolu filled with cobblestone alleyways wellpreserved Ottomanera houses and more charm than well than you could ever find in Ankara.Jen came in from 304stanbul showing up late in the afternoon Friday to check out the town before my arrival later that evening. After I showed up and dr http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Black-Sea/Safranbolu/blog-266651.html It was the begining of the semester and I showed up for my Turkish class. The professor had not arrived yet and there were only two other students waiting in the room a young woman from Baghdad and a young man from Basra. Never before have I felt so ashamed to admit that I am an American. It was a brand new experience for me a very unexpected and emotional surprise. What exactly does one s http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Central-Anatolia/Ankara/blog-262735.html How do you say 'Afiyet olsun' in English somebody on campus recently asked me. We don't I replied but perhaps we can start using 'Afiyet olsun.' For you native English speakers that's Ahfeeyet olsun. Say this to people you are eating with or preparing food for. It means something like Bon apetit. Last weekend I heard Afiyet olsun so much that my ears were ringing during http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/blog-258369.html Do you want to come with us to Bursa this weekendKlajdi a friend in a few of my classes was inviting me to crash an allAlbanian excursion to the former Ottoman capital. The plan was to drive through the night Friday ski Saturday at Uluda287 thaw out in the evening at a hamam Turkish bath and then drive back to Ankara through the night Saturday. 30 YTL about 25 USD would include a http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Bursa/blog-254608.html Construction construction construction...We bounced up and down what must've been the bumpiest most tornup road in Ankara be sure to keep that it mind as you read on bump bump bump. It was about a month or so ago. I had squeezed into an alreadyfull minibus and was standing in the doorway which was about halfway back on the right side of the vehicle. I had a perfect view of the drive http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/blog-252224.html