Indecision Time

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I apologise for being so lax. The scene starts in Sofia...

In the late afternoon I made my way down to the bus station after saying goodbye to the good friends I had made over the last week or so. I was sad to leave Sofia, a city I had become fond of, in the face of everything I had expected. The bus to Veliko Tarnovo was largely empty, and largely uneventful. There was nothing but darkness to see outside the window. As the rain lashed the windows I tried to get some sleep. I was able to get some kip, aided by the haunting tones of Radiohead. On arrival in Veliko Tarnovo, I was greeted with a heavy downpour. To make matters worse, the address of the hostel was not coming up on my map. This meant that I spent the next hour or so hopelessly walking around this hilly town, looking for some intelligible street sign. I finally stumbled upon the right street (literally stumbled, thanks to the increasingly slippery cobblestones) and entered the hostel to my great relief. I was anticipating a much quieter atmosphere, it was far busier than I had expected. I was mentally drained, so called it an early night not long after arrival.



It was voted the best hostel in Bulgaria for the last few years and I could understand why. The staff were awesome, the free breakfast filling, and the free dinners better than nothing. So after getting up pretty late, due in part to the weather being pretty miserable, I headed down to the dining hall for breakfast. The hostel was pretty empty as lots of the others had gone a tour to a ‘UFO like’ Soviet era building up in the mountains. It sounded interesting, but I’m not sure the novelty factor would be worth the 30 euro that one had to fork out. Instead of that, I made my way up to Tsaravets fortress. While it is pretty spectacular, and would have made one hell of a fortress, it wasn’t all that interesting. It didn’t provide any information about the historical significance of the fortress, which is what really makes something like that intriguing. It did give nice views of the mountains and the city nestled around this huge fortress. The most interesting thing to be seen was inside the chapel at the very top of the hill. Inside, there was this artwork that combined icon style paintings with haunting almost post-apocalyptic figures. It was very odd, and at the same time engrossing. One gets used to seeing icons treated with reverence that one can forget their artistic value. After spending an hour or so wandering the ruins I made my way down the hill to view some of the churches that lined the river. These were more historically interesting. In one of the churches, the second Bulgarian Tsardom started. Two Bulgarians announced their intention to rebel against the Ottoman Empire, and they were successful. They were inaugurated at this church, and Veliko Tarnovo became the capital of the new Bulgarian state. Although the church wasn’t anything spectacular, I enjoyed that visit more than the castle thanks to the historical context it supplied. I then walked back into the town in order to see the monument to the ‘revolutionaries’ I mentioned earlier. It’s pretty spectacular, mainly due to its position. It is located on a sort of spit as the river bends around it. It is certainly spectacular, the way it stands out against the rest of the city. From there, a path leads up the hill opposite the hostel. It was much higher than I had anticipated, which although made it harder, it also made the views more spectacular. The cold air was starting to burn my lungs as I reached the top. It was starting to get dark, and dark means cold in this climate. I hurried back to the warmth of the hostel. Dinner was ready when I got back, and I gratefully sat down to a meal of rice, something that I haven’t had in months. It was, surprisingly, a real treat. The depressing type of weather lends itself to movie watching, so that is what I did. I lay down to watch ‘There will be blood’, only making it through about half before my tired body gave out.



After having done a considerable amount of walking the day before I decided that it wasn’t going to be nearly as strenuous. After watching Steve Smith lead Australia to a great ODI victory (it was the best advertisement for one day cricket thanks to its swings in momentum), my headphones finally gave up the ghost. That takes my tally of headphones since being over here to four. That’s four more than I had planned on buying. So I went on a search to find the cheapest set I could buy. I found some for 15 leva, which works out to be around 10 bucks. The only negative is that they omit a slight ringing sound when there is no music playing. Still, it was necessary to get a pair. After acquiring them, I set off towards the stadium. It looked as though it was getting renovated. The outer shell of the stadium was in a state of disrepair. The inside, on the other hand, looked in fine condition. The grass coverage was sublime and the seats looked as though they had just been installed. It wouldn’t have held many fans, I wonder if they have a team in the national league. After taking a walk around the stadium I found my way back to the memorial for what seemed to be Bulgarian soldiers. Each side of a four-sided monument was adorned by a different dressed soldier and marked with a different time period. The rain started to come down, so I thought I’d take safe haven back at the hostel. There I met a few other Aussies who had just arrived. They were your typical Aussie bogan blokes, loud, foulmouthed, a little vulgar and rather obnoxious. I steered clear after dinner was served and demolished. I’ve gotten into movie watching while in bed. Tonight was ‘Zodiac’ by David Fincher. It’s based on the Zodiac killer that rose to fame in the 1960-70s in California and surrounding states. It was a really great movie, if a little unfulfilling with its conclusion. Another great end to a day.



The bus to Istanbul left at 08:30 at night, so I had the rest of the day to do what I pleased. I got my washing done (which hadn’t been done since I was in Rome) after breakfast. At around lunch time I thought it would be a good idea to go and get my bus ticket, just to make sure I could actually make the trip. I was fortunate I did go during the day, as it was not where the map had said it was. I had to stop and ask at the tourist information centre. If I had gone only when the bus was leaving I fear I ay have missed it entirely. So I went down and bought my ticket for the evening, from a lady who spoke no English. I spent the time I had left looking for some souvenirs and presents for people back in Australia. There were some beautiful handcrafted items on display, most of which were well out of my price range. I treated myself to some tasty Bulgarian treats for afternoon tea before I made my way back to the hostel. On my way back I ran into this slightly odd guy that I had met in Sofia. Instead of bussing it around like everyone else, he hires a car and drives around by himself. I suppose it’s a little odd coming from a guy who rode his bike 3000km across Europe. He wanted to see the hostel, so I proceeded to take him there and make 15 minutes of incredibly awkward small talk. I managed to shake him off while in the hostel, leaving him with the unsuspecting receptionist. Dinner was at 7:00 and the bus was leaving at 8:30, so I had to be hasty. I chowed down the tasty soup that was prepared and hit the road. The soup, unsurprisingly, was not all that filling so I stopped at a pizza joint and picked some up for the walk. I still had some leva to spend, so I stocked up on some food for the bus ride. I had an ice coffee for the first time in some months, and it was good, but no Farmers Union. The bus ride that proceeded was pretty horrendous. Instead of installing toilets on the bus like everyone else, this company thought it more efficient to stop every half an hour to let people off for a toilet break. For someone who has learnt to control their bladder and wants to sleep, this was frustrating in the extreme. My sleep was constantly being interrupted by these breaks, making the ride increasingly uncomfortable. These stops were compounded by border control. Everyone had to get on and off several times at the border, one to check passports, two to check bags, and three to check the bus. On the bright side I did manage to get my first stamp in my passport in nearly four months of travelling. Now it looks as though I have actually been somewhere. I was able, after border control to get a few hours of sleep before we made our final stop in Istanbul.



Getting off the bus at around five in the morning, it immediately felt more Asian. The storefronts, in particular around the bus station, reminded me vividly of the stores in Bangladesh. I wasn’t really sure where in the city I was, all I knew was that I had to get to Taksim Square. From there I figured that I’d be able to find my way to the hostel. Although the bus was steaming hot, the morning was extremely fresh. I found the metro station that was connected to the bus terminal, and thankfully I was able to see Taksim station. I had to go to the end of the line that I was on and then transfer onto a different one. That all went smoothly, and arriving a Taksim I found my way to the hostel in a roundabout manner. The hostel looked pretty closed at the time of my arrival (around six) and so I sat outside, waiting for someone to appear. When someone did, they then informed me that they are open 24 hours a day, and that I had been sitting out in the cold needlessly. They invited me in, and although I couldn’t check in, they allowed me to take up a couch and catch up on the sleep I had been deprived on the bus. I had a good two hours of restful kip, before being awoken by the breakfast crowd, which was fine by me as I was growing hungry. So while having brekky, I rang up mum to see how she was going being back in Alice after a week in Melbourne. I was still pretty tired, and I must have seemed disinterested. I checked the times of the churches nearby, and I found one that had a bilingual service at 1:30. So I headed to where I thought the church was, but failed to find anything that resembled a church building. So having spent a good hour or so trying to find this elusive church, I eventually gave up. I knew there was the Cathedral just down the street, so I checked their service times for the evening. There was a service scheduled for 7:00 pm. I was still so tired from the bus ride so I went back to the hostel to try and recover again. I had another snooze while watching ‘The Social Network’ (an absolute marvel in my eyes) which gave me the energy I needed to function for the rest of the day. I didn’t get up to much for the rest of the afternoon, till I headed out in the cold to go to church. When I got there at around five to, the gates were locked and the security guard was only letting certain people in. After waiting till around 10 past to see if the gates would open to the general public, they didn’t, I headed back on to the hostel to cook up some dinner. It was disappointing that I couldn’t go to church, especially having put the effort in when so tired. The guard couldn’t speak any English and so couldn’t tell me what was going on, which made me even more frustrated. I’ll just have to have another go next weekend.



The weather here in Istanbul couldn’t really be any worse. Rainy, windy, cold. Not your ideal forecast for touristic activities. After having a great sleep in, I headed out towards the city. I crossed the ‘Golden Horn’ (I think that’s what it’s called) and went for a bit of a discovery tour. I walked around the point that protects Topkapi Palace. It was peaceful walking along the seafront, looking out on the misty Princess Islands. After walking around Topkapi Palace, I thought it appropriate to go in and have a look. It was more expensive than I had anticipated, but still a worthwhile experience. The artefacts, while not as old as I have been used to seeing, are incredibly beautiful and ornate. The craftsmanship that has gone into the pieces, as well as the decorations of the building are truly inspiring. What interested me the most though, was the display that they had on Islam as a religion. Some of the sacred items in there were incredibly important. They explained the Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) in historical context, which made it easier for me to understand its importance. It’s amazing to see the difference between what moderate Muslims claim for their beliefs in comparison to extremists. All of the quotes from the Quran that they chose to emphasise were peaceful and inclusive, not misogynistic or bigoted at all. I suppose that this rule applies to all religions, of course White Supremacists get their ammunition from the Bible itself. Things can be misconstrued in any way by people who are small minded, regardless of religion or race. I was unable to see everything in Topkapi Palace, as things start to shut down earlier in the winter months, but I think that I had seen everything that was important to see. Just down the hill from the Palace is the Blue Mosque, which I saved for another visit to this part of the city. I then proceeded to walk in the absolute wrong direction. I have no idea how I executed this convoluted manoeuvre, but I ended up doing an extra 5 km at least. I got some serious miles in the legs that day. I had to brave the late night wind and rain on the way back to the hostel. I eventually made back safe and sound, in time to cook up some pizza for dinner.



Having been kindly informed by mum that I had until Friday to: a) get in a scholarship application and b) decide where I’ll be going to uni for the next five years; I was stressing out in a big way. I really did nothing all day but put together a cover letter for the John Hawkins Memorial Scholarship. While I enjoyed being able to express myself, and putting my best foot forward, I realise it was a waste of a day (one of a few wasted days to come). I did, however, meet a lovely Aussie lass who was also worrying about uni next year. She has less to worry about though, having already done an undergraduate degree. After whipping up my specialty (I’ll let you guess what it was) I watched some TV, tried to edit my application as best I could and wandered off to bed.



After ‘wasting’ the previous day (in a touristic sense) I felt as though I needed to atone. So off I went to explore a little more of the city. I knew I wanted to see the Blue Mosque, and I knew where it was, so I headed there first. When I got there, they were just starting prayers, and so it was closed to the public. Hearing the call to prayer took me back to my time in Bangladesh. Despite being a call for Muslims, it still made me think of God and caused me to reflect on what he has done for me, especially in the last four months. The clouds had dissipated somewhat while I was waiting for the mosque to be opened to the public once more, and as the clouds went the air became markedly colder. I hadn’t anticipated this cold turn, only wearing my rain jacket and a t shirt meant that I was starting to get pretty darn cold. It didn’t help having to take my shoes off when going inside either. There were men washing their feet in cold water, I couldn’t believe that they could withstand the drop in temperature that it would bring. The Blue Mosque was pretty incredible, the way that the wall exude a blue hue, even though there are many other colours on the wall. It’s awe inspiring, in a similar, yet profoundly different way, to say Notre Dame in Paris. After marvelling at the grandeur of the mosque, and reading up on my Islamic history, I went to find the Archaeological Museum. The museum was great, but I’m pretty confident that I’m now the world’s leading expert on the Egyptian civilisation. I’ve seen enough Egyptian artefacts to last me a lifetime. What really interested me was the Turkish history, and more specifically the history of Istanbul/Constantinople. There was plenty of reading to do on the establishment by Constantine as well as the rise of the Ottoman centuries later. The durability of some items impresses me no end. The fact that glass can remain intact over hundreds of years blows my mind. Having spent a good few hours there, mainly escaping the cold, I thought it a good idea to head back to the safety of the hostel. On the way back I finally tried something that I had been seeing for months. These nut like things that street vendors cook over a hot plate. I still don’t know what they are but I can at least now say that I have tried them. They didn’t really taste like I expected, they were a little bland. I’m also unsure if I was eating them correctly. Having spent most of the day on my feet, bed called pretty quickly. It wasn’t long after I had prepared dinner that I made my way upstairs and into bed.



The last two days have been ones spent in much consternation. I had an extensive chat with mum and dad (well dad was asleep for most of it) about what they thought would be the best place for me to go for uni. Since that chat all I’ve really done is fret. This is by far the closest I’ve ever come, and hopefully ever will, to having a panic attack. I simply couldn’t decide about where was best. Each destination has their huge upsides as well as their marginal downsides. Each place holds hidden trials and triumphs. I’m sure that whichever I chose I’ll be happy. Five years, at my age, seems like a lifetime to be somewhere. It’s safe to say that this decision has put a dampener on the final week of my trip. This decision has been burdening me for a while now, and will continue to until university starts and I can make an assessment on the wisdom of my decision. Whatever happens I know that God will be with me, making sure it doesn’t all go to poo. Please keep me in your thoughts.

Cheers,

Tikka

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