Blogs from Turkey, Middle East - page 413

We got the overnight train to Ankara and I have to say Turkish Rail is very good. All the sleeper cabins were two berth and had a sink, and a fridge with free snacks. When we first got on the cabin was in seat configuration and then later the guard came in and changed our seats into beds. All very cool. I even managed to sleep! After breakfast in Ankara of the usual boiled egg, cucumber, tomato (they eat it at every meal), olives and bread we head to Atatürks mausoleum. Atatürk is considered to be responsible for making Turkey the liberal and secular country that it is today. This does tend to make him rather unpopular with some extremists but for the most part he is very well liked and there are statues of him ... read more

SBARCO IN ASIA.. ..alla ricerca del visto perduto! Nel mondo è facile vivere seguendo l'opinione del mondo e in solitudine è facile viverre seguendo la propria: grande è invece chi, nel mezzo della folla, conserva con perfetta soavità l'indipendenza della solitudine. Ralph Waldo Emerson E così, dopo un po' di bivacco a Istanbul, mi rimetto in cammino, pronto per entrare in Asia! Ma arrivarci attraversando il ponte sul Bosforo, a un tiro di schioppo da Istanbul, è cosa troppo facile per il sottoscritto, così ci impiego qualcosa come 5 ore e mezza di pullman attraverso la Penisola di Gallipoli per arrivare a Eceabat, porticciolo dal quale parte il traghetto che in mezz'oretta di traversata mi fa arrivare alla mia prima destinazione su suolo asiatico, ovvero CANNAKALE Piacevole città studentesc... read more

“Inch Allah!” The words keep ringing in my ears. “God willing.” This popular phrase, often times heard all throughout the Arab World seems particularily ironic today. On this particular day, God does not seem willing to send me off on a good start!” After a very busy week, training in Istanbul and absorbing as much (admittedly a little too much) information as possible about my new company, I find myself on my way to my first assignment: Taiwan. Currently flying over India, I feel like every possible thing that could have gone wrong has gone wrong. To start things off, I was greeted with a nice 200 euro excess baggage surcharge at the Singapore Airlines Counter. Needless to say, I desperately tried to argue my way out of it, saying that I was a “preferred star ... read more

except for me In Istanbul now and I'm probably here till I fly to England although I'd rather be elsewhere. It's really hot here and resembles a large junk shop where everything is London prices. EVERYONE wants to know where we're from why? The blue mosque is super impressive and today we went inside another mosque which has been turned into a museum. It was alright is this the kind of insisive reportage you were expecting, Slater? The food here is good but overall I'm not really in the right mood to enjoy the place. I've met up with Sarah and we're hanging out and that's all good. ... read more

Do I look a tad apprehensive? Or perhaps in need of a change of knickers? Suffice to say I was just about to have my first date with a cut-throat razor, wielded by a turkish barber, but much worse was yet to come....... Istanbul was our kinda place: cakes, çay (tea) cats, cinema and cracking fitbaw......throw in the ostentatious Blue Mosque, the eerie 5am Muezzin calls to prayer and the historic Aya Sofya and you've got a heady mix. Mind you, we weren't roy keane on the half-time break when watchin Miami Vice at the movies..... The Galatasaray fans certainly weren't shy when it came to supporting their team, but our 'Welcome to Hell' at the Ali Sami Yen stadium was filled with friendly banter and shared pistachio nuts. The mad chanting, bouncing and gesturing lasted ... read more