Jordan

After Cappadocia I was sure that I couldn't have left Turkey on a better note. Also, I was running out of time. I had a plane from Cairo to Athens on the tenth of March, and needed to see the rest of the Fertile Crescent. So I headed out. I got into Aleppo and planned on staying there just one last night, but when I called the Matises and they said that the branch was getting together to say goodbye to Shea that night. And of course I got on the next bus. The party was great. The next day I took the taxi from Shem to Beyrouth for the last time to visit E.B. and Smuggler. On the way there I stopped off at a small village and attended an engagement party for my friend Sally's uncle. It was an interesting experience. The bride had recently had a death in the family so when we went over there it was a very solemn affair. I was instructed many times on proper etiquette. When we got back to the groom’s house it was dancing and partying all night.
I got to Beirut the next morning and got together with E.B. and Kristin. I had a great time, said goodbye, and before I left I was able to get a couple dozen crispy cream doughnuts for my good friends in Damascus who had gone without American things for so long. They were a pretty big hit all around. It was nice to deliver them to everyone and be able to say goodbye. That Damascus branch was amazing. That night Shea, Emilie, Scott and I went to a wonderful Yemenite restaurant in a hip part of Damascus. The next morning I headed to Jordan.
Jordan. Well let’s just say that I had warnings about Jordan and I should have listened. Those who go here, heed my words: go to Petra and get out. See the Dead Sea on the Israeli side, go to Wadi Rum if you have a lot of time, but don’t stay too long there. It is a boring, expensive place surrounded by cheap, exciting countries. It is not that it is the worst place in the world, it is just that everything around it is better, and your time is better spent elsewhere.
Anyway, when I got there I decided to rent a car. I wanted it for two days, but I had to get it for three because all the stores are closed for Muhammad’s Birthday. So I got one for three days, I rented it at about $35/day, which was good because I was also able to sleep in the car. And I love a two for one deal. Plus, I was able to pick up a bunch of Arabic hitchhikers on the way. So that is a bonus right there.
Petra really is amazing, you would just turn a corner and see an amazing building carved right out of the rock. The second day I was there, there were flash floods and we were shipped out of the canyon. I got in my car and headed to Wadi Rum. The roads were covered with fog, accompanied by downpours, but I got to Wadi Rum alright, toured it that morning, made a stop at the Dead Sea, and I got out. It was beautiful, and it was great to have my own car.

The Wonderful World of Cappadocia.

I had been doing most of my traveling across the country by night buses. I really like them. You do not get the best sleep on one of these, but they are really convenient because you get to where you need to go, and you don’t have to pay for a hotel room. I know that traveling at night is an old trick, but I would like to state that I like it. Anyway, I took a night bus to a place called Cappadocia. I had the best day of my whole trip in Turkey and anywhere else for that matter here. A friend from Damascus, Jason, who has traveled everywhere, said that it was his favorite place on earth. And after being there I can see why. Cappadocia is this series of valleys with rock formations that you will never see anywhere else. You could compare it to a Southern Utah National park, but the rocks are different, and here our old buddies the ancient, persecuted Christians have carved thousands of homes into the rocks and hundreds of underground cities. It is really remarkable. I had a hard time getting there in the morning, and had to call a couple of taxi drivers out on their lies, and hop a bunch of buses, but by 11 I was in the main city. By 11:15 I had a moped(only $25 all day, but I had to wear this goofy helmet) and a map and was off. I had a bus to catch that night at eight thirty, and I did not stop till then. I toured the whole valley, it was wonderful. If I have any regulars to my blog they can tell that I like sunsets, and here I saw an amazing one. The camera really does not do it justice. I rode the bike up on this hill, and hiked up to the precipice and saw the whole valley as the sun set. I had had a pretty bad night before due to the ridiculousness of the UI, but this seemed to wash it all away. It was great.

It will always be Constantinople to me.

After a couple of days enjoying the coast, I went the Ephesus. The ruins were alright, and I met up with a kid who lives in Jackson Hole, and we walked there and had a pretty good time. But I would not recommend the city or the ruins to people traveling in Turkey. It takes time away from better sights. I then took a bus to Istanbul. This right here is a city. It is huge. It is in the double digit millions I am sure. The first day there I was walking down the road towards the sea, and just behind a tree pops the blue mosque. It is a great view. The Blue Mosque does the job the Turks wanted it to, it is bigger than the Hagia Sofia, and a bit more impressive on the outside, but on the inside there is no contest. The Hagia Sofia is something to see. It is truly amazing that man did this without modern technology. I toured around the city by foot and by ferry for a couple of days. Met up with my buddy Will Smiley who is studying there and got his recommendations for the town. Istanbul is a city to see. I wish I would have had more time there. I was really getting to like Turkey by this point.

Antalya & Fetiye

Next I went across the Southern Coast of Anatolia stopping in the cities of Antalya and Fetiye. These cities were beautiful. I was there in the low winter season, but I bet in the summer these cities are packed with tourists. They are both situated on beautiful bays with green hike-ready mountains and beautiful beaches. They both offer multi-day boat rides around the blue lagoons/islands that surround the city, and they are both within hours of wonderful whitewater rafting and parasailing. I did not do any of these fun activates, but they won me over, and I am planning on going back when I can. They were great. Up in the hills of Fetiye the Romans had carved out tombs. The first two pictures are of Antalya, the last two are of Fetiye.

Antioch

After Palmyra I decided to see Turkey. Not wanting to delay, I got myself to Aleppo in the morning and by the afternoon I was in a taxi to Antioch which usually takes around 3 hours. But the taxi was not going to cooperate. We broke down in the outskirts of the city in the freezing cold, two hours later I was passed off onto another car heading to Antioch. The driver was happy to have me because it meant that he could get two more cartons of cheap Syrian cigarettes through customs. But finally around ten that night I was able to get into the first city in the Old World where the term Christians was used.
Crossing over from Syria into Turkey was like night and day. Turkey is in such better shape that Syria. It almost looks like the west. You can just tell from the get go that things will not be difficult. It is easy, like Europe. Back in 1919 the world powers decided to give Aleppo to Syria rather than Turkey, the Arabs were ecstatic about the decision back then. I wonder how they feel about it now. It would be like if your town could have been part of the U.S. but instead was part of Canada. I know if that was the case for me, I would have been devastated.
The next day I went up to these caves in the rocks were the once persecuted Christians had to hide. Then I went to the Mosaic Museum. It was wonderful. It was amazing what those people could do with little rocks. I included my favorite one here.

Palmyra (the original, not New York)

Sorry about the fact that I have not updated this in such a long time. I was going to a while back, but my USB broke, and since then I have been only on the go. But hopefully I can get all caught up because I have a little down time before I fly to Athens.
After a wonderful two weeks in Aleppo, I decided to go see the Eastern part of Syria which has some of the best Roman ruins in the world. They are located in a little Bedouin village called Palmyra. These ruins were great, they were massive and expansive, and there were few tourists.

Going Back to Haleb.

After taking care of some business in Damascus, I headed up to Aleppo (Haleb) this week. I opted to take the bus over the train this time, and it is clear that whoever made the seats in this country did not have Burton shoulders in mind. I feel bad for the little Arabs who have to sit next to me. And by the way that they glare, I think that they are not to happy with the situation either. I got here Thursday night, and after seeing it again, I was reminded as to how much I like the city. It has a different feel than Damascus, it is less crowded but at the same time more lively. There are less women and more boys on the street, and there are a lot more vagrants. It will be nice to have this be my base point to see Northern Syria. I got a little under the weather Friday night and all of Saturday. It was pretty bad actually, and for the first time in a long time I actually considered going to the doctor. But this morning I was blessed to wake up feeling fine, and I am on my way again.

Goodbye, Beirut.

I spent the last month in Beirut dog-sitting my good friend E.B.’s very playful Bernese mountain dog. It was great to spend Christmas and the New Year with new friends, and 70 degree weather! I am back in Damascus now, having left Lebanon for what may be the last time. I love that country, I love Beirut, and I'll miss it. I love the way the city sort of flows down from the mountains into the sea, and how though it is built all on hills; the streets are easy to meander through. Each street you walk down has a part of the history of the city. There were French apartments from the occupation, broken buildings with empty windows from war, and the cranes and crews in the midst of it all from the effort to rebuild. It has a wonderful mix of the West and the Middle East. Though only removed from Syria for a hundred years, it definitely has a different feel. It is more open, more cosmopolitan, more concerned with appearance, and definitely more fun. But it is expensive, and there were no jobs to be had, and if I would have stayed there instead of Damascus, my money would probably have never made it to 2010. I did have about 6 weeks to see the country and fall in love with the city. It was just what I needed when I had it. It is wonderful. But now there are other things to experience, as well as new places for me to fall in love with, so I am off to Aleppo to see what awaits me there.