Body screamin'

I probably speak for most of backpackers; we walk all day. Since we arrive Paris we have been walking less, but there has been days where we would leave the guesthouse early and will be out walking until evening, over 10 hours for many days. I did not realize until my sister who was here last week, that my pace of walking, pretty fast to begin with, has increased its speed since we started traveling. Sahe, with her 18 kilo backpacks, still has managed to walk with me for the past four months. 

However, likely due to a relief of arriving Paris, her body finally started to send signals for a good rest; catching cold and shoulder pain. Even I suffered from a neck pain, unable to look back without turning around with my entire upper body for a few days. 

Another issue; unable to wake up early. We have been going to sleep around 23:00, and waking up no later than 7:00 on the road, but here, we have slept through alarm clocks and phone calls.

Paris; she's got it all

So, here we are. It is where we considered as the mid-point of our journey. We knew that we will need to take a breath before continuing on with our trip, and this highly civilized city of art and culture. Sahe and I arrived separately, and without having any time to congratulate each other on getting here, we met up with a friend in town from London, my sister and nephew visiting from Japan for a week, and my cousin and family who have lived here for 6 years. There is nothing like a reunion with friends and family, whom you can relax around them and let them spoil you, especially being away from it all.

Two weeks ago, the family reunion led us to a wonderful weekend trip, visiting beautiful castles such as Fontainebleau and Vaux-Le-Vicomte, and getting a peek of the small town Auver-sur-Oises, where Vincent Van Gogh spent his last months of his life. Only being one hundred kilometers away from central Paris, landscapes and impressions of each town are distinctively different from one another.

I did not see this during my last visit as a student in the US, I actually enjoy being in Paris. The food, people, the city scape, all appear as something new, warm and cozy. Weather has also been on our side, as it has been stable and warm while being here. But we have to remember that we are still in the middle of a journey. We cannot get too comfortable, or we will have a difficult time peeling our butts off the couch. Cheese, salami, and croissants don't help the situation either, as we must be collecting extra calories onto our already fully-packed luggage. 

So we begun discussing about our upcoming days, week and months. This is not as easy, as we have accumulated a number of places-to-want-to-visit, far more than the we started off with. We finally decided on leaving Europe by early November, and head for south Asia. We went to apply for our Indian visa yesterday, and are slowly getting ourselves ready for the second half. 

 

 

In the meantime, I have to start jogging or do something...

Beer in Holland

Didn't even try to gather information. Too busy putting them down.
They are lighter than what I like, but all Holland beer are fair.

Not even sure if the names match the image...
Scott, stop trying to ash in my glass:)






Brand

Heineken













Amstel

Dommelsch



A Memory Loss

Canals, windmill, bicycles

Heineken Co., and museums

Boat, Miffy, Minimuffins

Tram, croquet, sausage

French fries, red light dist.

Coffee shops, gray sky

It has been twelve years since I last visited Amsterdam, but there is a vague memory left from the previous visit. Where did we stay, what did we eat, and where did we visit...

The reason for the memory loss cannot all be blamed on the fact that we were a group of twelve to fourteen students, hopping from coffee shops to bars all day. Back then, I was never willing to take any charge on our action. I had followed others to the dormitory someone else made a reservation to, and ate at wherever, smoked whatever.

There are foggy memory of rainy days, playing soccer at a park with locals, and visited Van Gogh Museum only to find out it was closed. Add hanging out in dark coffee shops for hours, and that pretty much sums up the entire week I was here.




Time to fill in blanks with new memory. Thanks for being there, guys!!

I AMsterdam

We were constantly on-line searching for an accommodation in Amsterdam for a couple of weeks before our arrival, but most places were fully booked, and available ones were more than what we can afford. Not knowing what the occasion is, we continued our search and finally found a place outside of the city center, only for the night we arrive. This will have to do, and as long as we are in town we can find a place on foot.

The following day to our arrival, we lugged our backpacks into the city center, looking for a place for tonight. Since Sahe is leaving tomorrow morning for Paris, we didn't want to spend the whole day wandering around. But as I assumed it didn't take long to find a place near the Amsterdam Centraal Station. Not necessarily the cheapest place for a room the size of a bed, but this will have to do. We dropped off our bags and went out for a sightseeing with my friend, Scott.

The day was unstable, raining on and off. We walked a little, went to museums, and then walked some more for a cafe. Apparently there is a coference of some sort, and the streets were crowded with guys with white collar and khakis. The town was just as crowded as Istanbul was, with a slight difference of people not being in your face trying to sell you goods. It is not a cultural differnce, but is a matter of class.

Next day, I took Sahe to the terminal where she is to take a bus to Paris to see her friend. First time for us to travel apart from one another.

After her departure, I told myself that I had to make sure to get things done before I was incapable of achieving them. I still had to look for a place to stay for the next three days, send back a pakage for ourselves, and send postcards to friends. Hmmm... I might as well go get a coffee, relax, and then think about getting them done. Or maybe a beer sounds better... So beer it is.

Beer in Austria

Murauer Marzen, Austria

Eurail Pass

We are scheduled to take a high-speed train on 8:30 at Westbahnhoff station in Vienna. With one transfer at Frankfurt, our entire ride is exactly 12 hours to reach our meeting point, Amsterdam. With such a long travel, we will use Eurail pass, a train pass for non-European resident. You can set up the detail according to your itinerary, such as number of country to visit, duration, and number of days, and travel across 22 registered European countries at a reasonable cost. Some rides such as sleeper cars will have additional fee, but it is most efficient to use when traveling on a high-speed rail for an entire day. We ordered a Global, Flexi, pair pass, which allows us to travel around all registered countries, on any ten days we choose within two months, but travelers must be together when using it. This also gives ticket holders seats on class 1 automatically if you are over 25.

Two days in prior to our departure, we went to the counter to make a reservation for our seats, but were told that it is not necessary. This never is reassuring, so my mind kept going back ad forth in between the excitement of riding the Class 1 and a worry about whether the ticket really is valid. When we found our train, we just hopped on and took the first seats available that appeared non-reserved, but with our shoes still on in case we are asked to remove ourselves. The train leaves the station, and the conductor came around to check the tickets. With a confirmation, I felt relaxed enough to finally look around and enjoy the comfort. A wooden table, output for electricity, and reclining seats. Attendants bring meals and tea from the dining car if needed, and everything is fully served to our likings. Seven hours on this ride seemed easy, and it was.

 

We arrived Frankfurt, and the transfer was just as easy as hopping off the first train. Unfortunately all seats were reserved on the Class 1 cars, but we gladly took seats on Class 2, and was nearly as comfortable. We arrived Amsterdam Centraal station at 20:30, and were able to meet my friend by 23:00. We barely did but kept our schedule within  the limit. Well done, team!!

The hills are alive but not in the city...

Only three hours on a high-speed rail to Vienna from Budapest; this maybe the shortest transportation time through our journey. We stuffed our backpacks into over-sized locker at Wien Westbahn station, and took the metro to the center of the city. It started to rain as we stepped out onto the street, with our rain gear deeply buries in our backpacks not present. Although we have enjoyed the little rain we have had during our travel, we can certainly enjoy a museum day like this.

In Vienna, we were fortunate to be accepted by two Couchsurfing hosts for both nights we planned on staying. We went out with the first host at night for meatballs, and asked about places to see in his homeground. There seem to be more places to visit than our time allows, such as fine arts, music, and architecture.

 

 

 

 

 

The second day turned out to be a fine weather, and so we went out for an eight-hour walk. In the evening we went over to the second host's apartment. The couple our age also invited their friends, and our endless conversation about everything took place over pumpkin soup and kaiser schumaan, a pancake-like sweets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beer in Eastern Europe

Kamenitza, lager, 4.4%, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Lav, lager, 5.0%, Ceralevo, Serbia

Jalen Pivo, 5.0%, Apatin, Serbia

Soproni, 4.5%,  Budapest, Hungary

Dreher Classic, 5.2%, Budapest, Hungary

Buda + Pest

Budapest. We stayed in a cozy guest house with kind staff. We got a city map and went off into the center of the city. We were unaware that the city has two sides; Buda and Pest. We visited castles and churches on Buda side on the first day, and rented a bike on the second to see a bigger side of Pest. Relaxing at a hot spring thermal bathhouse, and then nap in a park.

 

 

 

Nice relaxing time to rejuvenate but a day and a half is not enough time to do much.

Plan and Schedule

Next destination is Amsterdam. We will meet up with my friends, and then go to Paris to meet up with Sahe's friend. For the first time in three and a half months of traveling, we actually have an itinerary to keep that involves others. We have nine days to travel 2,200km (1,300miles). What a good chance to see if we are still capable of planning and keeping a schedule.　We decided to leave Turkey earlier than originally planned to, and started structuring a route. Serbia, or Romania? How about Czech, or Croatia, or even Poland? We have too little knowledge about Eastern Europe, and so any place appeared appealing. We finally agreed on Beograd in Serbia, Budapest in Hungary, and Vienna in Austria, each for two nights. Train rides included 20 hours to Beograd, and 12 by highspeed trains from Vienna to Amsterdam.

 

Tram in Sofia

The first night train, Balkan Express, rides on the same rail as the famous Orient Express that no longer is in service. We boarded the train and our cabin, the second class sleeper with six beds, was already occupied by three others. However, the entire car was otherwise empty, and so we were luckily given an entire cabin to ourselves. We arrived the Bulgarian border at 3:00 in the morning as per scheduled, and we got off in the cold platform for a quick passport control. The Bulgarian entry procedure was done in the car two hours later. Around noon, we arrived Sofia station and the conductor announced for everyone to get off. Apparently the 20 minute delay made the car miss the connection, and so it had to wait for the next train bound for Beograd. So we spent not-planned seven hours at the capital, and the boarded the same car with our luggage still in its place.

Seven hours later, our car was sitting on the track with no power

Trying to keep in time with already delayed schedule, we decided not to spend any nights at Beograd, and enjoy a half-day visit. Unfortunately, we did not come across any queens of tennis, but were amazed by how developed the city was, despite constant battling for unification and independence until recent years. There were some destroyed building left untouched to remind people about the war, but everything else was as calm as Donau River.

We hopped on another night train that same night, and this time we tried out the eight-seater box seat. We arrive Budapest at six in the morning, and with our luck we successfully found a guestroom with a vacancy. With a couple hours of nap, we were back on track with our schedule.

Beer of Turkey

After a countless tries of watered-down beer in China and Central Asia, finally a glass of beer with a bold flavor. But according to Greeks I met on the street, beer here has no "taste" in comparison to those of Greece.

Efes Pilsen, pilsner, 5.0%, Efes

  Efes Dark, 5.5%, Efes

Ballon Fight in Goreme

The bus arrived Nevesehir, the hub terminal for Cappadocia region, at six in the morning. We woke up to a local passenger calling us, and were escorted off the bus into the terminal building half asleep, not knowing who he is. He turned out to be a travel agent trying to sell us a guided tour. Disappointed to see such people outside of mega-city, we declined to take his offer and waited for the shuttle bus to Goreme.

 

Shoe String Hostel

Goreme is a small town located in the middle of a landscape full of cone-shaped rocks sticking out earth. Erupted volcano covered the earth with a great amount of ashes thousands of years ago, and some area became petrified, others were washed away by rain and wind over the years. What remains today, teeth-like rock formation with nooks, were used as caved residence for people settled in this area.

The first things in site off the minibus, were stone buildings in between sharp statue of rocks and a countless number of hot-air balloons floating in the sky. We walked around town, calm in the early sunlight, looking for a place to stay. We found a hostel with a cave room as per Sahe's wish, and after a rest, we walked around the beige town. Although the streets are lined with shops and cafe, there were no one trying to pulley us into their territory as they shamelessly did in Istanbul. Seeing selflessly friendly people made me realize never to judge the locals while in a city.

There was one other thing that Sahe wanted to do while in Goreme. It is to go on a hot-air balloon ride. From 500 meters (1,500 ft) to less than a meter off the ground, the direction solely depends on the way of the wind. There are over ten balloon companies in Goreme, and it is one of the common attraction to see the rock formation from above. As much as I wanted to try it, going up high is something I always wish to avoid, and so I sent Sahe off alone.

Hot-air ballon can only go up when the air is cold. A shuttle bus came to pick her up at five in the morning, and I decided to watch her from the highest point I can allow myself to be in. I found a nice area to situate myself and saw dozens of balloons on the ground, growing their domes like mushrooms. One ballon was already off the ground, but others waited for the dawn. One slowly slid off the ground, and then another, then another. Soon the sky was filled with siluhette of balloons, appeared like holes in the sky. When the sun finally rose above the mountain in the distance, bright colors of balloons lit up as they moved away from the ray towards the town, and one by one they landed on the hill on tue other side.

Sahe was on the one in the middle

It was nice to start off a morning after seeing the sunrise. Later in the day, Sahe and I made sure to see the sunset together from the same altitude.