Week two N 40.45.49 E 39.35.59

Serander campground between Trabazon and Sumella monastery. Our last day in Turkey and start of week three. Tomorrow we head toward our first border crossing into Georgia.

Our group is starting to work together. What interests and pleases me is that although we are very different people, that there is an attitude of helping each other and an understanding of differences. I can see this being a great six months.

We spent three nights at a camp in Goreme with great facilities, including the hot air balloons drifting over just after sunrise. It was ALS a chance to see some master pottery. Google "chez Galip" to see wat I mean as no photos were allowed. Spoils you for the cheap mass produced stuff in the markets. We also had Pide - the traditional stew in pottery that is broken to be served.

Then we headed north on a narrow winding road through the mountains toward Trabazon on the Black Sea. Bush camp at 2245 meters at the snow line and in the clouds. It WAS beautiful the next morning.

Things I want to remember about Turkey. Friendliness of people. The calls to prayer. Learning to survive bush camping in less than stelar weather. Squat toilets. Shopping at bazaars and learning not to get lost.

Here's some pictures from my iPhone. I will edit this post to add other photos - probably in 2015.

Flowers for our guests

We had a lovely walk in the countryside today. Sunshine, mountains, olive trees and grapevines. And some more examples of Turkish hospitality. We just walked out of town on one of the roads. Not long after leaving town, a car stopped to make sure we were not lost. Smiles and thank yous were exchanged. Next a motorbike passed us, turned around and came back. He named a town and wondered if we were walking there - it was 15 km away. When we explained we were enjoying the scenery and the weather, he pointed at a nearby town where we could stop for tea and then there was another road to take back to Pamakkale and see the grapes and market gardens.

On the way back, a truck with two older gentlemen stopped to chat. They were gardeners with a number of huge bushes in the back seat. Before they left us, the second man had pruned two beautiful roses from one of the bushes and presented them to their "honored guests".

Wow.

Week one N 37.56.21 E 29.06.35

Pamukkale in a lovely hotel. We've had two nights in a hotel in Istanbul and four nights camping as we made our way south along the Agean sea and are now moving inland toward Goreme. Officially in Asia now, or as the say in Turkey, Anatolia.

There are 18 of us, including three crew, with one more joining along the way. The youngest is 19 and the oldest (not sure who as it is a secret) is older than we are. We have the least traveling experience. Two couples are using this trip to emigrate from the UK to Australia. One of the young men has a work visa for a year in Australia and another is heading toward home in New Zealand for First Christmas at home in ten years. The tallest reminds us of my brother, Tom, complete with mannerisms. There are also four older (than the young ones) men with a wealth of experience and stories. One says he is from the UK but has spent the last ten years as a farm manager in Tanzania. They also host the overland trucks at their camp site. And last but not least is a lady from Norfolk island with a wealth of travel experience and great wisdom. A group I'm looking forward to getting to know over the next six months.

Our crew includes Theresa, who's done this before and is mentoring the two new guys. Mikkel did this trip last year and I'm waiting patiently for him to find some interesting beastie to show the group. Nico has been overlanding in Africa for five years and is learning the details of this route as he will be leaving us in Kolkutta and bringing the Nepal to Istanbul group back. His music on the truck is spectacular. Learned about Kubus (South African heavy metal group) yesterday.

So far, Turkey has been heavily urban. The roads are paved and the drivers are a bit crazy with passing on blind corners. We take "wee" breaks at service stations where I am learning to not flush toilet paper but place it in the basket. Then check out the snack foods. Nescafe is a popular brand. As we travel, we've become aware of the calls to prayer- not all singers are created equal!

On the truck we all have our jobs. For the first section, til we cross the Caspian, I am "truck wallah", a glorious title I shall be sad to give up. It involves setting up the camp chairs, collecting money and tips for group activities and planning parties. Cal is the fire god - an easy job with his experience.

The camping was not fun with torrential downpours, but we soldiered through. We got puddles in the tent and condensation on the sleeping bags, but the gear did what it was supposed to do and kept us dry and warm.

Along the way, we toured the Galippoli peninsula - our Turkish guide was knowledgeable and interesting. Perhaps a few too many cemeteries. Then a quick rainy stop in Troy so I have a context to place all the artifacts we saw in Istanbul. Continuous civilization from 300,000 BC to Ottoman empire.

We missed Ephesus and spent the day checking the waterfront at Kusaidasi and hiking up to a hilltop monument. Oh, yes, and testing out Turkish ice-cream. It was pistachio (really common ground and sprinkled on deserts) and lemon.

Then on Easter Sunday we afternooned at Hieropolis. More cool old stuff, including an octagonal church from the 500s. Walking barefoot down the Travertine terraces ended the day. Ice cream tasted included banana, mocha and chocolate. Three little scoops piled on each other.

Lots of pictures are going to icloud, but here's a few that I remembered to snap with my phone.

Seven days in Istanbul

Our time in Istanbul is coming to an end It's been full of interesting experiences. We've taken dozens of photos that I'll post when I figure out how.

As we got off the plane at 1:00 Thursday morning, I was wondering if we really were going to be picked up by the hotel shuttle, and more importantly, where. First great experience - airport porter with cart. When I asked if he knew where our shuttle would be, he phoned the hotel and had a long Turkish conversation, then another one with one of the ladies waiting for baggage. She explained to us that he would take care of us "for a tip only" and suggested 5 euros not the 10 I had in my hand. At the exit, there was no sign of anyone looking for us, so he rephoned the hotel and down the hall comes a young man with my name written on a paper. Smiles all around.

To be honest, we've found overwhelmingly people wanting to be helpful. Even the pressure to come into the shop just needs a smile and a no thank you. Interesting comment from Mark, one of our fellow travelers, that this way you are having a conversation with a person rather than being hassled by a telemarketer.

Our first day, we found the harbour and the spice market. I was delighted to buy some beautiful Turkish saffron - threads of red and yellowish orange - as well as Turkish tea and coffee and a spice mix for kebabs and two baklavas that looked like little nests. I thought the price was right and I have a bit of naturally died cotton for my quilt.

Now I know that Turkish coffee is how it's ground - very finely- and then boiled. And tea (cay, pronounced chai) is simmered all day (you add water to get it weaker). And that Turkish saffron is actually safflower and an appeasement to tourists who don't want to pay the cost of Iranian saffron. Goggle "turkish saffron" to get the rest of the story. What ever, I have a beautiful mottled yellow fabric square that I plan to embroider an evil eye on.

Saturday, we spent the morning touring Topkapi palace. Crowds were unbelievable. Absolutely worth it though. Then we wandered across the square to see the Blue Mosque.

We were greeted by Nazim, who explained that he was not a guide and would not charge us money but he would like to show us the mosque and then perhaps we would like to visit his uncle's carpet shop. He took us to great vantage points to take photos, gave fascinating tidbits of information - for example, the design on the carpet was like a seat with your feet going in one place, then knees and hands then finally head to pray. The pictures you see of thousands praying in straight lines is all about the carpet design.

After this leisurely but thorough tour we did go around the corner to the uncle's shop. Again, a thoroughly delightful experience with coffee and sweets. Learned tons about carpets and had a lovely afternoon browsing/having carpets displayed for us. Learned that they are easy care - if the original hand made carpet in the mosque could last 250 years, then mine would survive being washed with natural soap and a bit of scrubbing.

Yes, we bought a beautiful hand knotted silk carpet from Bursa (not far away) as well as a woolen carpet from the Kurdish east of Turkey. We had a bit of negotiating, all very civil, and the shopkeeper gave me a greeting in Turkish as well as Kurdish for this week's quilt square. We are actually sending home a third carpet as well - because we were such wonderful guests. I suspect that means that the shopkeeper was as pleased with the experience as we were!!!

Truly a memory that I will cherish.

The end of the story is almost as good. On our way back to our hotel, we passed a shoeshine person who dropped his brush and like the polite Canadians we are, we stopped and returned his brush. In thanks, we thought, he insisted on cleaning our runners and chatted with us. Cal offered a tip of some change, and was told only paper money. There was a fast and furious exchange of money and no change returned and I think we paid almost the cost of a new pair of runners. Yup, we were had. Hopefully we are fast learners!

Quick impressions of Istanbul - huge crowds, strong Islamic presence (great people watching experience), security very visible including police and army with automatic weapons, incredibly ancient civilization, food is spectacularly fresh and spices unpredictable, friendly, incredibly clean. Oh yes, the local cats and dogs are a story of their own.

April 9 - four hours in Heathrow

The clock says noonish and my brain says too early for breakfast after not enough sleep. Unbelievably big. Terminal 5 is British Airways only and it has 50 or so gates separated on three pods. Security gives special attention to our boots and iPad then spits us out with the hundreds of others going somewhere else. Not very friendly.

Question. Why are there dozens of expensive perfume, makeup, jewelry, clothing vendors? No books or magazines?

Question? Why forty five minutes free wifi?

Question. Why do you only learn your gate 50 minutes before departure. Rush. Rush. Three pods fifty gates.

Question. Why does British Airways allow people to carryon full sized suitcases and not follow boarding rules? Rule following Canadian passenger at a disadvantage.

Question. Why was British Airways so friendly and efficient in Calgary - leaving early, smiles, no worries. But not in London? Crowds, not enough agents, too much to store in overhead bins. Left late.

Snivel Kit (2 1/2 sleeps)

It's the middle of the night and I'm awake making lists in my head. My bag is packed - 19 kg - and it's down to last laundry, last cleaning and have I forgotten to pass on any important information. There was the last minute glitch in plans for what we will be doing come next January, which already has a fix in the works.

Draft one of packing my bag.

My oldest son explained to me the highly technical military term "Snivel Kit" some years ago. In the Canadian infantry (and no doubt in any military group), there is a very specific and structured packing list for your gear. Everybody carries the same things packed in the same place in their pack so that in an emergency, you know where to find something in buddy's pack as well as yours. That pack carries everything you need for the day, or the week, or the mission. Of course, after learning this in basic training, you then learned to upgrade some items. For example, replacing the standard issue leather boots with waterproof, insulated, better fitting Gortex boots from MEC.

When you were out in the field and were cold (or too hot), and wet, and tired and miserable, what made all the difference was what you had in your snivel kit. Something small, not regulation, not really essential, even, that gave you a bit of a sense of luxury. One of the people with my son always carried a small set of spices to liven up the freeze dried meals. I read about someone else who had a system of making sure that he always had a pair of clean socks even after weeks in the field in the same clothes. I unexpectedly contributed to my son's snivel kit when I made a high tech fleece jacket (upgrade to regulation by being warmer, softer and with a windproof layer) and for a laugh tossed in a funny pair of mitts out of the left over material. No, he explained, these were not going to be tossed aside. They were "Gucci Snivel", because when you were on guard at -40 degrees in the middle of the night and everybody else was tucked into their sleeping bags, it was absolute luxury to have fuzzy kid mitts that you could pack a hand warmer into.

I've been thinking the last week about what is in my snivel kit for this trip. Nothing that is on the list of what we are to bring. So books, music, camera and sunscreen are basic issue. Something small enough to fit in a very limited size bag. The one bit of luxury that will lift the spirits when I am feeling homesick or otherwise snivelly. Mine is a small package (about the size of a good hardcover book) of sewing gear as I plan to quilt my way through this year of travel. And Cal is carrying our coffee making gear - our one addiction is a good hot cup of real coffee first thing in the morning. When we want it, not when the restaurant opens. Not instant or espresso or latte. Not tea ( although I will be delighted to share a cuppa later in the day).



I started my year of travel quilt last summer. Sun dyed the fabric on the only hot sunny day we had. The leaves which have left their mark are from the plants in our yard. I have a plan to create a similar, but different, piece of fabric for the back when we are in Perth in November.

What will be in your snivel kit, my friends that I am about to meet and journey with for the next six months? 2 1/2 more sleeps until we start our journey. And a little over a week until the Odyssey begins.