anincompleteworld

[anincompleteworld]

Peeps and sheeps

What are the perks of being the only passenger to pass out leaving the aircraft at the world’s highest international airport at 13,232 feet? Being wheeled to first in line at customs to get a visa. 

Take that, boy kicking the seat behind me. I’ll get my bag 10 seconds quicker. 

La Paz, Bolivia has a heartbeat. It is a congested, bustling, dirty, beautiful, confusing, asphyxiating, dichotomous blend of indigenous traditions and political aspirations. The teleferico offers incredible views of the city and a great place to enjoy foreign fruits. 

Down a nondescript alleyway is the infamous witch’s market that sells shrunken heads, dried birds, and herbal tonics to make someone fall in love and ward off bad juju (in that order?). 

I wanted to take a day trip to Valle de la Luna but I got off at the wrong bus stop and decided to just enjoy the views of Mt. Illimani. Two men in a big dump truck even drove me to a good viewpoint. 

(awkward stance commence)

Is this Toyota’s secret concept car?!

A few things I found very interesting and unique about La Paz: 

Their crossing guards are zebras! They’re very entertaining to watch and beats playing frogger while trying to scarf down some local candy (calories don’t count on vacation, right?). 

There are shoe shiners EVERYWHERE. I had circumnavigated my tour de Bolivia and returned to La Paz disheveled, unkempt, dirty and happy. I had completed three days trekking El Choro (my first solo backpacking hike thankyouverymuch) and my boots were starting to grow their own garden. I learned there is good money to be made in shining shoes, but it is a humbling job so shoe shiners wear masks to hide their identity. 

A few other pictures of La Paz. I got lost and asked a man for directions; he walked me to my destination about a half hour away, then we got a fruit smoothie overlooking the plaza. I love how people want to share their city with you. These experiences tend to be my favorite memories of a vacation, and I always make it a point to welcome someone to my city when they are visiting. 

Cholitas wrestling. It’s a must see while in La Paz. 

It started out innocently; a few hair tugs here, a few body slams there. The audience laughed, cheered, threw popcorn, booed, and took pictures. 

Then is turned sinister. 

The lights dimmed, the music got heavy, and a man in a goat mask came out chanting with a procession of caped men carrying lit torches.

I was occupied taking a picture of something else, but when I eventually turned to watch this debacle, I was surprised to see the goat mask man was waiting to shove a severed sheep’s head in my face. 

But them something awesome happened. 

Without missing a beat, I turned to the guy directly next to me and said, “Ewe.” He didn’t get it, but an otherwise grisly scenario turned into the opportunity for one of my best puns to date.  

#La Paz #Bolivia

[anincompleteworld]

What Uganda do bout it?

Murchison Falls is kinda fun. 

And it’s not how you’d expect to pronounce it. It’s MYUR-CHEESE-ON Falls. 

Was that a can opener I heard? 

I’ve seen the Big Five but I still have yet to see a cheetah in the wild. I’ve always had great luck with weather, but never with seeing animals. Or natural disasters. Ho hum. 

Below is a little deer called a dik dik. Fun fact: Years ago in Wal-Mart I picked up a toy that guaranteed to guess a word I was thinking in 21 guesses. Being the kewl young 20-year old that I was, I said, “I choose penis!” So at question 20 the game paused for a good 20 seconds then across the screen came, “You are naughty!” It finally said I was thinking of a dik dik. I couldn’t believe it! I immediately had to know what a dik dik was, and since then it was a life goal of mine to see a dik dik in person. They are not hard to find... ;)

I love warthogs. They look very sure of themselves. I always thought they were vicious until I was chased by one at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary one early morning when I was innocently trying to make my way to breakfast from my lonely campsite. I walked, he walked. I picked up my pace, he trotted. I broke out into a full sprint, HE broke out into a full sprint. Apparently he just wanted to be pet. 

Is he carry-on size? 

#murchison falls #warthog

[anincompleteworld]

Christianity is born

Nazareth is a great city to get lost in its streets. There are surprises everywhere. Squeeze into the Basilica of the Annunciation like a can of sardines and you'll see where Mary discovered she would change the course of history for eternity. The church was built over a grotto that marks the exact location of Mary meeting angel Gabriel.

I especially liked the mosaic gifts from several countries displayed inside and outside the church. If you study them, you'll see how each piece is a reflection of art and Christianity in their respective countries. I found it funny that Spain had gifted three or four mosaics to the church. The photo of me is the gift from the US.

(^From Canada)

The adjacent church was built over Joseph's carpentry area. Several ruins from this time in place were being excavated.

I also decided to see a multimedia presentation about the story of the bible at the Mary of Nazareth International Center, a 50 meter walk from the church. I'm not a fan of presentations like this, but I came away incredibly impressed. It was so well put together; you sit in an atmospheric room for four fifteen-minute presentations, moving each time to see the next video. At the end is a beautiful terrace and church with fantastic views of the city. Everything is by donation. It's not in any guidebook so it's really a hidden gem to find before the crowds of tourists with their crying babies arrive. Highly recommended.

I decided to stop by the Annunciation Church around sunset to take a photo without tourists in the photo squinting over an upside down map. I was happily delighted to see a beautiful bride and her husband having their wedding photos taken.

The professional photographer followed me to take this photo. Ha! The Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation is garishly decorated with glittering chandeliers, bright frescoes and dusty offerings at the location Eastern Orthodox believe the Virgin Mary was drawing water from during the Annunciation. Tourist groups vie to take blurry photos inside the dark cave, and although I'm glad I visited, I could have done without the pushing and distinctly shepherding act inside the cave...it ruins the experience.

I stayed for two nights at Samira Guest House, an incredibly beautiful terraced 200-year old building. It's possibly the best place I've ever chosen to stay outside of my own home, and Sami (the owner) is very welcoming, friendly, patient and informative (he makes great cappuccino, too). I've never written about any place I stay, but I cannot recommend this place enough to do it justice. Free linens, towels, coffees, teas, water and breakfast, cool breezes on the patio surrounded by lounge chaises and flowers, and VERY clean rooms and bathrooms.

I met a Palestinian shop owner who immediately insisted on giving me gifts. I went in for a calculator and left with a liter of water, five nectarines, keychain, lipgloss, baby wipes, perfume, deodorant, hand cream, body spray and a request for coffee which I refused. He told me he was a professional boxer, and when he started petting my head, I bolted.

Finally, some interesting things I saw. The first photo is a string of buckets that men would throw things down in to the ground like a chute while working on the construction of the house. Anything goes.

#Israel #Nazareth #Basilica of the Annunciation #Mary of Nazareth International Center #Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation #Samira Guest House

[anincompleteworld]

Marco

One overwhelming theme I've experienced in Israel is the lack of people. Seriously. Keep in mind these photos were taken at noon. At major roads, shopping districts, ports and train stations.

Oh look, I found someone!

...Never mind.

#Israel #Haifa #Devoid of life

[anincompleteworld]

Full circle

You'd expect traveling one month in a country - exploring its major religious, social and natural sights - would leave someone satisfied with having a comprehensive and broad understanding of their culture, history and future. Not so. My list of sights and activities to see and do didn't get shorter as I "checked the boxes" (a term I've always hated because it denotes a half-hearted attempt to appreciate the now and instead just do it for the photo opportunity or bragging right), but grow from page to page. I need to go back and explore more of the conservative eastern Anatolian region, bask in the sunlight on the Meditteranean Sea, and (of course?) try more baklava. I'll be back, Turkey. Regardless, my clockwise Tour de Turkey had run its gamut and I returned to Istanbul. This city surprises me because of its plethora of sights, liberal dress policy and progressive socio-economic aspirations. I walked and walked and walked. Explored empty churches in the Western district, crossed the continental divide on the Bosphorous River between Europe and Asia, smelled and tasted the best sweets, dried fruits and spices in the bazaars, and shuffled down busy shopping streets filled with pedestrianized shoppers and gawkers.

The roof of the Chora Church is beautiful, carefully crafted for a vertiginous experience.

I bought a bookmark at the Chora Church, only to be given two free bookmarks by a happy shop owner no less than two minutes later. Ironic injustice has been served.

I dreamed of visiting the huge Aya Sofya basilica-cum-museum because I missed it when I arrived in country on a Monday (damn you, time zone!), and I was not let down. The chandeliers are hauntingly elegant.

One of my favorite experiences in Istanbul was visiting the underground cisterns. These used to be for hiding from enemies and transportation, then eventually turned nasty and were used to dump rotting corpses. It's been converted into a cool and peaceful relief from the beating sun. Fish swim in the glowing waters, and pillars supported by marble carved into the face of Medusa support this underground - and hidden - respite.

Crossing the Golden Horn either by foot or boat is an incredible sensory feast for the eyes, ears and - unfortunately - nose. Pew.

Tasim Square, in the Beyoglu District, is where protests occued in May and June of 2013. Demonstrators were protesting against the government's decision to bulldoze the adjacent park and make way for a parking lot and military barracks. Riot police resorted to tear gas, pepperspray and water cannons; the citizens stood firm and eventually the government conceded. When I visited it was peaceful. Taksim Square is to Istanbul as Picadilly Square is to London, Central Park is to New York City, and Dam Square is to Amsterdam.

To finish my (hot) vacation in Istanbul, I walked the bazaars and admired the goods for sale, local art, and whirling dervish performance. Istanbul grows on you, but it takes a few days for the city and its people to reveal their unique and oftentimes antiquated mannerisms.

Goodbye, crunchy coffee! You were strange.

#Turkey #Istanbul #Chora Church #Bosphorous River #Aya Sofya #Basilica Cistern #Golden Horn #Taksim Square #Bazaars #Whirling Dervish

[anincompleteworld]

Periodic element of the day: Ca

Pammukale is the cloud castle of Turkey. It's pretty incredible to walk up a calcified slope while river water rushes down, splashing you endlessly. Although next time I'm bringing sunscreen because the glare from the slopes likes to burn me in my nooks and crannies. Ouch.

#Turkey #Pammukale #OJ not required

[anincompleteworld]

Suicidal running

I ran off a cliff today. And paid someone to let me do it.

The landing strip was on the busy promenade, and at once we got so close to a pedestrian not paying attention, I felt like I was going to have to lift my legs so I didn't knock him out!

To end a perfect day, I ate some perfect chocolate and pistachio ice cream. Don't judge.

#Turkey #Oludeniz #Parasailing

[anincompleteworld]

What a wreck.

Totally last minute, I decided to visit Kas because of a mysterious sunken city I read about while randomly flipping through my travel guide. I'm so glad I did.

The streets are lined with pink flowers that drape across the cobblestoned alleyways, a crumbling amphitheater overlooks the harbor, and seagulls wait patiently alongside the dogs for scraps of food. Although I have no photos of it (I was just enjoying the moment), I took a kayaking tour around Kekova sound. My group consisted of six people from France, Netherlands and New Zealand, and we paddled for four hours around a secluded alcove with ruins to hike to, a sunken city and a small island with an old stone castle at the top. The underground city was very interesting; less than 5 meters in the crystal-clear waters were the remains of the city walls with broken pots scattered around. Crosses were carved into the rocks on the walls around the island, and even the door to a 1st century church was visible from the waters. I also did two dives; the first one was at 33 meters into a tube that easily fit five divers across. The water was so dark descending into the hole, but once at the bottom the exit was clearly visible. The second dive made me so happy; it was a shipwreck from WW1 that had us descending for 20 meters in murky water, then the outline of the massive ship slowly became visible. The ship was on a slope with the bow facing up; I began to swim the length of the ship but even at 34 meters I couldn't see the end of it (and by this time the dive master was wildly signaling for me to ascend and rejoin the group). Here are the few photos I took of beautiful Kas:

#Turkey #Kas #Kekova #Sunken city #Mediterranean Sea

[anincompleteworld]

A sexy place

In a predominately Muslim country, where I was chastized for wearing a skirt, the women wear headscarves (hijab) in public to honor their family, alcohol becomes more scarce the farther east you travel, and one of the Five Pillars of Islam requires fasting of eating, drinking, smoking and having sex during Ramadan…would it only be fitting that the most famous tourist site is the land of the, um, “fairy chimneys.”

Oh, get your mind outta the gutter. Cappadocia is definitely a beautiful place with easy walking trails between the aptly-named Love Valley, Pigeon Valley and Rose Valley.

Can you see the camel above? Now notice the real camel in the background, I’m sure very happy to be giving rides to paying tourists.

One aspect of life in Goreme and the surrounding towns was the abundance of fruits and veggies growing with minimal human contact. These foods grow everywhere there is free land, with no fences or known pesticides. I saw squash, grapes, apples, figs, tomatoes, berries and bell peppers growing.

Although it was forbidden, I was in a secluded valley and I couldn’t help but pick some grapes and an apple for my 5-mile hike.

The frescoes painted by monks in the churches (built into hollowed-out fairy chimneys) are amazing. No photographs were allowed, but I snuck this one through a gated door to a church far into the valley that I discovered by accident.

Cappadocia is definitely a must-see!

#Turkey #Cappadocia #Fairy chimneys #Phallus #I'll be back

[anincompleteworld]

Buzz off

About ten minutes from the border of northern Syria lies the oldest inhabited place on earth called Harran. It's famous for two things: its amazing beehive homes, and the place where prophet Abraham lived part of his life at.

The homes are made of straw and mud and are actually very cool inside and spacious. Once the mud and straw dry, a conical roof is made with stones.

On the hour ride back to Sanilurfa, check out the inside of the coolest minibus I took:

On the bus, a man told me that no Turkish people lived in Harran and Sanilurfa, only Arabs and Kurdish people. He told me the main language is Arabic, followed by Turkish, then maybe some English. He also told me very nicely that since it was a conservative city, it was dangerous for me to show so much skin and I needed to go back to my room immediately and change. Oops.

#Harran #Turkey #Beehive houses #H-O-T

[anincompleteworld]

A close second

In an earlier post I stated that Erzurum was one of my favorite cities in Turkey. I'd like to say Sanilurfa gives Erzurum a run for its ... lira.

It's a very holy city, where Abraham was supposedly born and remained in hiding for the first seven years of his life, the Armenian alphabet was created here, and the ... wait or it...

Holy fish!

The fish are holy because if Antolian land is ever invaded, the fish would become angelic soldiers and fight in the war for independence (an oxymoron?). Their diet is strictly regulated, too, with police walking slowly up and down the promenade watching closely, and fish food vendors only selling one kind of fish food. These have to be the happiest fish I've ever known. I just wonder what would happen if someone accidentally fell in?

#Turkey #Sanilurfa #Urfa #Holy Fish

[anincompleteworld]

Heads up

I got up at 2:30 to watch the sun rise on a really windy, chilly mountain with stone heads.

It was beautiful (and worth the 12 hour bus ride from Van?), but what I thought was interesting was the living history of the Ataturk Dam, the fourth largest dam in the world, seen from Mt Nemrut:

The Euphrates River originates in eastern Turkey and flows into Syria then into Iraq. The people depend on this river for sustainment of life, but by damming this river, Turkey has successfully restricted the outflow of water to these countries. There has already been criticism and backlash to this decision. I can sense that if tensions surrounding this dam aren't met with some compromise, there may be some harsh and resentful repercussions in the future.

#Mt Nemrut #Turkey #Sunrise #Ataturk Dam #So much head

[anincompleteworld]

Meow

How do I describe Van? FLIPPIN’ AMAZING. Amazing breakfast, largest lake in Turkey, Lake Van monster, Turkish Van cats, great coffee, Akdamer Island, and spontaneous dancing with Kurdish people. Lest I forget the awesome Turks who now live in Rhode Island that showed me this great city. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Also in/near Van is the second longest street in the world, jumping fishes in the lake, waterfalls, a mini Cappadocia, a mini Pammukale, nesting flamingoes and cheap hotels. And no tourists. Loved everything about this place.

#Van #Turkey #Turkish Van cats #Akdamer Island #Turkish coffee #Hippity hoppity with the Kurds #Hospitality is alive and well in Turkey

[anincompleteworld]

Land of minarets

Well, good morning Erzurum!

I have to admit this was one of my favorite cities I've visited in Turkey. The city is small but has so many ruins and interesting sights, some that I was very amused by.

I noticed a lot of chandelier stores here, some of the chandeliers are absolutely beautiful and others had me shaking my head, wondering what that glass had to do to end with that fate.

Erzurum has some of the best minarets, fountains, fruit and bazaars I've ever seen.

Notice the fruit vendor at the bottom left selling peaches to hungry Turks...and one ravenous American (guess who...). I really enjoyed the three tombs southeast of the city with its multi-colored bricks and grass growing on the coned roof. There were no tourists around (actually, I haven't seen a tourist for days), but I loved dodging the sweeper vehicle intent on covering me with dust. I must've run around those tombs three times playing hide-and-seek with an inevitable layer of street grime. Yum.

Finally, following the major earthquake in 2011, several million buildings in Turkey were deemed "illegal" or not within required safety standards to withstand a future earthquake. I got to witness some structures that seemed questionable.

Seems safe. :)

#Erzurum #Minarets #Favorite city #Turkey

[anincompleteworld]

Patience wears thin

Let me begin by stating Ayder is a beautiful alpinic village in northeastern Turkey at the base of the Kackar mountains.

The majority of people are very friendly and curious with no ill intentions.

However, I noticed that if I didn't take someone up an offer to drink tea, eat dinner two hours away or take the free hotel they were offering me, there was an underlying hostility that surfaced briefly and I was disregarded just as quickly as the offer was made to me. It became all too clear to me this morning within the course of an hour the owner of the pension I stayed at harshly grabbed my arms and tried to force kiss me on the lips, and then the bus driver said he'd take me to my hotel for free, only to stop the bus in a deserted area and try to grope me. How did I handle the situation? I slapped him hard in the face and jumped out of the van. Fucking creep. Regardless, I immensely enjoyed hiking in the Kackar mountains, even though the majority of the mountain was enveloped in mist.

Surprises are expected, but I will never stand for taking someone's free will.

#Don't worry about me #Ayder #Kackar #Instincts prevail

[anincompleteworld]

Don't ogle my Uzungol

What is the reason I travel? For views like this:

Local bees cruisin' for some sweet honeys.

Finally, this woman from Saudi Arabia requested we take this photo. She insisted on holding my hand. I love how a complete stranger can make my day. Thank you for showing me our differences do not have to prevent us from caring about one another.

THIS is the true reason I travel.

#Uzungol #Faith in humanity was never lost

[anincompleteworld]

Trapped in Trabzon

If you can choke back your coughs, hold back your tears and squint through the fumes from the minibuses running up and down the centrum, you can see some beauty in Trabzon.

#It's not that bad #Trabzon