Constantinople Rendezvous - Ohrid, Macedonia
Ohrid, Macedonia
August 16 2013 - September 12 2013
Route traveled
Georgia
Tbilisi
Armenia
Yeravan
Georgia
Tbilisi - Batumi
Turkey
Trabzon - Ankara - Safronbolou - Istanbul
Greece
Kavala - Thassos - Thessaloniki
Macedonia
Ohrid
After sleeping two strange nights in hostel Romantik it was time to leave and make my way to Yerevan, Armenia. My plan was to make a quick stop in Armenia to see what it was like for a few nights. Early in the morning my two english traveling companions were leaving to check out a cave somewhere and we said our goodbyes and wished each other well. After eating some boomerang shaped bread and laughing cow style cheese with a banana, I packed up my things and asked directions to where the bus might leave to Yerevan. The hostel employee gave me two different options to choose from. I took the subway to the first place, which didnt have any buses going to Armenia. I was able to communicate with one of the bus drivers who pointed me in the direction of the other place the hostel employee told me about. There was a taxi driver standing right next to us and he said he would take me to the bus station. When I got to the station, I was pointed in a few directions and eventually found the right mini bus. I was the first one to arrive for this seemingly unpopular bus. This meant only one thing, I had to wait till it filled up. 4 hours of hanging around with the cigarette smoking bus drivers and workers the mini bus had filled up and it was time to go. Everyone had claimed there seats and I was put in the very back row where there were only actually three spots. I got to sit in the in between spot which was hardly comfortable but not to bad either. There was a Georgian guy sitting next to me that spoke english and we were able to talk through out the ride. We got to the border after only an hour of driving. At the immigration check point the guard asked me where my visa was. I told him I didnt have one, and he pointed me to the visa desk. At the desk were two americans and another couple from either Armenia or Georgia. They told me the cost of the visa which was $7, but the visa guy told me that I had to pay with Armenian dram. I didnt have any dram so I wasnt sure how I could pay for the visa. Luckily, I had a $100 bill in my wallet that I had for such circumstances as this. They wouldnt take us dollars either, but the guy whos nationality I am not sure of came to my assistance. He exchanged the $100 for me. In return he gave me 20,000 dram and $50. With that I was able to purchase my extremely cheap visa. While waiting I took a picture of myself in front of the welcome to Armenia sign. A security guard did not like that and asked to see my camera. He told me I must delete the photo. I clicked on the photo to check mark it and then pressed the home button on my phone and told him I deleted it. Which I didnt actually do. After that I headed thru immigration and hopped back in the bus. Armenia is mostly a country of mountains and valleys and winding roads. It was a really nice drive for four hours. Its a small country as well and we were able to cover a good amount of it within those four hours. We arrived at the capital city of Yerevan at around 10pm or so. I had found where my hostel was as usual on my gps and I showed it on the map to the taxi driver. The only problem was the street names on the map and the actual address didnt match up. For some reason my gps was showing the hotel to be somewhere different. This was news to me, so I was telling the driver the wrong way to go in his own city. First he went to the place he thought it was, which was actually the correct place. I tried to tell him that he was going the wrong way. Since he didnt know the exact spot of the hostel he decided to take my word for it and try where I was showing him. After circling around the city a couple times I came to the conclusion that my gps was completely wrong and that we needed to go back to the first place we were. I felt so bad. I tried to aplogise to him but I dont think he really understood me. When we got to the grammy hostel, the driver wanted a large sum of money. Before he told me his price, I had given him the amount of money that I thought would make him happy for his inconvenience. But he wanted double that. Since it was my fault for going out of the way I was willing to pay more money but not such a large amount. I told him I was sorry but that this amount was all I was paying. I got out of the cab and left an unsatisfied cabbie behind. I felt extremely bad about this situation, and should have just let him do his job in his own city. However its the first time my maps have let me down so bad, and I had no reason not to trust them.
The niceness of the hostel quickly made up for the taxi mishap. It was really well done. It had an old classic rock theme to it, with pictures and memories of old bands like The Beatles, Queen, Ray Charles, Janis Joplin and many more. The wifi password was even Abbey Road. It had cable tv with english channels and a nice couch. I posted up at the couch for the remainder of the evening, skyping and taking in some animal planet and tlc, along with a dash of some music videos. I slept in a 10 bed dorm on a very skinny top bunk. In my room, I met two friendly guys from Iran who had come to Armenia to get a visa to America. They were very excited when I told them I was from America, and they asked me a bunch of questions. They wanted to know what I knew about Texas and some of its places like Dallas and Plano. I didnt have much info on those places however. They also wanted to know if they had to buy insurance themselves when in America. They were with two other women as well who were also getting there visas. One of the women wanted to know if her husband could find a job easy, and if he could get one in the excavation field. I told her it is very possible that he could find a job, but that I really didnt know so much about it. The sense I got from these 4 people was that they felt going to America was the greatest thing ever and that it will greatly enhance their lives. I dont know whether this is true or not, but I would reckon that it might be a great improvement from where they were currently living. The reason they had to come to Armenia to get their visas instead of doing it in Iran is that the USA does not have an embassy in Iran, which I did not know before.
In the morning I was the last one to get out of bed in the dorm room. I made my way into the common area and sat down for my free breakfast. I chit chatted for a bit with the Iranian guy named Hasem and enjoyed my eggs and yogurt and bread. A little later on in the afternoon I headed out to explore the city. It was a much more as they say it "cosmopolitan" city than I had expected. What I think this term means is, people driving nice cars, women dressed in nice designer clothes, and trendy cafes, restaurants, clubs and art galleries throughout the city. Im not sure if that is what it means, but that is what the city was like. It was a pleasant city to explore. After meandering down one of the main boulevards, I ended up at the main square. Afterwards I went to a place called the cascades. It was essentially a large staircase leading up very high into the sky. In the middle it had water going from the top to the bottom and it also had random art installations spread around the stairs. There were some cool art sculptures that gave me flash backs to burning man. As I made my way to the top of the cascades the sun was at its peak for the day and it was blazing down on me. At the top were good views of the city below, but there was still more climbing to do. There was and old soviet monument even higher, so I made my way to that. Behind it were some really strange trippy animal and other art sculptures that just seemed out of place, but I liked them because they were strange and out of place. I went across the street and walked thru a childs carnival park, and found the statue of a guy holding a large sword. I read that the statue was put there facing Turkey to defend itself from them. Im not sure whether or not Turkey is intimidated by this large sword holding statue, but there seems to be peace between the countries now, and that is good enough for me. However, the only border that is open with Armenia is between Georgia. Both Azerbaijan and Turkey have shunned Armenia and wont let anyone across. Because of this, I will have to return to Georgia in order to cross into Turkey. After a good few hours of walking in the hot sun, I made my way back to the comforts of the hostel and hung out there watching tv, smoking sheeshah with the Iranian women, and chit chatting with a few people.
On my second day in Armenia, I spent my whole morning and most of the afternoon reading a book I had found in the hostel called Pandora's Seed. It is a book mostly about the history of humans and how the change from hunter/gatherers into agriculture has changed our path of society. It brought up many interesting points and it was one of those thinking kinda books, ya know that make you question things and such. It was borderline too smart for my brain functions, but I managed to understand the majority of it. Once it started going into scientific things about genetics I started to lag behind. Either way it was nice to find something a little thought provoking as opposed to the silly books I have been finding lately. Sometimes you get to the point when you will read just about anything as long as its in english. After lazying around I realized I was really hungry, so I headed out for a stroll around town. I found some delicious foods to eat and made a couple laps around the main streets listening to music and taking in the atmosphere of the people. I hung out in the main square for a few hours and into sunset. When I had enough ambience of the square I made my way to a kebab stand which I had also gone to the night before. The owner of the place was a friendly guy from Syria. He had only been open for 10 days, so I assumed that he fled his country due to the conflicts it was having. He told me it was very bad over there, and he made me two tasty falafel kebabs.
I had spent three relaxing nights in yeravan, and now it was time to head back to Georgia and make my way towards Turkey. I got directions in the morning to the bus station and headed out to find a bus to get me there. At the bus stop I met an older Armenian lady who spoke good english. She was very nice and told me she owned a bed and breakfast that tourists like to go to. She was also heading to the bus station to say goodbye to some tourist friends of hers. She helped me find the right bus and we got on together. We talked about Armenia and the US and how her family calls Los Angeles "Los Armenia" because so many Armenians live there. When we arrived at the bus station she helped me find the correct bus and found out the price for me. She was very helpful and I thanked her and wished each other well. The bus had only a couple people waiting so I thought we would have to wait until it filled up like usual. But after only maybe 30 minutes of waiting and there being only five people on the bus, surprisingly the bus driver motioned me to get on the bus. Just like that we were off. Maybe he figured that not so many people were going to show up for this bus, and that 5 people were enough to make him a little money. I got myself a comfortable seat, and was treated to a calm and smoothed air conditioned ride back up through the mountains and streams of Armenia. We rode the 4 hours north and arrived again at the border of Georgia. It might have been one of the fastest border crossings I have ever experienced. We were in and out and back on the road in no time. I got back to Tbilisi and navigated my way to the hostel, by walking 2km, hopping on a subway, walking another while and making it successfully to the hostel called Tbilisi Rooms. I pressed the button on the door and waited for the elevator to come down to pick me up. A girl named Nino picked me up and we headed upstairs on the old clanky elevator. I got a nice large single room all to myself. It was just about sunset when I arrived, and I headed out for some food. It never seems to get old when you eat breakfast in one country and eat dinner in another, I thought to myself. At the supermarket I ate some tasty potato stuffed fried thingamuchjigs. I spent a quiet nite in my room playing on the in room wifi that is ever so convenient. It makes me think back to how quickly life on the road has changed. Before when I went backpacking the only chance I had to get on the internet was to usually walk around looking for an internet cafe unless the hostels had computers to use. Now a days, all I gotta do is ask for the wifi password and use either my smart phone or laptop to connect. Its not unusual now to see a bunch of backpackers sitting around in a common room and noone is actually talking to each other. Everyone is either staring at a laptop or phone, myself included. There is still of course plenty of backpacker interaction, its just not what it used to be. Well where was I? Oh yeh, enjoying my wifi access in the comforts of my own room. When I have wifi in my room, I can spend hours and hours doing absolutely nothing. Whether I am skyping with Courtney or watching seemingly endless you tube videos, the time just seems to waste away. Before this pleasure, the only time dwindling activity I had was to listen to music, which I still do non stop anyway, and to read a book, which I still do whenever I can find a decent book.
I decided the next day to continue traveling on. I first went out to eat some breakfast and when I got back to the hostel, I saw about 20 cyclists. They had just arrived at the hostel and seemed to be all from France. It was by far the largest group of bikers I had ever seen, other than the daily riders cruising around St. Petersburg Florida every morning. I sat outside the hostel eating my bread cheese and banana as I watched them all slowly stuff themselves into the elevator. I waited until they were all done getting up to the hostel and I headed up. I packed up my things and went to the correct bus station on the first try. This time I was heading to a city called Batumi which is on the Black Sea only minutes away from Turkey. I found a minibus that was almost full and I got one of the last seats. That meant that there would be little waiting time, and after just a little while we were off. We drove through scenic mountain roads and after about 5 hours made it to the black sea. Arriving in Batumi, I got a little sense that this was a buzzing town. I had heard it was the sin city of Georgia, but what I didnt know was how many tourists this place attracts. I made the walk to my hostel after hopping off the bus, and got the last bed in the large dorm room. It was around dinner time and I was hungry so I headed out. I walked down to the sea and found the boardwalk. There were people everywhere having a good time and hanging out eating and drinking. There were many neons lights on the buildings and around trees and other installations. There was bumping music coming from all directions. I thought to myself that I was in the Miami of Georgia. There were fancy nightclubs lining the boardwalk with many couples and groups of friends and families strolling the long path. Batumi had a good atmosphere and it felt like everyone was enjoying themselves. I walked around for awhile and ate some food at a busy restaurant. There was a dj who sounded like he was American thumping some beats just down the way from me. However, the party gods were not calling my name that night, so I headed back to the hostel. There werent many people at the hostel since this was a party town, and most of them didnt return till very late in the evening.
On my only full day in Batumi, I walked for most of the day. I started at my hostel and walked across town to the port where a cruise ship was being sent off by a small Georgian marching band. I listened to them play and after saw a small girl picking flowers and sprinkling them in her hair. She was having a great time entertaining herself doing that and I took some pictures and showed them to her. I walked over to the start of the boardwalk and started walking. It was the longest boardwalks I have seen on this trip. I think it went for over 7kms or so. There is constant activity everywhere you look. It was also the weekend and the beaches were packed with people. However, the beaches are filled with rocks instead of sand. People still dont seem to mind. They lay their towels down on the rocks and lay down as if it were sand. I cant ever remember seeing such a busy beach with only rocks. It was surreal to walk around it. A ways down the boardwalk I came to a park that had a labyrinth in it similar to the one in the blueberry patch back in Gulfport Fl. I took off my shoes and walk thru it. When I started there was noone else around, but some kids showed up and wanted to see why I was walking in circles with no shoes on. I showed them how to walk the path and they got very excited and started running thru it. There were about 6 kids running around it before I was done getting to the end. In the middle I made a wish, and walked out of the labyrinth. I made it to the end of the boardwalk around sunset and I was hungry. I spotted a restaurant set off the beach and walked over. The owner of the restaurant was from Iraq and he was happy to hear I was from America, because he had many Americans friends. He cooked me a tasty dinner and treated me extremely well. After eating a satisfying meal, I walked over to the dancing fountains and waited for them to start. These fountains danced every night and they danced to some eclectic music. They played Pink Floyd, Celine Dion, Aerosmith, Janis Joplin, Nirvana, Led Zeppelin, some Georgian artists, some classical music and much more. This show went on for a good 1.5 hours before I decided that I had had enough. I walked slowly back to the hostel.
It was time to go to Turkey. I went to the money exchange and got mostly Turkish Lira for my Georgian Lari. I could immediately tell the quality of the buses were much better in Turkey by what I saw at the bus station. I easily found a bus that was going to a city called Trabzon, which is one of the main cities along the Black Sea in Turkey. The border was only about 15 minutes away from Batumi and we arrived quickly. After being stamped out of Georgia, I was instructed to purchase a Turkish visa for $20. This went smoothly and just like that I was in Turkey, the country where I am to meet Courtney. But was still 10 days away. We had a good drive along the coast before arriving in Trabzon a few hours later. At the bus station I walked to a hotel. When I got to the hotel it was full and I asked them where another good cheap one was and the friendly english speaking guy pointed just next door. I got a small but comfortable single room on the third floor of Hotel Benli. The hotel was right next to a mosque and here in Turkey as in other muslim countries I have been, they blast the call to prayer over the load speakers. I could hear the call to prayer very well in my room and everywhere else in the city. I was also right next to the main square in the city and it was a buzz of activity. People sitting around shooting the **** and drinking tea everywhere you look. I sat down at one of the many outside restaurants and pointed to some food that I thought looked good and it was. I had myself a mini feast in the square of some great turkish food. I took in more of the atmosphere for about an hour after dinner and relaxed at the hotel. I was given my first cup of turkish tea at the hotel which is served in small tulip shaped cups and you can choose how many cubes of sugar you put in it. Most people put a lot in.
The next day my goal was to buy a bus ticket to the capital city of Ankara. I walked back to the bus station, and found a ticket booth. The friendly sales guys sold me a ticket for the next day. With that out of the way, I walked back to the hotel. While I was in the common room looking at my phone, I met a guy from Malaysia. He was traveling with two of his friends also from Malaysia. He asked me if I was going to a place called Sumela. I had heard of it and had thought about going, but didnt really know how to get there. He said he was going now, and I asked him if I could go with them. He said of course. I grabbed quickly ran up to my room and grabbed some money and met them outside. He was traveling with two other girls. I followed them as they looked for a minibus to take us the 46km away to the monastery in the mountains. We couldnt find a bus that was going there so we arranged a taxi. The four of us took the taxi to the monastery and explored it for about an hour. It was an interesting place that was built around the Byzantine times, which means it is really old. Its one of those places that is a mystery on how they built it. It was high up in the mountains built into the cliffs. Truly a work of art and one of the most important sites in Turkey from what I hear. The highlight of the monastery was the room with the many drawings on the ceilings and the walls. When we were done exploring, we took the same taxi back into town. I said thank you to the friendly Malaysian for letting me come on their excursion with them and we parted ways. I ate another delicious turkish meal and went to walk it off down by the sea for sunset. I walked the entire length of the boardwalk watching the sun sink behind the mountains.
In the morning after eating a breakfast of eggs, bread and a banana, I took the walk to the bus station, which in Turkey is called otogar. I was soaked in sweat by the time I arrived which is pretty normal after walking for a long time with my two bags on. I fanned myself down to cool off and waited for the bus. Just after 12:30, the bus station workers signaled me over and showed me where the bus was. It wasnt actually in the place where I was waiting but in the back of the otogar. I got on the bus and found my seat. This may have been one of the nicest bus I have ever been on. Each seat had its own tv just like on an airplane and you can choose what you want to watch. The only problem for me was there not being anything in english to watch. They also had a guy handing out drinks during the ride as well. I did find some movies to watch that I listened to in Turkish that kept me entertained enough, and I even found a turkish movie that had enlgish subtitles. Strangely enough it was a movie about the Sumela Monastery. A guy found out there was a treasure there and he wanted to find it in order to marry a girl who was very rich. He couldnt marry her unless he had a lot of money. It was a silly movie and in the end he ended up marrying the girl but never finding the treasure. On the bus I met a friendly turkish guy and we hung out everytime the bus stopped. He told me he was on the under 15 soccer team when he was younger. He was moving to a new city to start a new life now and wanted to go learn russian so he could move to Ukraine. He was 30 years old and just ended a 11 year relationship and needed a change of scenery. He bought me drinks and food at two different places and taught me some turkish words. It made the ride even more enjoyable hanging out with him. After 12 hours I made it to the capital of Ankara. I found a taxi to take me to hotel suna. I got my own room with two comfy beds and wifi in the room. It was already 1am so I hung out and made it to sleep at around 4am.
I didnt wake up the next day until 1pm. I went out and ate some more tasty turkish food, and hung out in my room the entire day. I only left again to go eat dinner, which was amazing. So far I am loving the turkish cuisine. I spent the remainder of the night in my room, writing this journal, skyping and watching videos. The next day i went out on a mission to find a bus ticket to Safronbolou, I took the subway to get there and smoothly bought a ticket. I took a long slow walk back to my hotel, and stopped for some ever so delicious food on the way. Hung out in the room the rest of the night doing practically nothing except looking forward to my upcoming rendezvous.
It was time to leave Ankara after 3 nights of kicking back mostly in my hotel room. I headed for the subway and took two different trains to the bus station. It was as short three hour ride to Safranbolou on a very nice bus as usual in Turkey. Safranbolou is an old Ottoman style city, with very old architecture and traditional buildings and homes. I chose to stay at this city, because it looked laid back and a good example of old turkish lifestyle. Also it was perched in between some mountains in a serene setting. At the bus station I decided to walk to my hotel. It looked like on the map that it was about 2.5km so it wasnt such a huge trek. However, I didnt know that there would be so many hills. I walked through the old town of small maze like roadways going up and down steep hills. I navigated through the maze and made it to my hotel, which was close to the center of the old city. The place was owned by a friendly old couple, and ran by their son, which was not around during my stay. The couple did not speak english, but I could tell that they were trying their best to make my stay as best it could be. I got a 4 person dorm room on the second floor of a really old Ottoman style house. In my room the only other occupant was a young guy from Germany. He was taking a journey from Germany to Turkey and onward to Iran, Pakistan and India. After settling in, I went to have dinner and smoke some sheeshah with the German guy. We hung out and talked during the evening and had a nice time.
The next day, after I was served a traditional turkish breakfast, I decided to go on an adventure to see the caves up in the mountains. I set out first to the bus station to buy a ticket to Istanbul. After purchasing the ticket, I started on the long way up the mountains toward the caves. It was a gorgeous walk. I went first through the city and then into some neighborhoods. Once I got to the end of the neighborhoods, the road entered into the mountains and I followed the winding road up for about another hour until I reached the entrance to the caves. The views from the mountaintop were pretty and looking down on the old Ottoman town was quite the site. I walked up the stairs into the caves, and bought my entrance ticket. I walked around inside the caves for about 40 minutes or so. They were really cool. They even played some tranquil Karunesh like music inside the caves that gave you a relaxed amience while you walked around. When I got my fair share of spelunking, I headed out and walked for about 2.5 hours back to the city. I stopped off to eat some iskender Kebab and to rest my feet for the remainder of my adventure. I slowly walked back to my hotel in the old city, and rested the rest of the night after a very fulfilling journey.
The day had finally come, and it was time to head to Istanbul, which is my final destination to where I am going to meet Courtney. I have been on the road now for 4 months and this was the city I was always looking ahead to and always making sure I was moving along fast enough to make it there on time to meet her. Ever since the day I arrived in Tokyo on May 1st, I looked on the map to see how much progress my little blue arrow had made on google maps. At times I seemed so far away. But here I am, on my way to Istanbul and to meet my girlfriend so we can travel together for two more months through Eastern and Western Europe.
The lovely bus ride took around 6 hours from Safranbolou to Istanbul. It was very exciting entering Istanbul, and it was a city I have always heard about and had always wanted to visit. The bus dropped us off on the outskirts of the city and we had to jump on a minibus to take us to specific destinations throughout the city. I got on the bus that was going to Taksim where my hostel was. Taksim is also the location of the recent protests that were going on only weeks ago in Istanbul. When I arrived I immediately noticed the large police presence in the area. There were buses and buses full of riot police just waiting for something to pop off. It was an intimidating site. As I walked around the area, there were many groups of police setup on the corners of streets and alleyways as well. I checked into my hotel and was taken to the dorm room where I was to wait three nights until Courtney arrived. After I settled in, I went up to the rooftop terrace to check out the view. While I was trying to get online to skype with Courtney, a guy came up said hello and offered my a beer. His name was Jessie and he was from Brisbane Australia. He was living in London now. He came to Istanbul to try and start up a sweatshirt company with some local business men. We drank the beer and chatted and also some other guys joined us. One guy from Iran who was now living in LA, one guy from Lebanon that was studying dentistry in Cairo and was here for a dentist convention, and one guy from Germany who was studying for 10 months in Istanbul. We all talked while the sun set on my first evening in the ancient city of Sultans. After I had enough of chatting, I headed out into the city. My hostel was very closed to the most popular street in Turkey called Istiklal. It is a large bourbon street eske street, with endless bars, clubs, restaurants, and shops. There is nothing but energy on this street and there are thousands of people walking up and down. It looked like a sea of people when you looked ahead down the road. I took in the atmosphere for about an hour. I stopped to watch some entertaining street performers as well. I made it to the end at the Galata Tower, which some historians claim is the oldest tower in the world. There was probably 200 people hanging out under the tower drinking. It was a really interesting scene. I ate a tasty chicken kebab at one of the hundreds of kebab stands in the area and headed back in to my hostel. In my dorm room I met two friends who were volunteering in Armenia. One girl was from Indonesia and the guy was from Japan. After talking for a bit, the guy asked me how old I was. When I told him 32, he said wow you seem really young. But he said not just by my appearance but about the way I am. He said I have an energy about myself that comes off as youthful. I was surprised to hear this from a young japanese guy of only 21 years of age. For the rest of the night I read a book that I found at the hostel called Ender's Game. I recently saw somewhere that they were making a movie about it, so I figured I would give it a shot.
In the morning I headed up to the roof for my complimentary traditional turkish breakfast. My plan for the next to two days was to do as little as possible. Since I was going to explore the city with Courtney when she arrived, I didnt want to walk around to much. I read and played on my computer for the first part of the day until it was time for lunch. A French guy had recommended a great place to eat at just outside of the hostel. The sandwiches they served at the place were called Tantuni and they were some great steak like treats. I devoured two of those for lunch and headed back to hang at the hostel. That night I took a walk down Istiklal and sampled some turkish icecream. I read for most of the remainder of the evening sticking mainly to myself.
The next day which was September 1st, I relaxed for the first part of the day and then went on a walk down to the river and to the bridge that connected the old city with the new. I didnt cross the bridge however, because I wanted to wait for Courtney to go to the old city. After walking back, I went up to the roof to stretch, workout, and read. While I was reading, the German guy asked me if I wanted to go smoke some sheeshah with him later. I told him yes and later on Jessie came up to talk with me. We got a group together on the roof of one German, one Australian, and two Uruguayians. We went out and smoked sheeshah for a bit on one of the many side streets of Istiklal. It was a good time and after we went to eat a kebab and walk around the street. I called it a night around 11pm and headed back to the hostel to read for the rest of the night. It was to be the last night I would sleep alone on this journey.
The day had finally arrived that I was to meet my girlfriend Courtney. I was extremely excited to head out to the airport. I packed up my things and stored them in order to switch rooms. At 11am I asked the reception directions to where I could pick up the bus to the airport. I walked past Taksim Square to the Point Hotel. I easily found the bus and hopped on. The ride took about 30 minutes and I arrived at the airport at around 1145am. I had some time to kill before Courtney arrived at 1pm. I could barely stand still so I paced around the terminal for most of the time. I eventually sat down for about 20 minutes and then it was time to go stand at the gate along with the rest of their crowd waiting for their people to arrive. I was waiting behind a barrier just in front of the door where everyone was walking through. I waited for another 20 minutes carefully examining everyone that came thru that door. I was getting anxious and very excited. And then she walked thru that door and it was one of the happiest times of my life, and one of the greatest sights I have ever seen. Courtney spotted me in the mix of all the Turkish people waiting, smiled and came right up to me and gave me a huge kiss. She wanted to jump over the barrier, but we decided just to meet on the other end. I walked around as did she and we embraced each other for a good ten minutes. It was a surreal feeling after being apart for the last four months. We kissed and hugged and couldnt believe we were in each others arms again. We then left the airport and went to the bus stop to head back to Taksim Square and into our first room together. I had been traveling alone for four months, and it felt so good to have a traveling companion to share everything with. We held each other during the entire bus ride until we arrived in Taksim. We walked hand in hand to the hostel and waited for about an hour until our room was ready. I have never wanted a room to be ready more than this room, due to the fact that we have been away from each other for so long. While we waited we talked with an American couple whom I had met back in Safranbolou. I could barely focus on the conversation, there was only one thing on my mind. I was so happy when the hostel owner told me my room was ready. I took our bags up to the room, locked the door and we ripped our clothes off immediately. I wont go into much detail, but it was a very special and magical moment. It just felt so good to be together again. After getting reconnected, we relaxed in the hotel room talking and catching up. After settling in, we went for a walk down Istiklal. I showed Courtney around the area, and we walked all the way to the Galata Tower. We ate some tasty stuffed baked potatoes and we tried some amazing baklava. I took her to smoke some sheeshah at the same place I had gone the night before. This is one of the scenes that I had always pictured when we were to be together in Istanbul. Courtney and I sitting on a busy street, smoking sheeshah together. And there we were just as I had imagined it and it was even better. After smoking we walked down the road a bit more. Saw some street performers and even saw a traveling tram stage right down the middle of the road. It was similar to the traveling stage that drives around at the Suwannee river music festivals. The band was grooving and everyone was really digging it. While we walked down toward the water, we ran into a breakdancing competition. It was part of a world expo between South Korea and Turkey that was going on for a few days. The dancing was wonderful and we enjoyed watching for a good half hour. We called it a night fairly early since Courtney had been up for around 33 hours traveling on 3 different airplanes and going through a major time change.
In the morning, we headed up to the rooftop to enjoy our first breakfast together. Then it was time to explore the old city of Istanbul, otherwise known in old times as Constantinople. We walked downhill to the bridge and walked across. The first place we stopped was the New Mosque, which isnt actually new, but very new compared to most of the other mosques. This one was only maybe about 200 years old and some of the other ones are around 1500 years old. We made it to the new mosque during the call to prayer and it was a really great scene. Since Courtney's dad is from Saudi Arabia and was a Muslim, she has a very strong connection to the Islam faith. She however is not Muslim, but still feels very intertwined with her dad's beliefs, heritage, and background. We walked around the gloriously decorated mosque and watched the men pray. We then walked to the area of Sultanamhet where the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, and the Topkapi Palace are located. This is the most famous part of Istanbul and where the most tourists flock to. While we walked Courtney bought herself a purse. Right before we entered the Blue Mosque she also bought herself a blue scarf that resembled the colors inside of the mosque. We explored the Blue Mosque for awhile which was my favorite building in Istanbul. The inside had beautiful mosaic designs with really great color pattens, the main ones of course being dominated by blue. After enjoying the Blue Mosque, we walked through the hippodrome which is in the middle of the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia. We bought tickets to enter Hagia Sophia, which is considered one of the most amazing mosques in the world. It didnt dissapoint. The outside was impressive, but the inside was what most people liked the most. We walked around the bottom and top floors of the mosque for about an hour getting many great pictures. Istanbul is a photgraphers dream, and we got so many good pictures throughout our explorations. After leaving Sophia we went and ate some great turkish cuisine just outside of the hippodrome. A hippodrome in ancient times is a large open area where they used to hold horse and chariot races. You can just feel all the history of this place and it really is fascinating. After lunch, we headed over to the grand bazaar to find that it was already closede. We also tried to go to Topkapi Palace but it was closed on Tuesdays. We also wanted to check out the Biscilica Cistern, but it was also closed for the day. It was getting close to sunset by that point so we decided to jump on a tram and attempt to go to the top of Galata Tower to watch the sun go down. We didnt have much time, and when we got to the tower there was a line to get up the elevator. We got to the top just as the sun creeped beneath the horizon, but the view was amazing. You could see a 360 degree view of all of Istanbul. After a full day of sightseeing we went back to regroup at the hotel. We went out for a really great dinner in a unique restaurant. We got a whole room to ourselves with sit on the floor seating. The place felt like you were eating in an old rustic wooden cave. After a most delighful dinner, we walked around Istiklal, tried some more baklava and relaxed in the room the rest of the night.
The next day we splept in and missed breakfast. We took it nice and slow. We went on a mission to find a bus ticket to Kavala Greece, which was our next destination. We successfully bought our tickets and jumped on the subway to the old city again. We made it to the grand bazaar stop and explored that for awhile. We discovered that the prices in the bazaar were actually more than the stores in the surrounding areas so we didnt really stay to long. Courney did some shopping and bought some evil eye souvenirs for some friends. We had a good time walking through the non touristy residential area of the city, where Courtney handed out stickers and crayones to some kids as we walked by. We also tried some tasty pilaf on the street. We walked along the water till we came back to the tourist area close to the palace. We decided to have some tea at one of the restaurants. We hung out there and talked with the eccentric waiter named Gino. He offered us free sheeshah, free shots, and free hummus if we would return for dinner later in the evening. It seemed like a great offer to us and I told him enshallah. After hanging at the cafe, we walked to the palace. It was a great time walking around the old palace grounds and exploring the inner dwellings. After the palace we met a guy who was selling boat ride tickets around the Bosphorous Strait. We had planned on doing this already so we bought two tickets. While we waited for the boat group to organize, we went into a shop to look around. The friendly owner let us try on some traditional Sultan and princess outfits and we some really cool pics. We then followed the group of about 100 tourist in a big mob down to the boat. We road on the boat for about two hours taking in all the sites and many different areas of Istanbul. We went from the European side of Istanbul across to the Asian side. It was a relaxing ride that we both enjoyed. By the end of the ride, a good amount of the passengers were passed out below after very long days of sightseeing.
When the boat docked we decided to head back to the same restaurant that we were at before. Gino was not lying when he said we would get all those free things. We smoked sheeshah, drank some sex bomb shots, had some hummus and pita and also ordered ourselves a tasty kebab meal. We also took a few shots of rum and were feeling pretty good. After about two hours of hanging out there in the atmospheric touristy area, we had realized that the last tram back home left at midnight. So we quickly hurried to the tram stop and bought two tickets for the final tram of the evening. We had made it with only minutes to spare. At the tram stop we met a guy named Amaury from France. We talked with him for awhile and invited him to have some more drinks with us back on Istiklal. The tram didnt get us back all the way to our destination so we had to walk across the bridge and up to the Galata Tower. On Istiklal we went to a club and took a couple shots of whiskey and drank an Efes beer. We danced around for a bit and had a good time. We had a great time that night back in our hotel room.
We woke up very early in the morning and it was time to go catch a bus to Greece. We walked to the bus office where we grabbed a shuttle to the main bus station. At 10am we boarded a comfortable bus and said goodbye to lovely Istanbul. We rode for about two hours before we got to the border of Greece. Apparently there was something wrong with the computers at the border so we had to wait about two hours for them to get the bus out of Turkey. At the border we met a father from Turkey and his son from California. We talked with them and learned some Greek words as well as some history about Turkey. We finally made it across the border and we waited another 30 minutes or so on the Greek side before we were able to pass through. We rode another 6 hours or so to the town of Kavala. We didnt have a hotel room booked so we asked around for a good place. We ended up finding a decent hotel which was run by an old greek lady and she was quite the character. We got our room and headed out to eat at a really tasty place where we got some chicken souvlaki. It was already fairly late in the evening so we went back to the room and hung out for the rest of the night.
In the morning, I went out and got some breakfast for us to eat out on the balcony looking over the busy city streets. After we went down to the port to check on the ferry tickets to Thassos Island. We found out the ticket office opened at 1pm for the 2pm ferry. So while we waited we went back to the hotel and packed up and headed back to the same Souvlaki restaurant that we had went to for dinner the night before. Once again it was delicious. We took all our bags with us to the restaurant and after lunch we went back down to the port. We bought a ticket for the ferry and after waiting for a half hour it was time to board. We were excited to get out on the Aegean Sea and to explore one of the many Greek Islands. It was a pleasant ferry ride, Courtney slept most of the time, while I meditated on the soothing water and watch the many birds following the boat fighting over the food that some of the passengers were feeding them. The ride took an hour and fifteen minutes. We docked at a city called Prinos, and hopped on a bus to our destination which was Potos. The bus winded around the west side of the island for about 40 minutes until we reached Potos. Potos is a small touristy village with many good restaurants shops cafes and bars. We found our lovely hotel called Aldebaran, which was just a couple minutes walk from the beach. While walking to the hotel, I had spotted a couple with an ATV and asked them how much it had cost for them to rent it. I knew that we had to get ourselves one the next day to cruise around the island on. Our hotel room was nice with a balcony facing the back with a lot of foliage. The family that runs the hotel is very friendly and welcoming as well. There was also a shop connected to the hotel where Courtney bought a hippy festival style around the waist purse to carry her money, passport, camera and other things. We settled into our hotel and walked around the village. We took a stroll down the rocky beach and walked back down the main road. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at the ATV rental shop and inquired about renting one for the next day. It sounded great so I made a reservation to pick it up in the morning and left a 10 euro deposit. Later we went to eat some tasty food down by the beach and then watched the sunset go down behind the cliffs on the side of the sea. Had a pleasant evening taking in the atmosphere of Potos and relaxing around the hotel.
When I woke up, Courtney was still sleeping and I was excited to go pick up the ATV, so I went out and got it. It was a nice white 250cc machine and very easy to operate. I tested it out down the main island road, and filled it up with gas. I rode back to the hotel and Courtney was getting ready to go. We made up a day pack and jumped on the ATV. Bought some bananas and headed up to the mountain village of Theologos about 10km away. Riding on the ATV was a blast and I absolutely loved driving it. It was the perfect way to explore the island. After visiting Theologos we came back to Potos and ate some souvlakis. There was a road that circled the entire island and our plan was to follow it until we made a full circle back at Potos. We winded our way thru amazing views of mountains and sea and stopped at many different beaches along the way. Courtney also drove and really enjoyed it. I had just as much fun sitting behind her while she drove as I did driving myself. After about 2 hours of riding we stopped off in Thassos town and had some frozen yogurt and a greek salad. We ended up riding for a good 6 hours or so before we made it back to our home in Potos. What a great time it was, and also both of our first times on an ATV. We didnt have to turn in the ATV until 11pm so after regrouping and resting at the hotel, we went back out for a sunset ride. We watched the sunset on a different beach than last night, and then rode into the afterglow, back down the scenic road. We also went to another village and drove thru some residential areas. We got directions to check out a another village in the mountains and we went off the beaten path. It was a great adventure however it was getting dark and we decided to turn back. After turning in the ATV we had dinner at one of the many Potos restaurants along the beach, and drank a little Ouzo.
The next day we took it slow, I went out and bought some bread, cheese and bananas and we ate out front of the hotel. I also cooked up some ramen noodles for Courtney, which always makes her happy. I made some tea, and we hung out for awhile, before heading out to the beach. We went to the first place on the beach called Margarita Cafe. They said we could use their beach loungers for free as long as we bought a drink so we happily agreed. We ordered to cocktails which the waiter recommended for us. He brought the drinks along with some snacks to munch on down to our loungers which were set up right in front of the Aegean Sea. We swam and sat out in the Greek sun for about 2.5 hours, and after I got a little red and Courtney just adding to her beautiful Arabian complexion, we went back to the hotel to hydrate and get out of the sun for a bit. After awhile we went out for some tasty pizza on the beach, and went back down the the lounge chairs and watch the sunset. Had another pleasant evening walking around Potos and relaxing in the room.
Our time was up in Thassos Island, and in the morning after eating some great pastries at the bakery we packed up and headed to the bus stop to get a bus back to Prinos. We bought our ferry tickets back to Kavala. This time on the ferry we sat on the inside and both wrote in our journey journals most of the boat ride. Back at Kavala we went to our favorite souvlaki restaurant for the third time. After lunch we walked to the bus station and immediately caught a bus that was just leaving to the second biggest city in Greece called Thessaloniki. The ride took about 3 hours. We got in a cab and went to Hotel Kastoria about 3 km away from the dome shaped bus station. After settling into our room, we spent the evening strolling around the seaside promenade and taking in the atmosphere of what Lonely Planet considers to be the fifth best party city in the world.
The next day it was time to leave Greece and head out to Macedonia. After doing some research we came to the conclusion that the best way to get to Ohrid, which was our destination was to catch a bus to Florina. After eating a very tasty breakfast at a shop just around the corner from our hotel, we grabbed our stuff and caught a city bus to the bus station. Whatever you do, while in Greece, never call Macedonia by that name, because Greeks are very sensitve about using the name Macedonia for another country. They feel that Macedonia is in Greece, and the proper name is FYROM, which stands for Former Yugoslavia Republic of Macedonia. I made that mistake a couple of times and could tell that they did not appreciate it. Anyway, we got to the bus station and bought a ticket to Florina. The bus drove us for just over two hours and let us off in the middle of town. We were just not about 18km away from the border, but there were no buses that went to the border. Our only options were to take an expensive taxi to the border or to hitchhike. We decided to walk for a bit and see if anyone would pick us up. After trying to flag a few cars down, a taxi pulled up and gave us a decent price so we decided to hop in. His name was Victor and he was very friendly. We enjoyed his taxi ride to the border. He took us out of Greece and dropped us off in front of the Macedonia immigration. After going through immigration we needed a ride to Bitola, which was about 14kms away. Our plan was to hitchhike from here. A very friendly customs lady asked us if we needed a ride to Bitola and we said yes. She told us that she would help us find a ride, and we happily thanked her. After only about 15 minutes of waiting we got a ride. It was to older Greek guys going into Macedonia to shop. They took us past Bitola and dropped us on the side of the road which was leading to Ohrid. They helped us make a sign that said OHRID, and we thanked them as they drove off. On the side of the road we stuck out our thumbs and held out the sign. After about 15 minutes an old red Russian Lada stopped to pick us up. He said he could only drove us about 10km, but we agreed and hopped in. Although he spoke no english, we figured out that he must have been on his break from his car mechanic job, and went out of the way to drive us furthur down the road. He dropped us off on the side of the road next to a gas station and we thanked him for his kindness. We went into the gas station to grab some water and get some food. At the station I asked a guy if he was going to Ohrid, but it seemed he didnt understand me and I walked away. We went back to the side of the road, and after only seconds another car stopped for us. They were not going to Ohrid, but a city called Resen which was on the way. They took us just outside of Resen and dropped us off on the side of the road. The second we got out of that car another car pulled up right behind us. It was the same guy whom I had asked for a ride back at the gas station. He said he would take us into Resen and we hopped in. This car dropped us off at a bus station, but unfortunately the bus was not going to Ohris. Then a friendly taxi driver came up to us and offered us a cheap ride all the way to Ohrid which was only about 30 minutes away at this point. We agreed to take a ride in his nice Mercedes Benz taxi. He taught us some Macedonian words along the way and also called one of his friends who rented apartments in Ohrid. I talked to her on the phone and agreed to meet her once we got into town. When we pulled into town, we went to pick her up, her name was Katica, Katie in english. She took us to an apartment building and we took the elevator to the third floor. We went to apartment number 22, and the door opened to easily the nicest place I have stayed on this trip. We had a whole apartment just for the two of us. A huge living room with english television, a full sized kitchen and a master bedroom. It was perfect, and it was only 20 euro per night. It was an amazing deal and we were both very happy. We paid for three nights and said goodbye to Katica after she gave us a run down of the city. We couldnt believe the place we were staying. It took us eight vehicles total for the day to arrive here and it was quite the adventure, it was great to see the smile on Courtney's face every time we jumped in another car and continued our journey. After settling in, we went out to check out beautiful Ohrid, which is set on a lake of the same name. We strolled along the shores of the lake and into the old city, We met an older hippy couple who had a great jewelery shop in the old city. Courtney bought a bracelet for them and we had a really nice conversation with the lady who ran the store with her husband. We got the lowdown on the music festival going on in the capital city for this weekend that we planned to go to. After I found an information desk and I asked about going paragliding off the mountains in the area. I found out that we could most likely go on friday and today was tuesday, it sounded perfect, and I was really looking forward to doing that. After having a pleasant stroll around town, we went to the market and bought some groceries. Courtney cooked up a delicious pasta and veggies meal in our kitchen and we cuddled up on the couch and watched tv until we fell asleep and I carried her into the bedroom. We had a great sleep that night, and woke up very slowly. We had some fun that morning before breakfast. Then Courtney made us some eggs, with bread, veggies and fruit. It was a great and it felt like we were right at home. We took a nap after breakfast during a little rain and then had some more fun after we woke up. It was still raining so we decided to drink a little local wine and write some more in our journey journals. Took the rest of the bottle of wine with us in a water bottle and went strolling around the old city. We walked up to the top of the old city which has a fortress overlooking the entire town and all of Lake Ohrid with views of Albania as well. Enjoyed a great day exploring the city, eating good food and ice cream. On the way home we stopped off at a bar called Plan B and tried the local firewater called Rakija. Had a good time at the bar with a couple shots and beer each and then headed home.
Our final day in Ohrid, we spent mostly just beeing and seeing. It was raining of and on all day. Courtney made another delicious breakfast as we took it easy all morning. Took a walk thru the old city again and stopped to drink some tea at a cafe overlooking the lake. We walked back home to our apartment and Courtney made us some lunch. Headed back out to try and make it to a monastery called St. Naum but the weather wasnt cooperating. We talked to a nice Dutch couple at the bus stop. After we walked and took pics of the old city and drank some more tea at the same cafe we had gone earlier in the day. We then went and ate some pizza next to the Church of Sofia. We took a wet and chilly walk back home after another pleasant day in Macedonia.
I am so grateful for the opportunity to be able to travel with Courtney, and so far we are having an amazing time together. Every day we get closer and closer and our love becomes stronger.