I sure am slacking off on this blog a bit. In a way it's a good thing though, because it means I'm spending more time out with my fellow travelers, rather than sitting in front of the computer. I've done so much since I wrote my last post a week ago (wow, time is going way to fast right now), I'll either end up writing a short novella or forget half of what happened.


Last Wednesday, my second day and last day in Bulgaria, we took a day trip with the hostel to the Rila Mountains, which I believe are north of Sofia, but I'm probably wrong. It was my first time in a car since I've left the States, and it was a bit nervewracking. Our driver was up to 160 kph at times, and kept passing cars with minimal amounts of space between us and oncoming traffic. Not to mention his eyes kept fluttering shut on the way home. I don't think their road rules are exactly the same in Bulgaria as they are in the States . . . Anyway, we headed up to a monastery apparently built by some hermit. It was a relatively warm day and exceptionally pretty with all the leaves changing colors. I spent a good deal of time just wandering through an abandoned house and then down to this river. I managed to slip and fall (of course) and jamb my knee pretty badly into a rock - meanwhile, this one girl in our group was prancing around like some sort of monkey in just a pair of converse, making me feel thoroughly uncoordinated. I can't quite figure out when I started falling quite so much, but I don't feel like I use to be this clumsy. I'll go into it more later, but currently my legs look like someone's from a battered women's shelter.



I encountered the worst toilets of my trip at this monastery, (something I would not be saying if I were in SE Asia, but still, wasn't ready for it) basically just a shower floor with a drain - so if you wanted to poo, you'd pretty much be out of luck. The floor was all wet, and I really hoped it was just water, because otherwise I left with pee pants. Not to mention the bats hanging from the ceiling. The real kicker was that I had been down by the river and decided I should probably trek back up to the monastery to use the toilet. What a waste of time and precious energy. Not only would I have saved myself the walk, it probably would have been a lot more sanitary.





We had a 7pm train out of Sofia that night which we bought a liter of vodka for (damn Aussies), as well as a bottle of mystery alcohol from the train station with our remaining lev. Our train ended up being about 40 minutes late, and we're sitting in the station when this beggar comes up to us asking for money. Not one of us has one single Bulgarian coin on us, but the beggar won't leave, so Blaze takes out his wallet and turns it upside down to show that we really don't have anything. A random coin falls out, so he hands it to the beggar. It's not Bulgarian, so he picks it up, examines it, gives us this huge look of disgust and gives the coin back to Blaze. Classic. The beggar actually rejected the money.





We had to get sleepers on the train - not that I'm complaining - it was nice to have a bed, but we ended up hanging out with two guys from the compartment next door - making 5 people in our 3 bed compartment. One of the guys was from Hong Kong, but he was "studying" in Milan. Except he didn't go to class. At all. He was like "I'm just traveling - I'll go back for the exams." And this was his third night train in a row. He trumped us all in cards, and then fell asleep on my friend Josh's bunk in a meditation pose. What a badass.



There was an awkward moment on the train when I went to leave the compartment to use the restroom and someone said something about locking me out. I replied, with the door open to the hallway, "that's fine, I'll stay out here with the conductor, he was pretty hot." I turned around and the conductor (some 60 year old man with perfect english) was standing right there just staring at me. I think I made it even more awkward by diving back into the compartment in a fit of giggles . . .


We got to the Turkish border at about 1 am, and had to get off the train to get visas and passport stamps. I already had my visa, so it only took about 20 minutes, but we stayed at the station for about 2 hours for who knows what reason. We were right by the toilet, and the window was open, so we kept having to listen as people's pee trickled on to the tracks . . . After we left around 3 I managed to sleep until about 8 when the conductor woke us up to give us back our tickets. The best moment of the train ride came then, when the conductor was trying to wake up the guys in the next compartment. All night we had been calling the guy Dave, from Hong Kong, just "Hong Kong", and that morning, the conductor is knocking on their door, but no one is answering, and he just starts shouting "Hong Kong . . . Hong Kong . . . HONG KONG!" So funny.



Walking from the train station to the hostel, I just couldn't keep a grin off my face. I think I'm madly in love with Istanbul. The mosques are such a nice change from all the communist architecture and gussied up "Old Towns" that I've been seeing for the last month and a half. It was nice to return to the same hostel as well - kind of like going home, with all the staff recognizing me. 15 minutes after I'd walked through the door, I was enjoying breakfast on the rooftop terrace in only a tshirt. Despite taking the night train, I was too excited to go to sleep, and after breakfast, I took a walk to the supermarket by myself. I inevitably got bombarded by about 10 men - my favorite being the guy at the stop light: "Lady, oh lady, you dropped something!" I turned to look, despite the fact that I wasn't carrying anything to be dropped. He took the opportunity to saunter up beside me. "This," he said, pointing to his heart. "You dropped my heart." Oooo, I wish they made pick up lines like that in the States . . . really hard not to laugh at that one. Later on that day, I took a walk along the sea with Josh and Blaze, and we were in this fish market about 20 minutes away from the hostel when my sandal broke. I had to hobble all the way back with only one flip-flop. I was walking a bit in front of the boys, and they thought it funny to start calling me a dirty gypsy. I probably did look crazy. We passed a bunch of school children, and they all started pointing and laughing at me. Go ahead, laugh at the stupid American tourist, walking down the middle of the street with only one shoe on. I guess it probably would have made more sense to take both off at that point . . .



That evening we wandered through the Grand Bazaar and down to the Spice Market where you can get really good Turkish Delight, as well as something called Turkish Viagra. I will be bringing home Turkish Delight. I will not be bringing home Turkish Viagra. After being unfortunately groped (twice, by the same man) in the market, we took the ferry over to the Asian side of Istanbul for a bit of dinner. I can't comment much on it, because it was dark, and we didn't do much walking around, but we had a decent fish dinner. Friday night is Belly Dancing night at the hostel, but I think stripper would have been a more apt description of this women. I was unfortunately seated in a prime position, and I have to say I felt a bit uncomfortable, especially when she got down on her hands and knees, with her fake breasts in my face and started swing her head in circles.



I met a nice guy from Dublin on Friday, and on Saturday, we took the ferry to the Princess Islands, located off the coast in the Marmara Sea. We went to the largest island; it's something similar to Mackinac Island on Lake Michigan, except it was rather deserted since it was the off season. The weather was absolutely gorgeous - at least 75 degrees, without a cloud in the sky. We were able to rent bikes for the entire day for only $6, and they were good bikes too, with brand new seats. It was nice to get some genuine exercise for the first time since I left, and I was pleased to see I was in better shape than I thought. We ended up getting really hot, and George took off his shirt, while I stripped down to just a tank, which is pretty much a major no-no in Turkey. It was a Saturday, so there were a lot of Turkish tourists on the island, and we kept getting dirty looks from the women and laughs and points from the men. There were horse drawn carriages, and as they would pass, the passengers would just turn around and stare until they couldn't see us anymore. It was quite an experience, having something that is completely normal at home be considered inappropriate. I certainly felt a bit ashamed.

There weren't any beaches on the island, and the road was up on a ridge, but we managed to find a place to climb down, and we decided to go for a bit of a swim. The water was freezing - probably the coldest water I've ever been in; it definitely took a bit of adjusting too. I was standing in waist high water, but George was already out, so I decided I'd count to three and just plunge in after him. I did, but when I resurfaced I couldn't breathe, because the water had been so cold. I'm next to him, pretty much half drowning - and he's laughing because I just told him how I used to swim competively. It's a bit of different situation being in the sea in November. I'm not going to lie - I'm also a bit afraid of open water. I've spent so much time in the water, and I love it, but I've grown up in a completely land-locked area, and when I can't see the black stripe at the bottom of the pool, I get a little nervous that something is going to come up and bite my toes. Anyway, I survived, and it was awesome, because the Saturday before I was trekking through the snow covered Transylvanian Mountains, and this Saturday I got to swim in the sea.

I could go on forever, but this is actually turning into a novel, so I'm gonna skip ahead a few days, since I didn't do much except drink myself into oblivion, fall a fair few times, and wander around like a zombie. Yesterday (Tuesday) was my first day as official staff at Bahaus Guesthouse. I get a free bed, free laundry, and free homemade food that's quite tasty, but I'll definitely be working quite a bit. I start at 3pm every day and have to stay up until everyone else is done, so I'll probably have some late nights. Tariq, the manager tried to tell me something about making commission for referring people to certain places, but honestly I don't really care. As long as I'm not spending any money, I can't be bothered. They're so concerned about commission here though - everything is sell, sell, sell. Working in Istanbul with a bunch of Turkish people is definitely going to be an experience I will never forget. I think I'm glad I'll only be doing it for 3 weeks - I don't think I can handle the "cheat the tourist" attitude for much longer.

Okay, Volcano (my fellow barman - we're the Bahaus Badasses) keeps bothering me to come eat, so I'll just post this and add to it later . . .