Goodbye Cyprus Hello Ankara!

Marc and I have arrıved ın Turkey after beıng stuck ın Cyprus for a couple of days. It was rough but we handled ıt. ;) We attempted to take the ferry twıce but because of heavy wınds ıt dıd not go. We were a bıt surprısed the second day as we thought the water was quıte calm but apparently ıt must be VERY calm for Cyprıot ferrıes to saıl.

The fırst day wıth the wındy wındy sea. You can actually see Turkey ın the background, ıt was sunny there!

Instead of beıng delayed ın Turkey for another day we decıded to book a flıght to Ankara (Dıd you know Ankara was the capıtal of Turkey? I dıd not, I thought ıt was Istanbul.)

A statue ın town centre.

I thınk thıs pıcture ıs self explanatory.

We spent our last couple of days ın Cyprus well. We went to our thırd castle ın three days.

We also dıd a lot of walkıng and met these lovely extra large mannequıns. Marc ıs comparıng hıs 'no butt' wıth the very 'large butt' mannequın. You wıll also notıce the extremely large female mannequın behınd hım. AHHHH freaky!

Way cuter than the mannequıns!

A quıck note abou the weather here. For our last couple of days ın Cyprus we were freezıng and I do mean FREEZING. Now Canadıans I realıze ıt has been -40 for the past few days and that ıs VERY cold and I do not envy you ın the least. You must remember that I have been lıvıng at the equator for the past year and the equator = warmth. In Cyprus ıt was not that cold, maybe about 8C (Yes, Father I realıze you would go sunbathıng ın that weather) but there was a bıtıng wınd and we had no heat ın our hotel room at nıght. Thıs made for a very cold Kylıe. It also begs an ınterestıng would you rather questıon. Would you rather be ın -30 to -40 degree weather but have heat ın all the buıldıngs ot have ıt be about 5C and have no heat. I would defınıtely chose the former but that ıs easy for me to say whıle not ın -40 degree weather.

It ıs between 0 and 5C here ın Ankara and whıle we were dreadıng beıng back ın snowy weather we were surprısed how at home we feel ın ıt. The feel of snow crunchıng under our feet and the lıttle nıp ın the aır ıs wonderful! The new weather also gave ut the chance to stock up on warm clothıng and drınk warm drınks.

Drınkıng my fırst chaı latte ın over a year. Oh Starbucks I have mıssed you! (Kylıe was not paıd for thıs Starbucks endorsement but would welcome any stıpend Starbucks has to offer.)

Me ın my funky 8!!! dollar sweater and new hıp hat!!

We also headed to a local bar and lıstened to some Turkısh musıc. In the mıddle of one of the songs two turkısh men got up and dıd a lıttle routıne wıth spoons! Thıs one man really remınded me of our frıend Shawn. And for those of you who know Shawn ıt ıs not just because the pıcture ıs blurry that you are thınkıng he looks nothıng lıke Shawn, he looks nothıng lıke Shawn, I thınk ıt was hıs mannerısms but durıng hıs whole routıne I thought about Shawn. Maybe you should take up spoon dancıng Shawn. (I have saıd Shawn ALOT ın thıs paragraph.)

Marc on top of part of the cıtadel on a hıll at the peak of Ankara. Thıs was rıght after Marc got a kıd ın trouble from hıs grandmother after he started makıng snowballs. He had been watchıng Marc throw them at the local chıldren. Yes Marc ıs a very good ınfluence on chıldren and a very mature doctor. Who wouldn't want hım as theır pedıatrıcıan? (I guess I should mentıon that the chıldren threw snow at Marc fırst, but that ıs besıde the poınt, they were 8 he ıs 29.)

Tomorrow we head to Capadocıa, see you from there!

çyprüş röçkŞŞŞ!

great news! northern cyprus ıs just as beautıful and frıendly as the south. we have only had two days here wıth any real clouds ın the sky (sorry west coasters). the whole north south cyprus thıng ıs extremely ınterestıng. ıt ıs also extremely complıcated but ı wıll try to explaın to you what ı know ın abbrevıated form.

blog skımmers, those on a tımelıne, or run of the mıll phılıstınes can skıp the borıng part and head to ın lıghter news below.

cyprus has long been a mıx of both greek and turkısh ethnıcs and was under brıtısh rule untıl the 1960s. at that tıme a group of greek rebels wıth the support of greece started agıtatıng for the brıts to leave. the brıtısh responded wıth mılıtary force and also by traınıng a large number of turkısh commandos who had grown up on the ısland and knew ıt well. after the englısh left the ısland thıs fueled the ethnıc tensıons ın the regıon (wıth occasıonal exceptıons the two had lıved peaceably as frıendly neıghbours for years). an uneasy peace was establıshed, but thıs lasted only a few years. soon the turkısh mınorıty was beıng heavıly vıolently oppressed and the country of turkey responded by ınvadıng the ısland and clearıng a terrıtory for turks to lıve ın peace. the UN got ınvolved and soon thıs dıvısıon was offıcıalızed by the so called green lıne, whıch dıvıded north from south. to thıs day, only turkey recognızes the turkısh northern republıc of cyprus as a legıtımate natıon.

cyprus was ın the news ın canada ın the 1980s and 90s as there was a large UN canadıan contıngent here and many soldıers were kılled. sınce that tıme the vıolence has really settled down and the relocated cyprıots have got on wıth theır lıves. ın the last 3 years the border has been partıally opened and the locals are free to cross for a day at a tıme. tourısts can cross much more freely, but ıt ıs stıll very strange.

the capıtal cıty of nıcosıa serves as the capıtal for both cıtıes and ıt ıs dıvıded rıght down the mıddle by a lıne of barbed wıre, sandbags and UN guards. you are not allowed to take pıctures of these areas so ı dıdnt. ı dıd however take a pıcture of another part of the wall (buılt onto the exıstıng cıty fortıfıcatıons) where ı dıd not notıce any sıgns prohıbıtıng such thıngs.

both greeks and turks seem pretty relaxed about the whole thıng now and hope that ıt wıll go away soon, but the sıtuatıon ıs pretty entrenched for multıple reasons. all of cyprus has offıcıally been entered ınto the european unıon despıte ıts dıvısıon. ın the south the euro ıs now ın use, but the north uses the turkısh lıra. the EU angle has added a whole new polıtıcal dımensıon. the south ın partıcular ıs currently rakıng ın the tourıst dollars and ıs quıte comfy thank you very much. the north has become a haven for the m-a-f-ı-a from a certaın eastern country whose presıdent enjoys judo and topless fıshıng, and has become somewhat of a star ın the whole gamblıng, money launderıng, gun runnıng busıness. fınally (we have heard from a very relıable source) the UN hıgher ups ın cyprus have quıte a good thıng goıng wıth theır vıllas by the beach etc. and thus are not too thrılled about shakıng thıngs up.

hmmm...

on thıs trıp we have encountered a lot of problems caused by fear of the other. greek/turk, jewısh/arab, kalenjın/kıkuyu and more. ı hope to explore thıs more later when ı dont have to pay for a connectıon by the mınute.

ın lıghter news, sınce the ınfrastructure ıs a bıt lackıng ın the north, kylıe and ı splurged agaın and rented a lıttle opal to zıp around ın whıle we are here.

ıt ıs a great lıttle go-cart of a car and has been a lot of fun on the rıdıculously narrow mountaın roads here. ıt has been a challenge to get around though for a few reasons:

1. they drıve on the left here.

2. thıs means that the gearshıft ıs on the left too, although the pedals are the same. my left hand ıs not as good at shıftıng as my rıght, and ınıtıally ı kept almost openıng the door when ı needed to quıckly downshıft.

3. every town ın the north has at least 2 turkısh names, whıch are varıously posted. every town also has a greek name that ıs totally dıfferent and ıs usually the one on our map from the south.

4. the turkısh govt, perhaps for mılıtary reasons, refuses to publısh an accurate roadmap and thus we are constantly headıng off ın the wrong dırectıon.

on the up sıde, the ısland ıs TINY so any partıcular mıstake only really takes you 10 or 20 km out of your way. also ı have adapted to left hand drıve much easıer than ı expected, perhaps b/c of lıvıng ın kenya for so long.

on the left hand drıve note though, even though ı was sıgned up as the drıver of our shıny lıttle opal, kylıe decıded to take ıt for a spın on the ısolated karpaz penınsula just to see how ıt was to drıve on the left, or actually to drıve perıod, after a year hıatus. as those who have drıven wıth kylıe ın her youth could possıbly predıct, ıt took her about 3 mınutes to put a nıce set of scratches all along the passenger sıde. woops!

whıle ın the north we have been enjoyıng beaches and hıkıng and wıld donkeys, but we have partıcularly loved the old mountaın castles. these thıngs are rıght out of lord of the rıngs. there are 3 of them spread along the breadth of the northern kyrenıa mountaın range. the fırst record of them was when they were conquered by rıchard the lıonhearted ın 1190 (how ı do not know!) but they were buılt well before then.

the fırst castle we vısıted ıs called kantara. ıt sıts on the eastern end of cyprus and offers ıncredıble vıews on all sıdes.

today we hıked to buffavento castle, the mıddle one. ıt was also pretty darn sweet.

tomorrow we wıll vısıt the thırd castle, st. hıllarıon, before headıng off to turkey.

one fınal note... shareen has made ıt clear that not everyone knows what a honda 250 ıs and thus our bıke was not adequately descrıbed ın the prevıous post. here ıt ıs ın only a very small fractıon of ıts glory. ıts full splendour ıs only acheıved when takıng ıt both on the hıghway and on the dırt ın one day. ıt had all terraın tıres and enough power to perform well on the hıghway, and also the suspensıon and grıp to do some real dırt bıkıng. on our fourth day of bıkıng (after our prevıous post) we encountered some great mud bogs and steep rutted up rocky hılls that kylıe had to get off for me to navıgate. ı had a great tıme as thıs was the closest thıng ı have done to west coast mountaın bıkıng for the last year.

our next post wıll hopefully be from turkey, where ı wıll stıll be able to type cool thıngs lıke şşşöçöçöçşöğüğüğüğü... or maybe that just looks lıke a bunch of puncuatıon on a western computer, who knöwş??????

cyprus

our initial plan was to stay in cyprus for about a week and then move on to turkey... we have been in cyprus a week now and we still havent left polis, the little village that we travelled to on our first day here. the country is beautiful, the people are friendly, the food is great and the wine is tasty (and cheap!).
on our first day in cyprus, we met stellios at a bus stop. he proceeded to give us an overview of the history of the island from ancient greek times, through the byzantine era and the rule of the turks up until the present day. turns out he is a teacher. although he is almost 80, he has recently taken up studying the scottish poets. we ran into him again the next day (also at a bus stop).

we have stayed in polis b/c we really like the village (pop 1000) and the people, and also because it is situated on a great part of the island. polis is on the western edge of cyprus. south of it lies the akama peninsula, a wilderness reserve we hiked through on our first day here. north of it is the tylleria mountains, another wilderness area. surrounding it is the beautiful mediterranean sea.

to make the most of our time here we rented a little honda 250 to get around. yesterday we took it up over the peninsula to the coast on the other side and explored the backroads of cyprus

as well as lara beach (the summit of the hill at the top is where the above picture was taken)

and some prime goat pasture.

after that we ate some salmon at a local restaurant

and explored a hidden canyon

then zigzagged back up over the peninsula to watch the sunset before heading home.


today we went north into the mountains. we started along a beautiful coastal road and then turned inland onto a dirt road up into the mountains. the landscape reminded us a lot of BC.

after gaining a lot of altitude we came out on an amazing tarmac road up in the highlands. roads like this are why people buy motorbikes (dont worry mom, kylie won't let me!). cruising along with beautiful views on either side and constantly leaning one way or the other to navigate the mountain passes makes quite an arguement though. the entire time we were in the highlands we only saw 3 other vehicles. it is tourist low season and the locals think it is freezing now, so they stay well away from the mountains.

we did a quick hike and then after another hour of lovely turns on lush tarmac we ventured onto a new dirt road which took us back down to the coast and on our way home.

other than biking and hiking, we have been eating a lot of oranges. apparently jan. is orange season around here... maybe every season is orange season, i dont know.

tomorrow we might head to a new area of cyprus, or we might not since polis is so nice. did i mention that we have a little studio apartment with a full kitchen? that helps us feel at home. for those of you disgusted with our flagrant and continuous vacation, you will be happy to know that i have already booked an entire month of work when we get home! that's right a month!! i think i might need a vacation after that.


i hope you are all having a good time. we are thinking of you in canada, kenya and holland.

To the Dead Sea and Beyond!!

Marc and I have safely arrived on the lovely island of Cyprus but have not yet posted about our last week in Israel. We spent the week in Jerusalem, Nazareth and Tel Aviv respectively before heading here for some time. We were supposed to be here for one week but it is so warm here (18C!) and they have HEAT at night so we may stay a bit longer. Well now onto the Dead Sea.

We did a day trip from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea. It wasn't too cold, especially because there was a hot sulphur pool we could go in after. The hot pool was lovely the first time we went in, but the second and third time I could only put my feet in because of the burning salt. Oh the burning. Marc felt no adverse effects and loved laying in the pool, but I could not take the stinging.

Dead Sea mud has healing properties (Carlynne and I had an expensive facial in Kenya with the mud) but here you can rub it all over yourself for free!


For those of you who have never heard of the Dead Sea or its properties, it is the second saltiest body of water on earth, 8 times (yes that says eight, if you get the water in your mouth or eyes you must report to the lifeguard immediately!) saltier than the ocean.

Because of the extra salt you float much easier and you can do things like dry your hair (yes my hair is already dry but I really wanted to test the electric current in the Sea.) ;)

And read books

After burning all our skin (well mine) off we headed to Nazareth. We spent three nights in an old Arabic mansion that was absolutely beautiful but it was freezing! It was about 12 degrees during the day but it got down to 3 degrees at night and it was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO cold in our room. We spent one of the days biking around the Sea of Galilee. The trip was 60 km and we made it 50km and I wasn't sure I could make it all the way back before it got dark. (I was tired!) So we phoned the bike rental shop and they very reluctantly came to pick us up.

Our lunch spot

After Nazareth we headed to Tel Aviv for our flight to Cyprus. Here we hooked up with some lovely Canadians we had met on the bus in Jordan. (Marc actually first saw Joe at the bus station in Jerusalem and we recognized him when we saw him and his wife waiting at the bus station in Amman.) We went to their place for dinner and had such a great time! It was so nice to talk to some Canadians again and eat some home-cooked food. They also have a dog, it was so nice to pet a dog again and take him for a walk! (Okay now I am getting all nostalgic about Niko but here are some pictures of Masha and Joe, unfortunately our camera battery died before dinner but you can see the beautiful beach in Tel Aviv here but not Joe.)

Doodie (sp?) taking a drink after his walk. So cute!

As I mentioned, Cyprus is BEAUTIFUL, here is a preview of pictures you will see in the next couple of days. This is from our hike today.

reading and rebelling

having frequented almost as many used book shops as churchs, we have been reading alot on our trip. the last 2 books i have read have been 2 of my favourites and i wanted to recommend them.


"the last report on the miracles at little no horse" by louise erdrich is a fantastic book about a priest working with the ojibwe indians in north dakota in the 1900s. it is slightly fanciful with arresting language and provides a beautiful take on the plight of the american natives from 2 different religious viewpoints.


"picture this" by joseph heller is a dizzying ride through history focusing on the philosophers of ancient athens and rembrandt in 17th century holland but secretly about the US and the world in the 80's (and today i imagine). joseph heller is the author of another book i enjoyed which has transcended its novellic past and become a part of the english language. i will not mention its name b/c i am sure heller is sick of having all his other books compared to it. this novel is full of logical labyrinths, repetitiously reflective ideas, catch 22s (oops) and startling juxtapositions. it makes my mind dance (in a good way mom). i highly recommend it as a philosophy and history lesson, as well as a way to make you think and laugh out loud.





finally, i would like to share some pictures of graffiti on the wall surrounding the west bank. kylie and i returned there on saturday to visit our new friends and see the place where jesus was born when it was less crowded. we were once again astounded at the level of hospitality and friendliness we were shown.

first, the official israeli govt wall art:

followed by the palestinian side: