Istanbul, cont...

New friends at Little Ayasofya Art Cafe. They are all artists. Today the two men drove us around to see a different, less touristy side of Istanbul.

Istanbul

Afternoon prayer

Jesikah wearing a traditional Anatolian dress that our friends at the cafe made her try on. How beautiful she is.

Istanbul: Aya Sofya

This structure is really amazing, and Wikipedia's description is far better than mine could be:

Hagia Sophia (from the Greek: Ἁγία Σοφία, "Holy Wisdom"; Latin: Sancta Sophia orSancta Sapientia; Turkish: Aya Sofya) is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. From the date of its dedication in 360 until 1453, it served as the cathedral of Constantinople, except between 1204 and 1261, when it was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral under the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople of the Western Crusader established Latin Empire. The building was a mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1931, when it was secularized. It was opened as a museum on 1 February 1935.

Our pictures aren't that great because the space is so dark, but it gives it a certain mystique.

Turkish Delight!!

Forgive me...I couldn't help myself!! We have been in Istanbul since Wednesday, and I can't tell you how much we love it. In fact, I am certain that if we didn't own our loft in St. Paul or have such wonderful family and friends back home we would never leave. It is truly a special special place! I could go on and on and on about the magnificent architecture, the gorgeous mosques, the phenomenal food, the way the city stretches to infinity, the winding cobblestone streets, the abundance of textiles and linens and ceramics and tiles and spice markets and carpets and millions of other interesting things at the bazaar, but it's the generosity and hospitality of the people that have made this place so special to us. The woman who owns our guesthouse (Vica Guesthouse in Sultanahmet) has been extraordinarily helpful and kind, and we are very grateful to her. We have been taking our time visiting the historical sights and wandering around the different neighborhoods of the city. It's been sunny and 50, but today is rainy. It's usually quite a bit warmer this time of year, but we don't mind. The tulips are in bloom, and the trees are about to pop. One of the local football teams, Beşiktaş, was playing on Friday night so we wandered down near the stadium to watch the game at a nearby pub. We knew the tickets were expensive, but we thought it wouldn't hurt to find the box office just in case. You won't believe this, but in our search for the box office a man just gave us 2 seats for the game! For free! Unbelievable! It was so incredible, and I know it was just amazing for Jon. Apparently they are having a terrible season because they tied the game (2-2) and afterwards their coach quit. But the crowd was super loud and crazy (Jon says it's the loudest stadium in the world- highest recorded decibel levels) and we had such a great time. We've been eating tons of kebabs and apple tea and I've discovered a deep craving for baklava I didn't know existed. I love the way time is ordered by the 5 daily calls to prayer...watching the faithful stream into the mosques (which are so beautiful and mystifying...) and hearing it echo through the streets. I am sorry to that we don't have many interesting photos because we've just been enjoying our time so much we've forgotten to take them. I think that's a good sign, but I'll try and do better!! We are going to somehow pry ourselves from this city on Thursday evening and take an overnight bus down to Ephesus and into Turkey's interior. I hope this finds you well and warm!

p.s. One other interesting thing to note is that Jon looks Turkish, which is strange for an Irishman, but I suppose Ireland has a complicated history of being conquered. The Turks are always surprised that he's American and ask about his heritage. Also, our last name Orman is the Turkish word for forest.

Photos: Jon, and beyond is our guesthouse, and beyond that the sea...
On the waterfront: Neo-Baroque Mosque on the Bosphorus. We took a boat cruise down the Bosphorus to the Black Sea.

More from inside the lions den

Istanbul

We have been in Istanbul for 3 days now and it's safe to say that European prices are upon us. We were ready to leave Asia behind just not the prices. We had grown accustomed to sitting in coffee shops not really caring what we ordered, knowing that whatever it was we could afford it...even have laugh at the incredibly low prices. With that said, we've adapted quite nice and have developed a way to still enjoy coffee and tea without paying 5 or 6 lira (which is about what a good latte costs back home). Develop an interest in Turkish rugs. At any one shop your interest will get you as much coffee, tea, even food or sweets, a warm room, and comfy chair for at least an hour. You just need to sit there and listen to the charismatic sales pitch. When you've had enough apple tea or Turkish coffee shoot the sales guy a low ball offer and he'll show you the door.

Chiang Mai and Bangkok

After our trekking adventure in northern Laos, we took a series of buses and a boat to cross over to Chiang Mai, Thailand. We have now crossed every country border in SE Asia in a different way: one by walking, one by bus, one by plane, and this one by boat. Crossing the river from Laos to Thailand reminded me of all of the Hmong refugees who had to escape across this very river to the refugee camps in Thailand. It's so interesting to be in places you've read about but have always seemed so far away! In any case, we found the Laos people to be among the kindest and friendliest we've met...a very warm place.

We weren't sure if we wanted to stay in Chiang Mia because 7+ Western tourists had died of food poisoning in the last 4 months! Strange and terrifying, especially because it is considered the culinary and intellectual center of Thailand. But we made it out alive! Lots of great books shops and markets and restaurants. It was actually nice to be in a city with familiar things like Starbucks and McDonalds....it's embarrassing to say, but it was great to eat something that reminded us of home! I took a cooking class at Basil Healthy Thai Cooking School and absolutely LOVED it! It was something I had wanted to do for a long time and am so glad I did! It was an all day thing, and the first time Jon and I had been apart for more than 15min since we began this trip!! But I think he enjoyed his day off! :) The class included a trip to the market to learn about the variety of Thai vegetables, spices, and rice. Some very unusual things! Apparently the locals use steamed chicken blood in their curries, but they assured me I wouldn't need to hunt that down in the states! Relief! Most of the dishes we learned were vegetarian, or could very easily be, and were so fresh, healthy and delicious! We used a mortar and pestle to grind our spices and everything was made completely from scratch. My favorites were pad thai, penang curry, tum yum soup, green papaya salad, and sticky rice with mango. I really look forward to sharing them with you when we are home!

We are now in Bangkok again and heading to Istanbul late tonight. We are flying Qatar Air, and have a layover in Qatar...should be interesting! Its hard to believe that we have completed this loop around SE Asia! It is so hot here that we have been hanging out in the humungous shopping malls in the afternoons, as we've already done all the major sights, plus the Bangkok Zoo which was horrifying, but that's another story! (p.s we also visited the new Bangkok Art and Culture Center which is a really great contemporary art museum...would def. recommend it.) The malls are insane! We have honestly never seen anything quite like it anywhere...very very high end. The food courts are immaculate with expensive restaurants, and every major European designer has a shop. Oh so tempting!! We had some extra Thai Baht that we needed to spend, so yesterday we each took half, split up for two hours and met back at the mall movie theatre to share our finds! It was so fun..like a little scavenger hunt. But for an indecisive person like me, it was also super overwhelming! You could spend days in those malls and not see everything. Bangkok is completely different from the rest of SE Asia, and truly feels like another big global city, and we enjoyed it more this time around because we took our time a little bit more and didn't rush around to all the tourist sights. It makes us realize that places like Hanoi have really kept some of their unique flavor. Maybe that's why we liked Vietnam so much. But now that we've invested some time here it will be interesting to see how this region changes in our lifetime....
That's all for now, folks!

Luang Nam Tha and Nam Pe

In the words of David Faster Wallace, I would like to name this post "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again." I suppose "never" should be taken with a grain of salt, but I think it's pretty safe to say that neither Jon nor I will ever again go trekking in the northern highland jungle of Laos in one of their hottest months of the year. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and it was cool to be in THE remotest part of the world we ever had (we had to take a 10 hour bus ride north of Luang Prabang on a windy dirt road through the foothills to start the trek. Wow! It was so bumpy, and we were shocked that the old bus actually made it. The Lonely Planet's description was surprisingly accurate saying that the Laos buses "are seemingly made of wet cardboard" and that "your bus will most probably break down and you'll be forced to sit in the skirts of the forest near a sign that reads 'We Welcome Tigers Here...'" !!!!!) Our first day we trekked 5 hours into the steaming jungle to the Khmu village of Nam Pe, which is seemingly only accessible by walking. Apparently it's part of their culture, but the men really don't do much while the women break their backs in the fields all day (they burn down entire hillsides to plant rice and rubber trees. When the land becomes too depleted to produce crops they move on to another hillside and repeat this process. It's really depressing actually, to see these charred, abandoned hillsides. Eventually they use up all the land in a 3 hour walking distance and move the whole village. The men help with this, of course, but it's the women who work so incredibly hard. Plus raising children and chickens, etc... There were millions of chickens running around the village. Chickens and barefoot children.) We enjoyed staying in the village and observing their comings and goings and tasting their food and giving candy to the children!

The second day was another 5 hour trek up and down steep hillsides through the bush on paths that seemed to have been abandoned for years. I'll just say that our conclusion was that this kind of trekking is clearly something meant to be endured and not enjoyed. It was brutal, but we are mostly glad we did it. Jon's version is a lot funnier than mine so you'll have to ask him about it when we get back home. Perhaps we just booked the wrong tour because other travelers we met loved their jungle treks, which sounded more like leisurely strolls along shaded streams. Hmmm.... :)

Luang Prabang: giving of alms

Happy Thai New Year! We just arrived to Bangkok this morning on an overnight train from Chiang Mia. I am sorry that I have been so behind on blogging this week! Ahh! So I am going to share some highlights with you from the past week, which took us from the northern hills of Laos to the urban madness of Bangkok at the beginning of the New Year celebration (commemorated by millions of people all over SE Asia squirting each other with water guns for a week! We haven't been squirted yet, and might make it out just in time as we are taking an early flight to Istanbul this coming Wednesday.) We hope that springtime has sprung and plants are beginning to bloom wherever this post finds you!

Photos: Luang Prabang at 6am. Being a city filled with temples, the daily giving of alms is a beautiful thing to see: Monks in saffron robes stream silently through the streets at dawn to collect their daily rice. People in the community line up along the road to offer rice and vegetables (and candy!) to improve their merit and karma. Although it's become kinda touristy, it's still cool to be there for it. Women sell big bamboo bowls of sticky rice for like $2, and Jon participated by placing it into the monks' silver bowls as they pass by. All Laos men are expected to spend time as a monk at some point in their lives and most do- anywhere from a week to perhaps the rest of their lives. Many of the monks we saw were very young boys.

Highlights: Laos

Some portraits...

Highlights Vietnam

> Saigon traffic crossing was complete madness
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> Hoi An river fishing
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Highlights: Thailand and Cambodia

Thailand: Queen sitting in her royal throne
Cambodia: Hindu temple for the monkey king, Hanuman

Highlights: Fiji and New Zealand

1. Fiji: Hindu temple in Nadi
2. New Zealand: Performance art festival in Christchurch...

Halfway today!

Today we are halfway through our 6 month trip and I just can't believe it!!! We've done and seen so many things these last 3 months it's hard to wrap my mind around it - in some ways it seems like we've been gone for ages, but in others it seems like we've just left home. We've been chilled out and laying low these last few days in Luang Prabang, enjoying the cafes, biking along the leafy boulevards past wats (temples) and markets, visiting caves and local villages where the women dye and weave textiles and the men make rice wine and wood carvings, hanging out in bookshops, and enjoying the Hmong night market which is super clean and amazing! Being a textile/fibers major makes this place even more fascinating... It is filled with craftspeople and beautiful things! (I have been sooo inspired to make new things!) Not to mention the super chill vibe and beautiful landscape- the historic area we are staying in is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is a peninsula at the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan Rivers, with green pointy mountains off in the distance. It's a great place to relax in the middle of our trip. So to celebrate this halfway point, I will share some previously unlisted highlights, plus some photos of Luang Prabang. Enjoy!

Photos in Luang Prabang: On the Mekong River.
And, woman weaving in a nearby village.