Old City shutters

Old City shutters
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

Plovdiv

Plovdiv
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

Plovdiv, Bulgaria, a hilly old town riddled with a few Roman ruins. It is supposed to be Bulgaria's most appealing city according to the LP guide, but I'm leaving tomorrow. There are very nice modern pedestrian zones with cheap ice cream, pizza, and kebab stands (all about a dollar or less). The old city is on a hill with cobblestoned streets and crumbling old buildings being renovated with second floors that stick out (like in Damascus's old city). I did discover that things are cheaper here in Bulgaria than they are in Turkey, including digital cameras. Oh well.

Zdrasti from Bulgaria!

Yesterday, I ended up buying another digital camera (Canon's Powershot A430) for 176 Euros, or about $235, thanks to the devalued dollar. I ended up wandering around the same streets I explored three years ago when Kevin and were here. I ended up at the exact same spot in the spice bazaar (a photograph of that spot was on my wall in my apartment). If I stayed another day there, I would not see anything new, so I headed to the massive Otogar (bus station) in the morning and found a bus leaving for Bulgaria within the hour. It was a seven hour ride to Plovdiv, but it was nice and comfortable in the plush Mercedes coach. Even going through the passport control was a breeze (you just sit on the bus while immigration officers board the bus). We did deboard to get our passport stamps and for customs inspection. I smuggled 25 cigars into Bulgaria! A middle-aged man mumbled something and handed me a bag of cigars as we approached the customs inspection point -- I figured he wanted me claim the cigars he bought at the duty free zone were mine. No problem. The customs officer peered into my, then pulled out the cigars. He eyed me and said something in Bulgarian, and nodded his head in agreement to my fine tastes. Everyone laughed, and he moved on.
Almost all the signs in Bulgaria are in Cyrillic, the same letters used in Russia and other Slavic countries. A lot of the rusty and crumbling apartment buildings hail from the Soviet-influenced era, but there are stores selling new electronic gear and hip clothes. The roads are not as smooth as they were in Turkey, and the people have completely ignored, which is amazing. I'll see what the next few days bring.

Selimiye Mosque and the Golden Horn

Selimiye Mosque and the Golden Horn
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

Dining out

Dining out
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

I met three guys in my dorm at the Orient: Nicholas, Daniel, and Andreas (not shown). They had met at Istanbul's train station and I joined them for dinner and a wander through Istanbul at night. Nicholas and Andreas had were graduating from secondary school in a month and were wandering around Europe, getting into trouble, armed with only a backpack and a rail pass. They were Danes travelling as a Mexican and German to avoid hostilities in a Muslim country (ha,ha). Daniel had just used up his year-long working visa for the UK and was returning to New Zealand. The three of them had spent the day strolling around Istanbul drinking from bottles of Efes beer. It reminded me that I was no longer in the Middle East and I had arrived in Europe, where, like Southeast Asia, the backpackers were looking for a good time.

Aya Sofia Mosque

Aya Sofia Mosque
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

Constructed under Emperor Justinian in 532 AD, the Aya Sofia (Church of the Holy Wisdom), was the largest church for a thousand years...until the Ottomans came and converted it to a mosque. It sits across from the Blue Mosque.

Blue Mosque

Blue Mosque
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

Built in 1619, this beautiful mosque lies across from the Aya Sofia. The two of them combined make up the landmarks of this amazing city.

Streets in Sultanahmet

Streets in Sultanahmet
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

This is a street around the Topkapi Palace, home of the sultans during the Ottoman Empire, in Istanbul.

Touchdown Europa!

I made it across Asia minor to the European landmass this morning. It was a beautiful sunrise on the ferry coming to Istanbul. I took the overnight bus from Selçuk to Istanbul last night, and arrived tired and stumbling through Sultanahmet, the old city quarter of Istanbul. I passed by the Aya Sofia and the Blue Mosque like I was here yesterday and found myself a dorm bed at the Orient Youth Hostel. Within an hour I had traded for a Europe on a Shoestring LP book and crashed out for a nap.
Wandering around the city and seeing the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus, I realized it was too much to bear not having a good camera, so I think I will get ripped off today and buy another one.
This city is amazing with minarets filling the skyline and three bodies of water. Still, I think I will be headed to Bulgaria soon.

Basilica of St. John on Ayasuluk Hill

Basilica of St. John on Ayasuluk Hill
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

This is where St. John is buried. Somewhere in this field is the Temple of Artemis and its one remaining column. It is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World that remains.

Roman show

Roman show
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

The cruise tours brought a show with them with music, costumes, gladidator fight, and the sentencing of a slave.

Hordes of tourists descend

Hordes of tourists descend
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

I was enjoying the lack of tourists at Ephesus for about ten minutes until I looked up hill and saw this mess. Most of them were from cruiseboats that harbored in nearby Kuşadasi.

Celsus Library

Celsus Library
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

This beautiful structure housed a library.

Theatre at Ephesus

Theatre at Ephesus
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

My Canon Powershot s410 died yesterday so I had to use my videocamcorder for taking photos. The ruins (yes, more ruins) of the city of Ephesus are only two kilometers from Selçuk. Built around the 1st century AD, it was supposed to be second to Athens in beauty. It is a famous Christian site as St. Paul prosetlyzed here (his Letters to Ephesians).

Ölüdeniz's beach

Ölüdeniz's beach
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

The water was a powdery blue and there was some sand mixed with pebbles. I never even went in because the hotel pool was so nice and devoid of people. From Ölüdeniz you can take a boat to Butterfly Valley, a backpacker haven, but I couldn't be bothered to leave the hotel nor it's buffet table.

Blue Lagoon Hotel in Ölüdeniz

Blue Lagoon Hotel in Ölüdeniz
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

After six days in Olympos, I headed west along the coast to Ölüdeniz, a package tourist destination (catering to mostly Germans and Brits as far as I could tell). Even the prices on signs were in British sterling.
Fortunately I was referred to this hotel by a German couple at the bus station. It was only $22 for an ensuite room with aircon, cable tv, and buffet breakfast and dinner. It was awesome. Even the booze at the bar was cheap (cheaper than Olympos).
Strangely, Hussein decided to come with me to Ölüdeniz which was a little awkward. I started getting flashbacks of that wierd Brit I met in Cairns 19 months ago. But I was only there for two days so I left him behind.