Welcome to my latest blog
It’s been two months since I last wrote. At that time, I was
just about to leave Tbilisi in Georgia.
When I made my plans earlier this year, Georgia looked like
it might be less likely to be impacted by extreme heat. Similarly, Turkey in
the northern area by the Black Sea looked cooler than in the south. Although
these places were hot at times, it turned out to be a better spot to be in late
July & August.
Malta had got very hot after I had left there in late July
& Morocco had some places reaching 50 degrees in August, so overall, I have
been out of the worst areas. I will write more about climate, soon, but first a
recap on my journey so far.
After leaving Tbilisi, I travelled to Borjomi, a resort town
in Georgia. I found a place to stay there which was an old house with so much character
& beautiful nature all around. It is a nice town to spend a couple of days.
There was a rain storm while I was there, which cooled things down. It is a
location I recommend as a place to relax & read.
From Borjomi, I got another minivan across to Batumi, also in
Georgia, on the Black Sea. Batumi is right next to the border with Turkey. It
is quite a big city with massive building projects underway. Many older areas
but also much new development. I only stayed one night, as I had already made
plans for Turkey with bookings and flight plans.
Being around the Black Sea, it often does make you think of
the war between Russia & Ukraine raging up in the north, and also wondering
how safe this region would be if the war got worse.
My return to Turkey was crossing at the border which was a
challenge for sure. Getting to the border in a mini van was not so difficult,
but getting across the border was the most unsafe I have ever seen. Hundreds of
people cramming into a hallway to exit Georgia & an even worse arrangement in
the hall area to enter Turkey. A very dangerous situation with people pushing
each other and no security managing the crowds. I got through alive, but this
could have gone so badly. Apparently, this border crossing has become much
busier since the Russian Ukraine war. Just as 600,000 Russians have entered
Georgia since the war began, equally many Russians heading to Turkey in search
of work & security or to avoid conscription.
It felt good to be back in Turkey as I had enjoyed my week
in Istanbul the month before and was pleased to be returning. I had originally
planned to do the train trip back to Istanbul, but I also wanted to see locations
in Turkey on the Black Sea. From there it looked easier to bus to Istanbul than
head south to catch the train and then when I saw that I could fly from Trabzon
to Istanbul for the same price as the bus and do it in an hour or so rather
than 24 hours, the decision was made.
So, from the border crossing, I found a mini bus going to
Trabzon, a Turkish city on the Black Sea, about a 2-hour journey. The driver
was a good guy who spoke reasonable English. When I told him I was from New
Zealand, he smiled and told me he liked the ‘President’ of NZ. She is good lady
he said. Whenever I am in countries with large Muslim populations, it feels
right to mention my NZ identity. While I am Australian citizen too, the New Zealand
identity feels the important one to share. Many Muslims I meet know of NZ because
of the massacres at the mosques & of the clear response by government &
people to support Muslim people and stand firm against hatred.
Trabzon turned out to be a brilliant place to stay. I had
seen two sites on the internet that I had to see. There is a monastery built
into the side of a cliff and a mosque which sits by a small lake (see pictures
below), so that was my motivation to visit. I had an air bnb with a local
family. The mother was very kind, spoke no English, and there was no internet
for translating, but she plied me with wonderful lashings of Turkish tea &
nice food. I travelled to the monastery at Sumela on a day tour & met some
good people, one of whom spoke English, so we now keep in touch which is great.
The day tour included visits to many other sites, but visiting the monastery
was the highlight. The next day I caught a local bus to Uzungol where a mosque
sits by a beautiful lake. I was surprised to be almost the only foreigner on
these journeys, but I actually kind of like that, as it increases my experience
of difference, and that’s a lot of what makes traveling so enjoyable.
Trabzon is a good city to visit. Lots of shops and things to
see & buy, but not too complicated.
After a few days, I flew from Trabzon to Istanbul. A fairly
straight forward journey & great to be returning to a big city like
Istanbul, and actually knowing many locations by now.
Being back in Istanbul, I stayed at the same guesthouse as
previously, in fact in the same room. Weather was still quite hot but in the
ten days I was there at the end of August & beginning of September, weather
was shifting from hot to not so hot. And at night I could sleep with the window
open & the night air cooled things down. My second visit to Istanbul on
this year’s travels was even better than the first. Not all Turkish people
speak English, but many do & many are just keen to welcome you. People talk
of being hassled in the Grand Bazaar & that’s fairly true, but if you visit
other places, you tend to be given space. There are many cafes everywhere selling
Turkish tea and there are monster mosques everywhere! Its incredible. One
afternoon, as my confidence grew, I got a bit lost, so jumped on a ferry not
knowing its destination. I ended up in this area where people visit a tomb of a
Sultan and other important people of Muslim history. Once again, the only
foreigner as far as I could tell, certainly westerner, but as long as you show
respect & friendship, you get that in return. I really got a sense in
Istanbul, that as a society, Turkish people take care of each other. Older
people are respected too. I have noticed this in Morocco too. In Turkey, I
found there was an openness about visiting mosques for foreigners except Haglia
Sofia in Istanbul, which has been turned back into a mosque from a museum. Turkish
friends explained to me that Islam is being used by the current leader to keep
& build his power, by turning museums back into mosques & other actions
that show his commitment to the religion. Fortunately, as Turkey celebrates 100
years this year as a republic, huge respect continues for Ataturk & how he
created a separation between religion & state.
After my return to Istanbul, it was time to return to Malta.
I flew September 6 via Budapest & then stayed with my mate Raff for 3 more
weeks. Most of the time I was there, the weather was still warm so I enjoyed
morning & afternoon swims most days but in the first & last weeks there, big storms roughed up
the Mediterranean. The same storms that did massive damage in Greece & then
the disaster with dam collapses in Libya with massive loss of life. There were
two more visits to the lovely island of Gozo, sister island to Malta.
Being from New Zealand – Australia region, Schengen rules
allow me to be in the Euro zone three out of six months, so it was time to head
to a non-Schengen country again. So back to Morocco I travelled on September
29. I have been staying here since then and am staying a month in Chefchaouen
at the same place I stayed in May-June. Chefchaouen is a small city on the side
of the Rif Mountains. In the north of Morocco, about half way between Fes and
Tangier. I was due to fly from Malta via Valencia in Spain to Tangier, but a
delayed flight from Malta meant I missed the connecting flight. I was extremely
lucky to find another cheap flight to Fes. It meant waiting quite a few hours
at the airport in Valencia, but I still got to Morocco that day, had a place to
stay that night in Fes & the next morning caught the bus to Chefchaouen.
Here in Chefchaouen I have been enjoying the warm weather
until the last couple of days. Now things have cooled down a bit and there has
been lots of rain, the first this area has seen in months. I have been enjoying
the chance to rest, read & explore.
I have another week here in Chefchaouen then will head via
Tangier next weekend down to Marrakesh for a few days. From there I will fly up
to Berlin to visit a friend who I stayed with there in 1999! Then I will travel
back to Malta via Venice, Florence, Pisa. A couple more weeks back in Malta, then
Raff & I will travel to Athens for a few days then back to Sydney via
Singapore. All plotted & planned as well as I can.
It’s been a great year of seeing some new locations, meeting
people many from places that I had not before. Especially in Istanbul where I managed
to meet someone from every ‘stan’ country I think 😊
This blog is long enough to post. I was going to write more
about Climate Change and the current conflict in Israel- Palestine, but I will
do that in the next blog.
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