In my last blog, back in May, my final words were that I would be back writing in a day or two.
I have now come to realise that I jinx myself when I say such things!
Here we are in August and I'm finally writing my next update!
So, quite a few things have happened since then and I have visited many places.
A quick recap on some of the places I have been:
I stayed in Morocco for just over two months. Tangier for one month. Chefchauen one month. I then travelled to Fes, where I stayed a couple of days and then flew to Marseille and from there back to Malta.
Because I had decided to take a whole year off work, my travel choices have needed to be different. To keep things in budget. Like staying in Morocco, Turkey or Georgia more than Europe where for example a monthly rental in Amsterdam will cost 2000 Euro plus. In Morocco, I found places for just over 200 Euro. That was why I took a monthly rental in Tangier and a monthly rental in Chefchauen. By taking such longer time at one location, I was able to get a very good price.
But of course, there are positives and negatives with all decisions we make.
When you are a tourist moving quickly from one place to another, you are often in the space of the spectacle, the grandeur and the amazing sights.
When you stay in one location for longer, you are more likely to see the real lives of people. And the issues going on in the city. As well as that, over a period of several months many issues need dealing with no matter where you are. A one- or two-week holiday is like a big spend up, but a year of traveling requires living more like a local.
Morocco is a fairly poor country and as soon as you leave the tourist areas, food is very affordable & tasty. While I was in Chefchauen, I had two different places that I would go for breakfast & another for dinner. And the prices of local food was very good. I could get a breakfast for between 1 & 2 Euro. Tajines I could get for 1 Euro. I like the tajines! And the pastries in Morocco are definitely a legacy of French influence, except the prices are not ridiculous like in Paris. And the hill climbing helps burn off those carbs!
I stayed in Morocco long enough for the weather to change from winter to summer.
Staying in Riads usually means limited options for cooking, but I did buy a kettle and such things. I got to meet a few other travellers and locals who I now have as long-term friends. You become more aware of things going on in a town as you stay in one place for longer. Sometimes you get bored, because its like living anywhere. No regrets though.
While I stayed in Tangier for one month, I had lots of time to read. This was one of my priorities for 2023. I ended up reading several books on Tangier & Morocco especially about the international city period of Tangier between 1930 & mid 1950s. That period is now a memory, but walking around the city & exploring locations mentioned in the books is interesting. There certainly was a lot that happened in Tangier, both progressive & interesting during that period. And also, many stories of survival by Moroccans during a difficult time in history. I read two books by Mohammed Choukri, one of the first Moroccan writers, who lived on the streets & survived any way he could.
In Chefchauen I got to do lots of good walking including hill climbs, but the same applies to Tangier. In Chefchauen I got to read two books on world history, a fantastic achievement, something that I had wanted to do for over two decades. Now I know lots of history, but of course with so many periods & names of civilisations, a certain jumbled up tendency does occur!
I travelled down to Fes at the end of June for a day or two. I find Fes a stressful place, easy to get lost & easy to get taken advantage of. The day I flew out the weather had jumped to 42 celsius. Summer had arrived with a hit. Waiting on the tarmac to enter the plane was hot!
From there I flew to Marseille and had an air bnb near Aubagne. It was hot there, but I got to see some good sights. One day I found buses to go to Provence & explored the old part of the city. Highlights of my weekend in France were the swimming pool where I stayed & the cheeses, breads & tomatoes of the region. Just delicious. The weekend in Provence was a way to get back to Malta & get good prices on flights. Not so many places have direct flights with Malta, so by flying through another spot, gives a chance to explore a new spot.
I had a few hours to explore Marseille before my flight back to Malta, where I once again stayed with my mate Raff.
There are not so many beaches in Malta near Raff's place but there are ladders in many spots to the water, so many locals & tourists find different spots to swim. The Mediterranean is quite salty which makes it easier to float. Things were heating up in Malta (but it got worse during the recent heatwaves) so I would go for a morning walk before it got too hot. Upon returning to Raff’s, I would then head across the road & swim in the sea. Then buy our pastizzis which go down nicely with coffee 😊 A late afternoon swim was always nice too. Raff & I had a great day touring Gozo, the sister island of Malta where Maltese American friend & tour guide Diane lives.
As I write this, I am just at the end of a month in Tbilisi, Georgia.
To get here I flew from Malta to Nis, Serbia, then bussed across to Sofia, down to Istanbul & then flew Istanbul to Tbilisi. I had 2 nights in Nis, a place I had never heard of. There was a beautiful church & mosque to view. And fortifications to the times of wars between Serbia & Ottomans. In the afternoon I visited a Nazi concentration camp museum just up the road from where I was staying. The hotel I stayed in Nis was close to the city centre & the bus station, so many logistics to consider when planning trips!
The bus to Sofia was either a 4.30am or 4.30pm option. Don’t like arriving late if that can be avoided & often it can be an issue with checking in. The border crossing by bus is much more interesting than arriving by plane. Often cars & bus loads must wait hours. We got into Bulgaria after 30- or 40-minutes wait with some strange immigration staff questions. Showing a New Zealand passport often confuses so many and I often see staff consulting others to determine visa issues: Why are you here? Tourist on way to Istanbul. Where will you go in Sofia? To visit big church in city centre. Which church? Lol!
Anyhoo, arriving in Sofia was good. The place was very hot where I stayed but I got to see lots of Sofia over my two days there. Sofia has some amazing buildings & sights to see but my favourite is the art museum beneath the main cathedral in Sofia.
There is a seriousness to Serbia, Bulgaria & here in Georgia. Many have tough lives. You can make friends with some people, but others are very cautious. Grim. Can’t work out if this stuff predates Soviet era or a response to those challenges, but no matter how friendly or appreciative you are to some people, there is no friendliness back. Kind of strange when this issue is such a big one in shops in western countries. It does make you more inward & self-reliant & less keen to make contact with others.
But I have not mentioned Istanbul!
The bus trip from Sofia to Istanbul was eight or nine hours but I had some good music to listen to and enjoyed meeting a guy of Palestinian background, born in Germany, raised in Sweden, studying medicine in Bulgaria, off to Istanbul to catch flight to Lebanon to visit family. Talk about interesting lives!
Arriving in Istanbul was mega. I had been here in 2017 but had found the place a bit too crowded. It is 15-25,000,000 after all. There is something great about a second visit to a place. You already know a thing or two and that always helps. The first night I had found a backpackers. It advertised itself as individual rooms, which was absolutely not the situation at all! But the good thing was to meet a Pakistani guy who is doing business studies in Istanbul. Lights did not go out until 2am, so we talked about world issues, poverty, racism, extremism within left & right ideologies.
The next day I went off to a booking which sounded too good to be true and that turned out to be the case, but was offered a place in a guesthouse for 15 Euro a night and that worked out to be fine. I had air con & own bathroom and had views of the Bosphorus from my window. I love exploring Istanbul. The mosques are everywhere and the history too. It was fairly hot in Istanbul so there was a lot of strategising on where to go and at what time. Finding some air con along the way was always good. I loved the street food especially corn on cob and getting americano at Starbucks with ice definitely helped. While there is a lot of business going on in Istanbul, the people are generally friendly & respectful, especially if you operate that way yourself.
My flight from Istanbul to Tbilisi was late at night leaving midnight arriving 3am. Highlights of my time here have been exploring the tourist area which has some amazing old churches and fortifications. On Friday I took a tour to Kazbegi with the highest church in the world, very close to the border with Russia.
The war has meant that hundreds of thousands of Russians have moved to Georgia in the last year. There is a big wealth extreme in this country. Seniors get a pension of just 200 Lari a month which is like 65 Euro. Fruit & vegetables are cheap & plentiful & delicious, but many other things cost the same as any other country. I met a person working at a local supermarket working an 11-hour shift & getting just 13 Euro for the whole shift! You see lots of expensive cars, but when you see people on the streets, it is obvious that there is much hardship. So many people look poor, there is much struggle & challenge. Grim is the word.
The metro built by the Soviets goes from one end of Tbilisi to the other, very fast & if you can get a seat you can relax. I often go to Station Square which has a huge clothing market & hundreds of people selling fruits & vegetables. I buy an iced coffee most days and head to a park. My other favourite area besides the old tourist area, is Akhmeteli Theatre Station where there are also lots of markets. Go to these places and you get a sense of how life is for the average Georgian.
I think the story of racism has confused a lot of people with this idea that the gulf in prosperity & wealth is simply race based. As we all know, not all white people have the same amount of money, but we do know that many extremes of poverty happen for people of colour especially in Africa & Latin America. Coming to Eastern Europe is a real eye opener to see how many Europeans experience hardship too.
Where I have been staying in Tbilisi is managed by a Georgian guy who is disabled from the Georgian Russian war. But he has been living in Russia for the last decade or so and has many Russians visiting. Most do not speak English, but I have met a few who do and with others we have used the translator. There are mixed views about the war & who is right or wrong. One person mentioned that Putin was a very different leader 10 or 15 years ago. Others have said that the issues are complex with different groups identifying with different nations. One thing is clear: war is not the answer. We need leaders to come to the table and talk this out & find a solution. Guns & bombs are a historic way. Humans must evolve to a higher state of education where reason prevails. Right now, so many are motivated by thuggery. A Russian woman I spoke to the other day said her country needs a woman leader. Great idea! Same with Ukraine. No more war!
From Tbilisi I go to Borjomi a town in Georgia with thermal baths, hopefully not as hot as the ones here in Tbilisi! From there I am heading over to Batumi by the Black Sea on Wednesday. Then on Thursday I head back into Turkey to Trabzon where I hope to visit a beautiful monastery & also a mosque by a lake. From there a flight back to Istanbul, then a week there before heading back to Malta, staying once again with Raff.
As many know, this has been a shocking summer with all kinds of extremes happening all over the place. Heatwaves, fires, floods…About 25 people died in a landslide here in Georgia a week or two ago. Next blog I will attempt to write about this topic.
Wherever you are in the world, I wish you well until my next blog which may or may not happen soon :-)
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