NYE in Paris

I am hoping to make it a second consecutive NYE without a fainting episode similar to my first NYE in Ghana. You know what I'm talking about.

My time in France has been absolutely incredible. It may not prepare me for the squalor of the rest of my trip as I have been filling up on champagne, foie gras and fine cheeses (thank you Jonathan and Annie). An incredible Christmas morning with stockings, fireplace and all was followed up with a seven course meal (photos are needed to give an idea). Too much wine at a game night on boxing day left me useless but content on the 27th.

My dad and I have since been to La Rochelle, Bordeaux and are now back up north in Paris. We have been a bit lost in each place but keep each other in good moods. We balance each other well. I like getting lost and then figuring it out. He does not like getting lost. I don't like spending money and will walk miles to avoid it. He doesn't mind spending money (works for both of us). We both like to eat and explore and can laugh at ourselves and at one another.

Tonight we have some NYE plans to figure out. The Eiffel tower will put on some sort of first ever light show that we hope to check out. Dad will leave early on the 2nd and I will kill a few days in Paris , hopefully picking up my passport from the VERY expensive Indian Visa office.

I am having a great time but am currently stealing wifi from a restaurant (and my food just arrived).

Love to all and happy new year!!

Merry Christmas from France!!!

All is great here. Great food and great company in a beautiful home in Saxan France.

Love to all and happy holidays!!

Through the Chunnel

My time in London was brief, rainy and cold. I stayed with a friend from San Francisco for my first night in town but due to prior engagements and schedules had to make it to a hostel for night two.

Though I managed some of my typical wandering, the cost of the tube and food was enough to keep me indoors much of the time. I have a strict mental budget and after my phone crapped out (a new phone with 10 pounds of credit was only 14 pounds!!) and I ate a basic meal, I was quickly reaching my limit.

The pace, price and left-side drivers gave me my most intense culture shock to date. I spent much of the day playing FIFA 2010 on Playstation 3. A nice relaxing day before heading to my hostel on the tube. A bite to eat, a televised football match and some chats with travelers brought me to a 10:30pm bedtime with snow flurries outside. At 2:30am I woke for the last time (many other travelers were in and out of the room through the night) and donned my excess baggage for my trip to Luton airport. When buying my ticket for the tube earlier in the day, I was told that I could use it all day, up through 3am. With my trip planned, I walked past many boisterous, stumblingly drunk groups on my way to the closed station. Panicked, I took a taxi through the snow to a bus station, hoping to make it in time for my 6am flight.

I arrived at the station and was told that no buses went from there to Luton. I was assured that no buses were going to Luton and that no flights were leaving Luton. I was sitting on the bus terminal floor at 3am with no idea how I would get to Paris. Some calls and texts home calmed me and as I ran out of phone credit, I found that I could get a 10 hour bus to Paris at 9am.

Rather than sit idle, I walked to the ATM and the Victoria Station in order to check my options. Lugging my bags, I walked through the early morning snow (still pretty great for this beach dwelling Californian) and sat at the station for a while before learning my best option.

A short bus ride later, I bought an overpriced but happily purchased Eurostar ticket to Paris. Guided by the bus schedule, little sleep and my Ghana travels, I thought that the 10:17 travel time meant that my 6:55am train would arrive just after 5pm. I made the appropriate calls and was pleased to arrive in Paris just after 10:30am.

I found the hotel, dropped my luggage and lounged until my Dad arrived a few hours later. BBC news was the only English language channel and went on and on about the terrible weather hitting the UK and France.

Today, after a long walk through Paris with my Dad, he and I saw on BBC that four Eurostar trains left London and were trapped in the chunnel for up to 15 hours. Though I felt very unlucky and put out at times, I kept high spirits, good humor and in the end lucked out!

Love to all

Fellow travelers

Though it isn't the peak season for tourism, I have met a good number of fellow travelers. Perhaps because it isn't the peak season, I have met some very dedicated and very experienced travelers.

In Cappadocia I met a trio (Swiss male 60s, Swiss male 28, Swedish female 30s) as the took a respite from their Switzerland to Nepal bicycle trip. The 28 year old spend 2 months cycling through Pakistan last year and told me that cycling is just a better way to travel and that he didn't take more than one long ride a week when at home.

I chatted with a Kiwi jiu-jitsu/mui thai fighting 32 year old chef who works long enough to fund his next trip.

Two Indian men came through individually and were constantly on the go. They were either touring, eating, sleeping or preparing the next stage of their travel.

I briefly met a sketchy Moroccan man. He hung around the hostel all day. When two travelers noticed money missing, new arrivals from Istanbul mentioned a similar situation at their hostel and one tenant in common. The man promptly left.

I went on a few nice hikes with a Polish-American statistician who grew up all over. Sometimes thinking in odds and percentages doesn't translate well to hiking. After losing a path, we saw a familiar landmark across a steep valley and kept deciding that we could probably make it down one way or most likely get down another way. We definitely ran into a lot of dead ends, one of which was a 20 foot drop that we noticed after sliding down steep declines on our butts. We tried and failed to get out by several routes and as the sun was setting, the temperature was dropping and our fears were quıckly mounting, we managed to shimmy up with backs literally pressed against one wall and feet straight out ahead. Nice now, not then.

On a paid tour of an ancient underground city (7,000 years old?) and various valleys, I latched on to a group of bonded solo travelers. A history academiad re-thinking his goals (but offering great info. on the surrounds), an ecologist between jobs in Switzerland and New Mexico/Argentina, a USC film school grad recently off his first feature as a cinematographer, and finally a lone Swede among Americans a year out of high school, headed south through Syria, Jordan, Iran and maybe a few other places it's easier to go without stars and stripes on your passport.

After the paid tour, the history buff went back to a Bulgarian fellowship, the Swede continued south and I joined the other two for a morning trip to Konya.

Fighting a fever and soar throat, I endured the cold as the three of us wandered Konya, visited great museums and enjoyed a non-touristy destination. We intended to leave for Antalya the same day we arrived but just before leaving for the 5pm bus, we learned that it was the second day of the 736th annual Mevlana Festival. We wandered a bit more before managing to get tickets and hole up in a warm place for a few hours before the 8pm show. Almost as entertaining as the event was the crowd. Full rows of old mustachioed Turkish men would sit in front of full rows of old Turkish women with colorful scarves, colorful (though different from the scarves) sweaters and yet more (still different) colorful trousers.

The Whirling Dervishes that we saw were absolutely mesmerizing and much more somber than I expected. The hats they wear represent the tombstone and their clothing the shroud.

Gettıng here

I am now ın Cappadocıa and realıze that much of the journey has been based on feel. Istanbul was one of the cheapest locatıons from Accra and I have always heard great thıngs so I bought the tıcket.

The day I pıcked up my tıcket ın Accra I mentıoned ıt to a frıend ın the Peace Corps computer room. A dıfferent volunteer overheard the conversatıon and told me about hıs 3 months ın Turkey and saıd that Cappadocıa ıs an absolute must see.

After a few days ın Istanbul, I felt that I had seen the sıghts and had enough of the pushy rug and leather merchants (though I had nıce chats over tea wıth a few) so I bought an overnıght tıcket to Cappadocıa.

I left last nıght at 7pm on a shuttle. I got to the bus and was blown away. West Afrıcan travel really has set me up perfectly for thıs round the world journey. The temperature was perfect, despıte the outsıde temperature of -2c at certaın poınts. My seat reclıned and the seat ın front of me had a cup holder and a footrest for my use. The seat next to me was empty for the entıre trıp!! I have traveled 16 hours ın Ghana luxury buses only to cover a bıt less than half of the dıstance we covered last nıght ın 12 hours. Other passengers complaıned about havıng Turkısh news playıng on a televısıon screen. No problem.

When I got off of the bus thıs mornıng I was ın a faıry tale. Cappadocıa ıs an area wıth ıncredıble hıstory. Tools and ormaments from the neolıthıc era have been found. The Hattı, Hıttıtes, Persıans, Arıanthes, Romans, Chrıstıans, Seljuks and Ottomans have all settled here at one poınt or another. The regıon was covered after a volcanıc eruptıon 3-9 mıllıon years ago and due to erosıon and development, the landscape has come to consıst of hundreds of natural pıllar shaped rock formatıons.

I am now stayıng ın a hostel that has been burrowed ınto rock. My walls and ceılıng are stone. I went on a 3 hour hıke wıth a fellow yankee (an aussıe and a canadıan joıned for part) to one of the closest spectacles. I am not sure how long I wıll stay but ıt has been great so far. See for yourselves.







Love to all