Montreal, Canada

I'm in Canada - did I mention that? But, in Montreal, and I'm pretty sure the entire province of Quebec, think they're a European country. I'll give you a clue...it starts with an 'F' and ends with 'rance'. For-The-Love. Not one sign for anything is in English. This is a first for me and I've been to a lot of places and seen a lot of signs. Unfortunately there is also a bit of 'tude going on here. Let me see if I can sum it up: irritable; I can't be bothered; just try and ask me for help; you obviously don't speak French; where the hell do you think you are, Canada?

Did I mention I'm in CANADA?

Ok, besides that, Montreal is a super cute city :) It was my cousin's birthday and I got spoiled. We stayed on the 32nd floor of the Sheraton downtown, overlooking the entire city. Hello - the bathroom had a hairdryer and room for dance lessons. (I'm so easily impressed these days - I mean if I don't have to share a bathroom with 10 others, I'm stoked) Anyway, we went to the BEST steakhouse for dinner...translated, it's called The Horse's Tail. I haven't had a steak since I left, so I totally indulged. That with a bottle of wine and a ridiculously decadent dessert and I was ready to be rolled out of the restaurant. But I pulled it together and we hit the happenin' part of town. My cousin and I showed our faces at a few hip spots before settling in to shake our groove thang at a multi level club. Good times with the family.

Ottawa, Canada

So did anyone catch the NHL pre-season Ottawa Senators vs. the Philadelphia Flyers game Wednesday night? Of course you did. So you must have seen me on TV - club level, center ice, 4 rows up from the penalty box...yeah, that was the top of my head! I had a little understanding of the game from last year, but watching it live was so fun! Hockey players are tough dudes. There were 3 pretty good fights...gloves off...helmets off...totally going for it. I think that's why people enjoy hockey, that and the body slamming into the boards, b/c trying to follow the puck, well that's just pointless.

My aunt and I are visiting my cousins for a long weekend in Ottawa. We're headed to Montreal for a few days. Better brush up on my French. I was totally surprised when driving over here from Toronto...it's absolutely beautiful. It reminds me of New England, lots of trees/forests..and the leaves are changing color, it's just stunning. Although it's the capital, it's a small town with a small town feel. Downtown is super cute, with tons of restaurants and shops, beautiful churches with turquoise domes, and their Parliament buildings could have been picked right out from London. Can you tell...I'm impressed. And I'm in Canada.

Toronto, Canada

Toronto is such a cool city - I never really had a chance to check it out. Every time I've been here, it's to spend a quick weekend with my family and all I see is the airport and the inside of my aunt's apartment. It's quite diverse and cosmopolitan, which makes for an easy re-entry back into the western world.

I rented a car when I got here and it's been nice having the freedom to roll wherever I want. Although I've been a little scared of driving. I really have a hard time with what side of the road other cars are coming from, what side I should be on, can I turn left on red...you know, the usual concerns. But I'm managing :)

The highlight for me was seeing my sister! My parents and sister came to Toronto for the weekend to celebrate my birthday. We had family and friends over for dinner and they wanted a run down of what I've been doing for the last 8 months. No small task let me tell you. So I started off in New Zealand and worked my way through Turkey. I think I spoke for an hour (or so it felt). It was humbling, yet again, to reminisce on the things I've done, places I've been and people I've met. I'll never stop feeling how lucky I am.

Overall I've been chilling...my aunt and I laugh until we cry pretty much everyday - we don't even have to say anything! We're headed to Ottowa tomorrow to visit my cousin and his fam and then I'm off to Vancouver for 2-3 weeks. My oldest friend, I've known him for 20 years (!) will be in Van as well and I can't wait to catch up with him.

It's been months, but my US cell phone is back in working order! This is huge for me b/c I've had about 10 phone numbers over the last 7 months. I got a new sim card in almost every country which means that my number changed constantly. Yet another step closer to being back home.

Westward Bound

Even though I won't be back in California for several weeks, I still feel like I'm coming home. My extended family is in Canada and I'm really looking forward to be pampered and looked after for a bit :) Plus my sister and parents will be here to celebrate my b-day next weekend, and I can't wait to see them. I flew straight from Istanbul to JFK on Tuesday. I thought I would be more emotional about leaving Turkey, because I really did fall in love with the country, but when the customs officer in NY said 'welcome home', I almost cried. I've found that my 'special traveler' status is gone...when you're traveling the world everyone wants to talk to you, find out where you're from and where you've been. But in America (and I'm assuming in Canada as well) I'm just another American traveler. No one wants to hear my story or talk to me about my adventures. But I know that all of you will be anxiously awaiting... :)

I can't believe that my travels are coming to an end. I have had the most amazing journey - I am grateful everyday for this experience. I still feel so lucky and humbled most days. And the best part is that I've finally found who I really am - and man, I am so cool :)

So, I'll be in Toronto for a few weeks. My Internet access is limited, so the blogging will be minimal. Plus all I'll be doing is eating and drinking more chai with my aunt. Not a bad way to live :)

Istanbul

Back in İstanbul after a RIDICULOUS bus journey. I started in Savur on Sunday a 10am and took a 1 hour minibus ride to Mardin. Of course I hadn't planned out my journey and I was just hoping that there would be a bus to Istanbul...and wouldn't you know it - there is. I was supposed to leave at 1pm but the bus was late and we left at 2pm. After stopping, oh I don't know, somewhere in the range of 7 times in an hour, we filled the bus and we're off. I already understood that the trip would be 18-21 hours and I'm ok with this b/c I really have nothing but time. So we start late, no problem; we stop frequently, also no problem; but then one of our drivers (we have 2 and 3 flight attendants) gets into a fight with one of the passengers - ok, small problem. Actually I have no idea what happened, but it was 7am and we are close to Istanbul and all hell breaks out at this bus stop.The next thing İ see is the passenger running after the driver with an orange construction cone...İ should have taped it b/c İ would have won the $10K prize from America's Funniest Home Video. Holy shit, I'm still laughing.

But what's not funny is that this spectacle adds at least an hour onto my journey. I get into the Istanbul bus station or rather JFK airport around 12pm. The bus station is crazy - there are least 150 platforms with buses coming and going from every direction. Did İ mention pedestrians do not have the right of way here? Yeah, good to know.

3 more buses and 2 hours later, I am back in Istinye with Sercan and Jim. Tıme passes easily with these two and we are constantly laughing, talking, sharing... they have become my dear frıends, and the next thing you know another week ın Istanbul has passed. I am headed to Edirne tomorrow for a few days, and, get ready for this...I'm crossing the pond on Tuesday and headed to Toronto for a month ın Canada. When I bought my ticket, I thought I would have been a little more emotional about ıt, but surprisingly, I wasn't. What really choked me was the price of the ticket.

I'm on my way...

Mt. Nemrut, Mardin, Savur

I just came back from a week in Eastern Turkey and it was absolutely stunning. I was quite surprised to hear warnings from many western Turks about traveling to the East alone. But all the other travelers that I spoke with, said that the east is not to be missed. I started in Mt. Nemrut from Capadoccia, a 12 hour bus ride. I tell you, I'd take a 12 hour bus ride in Turkey over an hour in an Indian bus any day. They have bus attendants, similar to flight attendants that serve beverages, cake and ice cream! But my ride did suck because I had to sit in the jump seat next to the driver for almost the entire overnight journey. So I got to Khata and was totally jacked. I stayed in a little village called Karadut about 12km from the top of Nemrut. The pension owner told me to find the Karadut Market and talk to Mustafa and he'll help me get a minibus (this is the local transport) to Karadut. Ok, so İ'm a little nervous and skeptical about this, but quickly realize that this is the old me thinking. İ consciously change my energy and wouldn't you know, I meet Mustafa right away and end up having breakfast with him and his son at the shop. We took a ton of pictures and he gave me the shop address so I can mail them to him. İ am constantly amazed at what happens when İ stop to think about the energy that I put out into the world. It doesn't happen like a wish, but rather, it is something that İ truly feel in my heart. Sometimes İ think that İ'm thinking positively, only to realize that my thought is really negative and İ'm just 'hoping' things will work out. Funny how life has a way of discerning these things.

So, Mt. Nemrut has these massive statues at the top of the mountain, but the heads have fallen off and now they sit at the feet of their bodies. İ didn't get many pictures b/c the batteries in my - camera died - damn it. But İ did watch an amazing sunset in the desert.

From Mt. Nemrut I headed southeast, I think I was 70km from the Syrian border, to Mardin. What an amazing little town. Kurds, Turks, Arabs and Christians all live peacefully in this beautiful place. For 2 days I sat in a chai shop and looked out at the honey colored desert that stretched to Syria. It was a surreal experience...the desert is mesmerizing.

One more minibus ride and İ was in the sweet town of Savur. İ splurged on a place to stay b/c it had an amazing view of the valley below. There is a river that runs through the valley, but you can't see it because of the trees that grow around it. So from my perch all you see is a river of green snaking through the mountains. The town is smaller than Mardin and they don't see many tourists, especially women travelling alone. But after being stared at for a good long while (İ have just come to accept this - with my big sunglasses, short hair, height.. and lets face it, İ'm damn cute, well: people stare), İ was welcomed into every tea shop. The family İ stayed with treated me like a long lost relative and it was good to be looked after for a night. And let me tell you, İ needed a good night's sleep because İ was about to embark on an epic bus journey that would last 30 hours....

Capadoccıa

I've been having a bout of writers block about Capadoccia. I don't know why...I think it's because I've had a travel partner for the last 10 days. And instead of talking to you, I've been talking to him. But we parted ways in Goreme and I was more emotional than I thought I would be. It just came to be that we traveled for so long together, but I think that's why it worked, because it was easy. In my mind I thought that it would be good to do the last bit of traveling alone, but along with the rest of my planning, that didn't happen. Almost the entire time I've been in Turkey, I've been with other travelers. Sometimes I would insta-bond just because they were from California or the States or just spoke English! Only to find out that our travel styles, outlook on life, perspective on reality was different, so after an hour or a day, we'd part ways. As you know it's hard to travel with someone 24/7 and really hard when you don't know the person. So I consider myself lucky to have made a new friend and even luckier that Josh and I had such a great time exploring Turkey together... sometimes it's nice not being the driver and the navigator. So thanks, Josh, for helping me find the words when my English was limited, for listening to my crazy stories, for making great Nescafe, for calling me a hippie and for sometimes being the driver and sometimes being the navigator.

So, Capadoccia! What a fairy tale of a place. This is an area of crazy rock formations, some look like melting ice cream with caves and carvings (have you ever seen any of Gaudi's work? Look him up, check out the buildings in Barcelona), some like giant penis' (is that the plural? when have i ever had to type that word), some like mushrooms. It's unreal. We stayed in Goreme, which is a great town that blends old village with modern tourism, at the Flintstones. Yes, in a cave! It was so cool. We had tea in a tea garden where the same groups of old men gather to place backgammon and drink endless cups of tea. Oh, speaking of, I must drink like 7 cups a day, they're so small and cute, and it's such an easy thing to stop and do when your tired of cruising around. Anyway, we did an all-day tour which was fantastic except for the obligatory stop at the onyx factory. I swear, anything to get you to buy something.

I left on the overnight train to Mt. Nemrut and Josh is now sleeping in his own bed in San Francisco, I'm so jealous.