Turkey - Day 1

Hi from Kusadasi, Turkey! I've been here most of the day and I have to say, I love it!!!!!! My whole trip so far has been better than expected! Pics will have to wait till I get home. Oh, also, on Monday I had no voice at all! I lost it completely so it’s slowly coming back, tomorrow it should be ok.

I left on the ferry yesterday to Syros. Syros (main town) was beautiful and has Italian and Greek architecture cascading down it's hills. Then I took the night ferry to Vathi, Samos and it arrived late thank goodness or else I would have arrived at 4:40am but instead, it was at a manageable 6am. Vathi was surprisingly beautiful too, also with some Italian architecture. I explored and hung out for a few hours and caught the 1.5 hour ferry to Kusadasi. The ride was so nice, the ferry is very small and has a rooftop deck, so we all suntanned the whole way there.

When I got to Kusadasi, it was a little overwhelming. It was bigger than I expected and the man that was supposed to meet me from my pension wasn't around so I decided to walk there and try to find it. As I was walking, I heard my name being yelled across the street and it was him. He put me in a paid taxi which dropped me off near the pension but not close enough for me to see it so I was a little freaked when the taxi left and I had no clue where I was (the taxi driver didn’t speak English). I found it though because I ended up seeing signs pointing in it's direction.

The owners of this place (Anzac Golden Bed Pension) are a married couple; he's Turkish, she's Australian and they are both really nice and helpful. When I arrived, I had booked a 3 person dorm but since I was the only one in the dorm, they gave me my own room! It has a great view over all of Kusadası (the pension’s on a hill).

After I got settled and had a nap, I headed out with a map and got orientated. There are a ton of shops, bazaars, and restaurants. People tried to get me to buy from their store but not obnoxiously. They are quite polite. I ended up talking with 2 guys who worked in adjoining stores and they offered me Turkish and apple tea and we all had a seat and just talked. I've read about Turkish people doıng thıs (offering tea and just wanting to talk without expecting you to buy anythıng from them) so I dıdn't thınk ıt was too weird. There names were Bülent and Mumer.

Mumer showed me his carpet store and told me about some of them. They were very expensive! There were some made from pure sılk and even one, the sıze of a face towel, was about 8000 euro!! It was interesting! Next, I checked out Bülent's store and ended up finding the cutest pair designer knock-off jeans and a zıp up sweater (thıngs I really needed) . It's interesting though because he dıdn't force me ınto buying anything whıch you'd thınk would happen after you get offered something lıke tea. That's just how they are, very generous and frıendly.

I had a bıte to eat next at a place called Avlu and the owner was very friendly and chatted to me while I ate and gave me some Turkish tea at the end. The Turkish tea (which is black tea) and the apple tea comes in these little pear shaped glasses wıth a mını spoon and 2 sugar cubs on the sıde. It's yummy.

Later, I walked to Pigeon Island and then back to the pension where I am now and I'll go to bed soon and go to Ephesus tomorrow.

M