Art in everything

It was a long day to wait for this 11pm overnight train back to Oslo but at least I didn't need to book a room which was the whole point to take a train during this time of the day. The ride as usual is not to comfortable if you're not taking a bed cabin room so you manage and deal with the never ending change of sleeping positions in your seat but I was able to setup my camera to shoot a time lapse facing the window toward the outdoor scenery for the 6 hour train ride journey. Surprisingly there was a decent amount of people leaving for Oslo on the train so I think they had the same thought process trying to save money from booking a room at a lodging.

I finally arrived around 6am in the morning at the Oslo central station and I headed toward the hostel I stayed  at previously few days earlier to check-in. I didn't get a chance to have at least 1 full day to go around Oslo to do sightseeing and take photos of the area so that was one of the things I wanted to do before I stayed over my relatives place since my family wanted to meet and spend time with me. I pretty much headed to the downtown region and observed alot of the architecture and people roaming around the area and took alot of photos. I traveled to Frogner park which was northwest from the downtown center and was abit of a hike but I got to see alot of different types of homes that were built with the aesthetic art approach from the minds of these designers.

There were so much statues in the park I had to take a lot of photos, there was plenty of tourists and locals in the area appreciating the ambiance of the scenery. Alot of the statutes and architecture were focused on renaissance art compositions so alot of the poses of the persons being depicted had some type of meaning or message that were trying to convey to on-lookers. I shot a deliberate time lapse sequence of a tall pillar tower that had many persons carved into and I was creating a sense of motion by shooting a tracking shot of the subject while many tourists were in and out of my camera frame for each shot. And just like other areas I was shooting a time lapse, the locals and tourists were giving be the bewildered look of what I was trying to shoot and what would the outcome turn out. I remembered doing research before my Norway trip that there was the changing off the guard at 1:30pm everyday I believe so I didn't want to miss the whole event and made my way toward the Royal Palace.


On my way to the Royal Palace, I noticed the different route I took had alot of construction going on with the sidewalks and the streets which to me sounded like the city was trying to build up the appearance for 5-6 blocks of shops, boutiques and restaurants for the increase of tourism. And of course I'm thinking tourists are going to be spending alot of money to at these establishments which felt like I was walking around downtown San Francisco or even high end shops in Palo Alto. I cut through the north end of a park that is adjacent to the Royal Palace and was surprised that there was quite abit of people in the area since the weather kept changing from sunny to cloudy to slightly raining. Then I finally arrived at the front of the Royal Palace and located where the changing of the guard event would take place and noticed a huge amount of tourists waiting and filming everything that was going on.



There was a few showcase sequences of soldiers going through specific marching acts that was being directed from their commanding officer so it was entertaining to watch and film them. While that was going on before the proper soldier changing of the guard act, I ran into one of my roommates from a hostel I stayed at in Bergen and mentioned to him to check out Frogner park since he only went around the area close to downtown. The whole changing of the guard act performed by the soldiers was an interesting presentation, I never seen anything like it before but I heard about it going on in other countries in Europe and I really wanted to see how it is done.






From there I headed to this open plaza where locals, tourists relax and also do some people watching that were coming and going to restaurants, shops that was nearby the Parliament building. I did some time lapse filming of people around this plaza area of whatever they were doing just to display what's going on this part of the city. I found out the area is being developed to have restaurants setup their dining tables outdoors for more of a happy hour ambiance for the young to spend their money on. It is similar style to the cafes in other parts of Europe where you have customers have their coffee and snacks outdoors while they have conversations with others and people watch from their dining tables. So I could picture this area would be very lively in the evening but the funny thing is it would not be dark enough later in the day to really create the atmosphere for people to feel like they can really enjoy in.



After spending some time in the main plaza area, I headed back to my hostel to get ready to have dinner with relatives I haven't seen in a few years when they last visited me and my family back in the states. We met up at a specific restaurant the kids of my aunt suggested so I didn't mind what type of food to eat while it was more of seeing relatives and spending time with them as the main point of the get together. After dinner we headed to a pier that is considered one of the most expensive areas in the city that was mainly for highly rich individuals to reside in. The region just looked like I was in an environment for young people to socialize in that had many restaurants to choose from and condos/apartments to live in. I even heard Justin Bieber actually stayed in one of the most expensive hotels in the city that is location when he had a concert he performed at recently.

Even with the high costs of these condos/apartments that were built here, I still loved the architecture of the buildings. Whoever designed these buildings really wanted to push the envelope of what is possible to create a condo or hotel from their imagination. The next day was going to be busy for me since my cousin was picking me up at the hostel later in the morning, also we had a family get together in the evening but also I didn't get a chance to visit the famous Oslo opera house. It was quite a spectacle to observe the outside part of the opera house due to the design and it was a great location that was next to the water so there was a background that would complement the unbelievable structure. I didn't get to go inside in the building but I did get to walk all the way around and marvel the architecture.

Literally I felt like I was walking up and down an atypical incline where you can actually reach the rooftop of the opera house. Then I filmed another type of time lapse video which was a tracking shot sequence and I noticed alot of people from the cruise ships that just arrived in the morning. I then headed back to my hostel to pack up my gear and to get ready to check out before my ride arrives. My cousin picked me and we drove around the city where she explained to me specific districts and other areas where one place I found out was considered one of the most dangerous areas out of the whole city. Luckily, I didn't travel in that direction which was located eastern side of the downtown area but I heard its not bad during the daytime and its a very diverse neighborhood with people from different ethnic backgrounds though when the evening comes it becomes an area not to go around in.

We got to visit my cousin's son in a on-going development neighborhood that had new building apartment complexes and I could see the area fill up with new residents in the next few years. We then drove outside of Oslo to a high vantage point hill top where alot of go to for sking and the view of the region was just spectacular. I could imagine it probably wouldn't look appealing if this was during the winter season and just end up seeing nothing but white powder snow. We then headed to her home that was nearby which was out in the countryside but located up in the hills. There was a some family members I finally got to meet and we had a nice long conversation just before the evening get together of the whole family would arrive for dinner. We did have dinner outdoors with the majority of the family members I got to meet and speak to that I really enjoyed the time with. Alot of them were my nieces and nephews which came to the realization of my age just hit me feeling old from spending time with them.

The next day was a Sunday, so we took it easy but we got the chance to hike down the hill toward the town square of Drobak. The surroundings nearby was just beautiful with our walk toward the pier region of the town, it was basically  the countryside but there was alot of areas to do hiking even in the residential area. I believe these walking paths were designed for people to explore around all areas of the town and to make it fun for the whole family experience. We arrived at the pier and alot of the homes appeared as very vintage looking cottages that were built I believe in the 1800s and they are considered local/national landmarks to the public. These homes could not be fixed up from the outside unless they were approved by the city and the improvements would only be implemented if the original parts were used and of course they were expensive and scarce to find.

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By the shore was nice even though there was no proper sand beach for locals to go for a swim or to relax in the sun at but everyone seemed to enjoy the weather not matter how warm it might get since majority of the year the region is covered in snow and just plain cold. Later in the day, I got to meet another one of my cousins in another town and we all had one last get together dinner in Oslo city before my departure for the states. I stayed in another place from one of my other cousins I met and the following day we went around a nearby town to go shopping for some gifts just before my flight early in the afternoon. Norway is a very expensive place to travel to even if you're going on a backpacker's budget but its possible to see and traverse to alot of places without spending to much on lodging and food except for transportation. It is well worth the view of the nature landscape that has to be seen in person and but also seeing alot of my family I never met and spending time with them was the best experience out of my trip.

The rain won't stop, can't stop

It was a big day in Voss, where I was hoping to do some para gliding from high above and the main reason I stayed in town for 1 night. I got in contact with a pilot that was going to take me up at a high altitude to launch off of but wasn't to sure with the conditions to fly even though the sky was clear. Since we were dealing with being in a valley, the winds were very unpredictable and the pilot was explaining to me that we needed certain type of clouds to project the type of wind we needed inorder to take off. I originally wanted to do hang gliding but nothing was offered in the region and I heard it is even more difficult process to go through because all the factors that have to be accounted for with the wind, sky and other items. We waited for 20 minutes with no luck to fly but at least I got a good view to see the region from at a high view point and took some photos and videos of Voss below. It was a big disappointment I didn't get to go para gliding but I still got the chance to walk around town alittle bit and also did some photography. Then I had to deal with the rain for how many hours before my train departed for Bergen.

From the down time waiting for my train to arrive to leave Voss, I spoke to a few people regarding why Norway in general is expensive and find out there is alot of history behind it and just like any other country, projects take forever to get done due to who's overlooking the country. As of right now the ratio of the currency from Norwegian Krone to US dollars is roughly about 5-1, meaning whatever price of an item you're going to pay for in Norwegian Krones you divide the amount by 5 inorder to get the price break down in US dollars. So for an example, if you want to eat at a decent restaurant you would be paying for at least 100 Norwegian Krones which is around $25 and from the American's perspective you're basically paying to dine in a nice restaurant that falls into quality food most of the time than quantity. I heard people would even do their grocery shopping by traveling to the border of Sweden to save money on meat, fruits, vegetables and other items. Don't get me wrong its still expensive to buy items in an Scandinavian country general though in Sweden it is alittle bit cheaper there to do your grocery shopping though making a 4 hour round trip car ride from Oslo might make anyone be hesitant for a brief moment.

Taking the train from Voss to Bergen was still worth to see the landscape passing by at different areas but the weather got into the way on and off and also had to deal with the rain in Bergen after arriving at the central station. I got to Bergen around 9pm and was trying to find the bus stop I needed to take to the hostel which was located up in the hills and 20 minutes away. I eventually found the specific bus stop but had to buy my bus fare from a ticket machine. This is where it got very irritating, the machine didn't take bills for some reason and credit card was the only option but the machine didn't want to process the transaction with my credit card. So I traveled to a convenient store that was close to the Bergen central station and paid $8 for a small bag of peanuts just to get change and I felt awkward telling the cashier to have my change in coins. The cashier gave me a look like what is he talking about and from there I headed back to the specific bus stop. I purchased a bus ticket from the ticket machine with the coins I got back and realized these coins were standard in high denomination which I was originally expecting in bills but that wasn't the case.
While on the bus to my hostel, I noticed the distance was very far from the downtown center and it was not really worth hiking there from the hills location because the roads opened in many directions and there was not one direct route to get there from the hostel. I met some some people from San Diego and Seattle on the bus while we walked to the hostel from the bus stop which was about a block away. Approaching the hostel I realized it was a good size building from the outside but not as a large as the one in Oslo. I checked in and got a four person dorm room and found it only had one wall outlet which was very ridiculous if I needed to recharged my phone or camera. The next day I was glad it didn't really rain, it was just foggy up in the hills and felt like Daly City south of San Francisco for people out there who never been around places near San Francisco. I specifically strategize my day by taking the bus toward the bus station and walk around that area toward southeastern region of the city and toward  the west along the piers where the cruise ships dock at.

I loved the take on the buildings being constructed because there was alot of interesting approach behind the structures with alot of influences from different type of artists. Plus there were art sculptures and structures everywhere around the city so it was great observing them and try to understand what these artists were trying express with their compositions. One of the attractions I wish I went to see but was very far away from the city was to visit the the home of famous Norway composer Edvard Grieg. Now if you're curious which composition was used out there whether if it was in movies, tv shows, commercials, etc.. it was "In the hall of the mountain king". Everyone should be able to pick it out because the composition was very well known and usually it is implemented in scenes to build up tension and drama. He's very famous in Bergen so alot of statues and places are mentioned in his name in honor for his past accomplishments. After walking for a few hours around the city, I finally arrived at one the main attractions which was the fish market. I shot some time lapse videos of the area and it had the same feeling of Fisherman's Wharf/Pier 39 in San Francisco but more focused on the seafood booths/restaurants and also had alot of tourists roaming around the area. I  was shooting a very intricate time lapse sequence that took about 45 minutes to 1 hour and people were just staring at me like what I was doing though not to the point of bothering me. I think a few American's identified me from being the states and asked me about what I was doing and was curious about how the end composition would turn out and if I was going to post it online. The city was not to enormous to not be able to travel around but enough for me to cover alot of ground to take a lot of photos and videos of of interesting items to shoot. It would be nice also to check out museums in general but the cost of them were expensive and I was still in the position of trying to justify my expenses of what to spend on and not spend which was mainly everything except for transportation and specific food.

The following day I literally had pretty much a whole day to eat up due to my overnight train ride leaving at 11pm in the evening. I focused on doing more exploration around other parts of the city I didn't get to see and continued with more photography. I also did some experimental time lapse filming of a specific water fountain stature that was near central park that got some attention from some of the locals and tourists from many different locations of shooting the same subject for a 30 minute period. After going around the city for a few hours, I wanted to try out something from the fish market and bought a smoked salmon sandwich that was high price but tasted very fresh and good. Later before I arrived at my hostel, I went to a local convenient store to buy 2 pieces of Nectar fruit and small bag of crackers. I think I payed about $7-8 dollars for those three items and got me thinking if I can stretch this out for 2-3 days without buying any other food for that duration even though I still had energy bars I stocked up on before my trip.

It was interesting the pilot that I was supposed to go para gliding with in Voss, supposedly knew someone in Bergen that could take me para gliding in the region but there was no point in doing it cause the sky was cloudy and it was raining majority of my time in the city. It would be awesome to do it but the weather in Bergen felt like I was in Seattle where it could be sunny in one instance and all of sudden you get downpour for no reason so it was not logical to go flying in the unpredictable weather. So I ended up staying at my hostel for the next several hours before my departure for Oslo due to the rain not intending to stop. It was a shame not to get a good shot of the city from my high vantage point during that time near my hostel.

Still awake for the midnight sun

The second half of my vacation trip was on the go and it was departing from Turkey onto Norway. From the experience I had trying to enter Istanbul from immigration I encountered, I thought I might have a problem leaving but not at all which was good not to endure. The train ride to the downtown center from the airport was very appealing of the country side, there was so much land I felt I was passing through different parts of Marin County north of San Francisco or the country side of Portland. The region just looks beautiful as a place to retire in or even go on vacation to relax, enjoy the nature and scenery. Had some issues after I arrived at the Oslo central station and it was quite annoying. I purchased a tour package online to travel from Oslo to Bergen via different types of transportation, and I needed to receive my tickets at the train station counter. Though the train station counter was closed at the time of my arrival, I tried to retrieve my tickets through the ticket machines but with no luck. I was frustrated with the situation since I wanted to have my tickets already in hand but I had to get up early the next day to get them from the train station counter before the schedule train leaves in the morning. So I proceeded to the hostel I booked for the 1 night and observed my surroundings of the city and noticed it was mainly alot of young teens hanging around the city and got me wondering why.
Oslo, very much felt like I was in San Francisco due to people from alot of different ethnicity backgrounds, the only difference was that people were speaking Norwegian and the artistic approach of the architecture for many buildings. When the time got to close to 12 midnight, the sun was starting to set beyond the horizons but the sky didn't go into total darkness. This "midnight sun" was something I never experienced before and the odd feeling of people still walking around outside while there is still daylight during that time frame. From what I heard its like this every summer for many weeks and but in the north, I heard the sun doesn't even go down, so I could imagine people would have tough time going to sleep without using window blinds or even sleeping eye patches. It took time to get used to it not just in Oslo but in other places I visited, though this midnight sun sometimes will play tricks on your body clock which I was still adjusting from Turkey recently.

I got up early to proceed to the Oslo central station to speak with a representative to pickup my tour tickets and failed to realize that I didn't adjust my clock to Norway central time and I arrived 1 hour earlier at the station before the ticket counter opened. I spoke to other travelers that were in the same situation I was in and they were just as nervous and irritated as myself of waiting the last minute to get their tickets but eventually the counter opened and we claimed our tickets. The train ride to Mydral took about 3 hours but the scenery was lovely to see and met some Americans from different states so the conversations were pleasant.
Close to Mydral, we came across mountains that were above sea level where there was still snow in several parts of the region and the temperature just dropped dramatically. I wasn't sure if I was able to brace the temperature of Mydral when we arrived but actually it was perfect, there were some snow in some areas of the mountains from the station we were at though it was not that chilly. We boarded another train toward Flam which was a very distinct historical locomotive that carried alot of history over the years. Our travel lead to the downward direction toward several fjords in the region of Flam which the landscape was just incredible to see.
Flam, was very touristy but that had to do with more of people interested in taking ferries to explore the wonderful fjords in the area. I think another great way to observe these fjords is obviously by plane but I'm not sure if that is even offered in the region since I don't recall any landing runways where planes could land. Though I would think para gliding and hang gliding would be awesome to experience the fjords from above as well, maybe something in the future this type of experience for foreigners would be implemented. I took a ferry from Flam to Gudvangen and the spectacle of seeing these fjords was just outstanding and you really appreciate how nature appears before you eyes in different parts of the world.

The travel time took around almost 1.5 hours but it was nice to be outside, breath in the air and just take in the environment. When we arrived at Gudvangen, I'm not sure people were interested in taking a bus to Voss but it was next on the itinerary of the tour. It was a short ride but still witnessed the beauty of the region of what was out there to photograph or video record.










When we arrived at Voss, I took in the view of the small town even though the area was small, this was a wonderful place to enjoy the scenery. I had 1 night stay in the area because I wanted to go para gliding the following day and according to my research, Voss was the region where you can do extreme sports. I stayed at a hostel that was 15 minute walk from the town center but loved the location because it was infront of a large lake and you still had great views of the mountains in the background with homes scattered everywhere. Since it was still bright later in the evening, I decided to go around town to do some photography and realized, the town was completely empty. I walked around the town center area and saw a few people passing through but it was very much quiet and found out later that there was a national holiday they observed the past two days which is why noone was out. Not a bad idea to shoot a scene for a movie of a empty town without being hassled from bystanders.

                                                                                  A small clip of a great view of the lake in Voss

Lost in the valley and hills of wonder

The bus ride to Goreme was a long 10 hour trip which was nothing but on and off sleeping with no where to do any stretching but at least the charter bus made frequent stops at diner/gas station spots. The scenery was magical on the way to Goreme, this environment is something you can only visualize in your dreams. You could see the appearances of the small towns and cities constantly improving due to revenue of high tourism in the regions. There is nothing like it anywhere in the world due to the structure formations of the rocks appearing as very organic and natural but except for old town of Matera, Italy which is pretty close but at a different degree. Arriving in the town center felt very touristy but you had alot of items at your disposal for food to rentals to tours to lodgings. I selected a lodging that was a fair distant walk from the town center but it was close to the hills to get a good vantage point to observe the city from above for the main attraction of the area which was the rising of the hot air balloons.

The day I arrived in Goreme, I wanted to go and do some solo hiking after doing some research before I my trip to Turkey. But I realized after speaking with the owner at my lodging that the hills and terrain I was about to encounter was going to be brutal depending which hiking trail I chose to embark on. I made a very long trek to near the south end of Red/Rose valley which was next to the town of Cavusin and is probably the most easiest trail to navigate. The trail took about an hour due to stopping for taking photos at different locations and walking combined but basically there many paths to get to the south region of the Red/Rose valley and its all about exploration and losing yourself in the moment. I arrived in the town of Cavusin and was trying to hike atop of a isolated giant rock mountain that was adjacent to the town center where some tourists were appearing from above. But I ended up traveling further away into the open area toward the red mountains from not knowing the direct route to get to the top. So I went back to the town center and tried to look for another route then rain just came down slowly and to a downpour. Which I thought it would be a better idea to hike back to Goreme, and luckily I had a raincoat I brought with me which I originally didn't think I would need it on this vacation trip. Later observing past rain from previous stops I was at, it became clear it was invaluable for not only in Turkey but in my next country of destination. It was a shame not to take alot more photos since it was raining but I had a proper water repellent cloth to cover up my camera backpack and I was just witnessing countless people running toward Cavusin or a small cafe nearby to get out of the rain. While I was trekking back towards Goreme, I failed to recognize the route I taken was directing me to travel northwest away from my lodging destination and the terrain was very rough. Basically I was hiking in a enclosed valley where you have two options to either continue the same path or backtrack where you started from and for me not knowing the trail I just proceeded to follow the trail and hope for the best.

The trail I just entered was Meskendir and before arriving there it took 45 minutes to travel there in the rain but this particular trail was something I only see in horror films. The trail was very treacherous and trying to gain access through bushes, branches, mud and winding paths was very exhausting. I came across some camp grounds were someone or some people were staying in but I didn't come across anyone. Though the feeling that people might be out there and not appearing in sight just flashed through my mind like a villain preying on a victim from a scary movie. So that kind of thinking really triggered my senses to find the end of the hiking trail as quickly as possible which was nerve-racking. After about an hour later, I actually reached my end point which I had to ascend upward above the valley and looked back down where I came from which was pretty mind blowing and I didn't think I could go through something like this on my own. This was something you don't want to travel alone through when it gets dark, because the terrain has the claustrophobia feel to it and if don't have experience hiking solo. Then I had another hour to make my way back toward Goreme by following the main road toward the Goreme Open air museum but all in all it took roughly 4 hours to complete this hike even though I didn't get to take photos for the duration of traveling back to Goreme.

The following day, I didn't have high hopes of going on a hot air balloon ride early in the morning but waited outside for my 5:30 am transportation pickup which never arrived and I decided to go to a high vantage point to film the hot air balloons go into flight in different areas of town. It was very much a wonderful experience to witness these hot air balloons traveling in the sky and to have the contrast of the mountains, valleys and the town in the backdrop. So I took alot of photos and videos and shot a time lapse video of the beautiful surroundings which I believe will turn great in post production. I couldn't figure out initially how people were traveling to the sunset point to observe the flights of the hot air balloons so I did some research to look for this specific route to get there and eventually found it nearby some hotel lodgings off of on one of the many cobble stone roads. The high point of the hill/mountain view was spectacular to see the surroundings of the town and appreciate the isolated natural organic rock formations that appeared all over Goreme.

After taking photos of the hot air balloons and checking out the sunset point view briefly, I headed back to my lodging for the green tour I originally booked with a tour agency. I had no doubt that this agency will not provide the green tour as well and purchased the green tour through my lodging which left at 9am for a whole day event. I pretty much was taken for about $175 dollars in my deposit which is not to bad, it could have been alot much worse but I had to make the best out of my situation since I'm on vacation. It would of been non-productive day and I would of easily made the rest of my trip not enjoyable if I fought this issue of losing my deposit. So the first item of the tour we visited was Goreme Panorama view point, just wonderful location to oversee the town and its organic rock formations attraction and the perfect time with the weather working for us. In some sort of thrill-seeking perspective, if would of been unbelievable to para-lide or hand-glide ride off from this high point toward the town center of Goreme or even above the mountains.

Then we headed off to the Derinkuyu Underground City, which was amazing how the locals in the past lived in these tunnels on a several months span. I couldn't even imagine that over 500 people would stay in one underground city and there were over 40+ underground cities spread out to all different locations in Cappadocia. These tunnels were made for specific rooms to be used by the locals like they are living their own homes above ground but have to adjust the small quarter spaces that were designed enough just to get by. Also for the armies that were trying to conquer the regions, they would try to invade these underground cities but the locals would devise routes for a typical soldier to make it very difficult to access. This would lead to their deaths, their own capture or even to confusion. It was very interesting how their water system was constructed and how they maintained the temperature to be cool at certain degrees all year round in these underground cities. The Ihlara valley was next on the list to visit from Derinkuyu Underground City and was a very pleasant sight to see.

The whole valley felt like I was traveling inside a large protective zoo park even though we were at the bottom of the valley, the view of the mountains from below was something you would appreciate in person. There was also a small church constructed for people to worship even though it was carved out small part of the rocky mountain, it had frescoes being implemented in designated rooms to create the atmosphere for the people to congregate to. The hike was pretty easy to get around since we were mainly traveling on level ground and ended at the other side of the valley where we had lunch at a local restaurant. The whole area really felt like a open nature museum with alot of the rock formations protruding out of the top of the parts of the Ihlara valley which had many open pigeon houses all around up above. The pigeons were very useful in multiple ways whether it was for food, clothing, messaging, or other resourceful items, they were very essential animals for the locals back then.

After our time at the Ihlara valley, we arrived at the Selime Monastery which was located on a cliff overlooking the region. It was a very interesting location to have a place that was high above level ground for many different civilizations, it was more of a society for people to socialize and worship. There were many rooms that were carved out for sleeping areas to places to keep animals in to burial rooms but it felt like this large cathedral like structure could house a good size community.

Such a shame we didn't get to go to Pigeon valley and Uschiar castle due to the rain just pouring down without hesitation so we headed off to a couple of shops that carried local jewelry and Turkish delights. We had a good demonstration from the Onyx factory/store how the jewelry were constructed but I had no real interest in them due to how expensive they were and also I'm not much of jewelry wearing person. Though I was really intrigued with the Turkish delight sweets being made and what kind of flavors they had. We traveled to a shop where they made and sold different types of these sweets, basically they are tasty flavored chewy candies with the texture of eating gummy bears/worms but filled with different types of nuts. Pretty much this green tour was well worth the full day of activities and I highly encourage others embark on it as well since its not practical to go to all these attractions on your own even with a rental car, just spending alot more money and eating up to much of travel time.

Later in the evening, a friend of mine mentioned about going on a Turkish night experience at a restaurant which was basically dinner, drinks, and dancing in the city of Avanos, 15 minutes away outside of Goreme. I was curious what this activity was going to offer and I was very happy I chose to take part in this. The dinner was decent but the unlimited drinks (basically wine) was the selling point for anyone who wanted to go to this restaurant for the evening festivities. The gentlemen performers captured the essence of the Whirling Dervishes dances at the start of the entertainment program while the women followed with their own special dances in their themed attire. They had a special performance where one of my friends was selected to take part in role-playing of a woman trying to receiving the affections of a man that is trying to court her by showcasing his dance moves. Two guys didn't provide enough of outstanding moves to sway her attention till the 3rd individual that started break dancing infront of the whole crowd. The guy whom was a friend of mine, basically won over the audience and the woman's affection, to bad I didn't get record it on camera because the crowd went bananas over the dance moves. There was also a woman that performed belly dances and selected random persons from the crowd to join in trying to emulate the belly dance routines. The belly dance class was very entertaining since some of my friends were selected and one of them was their birthday so it made the whole night even more enjoyable for everyone attending.
My last day in Goreme/Turkey was focusing on doing photography at different locations in the region and part of the day I was fighting with the rain and sunshine but was able to do take great shots from the sunset point at different times. Looking back on staying in Goreme, I would of loved to do more solo hiking but the rain was an issue and plus not having a strong background of hiking in general in rough terrains is a big risk to take. Thrill-seeking is one thing but not understanding the areas you might hike around will get you into dangerous predicaments.

                                                                              Time lapse of hot air balloons flying around Goreme

Rushing for the clouds

Leaving Selcuk for Denizli was not an issue, since taking the metro train for 16 TL was pretty straight forward and a direct line to my destination. Ariving at the Denizli train station became a blur of confusion on where to find the bus depot for my next transportation. But eventually asking a employee from the train station, pointed out to me the direction of the location. Walking in the bus depot felt like I was walking into a mall of agencies for tours, transportation and lodgings and I think everyone one of them would of tried to sell me a package of something. So I asked someone for the particular bus to get to Pamukkale which they directed me to a lot space #76 down on the ground level floor if the bus depot building. Then I was often to Pamukkale for 20 minute drive which lead to something that caught me off guard.



The bus arrived in the town square where I got off and was quickly approached by a young guy asking me for assistance which I declined and the father of this kid approached me as well. Then he started asking questions on where I was staying and started telling me he's the owner of the lodging I'm staying at and discussing to me his tour packages for Capadoccia. These were tour packages for specific attractions to visit including an hot air balloon ride and supposedly the deal he was giving was quite cheaper from other competitors. He actually showed me receipts of the most recent people purchasing the green tour which was quite popular. I was really hesitant because I wanted to do alot sightseeing without a tour and rely on buses and hiking in trails. But I was put in a tough situation since I was staying at his lodging and I kept questioning the tours in general but eventually gave in. Now if I completely flat out denied his offer for a tour package, I'm not sure what would of happened at the lodging. I could of been put in a position where I would feel uncomfortable and who knows where I would of needed to go to for another lodging. This sales pitch was so aggressive I didn't have time to think about it since the guy would only give me this cheaper rate for the tour package at the present time. His logic sounded reasonable about how much more I would be spending if I try to do some or all of the attractions on my own. So that irked me pretty much the whole day when I arrived and to make matters worst the high attraction of the town was not in the best of time to visit which was the travertines (thermal pools) and Hierapolis ruins due to raining on and off. This was something I didn't anticipate happening but hopefully this turns out well in Cappodocia especially its been raining here and there in that region and also my stay in Pamukkale. Looking back in this, I'm not sure if I could have avoided this whether I started my trip first in Cappodocia or Selcuk or even booked with another lodging. As upset as I am, I'm trying to make the best of it and who knows maybe I might surprised with this tour and make me a believer of the sales guy. Its an learning experience especially trying to deal with situations when you travel alone.

The following day was a new page and the weather was working with me so I headed to the travertines, that appeared on the white powder looking mountain. The appearance from a distance was just something like out of a movie, it didn't look natural at first till you see it up close. The good thing about visiting this attraction is that its part of the Hierapolis city ruins site where you can explore two places for the price of admission. The interesting part I realized when I just about to set foot on the calcite surface was that you were required to walk barefooted due to the surface might be damaged from shoes or other footwear. It felt awkward at first but you got used to it since the running water smoothed out rock surface. They had individual pools at different locations but only a few feet deep so it was not like you can actually go swimming, more of getting your feet wet. The questionable part of this attraction was the extreme amount of tourists appearing since this is the highlight for the town, it took time by pass people so it wasn't that bad. Its actually funny that they have workers that call out people with whistles if they are staying in fragile spots of the calcite surfaces to long. I didn't stay to long since I wasn't dressed in a bathing suit but had the chance to do a lot of filming and photography and proceeded to Hierapolis.

The ancient city was such a extensive city that the ruins were spread out in far distances. It required a lot if time to go to every specific spot to read about the history and take photos of but the architecture was very appealing especially the giant amphitheater. It was quite a sight people observing these ruins in their bathing suit since there was a swimming resort next to the structures plus the sun beating down on us from being atop of a mountain. I spent a good amount of a couple of hours to do photography of the city left with a sense of accomplishment while heading back to my lodging.

Waiting at the bus depot for my bus to Goreme was boring at first till I got into a conversation with an elderly couple from the England and a young couple from Canada. Then as we were about to leave our seats to approach the spot where our bus would arrive, a Turkish guy sat next to us and tried to make a conversation. Now this guy was constantly walking around the terminal near our area for some reason and we didn't know what he was doing till he started talking to a guy sitting in the same row of seats I was at. Then it made sense, he was really interested in this lady from Taiwan sitting near me but he was acting weird around her. So we left for our bus, I realized she was going to the same bus as well and I mentioned the situation she's in with that odd individual. She was frightened and the Canadian couple and myself pretty much positioned ourselves so the guy wouldn't get close to the her till we stepped onto the bus. I read about men from other countries acting aggressively toward foreign tourist women to get their attention in travel guide books but this was first hand that I experienced seeing it in person. I spoke to the woman about the situation in more in-depth and she was grateful about some people out there in the public was concern for her safety even though we all are strangers, there are still decent people out there in the world.

Layover meets oversleep

This is a late pass from my trip to Turkey but wanted to pen down my thoughts from my experience even though its been over a week since I left the country. The journey to get to Turkey was just quite a experience and it is something I will probably never ever do again. Well before arriving to Turkey, I flew into Norway first since the airline I taken was Norwegian and it was pretty good price for the round trip flight at the time I purchased it. But an 9 hour flight is still brutal for me since I experienced going to Philippines on a direct flight in the past that was over 10+ hours. Though arriving in Istanbul was something I never expected when trying to get on a connecting flight to another town/city but having to go through immigration for passport and visa check. I was basically was told to go to different lines for my passport to be checked on 2 occasions which possibly I was profiled for whatever reason. But I finally got through cause the current immigration officer was replaced by another one and he accidentally realized he made a mistake by passing me over after he stamped my passport. Which the first immigration officer was asking me alot of questions and basically a hard time to pass through. Hopefully this doesn't become a issue when I leave Turkey later in the week but I have a feeling something similar might happen from preventing me to leave.

So I arrived in Istanbul for an 8 hour layover which I thought would not be to bad but I was wrong, there was other people in the same situation I was in. They could not help it and fell asleep in seats everywhere in the terminal near check-in counters for domestic airlines. I was thinking about going into a lounge but I would of been paying more money than I would of gotten a good deal from so I stuck it out and stayed in the terminal and took a seat. I didn't go sleep the whole time which was just crazy for the time difference of my body trying to adapt to Turkey's central time. I was basically was listening to music the whole time, did some writing in a journal and was people watching often while chewing on gum. I just couldn't go to sleep there cause I thought anyone would of tried to take any of my belongings from my side if I dose off but nothing like that happened to others. I mean people were literally sleeping on the seats like they were in their own beds, felt like I was at a Greyhound bus station but eventually the time passed and go onto my plane to my actual first destination. Though when I arrived in my destination Selcuk, my backpack didn't make it with me for some reason till an airport employee told me to follow her to the international terminal which my backpack was still there on a specific luggage claim spot. At least this situation didn't occur like when I arrived in Naples, Italy back in Spring 2012 coming from France on a connecting flight, talk about not having your clothes for almost 2 days.

Selcuk, was a small town that didn't have to much to offer aside from the main big attraction of Ephesus which is ancient city of ruins and few other small places to visit. The metro train I took from Izmir airport was pretty easy to follow and just cost 5 TL and reminded me like the train system in Italy which I think it was more of a local one than something that will go for out of the region distances. The people were friendly, one shop owner offered me directions to my lodging. On my way to my to the place I booked for a few nights, I noticed the buildings around town appears to have similar style like in spots in Italy. The homes appeared to be like condo-like places in buildings where there are businesses on the bottom floor but having balconies in different areas of each floor. Boomerang Guesthouse was my lodging I stayed at which is owned by am Australian and there no was issues with communication. It was situated in an ideal location where the bus station was across the street with the fresh market behind it, while the Ephesus museum was literally next door and few blocks away was St. John church, Ayasuluk fortress and Isa Hey mosque.

The day I arrived in Selcuk, I was completely exhausted and wanted to take a short nap which ended up being 7 hours worth of sleep and I guess my body didn't want me to wake up till I was in better shape. So later that evening after I got up, I just wanted to go and see around town. I visited some aquaducts ruins outside of St. Johns church, took some pictures of them and out of nowhere was approached by a guy that was trying to sell me fake coins from an ancient ruins of Artemis. I gladly declined his offer but listened to his sales pitch for a good few minutes which I already knew not to purchase these fake coins from these scam artists from people's comments on forums. I actually I wanted to take a closer look at the fortress but one of the paths surrounding the structure below had a dog stationed in the area and chained. This made an uncomfortable situation since it was continously barking and following me abit which I ended up going back from where I originally started from. I walked towards the downtown center and it was somewhat lively where people were eating or drinking or shop owners trying to sucker tourists to buy any of their products. Funny how a guy called me out and asked me if I was an American and asking my ethnic background and next thing you noticed he was trying to sell me a rug from his shop. I thought it was a funny way to get people's attention inorder to make a sale since I knew he was trying to lure me in but of course just to have some fun of the situation I enticed the owner bit of being interested but rejected the rug sales and headed out to my lodging.

The next day, I headed to the fortress but noticed there was a lock on the side entrance gated door so I ended up going to a structure next door which was the Isa Bey mosque. As I got close to the front door, I wanted to go in but there was a sign indicating on certain rules before entering. Which I wouldn't be allowed in with shorts since it was mentioned not to wear those so I just left without really going around the Mosque aside from briefly looking at outside perimeter walls. I headed to St.Johns church and it was pretty good ruins site, with alot of places to go around and observe which I wish I had a book on information for specific site locations on the history. The location was a great sight to see on a hilltop overlooking residental side of Selcuk towards the direction of Ephesus city site. Also I found that the Ayasuluk fortress was part of the St.Johns church but the path was closed off from visitors from the inside After noticing on a detailed photo of the site from the sky, it showed the fortress with only the walls remaining and no structures inside the location site. At least I got a great shot of the fortress in the evening when the walls were lit with ground lights.

So I decided to go to Ephesus on foot which I didn't think taking a cab or minibus was worth the traveling distance but I was glad I hiked it up there. I wanted to see the Seven sleepers but realized the small road leading to the cave was to far from the main road where I would jeopardize my time schedule to go back on the main road leading to top of the hill entrance of Ephesus. And home of the Virgin Mary site was just to far to walk up the hill past Ephesus and the taxi price was not worth it so I skipped it with disappointment. The Ephesus site was so much to cover that me including stops to take pictures and videos lead to be at least 4 hours of my time to go around majority of the site. But the city just looked unbelievable which I should of got an audio guide to break down the history for every particular location. Instead of getting a taxi or minibus back to my lodging, I just walked it on foot and it was alittle bit shorter distance. From walking to the Ephesus site and leaving it for my lodging, would have to say I hiked probably around the range of 4 miles at least and more including go around Ephesus.