Hong Kong

As you can see from previous posts, I have made it to Hong Kong.  I arrived the morning of the 9th, around 1AM after making my through the airport.  Came to campus, dropped off at the wrong building by the cab driver, and eventually found my room, and fell asleep.  For a few hours, soon I was up and running up and down the many stories required to get from dining hall to living quarters.

Orientation ended tonight, I went for dinner in Hang Hua with a few friends, and then explored "Times Square" on my own.  I need to go back during the day to really see the place.

The coolest thing is this octopus card - it's like a debit card, metro card, and bus card all wrapped into one.  You can even pay for things at random stores by just tapping it and walking out.  It saves so much time, and makes it really easy to buy things.

I was overestimating the power of the US dollar, I thought it was 9:1, it's closer to 7, so I need make sure I calculate things correctly.  I think I will go with 5:1 mentally, and that way always be pleasantly surprised.

Oh, and I had chicken feet for lunch.  Yum!

Mannequins in hong kong?!?

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View on the way to dining hall

In Hong Kong
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5926 KM to Hong Kong

It already feels like I am there.
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This is in the dubai airport

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In turkey

They smoke colorful cigarettes here. Mhmm. Interesting. And they are longer than average.
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Arrival in Istanbul

I spent a lovely day in Istanbul.  The train arrived late, or should I say the bus.  The last two hours were on a bus.  I find this thoroughly entertaining since the guide I was reading that suggests this train goes on and on about how nice the last section is along the old city walls.

Alas

Arrived, and headed to Hostel, or so I thought.  Apparently, the hostel is marked wrong on Google maps by a good 20 minute walk.  Eventually found the actual Hostel (I asked about this, apparently it's something they plan to get around to fixing eventually) which has a later check in time.  Shower, I asked?  5 Lira before and after check in time.  I decided instead to just change into a cleaner (note: not clean) shirt and head out.  It was almost lunch, we were about three hours late on the train.  I navigated surprisingly well given the time away from Istanbul and relatively short period I was here for, arriving just in time to catch the ferry to the asian side.  I had lunch at Ciya, meeting up with the manager and meeting Musa's wife for the first time.

Afterwards, I met a couch-surfer and her host on the ferry back to the european side.  They invited me to watch the world cup with them, taking my email to contact me.  I had a last minute conversation about CTY and my arrival.  I can't believe tomorrow I am flying to Dubai and then on to Hong Kong.  I am still a little in shock about this.  If all goes as intended, I will have circled the globe.  That's pretty cool.

I went to the spice market for Nick, hoping to pick up some Safran and a few other small items.  Then headed to the grand bazaar to walk.  It's amazing there, it just keeps going.  I think it's a little like Mary Poppin's bag in that the outside is not representative of the inner volume.

I like how there is a street of silver stores, then a street of gold stores, then a street of diamond stores.  It's almost like little districts.

Came back and checked into the hostel after all the tourists were kicked out of the Mosque when prayers started.  Quick skype conversation, and now a nap before figuring out my evening plans.  I want to start transitioning to Hong Kong time sooner than later.

In Istanbul 2 things stand out to me

Many people smoke here. I didn't realize last time since it was Rammadan.

Second:

Every shop doubles as a a tea shop.
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Oregano thyme tea

I am at my favorite restaurant in Istanbul, Ciya, recommended by my aunt. And they must love me also, they keep bringing tea. Latest is oregano thyme tea, which is new for me. Very hot. Very tasty. Not sweet at all. Excellent digestif.
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2 hour stop in bulgaria

Try the local beer, have a late dinner. Wish there was a supermarket to bring some food back on train.
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New locomotive

Down to three cars and the locomotive. Our journey continues shortly. A long stop in 4 hours to disembark and find some dinner. Wake up again at midnight to disembark for turkish border crossing. I think we are there for three hours.
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Into Bulgaria we head

More passport examining, maybe some questioning. What I want to know are the men who go around with big hammers and tap at things under the train. I assume it is by them that it all works, but what they are doing remains unclear.
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View from the last car

1.5 hours. Antsy.
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The next 20+ hours

Will be spent in this train. For the bribe of a beer, the conductor has agreed to find me a spare cabin for myself as long as something is available.

There are six cars, I accidentally ended up in first class. Having walked past the other cabins, I am pleased greatly by this.

At my hostel I ended up chatting extensively with a guy who moved to Hong Kong. Guess the percent that is urban he said. 5% I ventured, seeing it to be a trick question. He seemed impressed. Closer to twenty he told me. He gave me lots of hikes and biking trails that I should explore and took my name down to pass onto a friend who if in town can share the plans for a trip they did to some areas in rural china, supposedly beautiful. I am very excited to immerse into a completely different culture. I only wish I had a camera that could really capture everything, slr ideally.

Train travel is definitely growing on me.
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La cuenta, por favor

Tasty. I think I will make paella when I get home. Perhaps when friends come to visit.
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Spanish restaurant in Bucarest

1 hour for the bread to arrive (slightly stale). How long before the Paella comes? Well, I was trying to kill time anyway, I just wish I had my book with me. Either it is freshly made - or their going to spain to get it! How long are flights?
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Romania, Romania, Romania

I woke up and decided to pass on the tour.  I was seeing Budapest, but I wasn't doing Budapest.  Subway to get my ticket for the train that night, then headed up to the bath house.  These are not the small and personal Turkish and Moroccan bathhouses I have come to know and love, no, these are grand (and coed) with thousands of people in at one time.  There are things like 50 degrees saunas (it's so hot, it hurts to walk inside), aromatic saunas, different aroma saunas, carbon acid baths (not sure what this one is), large swimming pools, baths that increase in temperature, and then icy baths to give you a mini heart attack.

While waiting in line, I was surprised by a question, you were in Israel right?

I look up, and realize that in front of me is a girl who was in the Tel Aviv program.  We chat a bit, and then agree to meet up inside.

While hopping between the hot and cold, I like the tingling feeling which can't be healthy, I begin chatting with two women on a tour.  They work in Hong Kong.  After a while, we decide to get a late lunch.  I think I was in for about three hours at the bathhouse, not long enough at all, but food sounded good.  We went to a local place.

Then they took me to a communist museum, which was amazing.  Very well done.  It's called the house of terror and I highly recommend it.  I wasn't aware of some of the atrocities that happened in the last century, frightening what human's are capable of.

I mentioned some wine tasting I had read about.  I was thinking maybe an hour of tasting, but the somelier took his time in presenting the wines, and a few hours later we stumbled into the night, they had to get back, and I had to catch my train (which ended up almost an hour late).

I woke up in the birthplace of Dracula.  No issues on this train, and I got a real stamp finally in my passport!

The town was touristy, and rather uninspiring.  Picture in the previous post.

Continued to Brasov.  On the way, I met up with a group of Mormons.  They seemed to speak some Romanian, and have an idea of where they were staying.  They offered for me to tag along.  The conversations were interesting, but we didn't see eye to eye on many issues.  The one girl was very extreme, the other one a little less so.  She seemed more into the ideology, and the ideas, but not in a crazy way.  She also seemed inquisitive and questioning, while the first took everything as clear and utter truth.  There was no discussion on matters.

Our hostel owner picked us up from the from train station, and after dropping our bags, we went to Bran Castle - which has nothing to do with Dracula except that it inspired Bram Stoker in his imagination.  Though, he never visited.  It was the favorite castle of the princess of Romania, burn in the early 20th Century.  Nice courtyard, but otherwise unimpressive.

I wanted to go to Iasi, after realizing we were close, but apparently flooding meant no trains were running.  I stayed the night, left early, and met two archeology students at the train station.  They were studying in Leiden, in the Netherlands.  They were laughing, and full of life, which helped me wake up - I was delayed.  I wish I had got their names.  I pointed out that it meant suffering and passion, they laughed and told me how when they learned that, they understood everything.  They were escaping a Dutch dig for a shorter project in the mountains.

Train ride was uneventful, I was able to secure a hostel via my blackberry, and am writing from it now.  Bucarest is not thrilling, though being Sunday might have something to do with it.  I had to correct my check for lunch where they tried to just tack on extra items, caused a bit of an argument.  Then, when I found a nice place to read, and had a drink, they had trouble with the credit card machine.  The woman got really nasty, but suddenly it worked.  I guess she gave up trying to get cash from me.  Everyone seems to be ripping you off here.  The bus driver this morning from the hostel tried to tell me I had to give him extra money.  I ignored him, and when other people got on the bus, he stopped pestering me.  I know that with a backpack, I look like a foreigner - but this is unprecedented in my experience of treatment of foreigners.  In the email from the hostel I did receive the following notes though, which maybe explains it all:

> > Romania. Golden rules:
> >
> > NO-ONE FROM THIS HOSTEL IS STATIONED AT THE TRAIN STATION! If anyone
> > says otherwise, they are lying,
> > and trying to rip you off.
> >
> > DO NOT ACCEPT A TAXI OR ANY OTHER SERVICE OFFERED TO YOU BY ANYONE IN OR
> > AROUND THE TRAIN STATION! The taxis there are parasites, and people have
> > paid up to 50 times as much as they should have by taking them from
> there!> > Romania. Golden rules:
> >
> > NO-ONE FROM THIS HOSTEL IS STATIONED AT THE TRAIN STATION! If anyone
> > says otherwise, they are lying,
> > and trying to rip you off.
> >
> > DO NOT ACCEPT A TAXI OR ANY OTHER SERVICE OFFERED TO YOU BY ANYONE IN OR
> > AROUND THE TRAIN STATION! The taxis there are parasites, and people have
> > paid up to 50 times as much as they should have by taking them from
> there!

It was easy to find, and the directions were very thorough for getting here - including how to validate my ticket:

> > You may
> > get a fine if you ride the bus with no ticket, or if you don't validate
> > it properly (by sliding it into one of the little boxes placed
> > throughout the buses, and pulling the top towards you, it should stamp
> > holes in the ticket).

House of Dracula, Castle that Bram Stoker decided was Dracula's and the Black Church from Brasov

Sunday in Bucharest

Most things seem to be closed, so I have been spending the afternoon doing some pool side reading (Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer). I am excited for my final train journey to Istanbul in the morning. My hostel seems alright here - staff is friendly and wi-fi fast.

I tried to bump up my ticket to Hong Kong, but for three thousand dollars extra I decided it wasn't that important to me. I can do one more day here - here being Istanbul.
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Lunch

Sat for two hours reading. The waiter hasn't returned since taking my order. Someone tried to take my dish while half the meal was still on the plate, fork in hand, still chewing from a piece I had just cut.

I couldn't help myself: do I look finished I asked. No he responded. I nodded, and returned to lunch. Not bothering to acknowledge his attempt to turn over the table in the 2/3 full restaurant.

The table next to me has an entire carcass on the table, pig maybe? It's like a thanksgiving turkey. That's in addition to their appetizers and entree's they each have. I feel full by proximity to the meal.

Getting the check has been impossible, understandable since the waiter won't come over here.
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A giant romanian building

In Bucarest
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For sale at a train station near you (in Romania)

Maybe they don't provide utensils on these trains? What though could really be the reason anyone would need a knife before boarding a train? And I say anyone because we are talking about something that costs less than ten dollars US! Maybe a lot here - but still available to the general population.
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