So to start, COUCH SURFING. I've explained couch surfing before and I was pretty excited going into my first experience with it but I totally underestimated it. Our couch surfers met us at the train station, walked around with us all the first night and got us some food and drinks cause we were too cheap to buy any. We continually insisted to not buy us anything and we just didnt have the money but they then insisted they wanted to and it was about culture, and this continued all through the second day. That day, Deniz spent the entire day showing us the sights and Cem met up later. They continued to buy us little things, narrate about their lives, run the public transportation, and lead us on trips to their favorite spots. Both nights we spent at their apartment hanging with them and two of their friends. We ate their food, drank coffee and Raki, played cards, talked about life, watched soccer. It was unbelievable. In so many different instances they went so far out of their way to make us comfortable and give us such a unique experience and it was hard to understand why complete strangers would do that for you. This theme followed us throughout the rest of the trip, which I'll explain more later. This wasnt a "I met someone cool while traveling" type story; they felt like buddies, I missed them the rest of the trip because they made us feel so at home and welcome that I wanted to hang with them forever.
Turkish people are the most gorgeous people on the planet, I could have people watched there forever, men and women. Heres how I explained it to a friend - the men are the classic look of George Clooney in a tuxedo and the women are Marilyn Monroe in a moderate black wine dress, sexual but in a contained, secretive way. They are all dark skinned and hair, but they dont wear flashy clothes. Nice shoes with jeans and a sweater, but everyone looks so classically beautiful that its astonishing. The food too is the closest I would say I've ever come to my ideal collaboration of food. Its basically a mish-mash of all cultures in the area thrown together so its tough to describe. But it was so eclectic, so tasty, so encompassing - so phenomenal. Istanbul itself is massive, 16 million people, and the city just keeps stretching and stretching and stretching as you drive through it and look at it from above. Its split in the middle by a river which divides it into half Europe and half Asia, so in some of those pictures I'm standing in Europe looking into Asia. The new style of architecture was a nice break from Italy as well. Catholic architecture is based around massive interior space so many of the churches around here have a massive Baroque interior, but in Turkey mosques and their towers graced the skyline and the insides were more succinct.
We went to the Grand Bazzar, which is basically a market, but your classic market on massive steroids, something like 4000 shops or something. It was fascinating, I could have spent hours wandering around there. It was like sensory overload with all the colors and shops and things and people and salesmen and food. I had wanted to buy a tobacco pipe while studying abroad and I knew this trip would be a good time to buy one. After stepping into the Bazzar, I knew it was the right place to get it, and it was that type of thing where once you know you have to shop for something its liberating cause then you just take your time and shop. Like all things, I knew when I found the right one, and I love it. Its going to be my only souvenir from study abroad and I'm psyched for it.
Next the adventures takes us to Cairo, where we stayed at a hostel, and from the minute we arrived in Cairo we knew our trip was about to take a massive turn in intensity and epicness. Our hostel was incredible and continued the pattern of amazing people going out of their way for us which I'll expand on at the end. Everywhere you go in Egypt you're offered a welcome drink, which was hard for us to get used to because we'd always refuse it not wanting to pay and they would assure us its free. Even if youre just shopping in a store, they offer you tea or juice. Egyptians are absolutely fascinated by Americans, and thats a massive understatement. The women I was with obviously were a huge draw for the Egyptian men, but I was treated like a king because they thought I had 4 wives. We would walk down the street and it felt like we were in an entourage - every person would stop what they were doing and stare at us. Men at dinner asked if they could take pictures of us on their cameras. Men commented on the beauty of the women and on the prowess of me any place we went. The entire time I had an image of two women on either side of me arm-in-arm with James Brown "Get on Up" playing and winking and waving to the locals, thats exactly how it felt. It was intriguing at first and then frustrating because we just wanted to hang and not be bothered by everyone. But there is only men on the street, and only male stores, and the streets were flooded at 2 AM on a Tuesday, and its totally different nightlife because none of the Muslims drink so everyone just shops and street pedals. I cant even begin to describe how different of a life it was.
But driving around the next day towards and around the Pyramids was mind blowing because they are a little outside of Cairo in Giza. You go from massive city Cairo to Giza where the donkeys are delivering the days feed for the horses, fruit is distributed on the streets on donkey carts, goats wander through the streets and eat garbage, and canals are built to drain water from the Nile for the residents to use to sustain life. I thought these places only existed in the movies, I really cant explain how it made me feel. And I can even articulate much less how the Pyramids were. And the Sphinx. We watched the sunset on the Great Pyramids from the back of a camel in the Sahara desert. We took our camels through the back roads of Giza where Egyptian children looked up at us like Gods. We touched the Pyramid rocks that have been sitting in the same place since BC times.
Snorkeling in Sharm was my favorite part of the trip even though I feel like it shouldnt be. I've never snorkeled somewhere tropical before and the Red Sea is supposed to have the most beautiful coral in the world. We saw dolphins swimming in the distance and right under our boat, we saw them dive and frolic. We pet non-dangerous jellyfish. Under the water is hidden the most visually pleasing place in the entire world - its never ending random colors, patterns, designs, fish, depths of water. Coral doesnt make sense, its classified as an animal but it has no organization, it seems like completely random collaborations of material and colors, and I saw some of the most random fish ever and it makes you wonder what is the biological advantage for all these fish looking and functioning the way that they do. Without the insane sunburn, the day would have been perfect, but it was hardly a setback.
Jerusalem was intense, albeit not what I expected. Honestly I dont know what I was expecting, but somehow it wasnt that. The pictures wont mean much to you, or me for that matter, but in the moment its absolutely mind blowing to realize where the hell you are. I touched the rock that Jesus was crucified on. I saw the stone he laid on after death and was cleaned from the crucifixion. I visited the church that was built over the stable he was born in in Bethlehem. I drove through Palestine and the West Bank, the biggest area of conflict in the world during my lifetime. I swam in the Dead Sea, the saltiest place on the planet. It is also the lowest place above sea level in the world, 400 meters below. So at the shore, you are at the lowest spot in the world where you can stand. Its so low that the suns rays dont harm you or tan you, its just pure heat. Like my Great Salt Lake experience, you dont have to swim, its so salty that you just float.
Now onto how I want to conclude this story session: my trip was completely defined by the people I met throughout. To start off, Deniz and Cem and their want to host us like lifelong friends and try and show us their culture as much as possible. Second, the "Good Mafia" that ran the hostel in Cairo. We referred to them as this because they had all the hook ups, they made everything so easy, they helped us out in so many ways, and they were known all around town. You could just tell they were the most legit people ever. So besides hooking us up with deals for the Nile cruise, a tour guide and transport to the Pyramids all day and all those entrance fees, the main man Atif taught me a great lesson. We checked out of that hostel on Wednesday morning, did our Pyramid tours all day for which he let us keep our bags at the hostel, then let us return to shower, then gave us a ride to the bus station to get to Sharm. Furthermore, when we returned to Cairo on Saturday to fly out Sunday, he kept texting us to find what we were doing. Once we were in, he sent someone to pick us up, and had him bring us around to a couple more sights we didnt get to see in Cairo before. Then he let us crash in the lobby area of the hostel. Our plan was to sleep in the airport, but he would not let that happen. We didnt ask him for any of this, but he wouldnt let it be any other way. We owed him nothing and he was gaining nothing financially from it. He just kept insisting that he wanted his friends to have the absolute best experience possible in Cairo, and he would help in whatever way he could. Thirdly, every single person along the course of this trip went our of their way to help us. For extremely little things, but without approaching others, we would be approached and asked if we needed help. People would walk us places, help us with machines, wait with us for transport, help us buy things. Every person was amazingly kind and went out of their way to help us, but they did it in a way that seemed so natural, like they would do it instinctively for anyone, like its just their way of life. Its terrible that thats shocking to me and I always wondered if they were after something else, but they werent. And its terrible that the world doesnt know that about these people and actually has a totally different view of them. But I'm so grateful for all the help I received and for these people that taught me something beautiful about mankind.
I saw some great sights, I ate some great food, I met some great people. I explored culture, I explored ruins, I explored the Sea. I dove into history, I touched one of the most holy places in the world, and I drank with 20 year old Turkish friends. I ordered the cheapest thing on the menu and hoped I liked it, and I always did. I saw the world from a different perspective than I ever thought I would. I know whats out there now, and I need to see more.
I'm so so grateful that I was able to take a trip such as this. I'm happy we went off on our own and planned such a crazy trip and, for the most part, did it fluently. I feel like I grew up 15 years in that week and it felt like it lasted 3 weeks. I feel enlightened about so many different things, and its surely the most amazing time I've ever had. I hope this post helped you connect to me. I think I filled it mostly with my thoughts and random stories versus crazy amounts of detail from the trip, and I hope thats a good thing. The pictures are up, so feel free to check them out.
I wanted to close with a quote, but its weird - writing about this in such detail has totally brought me back into the moment and I feel lost in the clouds. I'm feeling everything again and I'm getting back that life high that I was on for 8 days. So considering nothing is coming to mind, I wish peace and love to all, and pray that everyone gets to experience something of this magnitude in their lifetime.
Love always,
Zach
