Nithin: Ramadan in Turkey

Im hungry.

Not that finding food is difficult during Ramadan. Just down the road, here in Trapzon, Turkey, along the Black Sea coast, is a restaurant full of Turks enjoying Kebabs. Here is this internet cafe, no one is smoking, one of the most welcome respites of Ramadan which also restricts smoking during the day.

Actually, most Ramadan abiding Turks have complained that smoking is the hardest thing to give up, and when the prayer call rings at sunset, they reach for their Malboros. But the keyword is Ramadan abiding Turks.

"Are you Ramadan?"

In Ankara, the Burger King's are full, stands are selling food everywhere. Even the bars are filled, albeit not to their pre-Ramadan levels, but still full. Turkey is a secular country, and many choose not to follow Ramadan, especially young people. The same young people who no longer dawn headscarfs.

In the smaller towns, things are a bit different. I'd always wondered how children deal with Ramadan - do parents force young Children to fast? The answer - no. Some children fast during the morning, but parents rarely force young kids to go without food and water all day. So many Kebeb shops and fast food stands stay open during Ramadan in smaller town, to serve the children! And to serve me. Just imagine, me, grown, 23, enjoying my Kebab in a diner full of famlies with only the young children eating. Ahhh!

In Ramadan, the tides of change that are rushing through modern, secular, westward bound Turkey are more apparent then even. The masses of Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir differ greatly from the smaller towns of Goreme, Safranbolu, and Trabzon. No way is superiour, but the attitudes and culture is remarkably different. I wish I'd have the chance to check out Konya, the 5th biggest city in Turkey and a conservative Islamic stronghold.

I've been told Ramadan is a completely different story in the United Arab Emirates, where I am heading next week. We shall see!

Nithin: From One Continent to Another

After 6 months of travelling (the point I reached yesterday, coincidentally on the first day of Ramadan), you become...complacent. Culture shock? After 15 countries and 180 days on the road, nothing can shock me! Throw your street food at me, my hardened stomach can handle that! Bumpy night bus for 10 hours? Pshhh! I've done worse!

Of course, I'd spent 5 of those 6 months in the first world, but let's ignore that fact. As I crossed the ferry from Ecebat, Turkey, to Cannakale, Turkey (or, in more dramatic, layman's terms, from EUROPE to ASIA), sipping apple tea with TJ's brother and two New Zealanders, that I decided - this is it. This is my symbolic, iconographic, momentour halfway point of my trip. What better way, sailing the Dardanelles, where the Crusaders had swept down to Damascus from, from one continent to another.

Where's the damn "Welcome to Asia" sign?!

Of course, nothing is as symbolic in reality as the movie. I was too busy talking to even notice that'd we'd docked in Asia, and upon getting back onto my bus, forgot even to take a photo.

Asia decided to greet me...Asian style. From inside, specifically, from the stomach. Then outwards...over and over again.

But you don't want to hear about that, do you?

Nithin: Portion 3 Photos from Turkey

Some Photos from Turkey to wet your appetite.




















The Blue Mosque in Istanbul, the first mosque I ever went inside.















Memorial to a troop that lost every soldier...except one, the lucky Mustafa Kemel Ataturk, father of Turkey.














I decided not to do that. Ruins of Ephesus.