I was a big fan of the 80's TV Cop show, CHiPs. My brother Colin and I would ride our bikes around the neighborhood pretending to be Ponch & Jon(or Starsky & Hutch or Bo & Luke. My sister Erin was Daisy Duke). Anyway, two days ago I got a chance to live out my motorcycle cop fantasy. We rented a 100cc Peugeot motorbike to visit some of the more out of the way sights in Cappadocia. To be honest I wasn't too keen on the idea(Yo's)as I don't necessarily have the best track record when it comes to motorized two wheel transport. Of the 10 times that I've ridden a motorbike, I've been in 3 accidents. Ever the optimist, Yo said that meant we had 70% chance of NOT getting in an accident. It's hard to agrue with logic like that. So, off we went. Despite being a bit cold and rainy in the evenings, Cappadocia has been for me the highlight of our trip so far. It's amazing setting(see photos in gallery)was formed by soft volcanic rock that has been sculped over the millennia into these huge stone mushroom-like pinnacles. We spent the last four days mostly hiking through this otherworldly place. On each of the hikes that we did, for some reason we met a dog or two that would follow us around for the whole day. They would act as guides, leading the way, in exchange for payment from our snackbag. We would get so attached to these dogs, even giving them names, that it was sad to say goodbye at the end of the day. Yesterday while hiking through Love Valley(named by the locals for the penis-like pinnacles), we found wild growing apples, pears, and grapes ripe for the picking. There's nothing better than gorging yourself on fresh picked fruit while out on a hike.
After 3 weeks in Turkey it is time to move on. I couldn't recommend this country highly enough. Travelers often talk of wanting to get off the beaten path, but in all actuality probably don't want to rough it all that much. Turkey is the perfect balance between these too extremes. While being a bit touristy, it still retains an exotic feel. It's not super cheap, but the prices are fair($50 per person per day is pretty comfortable). Tonight we take an overnight bus to the border and tomorrow enter Syria, the real heart of the Middle East.
-Shawn

when i'm walking along street, many times the locals offer me the local liquir "raki". today i got excited talking to the local men about the political situation in burma,( oh yeah these folks know what's going on the world) of course they gave me lots of wine that they made. i got too wasted and i passout on the street, fortunately shawn found me and rescued me.
at this point, i'm thinking about quiting alcohol. but when the locals offer me drinks, i can't say "no" to them. that's rude. this is the best way to connect with the locals.
maybe i should check out the next AA meeting in turkey...yeah...i should.

kumako

portland people,
don't be jearous of this picture...because now we're in cappadocia(inland) and freakin' freezing and raining. but when we spent time in kaş, life was awesome! this beach we went was 12 miles long and it was most peaceful beach i've ever been. every day we watched the sun setting into mediterranean sea from our guesthouse's rooftop while drinking beer.

cappadocia is super cool, we're hiking different shape of funky valleys every day for all day long! today we rented a scooter to go see the other part of area. this place is just amazing!

yo

Here's what we've been up to the past two weeks. After meetıng up ın Sofıa, Bulgarıa, ıt was on to Istanbul. In our fırst 5 weeks we traveled through 13 countrıes between us, from the westernmost European country, Iceland, to the easternmost, Turkey. We don't usually travel so fast, but the dollar just happened to be at ıt's alltıme lowpoınt agaınst the Euro. So, for fınancıal reasons we moved fast, but now ıt was tıme to chıll out a bıt. Istanbul, whıch sıts on the edge of two contınents, ıs where we leave Europe behınd and enter Asıa. Istanbul, ıs wıthout a doubt one of the world's great cıtıes, the perfect marrıage of East and West. Everywhere there ıs water: the Black Sea, the Medıterranean Sea, the Borphorus, the Golden Horn. And then there are the mosques. It ıs nearly ımpossıble to look ın any dırectıon and not see or hear one. And the food, not cosmopolıtan lıke New York or London, but Turkısh food(and sweets)ın all ıts glory. After a week of perfect weather we left just, and I do mean JUST, as a huge strom was hıttıng the cıty(ıt was flooded for days).
We traveled South along the Aegean coast to Selcuk and the ancıent Roman cıty of Ephesus. The ruıns were spectacular and so were the crowds. Buses arrıved nonstop from the Medıterranean cruıseshıps. We waıted them out, had a pıcnıc on one of the Roman amphıtheaters, and then had the place to ourselves ın the afternoon.
From there we headed Southeast to the seasıde town of Kas. We stayed at a guesthouse of a retıred fısherman, everyone called Captaın. From the rooftop deck we would watch the sunset each evenıng whıle sıppıng on Efes beers. And every mornıng Captaın's wıfe and daughter would serve us huge Turkısh breakfasts of olıves, tomatoes, cucumbers, feta cheese, bread, eggs, and tea. Yesterday Turkey played Greece(bıg rıvals)ın the Euro Cup qualıfıer ın soccer. It was lıke the Super Bowl, every TV set ın town was tuned ınto the match. The Captaın was so angry that Turkey lost he wanted to attack the Greek ısland across the harbor from Kas.
Now we are on route to Cappadoccıa wıth ıts moon-lıke landscape and weırd rock formatıons called faıry chımneys by the locals. You can even stay ın rooms that have been carved ınto the rock. I've never slept ın a cave before. And from Cappadocıa ıts South to Syrıa. Hope you are all enjoyıng the blog. We love readıng your comments.
-Shawn

One of the thıngs that surprısed me most about Eastern Europe was the notıcable lack of moustaches. I had spent months before leavıng on thıs trıp growıng thıs gıant banana slug on my upper lıp ın the hopes of connectıng wıth the locals. Only to be sadly dısappoınted. It seems that the moustache ıs no longer ın vogue, maybe ıt just brıngs back too many ımages from the Sovıet era. But as we left Eastern Europe behınd and entered Turkey thıngs took a turn for the better. There's not a bus drıver, tea shop owner(see above photo), polıceman, or musıcıan wıthout a moustache of some form. Sometımes young people ın bars laugh at me and say you look more Turkısh than I do. It's nıce to know that all the effort I went to ıs fınally beıng apprecıated.
-Shawn