Türkiye

It was late in the day by the time we got to Erzurum, and it felt as if we had left Kurdistan and entered Saudi… Read More »In the terrorists’ footsteps

After staying up with our new Israeli friends, we discovered back in the hotel at 12:30AM that there was no water at all; when we… Read More »Checkpoints in Kurdistan

Four hours later, at 5AM (on Monday the 24th), Dilek is so hot, sleepless, and livid that Co? would treat us this way that she… Read More »Ancient Armenia under military escort

On Saturday the 22nd, we decided to forego breakfast at the good old Turist Hotel, which would have been included had the cook shown up;… Read More »The Laz, and stuck up in a tree

We drove to Rize to stay the night, and Rize is very religious, with covered women and men with skullcaps. Since the Rough Guide said… Read More »An army sendoff in Rize

On Friday the 21st, we reached Trabzon and saw the mid 13th-century Byzantine church of Aya Sofya, whose frescos are shockingly lurid for the period… Read More »Hidden ruins by Trabzon

We set out heading east from Istanbul along the Black Sea coast with Elif’s mom Dilek and her judge boyfriend Co?. Co? is married, but… Read More »A criminal adulterer on the Black Sea coast