TravelStream™ news feed for member bird_dream on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/bird_dream en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:43:50 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bird_dream/1/1231879320/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bird_dream/1/1231879320/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bird_dream/1/1231879320/tpod.html Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:43:50 -0500 Bird Dream: Overland from India to Switzerland

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Zurich, Switzerland

On the trip we developed a saying: "Let´s just go to Switzerland!".When the toilet had no floor; the bus no driver; the stool no solidity; or the menu no Gruyeres cheese or Sausage: "Let´s just go to Switzerland".It was a phrase used to mock our own ´need-fullness´, not exactly serious, but every time we said it a vision appeared in my head of what Switzerland might actually be like. I would be a liar if I said that these were not complex visions(!) which may, or may not, have involved a beautiful blonde haired Damsel posing on a green field or ski piste, framed by mountains and happily holding aloft jugs of amber beer, with blocks of cheese and chocolate emanating from her tight fitting 'bustier' - enough for everyone!I should qualify this admission by reminding people I spent several nights in the Sunderbans with a hallucinegenic fever in only the second week of our trip. The vision had since matured but retained the crucial 'supporting cast' of the damsel, the piste, the beer, the cheese, the chocolate and said bustier.The figure of a Saint Bernard puppy rolling in snow -barrel of brandy slung from its neck- was a worthy addition to "The Vision" during a fit of asphyxia that I had in the mountains in Pakistan.Is it any surprise, therefore, that I have found Switzerland to be different to my pre-conceptions!Yes. And much to my pleasure AND disappointment."La Vie en Suisse" is coming soon..........
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bird_dream/1/1228741920/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bird_dream/1/1228741920/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bird_dream/1/1228741920/tpod.html Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:16:45 -0500 Bird Dream: Overland from India to Switzerland

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Istanbul, Turkey

This morning, breaking article 1.1 of the Bird Dream Convention for Travel, Christina climbed aboard an Air Pegasus Boeing bound for Zurich. Being more old fashioned (in a 26 year old kind), I am persisting ahead with the 'Blessed Overland Method' as described in the aforementioned Convention.This will, over the next two days, take me to that curious country of mad-hat politicians, bizarre parenting and kooky murders: Yes, I am talking about Austria.Of course with Christina having a significant Teutonic genetic streak, I should also drop some names of luminous Austrians for the sake of what John Winston Howard might have called "Balance". Hence I give you: Fischer Von Erlach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Adolf Loos, Bruno Taut, Herman Buhl, Gustav Klimt and Ludwig Wittgenstein. All of them mad as cut snakes. And a shame I couldn´t think of a distinguished Austrian woman to 'pull up the brand'- A woman in the league of say a Hazel Hawke, or Lady Flo, or Janette Howard, or a Janet Albrechtsen ......hmmmm.........'Albrechtsen'.......... Austrian maybe?.Adding other Austrian luminaries would most likely continue to do Austria a disfavour. Could I include Sigmund Freud?Lost the plot when he became convinced of the perversing influence of a woman´s nose. Could I include Franz Kafka?Brilliant, but plaintive. And a Vegetarian.(And actually born in Prague, though Austrian at the time)What about a Habsburg Prince?Too many chins.So, as you can see, I am in a bit of jam. Which leaves me with only a couple of Austrians that I know to be of sane and benign disposition. These idividuals can be broken up into two 'broad' camps which I will name succinctly as: 1. "The Governator" (he is a whole camp in himself), and;2. The Wiegele Family. (Christina´s Mother´s family)Ahhh. Who needs balance - Thank crumbs for the Wiegele´s! Which reminds me to say congratulations and much love to the newly married Mikey and Sylvia Wiegele! Woo-hoo!p.s After more than 10 months on the road, Christina has still managed to sustain her cat-lýke senses- an Austrian inheritance perhaps.We had just walked into the Sultan´s quarters of the Ottoman era, Topkapi Palace, when she turned to me with a smile and said:"Hmmm, smells like Aunt Felicity´s house"So there you go.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bird_dream/1/1226779800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bird_dream/1/1226779800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bird_dream/1/1226779800/tpod.html Thu, 27 Nov 2008 11:22:23 -0500 Bird Dream: Overland from India to Switzerland

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Harran, Turkey

photos coming soon........
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bird_dream/1/1227295620/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bird_dream/1/1227295620/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bird_dream/1/1227295620/tpod.html Tue, 25 Nov 2008 19:02:29 -0500 Bird Dream: Overland from India to Switzerland

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Goreme, Cappadocia, Turkey

I am writing from the centre of Turkey, 30 feet deep within my very own cave. I have an 'ADSL' internet connection and I am sitting at a pentium powered 'DELL' industries personal computer. 'Manuel' has brought me a soothing hot glass of apple tea (after all it is rather chilly outside) and has just adjusted the central heating to a balmy 24 degrees centigrade. My toes have feeling and my nose is not leaking like a Labour Caucus: Life is looking up, Cave Dwelling has never been so easy.This morning, instead of grinding wheat seeds on a rock to make flour and later charred bread, Christina and I went for a slow walk to the Rose and Red Valleys. While we were there, instead of hunting for elk with sharpened sticks, we ate a neat lunch of 4 food groups, prepared and packed in the morning from our kitchenette, which had all the recommended daily amounts of vitamins and minerals stipulated by the Australian Food Council. Instead of skinning the Elk to fashion a tunic for needed shelter from the rain, we un-sheathed our gortex fibre, woven ceramic, NASA affiliated, Canadian patented, America's cup winning, instantly flammible, but thankfully water and wind proof jackets. We then navigated our way through the labrynthine gorges of Cappadocia using a copper strip suspended in water within a calibrated circle of degrees- otherwise known as a 'Compass'. Thankfully on this occasion smoke signals were not necessary to warn the tribe of 'Homo Germanopithicus Touristus' that our imminent convergence on their Swedish made wagon was imminent and unavoidable- I cautioned Christina: "Eyes ahead, and for God's sake don't mention the War!" We past peacefully with only a salutory head-nod to give credit to their expert disguises ('Americanus' clothing rather than their more customary lederhosen). The light reflecting off the beautiful Red and Rose Valleys was then captured as an image on a digital sensor the size of a postage stamp inside a small black housing which I often carry with me. A short barrel of glass optics provided some necessary manipulation to the size and focus of the image. I set my 'White Balance Meter' to 'Cloudy'. I under-exposed most 'shots' by one full 'F Stop'. When I got back to my cave I sorted through my 'shots' and deleted those which were not good. There was no need for me to paint my days experience on my cave wall with red ochre- Instead I 'uploaded' them onto this 'site' using the DELL, with its pentium processor and ADSL 'connection'.But now I am getting the yawns and have to check into the cave that I sleep in. It is opposite the one I am in now, beneath the cave where the Britons and Gauls sleep. They fight alot amongst each other and sometimes it is uncomfortable to see them in the communal latrines. It is fair to say that, generally speaking, we have different habits to the Britons and Gauls: I don't need to knock my gırlfriend out with a club so that she will come and sleep in the cave- She goes to sleep whenever and wherever she likes.Thank Zeus!
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Nemrut Dagi, Turkey

We have developed a penchant for the obscure on this trip so far and visiting the ruins of Nemrut Dagi maintains our credentials.Nemrut Dagi is actually a burial mound, or Tumulus, for King Antiochus I at the top of a mountain in south east Turkey. It is a steep 6km climb to the top from the park entrance, where nearby we have camped. The Tumulus itself is actually a 'false summit' - a pile of stones which King Antiochus' subjects carried to the top. It is an immense mound of rocks- you can't help but think of the poor buggers bringing this lot up here. Anyways, On the West and East sides of the Tumulus are interesting ruins of throned Gods flanked by pediments which once supported detailed freizes depicting ancestral themes. Only some of these friezes remain on the site and the large 'heads' no longer sit on the be-throned bodies as they had apparently tumbled off during an earthquake or perhaps 'detached' by auto-decapitation. For some reason none of the local literature entertains the possibility that the site's current state has something to do with iconoclastic Muslims. But moving right along: The heads represent Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Herakles and the man who made it all possible, King Antiochus himself, and look stoically to the horizon in neat arrangement from albeit diminished heights (you could rest a beer on top of Zeus's head, for instance) while everything around them remains in ruinous chaos. It makes a very picturesque view.We were fortunate that despite the grim weather on offer, our hour spent on the summit was the only sunshine of the day. Out of the sun the air bit cold.We ate a packed lunch below the peak in a frosty wind before heading down the mountain on foot. Just like on the way up, after walking part of the way, a friendly passer-by stopped and insisted on a lift which we happily obliged.It gets dark here very early with the sun setting around 4.30pm so Christina and I tucked into our tent around 6.00pm and started our lesson on "Regular Italian Verbs Ending in -are" for an 8.00pm lights out. Incidentally, the tent has been great- it gets us up-close and personal with the land and its many loiterers. This morning we awoke to the sound of heavy machinery and peered out of the fly to see a tractor ploughing neatly around our tent on all sides. It was a nice way to wake up- knowing that though your sleep was disturbed, Your life won out over 3 square metres of wheat at harvest. Victory to the humans!ps. the photos for this post have been taken by our Chinese friends Quen and Xiu Lien who accompanied us on our trip to the top of Nemrut Dagi. Big thanks to them!
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Shiraz, Iran

This post has been delayed in posting for two reasons. The first is that a blog site host is banned in Iran by the Iranian government. The second is that even if it wasn't banned I wouldn't post this in Iran. So here it is:Shiraz has been one of the best places of our trip so far. We owe this to our host Roxanna and her wonderful family who looked after us for 4 nights. Shirazi's are unique people within Iran. They are its most liberal people- culturally and politically speaking- and they know it. They have a reputation for being able to let their hair down in a country where this can often mean a beating. seriously.The city itelf seems to re-inforce this culture with its many parks and monuments overflowing with young people parading their quaffs, quiffs, cowlicks, polka-dotted head scarves and high-heels. Young people, lots of young people, young people everyewhere. In fact, Shiraz might be the most youthful place we have ever been (Iran already being a place where 70% of people are under the age of 30!)The most popular places in Shiraz are the Tombs of Hafez and Saadi, legendary Persian poets who sang of love and consumption. Despite being from the 14th and 13th centuries their legend is very much alive and I detect a certain anti-establishment theme within their popularity with the locals. Loving these poets is a way of saying you love Iran, but more importantly that you love something beyond the reach of the current regime.In fact, this theme repeats for many articles of Persian history especially the history prior to Islamic conquest (Ancient Persia, Zoroastrians etc). This is somewhat ironic and it relies on a few twist's of history. For instance, Iranians love to identify with there ancient Persian roots, the wonderful architectural and artistic achievements, the achievements in law, science and scholarship. So they should- it is a remarkable resume. Iranians even celebrate the ancient Zoroastrian calender (such as Norouz - New Year) incorporating these events into the Islamic calender.But Iranians are very luke-warm over the advent of Islam which came with subjugation to the Arabs. It is such a 'dark' moment in the memory of people here that I have almost thought it was resented. So, Ancient Persian infidels = Good, the coming of Islam from Arabs = Bad. But then, history accomodates a shift which makes Islam pallatible for the Iranians- a schism in Islam along cultural lines, essentially the splitting of the Persian Shia from the Arab Sunni from the Martyrdom of Hossain, Ali's son. This schism is celebrated by Iranians as a time that they defied their Arab colonial overlords and asserted their ancient right of independence.Subsequent achievement by Islamic Persians are therefore celebrated, particularly the Safavid era of rulers. Again, this love for the Safavids often operates as a way of thumbing the nose at the current establishment. The Safavids are particularly loved in Shiraz for their architectural achievements and their unambiguously 'un-Islamic' behaviour: the drinking of alcohol; dancing; playing classical music publicly; wearing liberal clothing(or at least not wearing hijab); allowing un-censored art etc. All of these things are currently outlawed in Iran with serious consequences for a perpetrator. Hence, virtually all Persian monarchies are painted with this same brush of admiration- a brush of 'Golden Times' when people where 'free'- even the Pahlavi's who were dethroned in the Revolution of 1979.What has become clear therefore is how much the current regime in Iran is at odds with a very long and very strong sense of Persian history and identity. By turning its back on so much of its own history the current Iranian goverment invites comparison with the initial Arab conquest as a dark part of Iranian/Persian history. Frankly, this is an unsustainable relationship with the public and something will have to give way sooner or later. Just hope in the meantime that a certain president, of a certain large country does not think that he will be the one to make it give way. These things happen from the inside and a quick look at Irania/Persian history will tell you that Iranians would have it no other way.
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Esfahan, Iran

waitýng for photos
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Goreme, Cappadocia, Turkey

SO, we have beaten an unwieldy path across south eastern anatolia over the past two weeks and we are now in a place that has held massive expectations for us ever since this crazy gig began nine and half months ago- Hello Cappadocia.But first how to sum up the last 14 days since we crossed the border? Lets try:KurdsArmy checkpointKurdsAnother Army checkpointMore Kurds, and yet another army checkpointWonderful Van LakeStill more Kurds, upset that they are not legally allowed to speak their mother tongue.Batman - yes this is the name of the townKurdish children being taught English and Turkish at their schoolHassankeyf - Historic town on the Euphrates riverAngry Kurds, who don't want there town flooded by a new damn projectSavur, time to rest in the palace of the local chief.Kurds, at a wedding who invite us to picnic with them in the local graveyardMardin- Town of Assyrian churches, cracking bazaar and time to look out onto the plains of the Euphrates valleyAnd, KurdsDiyarbakir - Cultural heart of the Kurds and home of the Kurdish rebellion. Also home to the Turkish Air Force fighting a war with Kurds in Iraq. Hence: Lots of Kurds but also a lovely Turk man who looked after us there.Nemrut Dagi- bloody big heads of antique gods and a maniac king on top of a bloody big mountain.Lots of Kurdish blokes watching Kurd TV. Scenario: young kurd men and women, on there daily rounds, congregate on a mountain side, un-shoulder their Ak-47's and reveal classical Kurdish instruments which they start to play in perfect harmony while the faces of Kurdish martyrs fade into the screen.Sanliurfa- A City near the Syrian border- Great old city and once the stomping ground of Job and Abraham.Some Kurds, but mostly Arabs especially in the village of Harran.Karamanmaras- A City that is home to (apparently) the best ice cream in the world. I'm still trying to work out if this is true.And Turks. Not Kurds. Well some Kurds, but it is better not to risk asking people if they are Kurdish now.Oh. And lots and lots and lots of smokers and smoking- Everywhere.It would be an understatement to say that South East Turkey (Can I call it Kurdistan?) is not quite a tourist Mecca due in large part to a protracted war between the PKK and the Turkish Government during the 80's and 90's. But things are evidently changing. We feel lucky to have come through this part of the world in a little window of time between war and a new age of consolidation.More on Cappadocia soon!
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Kerman, Iran

We had a great time in Kerman. It is frequently left off the itineraries of most travelers who visit Iran but it has some excellent things to see. We also met a great local man and were hosted by his family for 3 nights, experiencing the best of Iranian hospitality. The Kerman bazaar is one of the best in Iran and within the complex are excellent examples of caravanserai, medressa and bath-house typologies (sorry, architect speak). It was great to see these old structures still being used. It added a really exciting organic element to the bazaar. Outside of Kerman are some interesting towns which we also visited. We decided in the end not to venture to Bam, once the highlight of a visit to Iran, which was completely destroyed in a devastating earthquake 5 years ago. Instead we took in the town of Rayen and its adobe Arg (fort) and the town of Mahan which has a wonderful Sufi shrine and the extraordinary Shazdeh (Prince's) Garden featuring Cyrpess trees and an impressive cascade of water brought to the site from nearby mountains by extensive subterranean tunnels called Qanats. In itself it is one of the bst gardens we have both seen but its context- a barren, deserted valley between bare mountains - makes this lush place even more remakable.
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Abarqu, Iran

Abarqu is a town west of Yazd halfway to Persepolis. It is known for an exceptional almost one-off palace dating from the Qajar era. It is an amazing complex and surprisingly, was well worth camping at the back of a vacant block to see. Abarqu has some other surprises such as a 4000 year old Cypress tree which looks in pretty damn good nick and an impressive ice house. Near to where we camped was another ice house which was especially interesting because it still had beside it a series of parallel walls divided by shallow channels which where once used to be make the ice. Water would fill the channels and the walls would keep the channels in shade throughout the day. In the morning following a night of just beneath freezing a poor sod would come buy and skim the few millimetres of ice off the surface and form it into ice blocks to put in the ice house. It was an ingenious system used up until fairly recent times.
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