Alice's Adventures:

21 September 2005

A window from the inside

A window from the inside
Originally uploaded by AliChen.

Sultan's Way of Life

Sultan's Way of Life
Originally uploaded by AliChen.

More Photos from Turkey

IMG_1699
Originally uploaded by AliChen.

I thought you all might like a few more photos. There will be more coming. This is just the first of a few.

15 September 2005

We're driving along a patch of road that all of the sudden becomes E-X-T-R-E-M-E-L-Y wide. One lane to the right is the normal size. The lane we're in could be filled with 5 rows of cars.

Why is it like that you ask? Well, so did my sister.

"It's for the planes to land."

Planes?

You see, the Turkish have thought ahead. During wartime, there will have to be places other than runways for planes to land. So, throughout Turkey, you'll find these long strips of roadway with a reeeeally, reeeally wide lane and one narrow one.

I guess being surrounded by Iran, Iraq, and at one time, the U.S.S.R. along one border and Greece on part of the other can make you paranoid about war. Paranoid is prepared and you're grateful for it when the need arises.

Saying Good-bye or Until Later?

Istanbul
Originally uploaded by AliChen.

Turkey is full of surprises.

Architecture, natural wonders, and a lot of ruins. The food is good, the tea and coffee strong like their people, and it's not a land you can get a sense of the first time because there is so much history from so many different eras and cultures blended to form the one we know today.

I'd like to come back to Turkey someday. Maybe before it joins the European union, or maybe afterwards. But I'd like to see the parts I'd missed in the middle and on the Eastern side.

I'm told I'll have to travel with a man. It's not proper nor safe to travel with just women in that part of Turkey as it becomes more fundamentalist Muslim territory.

I'll look forward to it when and if it comes.