Dubai- Land of Sand and Brunch!

We were still high on the bliss of our time in Turkey and finding out that we had received our Indian visas when we touched down in Dubai.  Neither of us had ever been in any Middle Eastern countries before so we honestly had no idea what to expect, but we were so excited to find out.  We only had a long weekend to spend with Matt, Michael’s older brother’s friend from the States, but we were thankful to have a friend to spend time with. Matt was working in Dubai and was happy to put us up for a few nights.

We arrived at the airport when it was still dark out and after getting our bearings, we hopped on the very first metro of the day, sometime around 5 am.  We were intrigued to see that all of the signage was in English as well as Arabic, which we were thankful for as we do not speak any Arabic.  We were also happy to find that everything in Dubai is heavily air-conditioned, a welcome respite from the extreme heat outside.

As we rode the train further into town, the sun began to rise over the exceptionally modern city and we began to see the giant skyscrapers Dubai is famous for.  When we reached our stop, we walked through an indoor corridor full of escalators and shops for about twenty minutes before ever taking a step outside.  We wandered around for about 30 minutes before finally finding the gorgeous building Matt lived in, overlooking the water- if you are high enough, his building overlooks one of the famous man-made “Palm Islands.”  Obviously, Michael and I were beside ourselves.  We were so removed from this sort of luxury that the only way we really knew how to cope with it was to both take hour long showers and do massive loads of laundry.  We were so lacking in personal hygiene that we were embarrassed to sit on his furniture when we first arrived.

Our first day we just spent exploring.  We were right on the water and that weekend there happened to be a skydiving tournament, so we walked all around and among the competitors, watching ants fall from the sky until they became men with pillows erupting behind them.  I loved walking down the boardwalk seeing the incredibly glamourous Emiratti women covered in the black abaya from head to toe, and glimpsing their wrists and hands literally dripping in diamonds balancing statuesquely in their Louboutin heels.

Matt was so kind to us and probably sensed how long it had been since we had had any sort of luxury in our lives and offered to take us to brunch.  Turns out brunch is the best thing is the whole world.  I wish I could do justice to brunch with my words, but I think only photographs can show the splendor and opulence of this amazing adventure.

Tables of treats, unending coconuts filled with rum and plate after plate after plate of nagiri..unreal experience!  Oh, and did I mention?  Just a measly $150 a head!

We were also right next to the famous Sailboat hotel.

That night we went to two fancy “dueling” parties where they hired bartenders to make delicious drinks and we had to judge which one was best.  I naturally became besties with the bartenders and had a smashing time at both.

Our final day in Dubai we had to see what all the fuss was about at the famous malls and Burj Khalifa, otherwise known as the tallest building in the world.  Our empty wallets couldn’t even afford socks there, but we had a great time people watching and exploring the ice skating rinks, waterfalls, aquariums and myriad food courts. 

 The next day we would fly into Delhi, which at the time we had no idea how much of an upsetting culture shock that would be.  But that is for another post!

Dubai is a city like no other, truly built out of dreams in the middle of the desert.  It’s a place with few locals where you see just as many white people as sikhs.  It’s all at once disconcerting, comfortable, freezing and sweaty.  I loved it and cannot wait to go back- but only when I’m a millionaire.

xo

V

Istanbul Video 2

Here is the second video of Istanbul, a city we truly loved. It has our time at Hagia Sophia and the underground Basilica Cistern plus much more. Enjoy!

Michael…

Indian Consulate in Istanbul

 

This post is mainly for other travelers, who are wishing to get a visa for India in Istanbul. We were approved for ours once we had everything they asked for on the consulate’s website. You do have to be there between 9:30 am – 12:00 pm and they are strict about this. The map on the contacts page of the website made it easy enough to find and asking a shop or hotel in the area almost always works. We had to go three different times and came from different directions each time. If walking from the water, you will have to go up a hill, but if you are used to walking, it is not bad. We were applying for a tourist visa and the following was required:

 Tourist Visa

• Passport (valid for minimum six months from the date of travel)
• Print out of  successfully submitted online application form with photo upload
• A photograph (pasted firmly on the form)
• Proof of Address
• Itinerary (tickets) in India only in case of applying for double entry visa for visiting neighbouring countries
• Latest bank (one page) account statement or any other proof to satisfy financial soundness of the applicant
• Photocopy of the Passport (only relevant pages)
• A Copy of Turkish identity card (if Turkish)
• Old passport, if any (if Turkish)
• Prescribed fee in cash US dollars ($70 each in Fall 2013)
• Fax form for foreigners (downloadable)

We had read online that sometimes people are told they need to go to Ankara for the visa, or in the case of the european man we met in the waiting room, who was riding a motorcycle across the middle east and continuing though India, that he would need to wait to apply in Pakistan or Iran. We had also read online that you should get there early, because it does fill up and even getting there early, there is usually a line waiting outside the door. But  once they do open the door, the waiting room is nice and they have free magazines about India that you can take with you, which we thought was a nice plus and left with four different ones.

And we finally got it, the full page visa sticker to enter India- the eagle appears unimpressed

But it was not all easy sailing. The first time we applied, or at least attempted to apply, we were turned away. The problem was that Veronica and I have been sharing a bank account for the trip, to make things easier. We also had a plan where my brother would transfer our money to us $1000 a month, this way if our cards were stolen we would not lose “that much” and it helped us stay on budget a little better to not have such a large account balance. But the two problems were, explaining to the consulate that we in fact did have more money, and that they could see the monthly transfers, though they had to take our word that we would continue to receive those transfers. This was actually pretty easy, and they believed us.

But we were turned away because the bank print out only had my name and no where said Veronica Norton. I can understand their complaint, considering we are not married, but the two people in front of us were an older married couple from the US that were turned away for the same reason. The time allowed to apply was winding down for the day and we would not be able to print off a new page and get back before they were closed, so we would have to come back the following morning. It would take 4-working-days for the visas to be processed, and we needed the code on the visa to even buy a plane ticket into the India. The issue was we also needed to change our plane tickets because we were no longer flying to Israel, but rather Dubai for a short stop before continuing on to India and we did not have a lot of time before we were no longer able to change our flight.

But we went back the next morning, gave them the new bank statement printout and turned our forms in. They weren’t happy with the very small amount of only $1000 to support two people for six weeks, but were nice enough to trust that we did have sufficient funds. I can not promise that they will do that for everyone. We were approved on $1000, but in actuality, we had much less because 1) the visas cost $70 each 2) we still needed to use money in Turkey and Dubai and 3) we still needed to buy our Indian plane tickets.  So we did not even have the $1000 entering India, it was closer to $200, but we would be receiving another transfer once we got there, or at least we thought.  We also did not mention that we would be stopping over in Dubai before entering Delhi because we had evidence to support that they would probably tell us to get our visa there, and we were only visiting Dubai for a weekend, meaning no time to wait there for a visa.

But we had our forms turned in. Waiting the four days, exploring Istanbul, hoping that we would not go back only to find that we had not been accepted, was rough but we felt good about everything. So the day comes to pick up our visas.  We have to wait outside in a park right around the corner because they are pretty strict about not even letting you into the building until the minute they open. We wait in line in the hallway with about 15 other people and at 5 pm ( they only give you a half hour time frame of 5:00-5:30pm to collect) we are given back our passports, having received the visa we needed.

It was a stressful process, but we were incredibly grateful and excited to be on our way to India!

Istanbul: Uncertainty in One of our Favorite Cities Yet!

When  you are continuously on the move, you expect that your plans are going to change. A few hours or days delay is very common, but an escalation in a military conflict in the county you are flying to in eight days is a little different. We had found two couch surfers that would put us up for a few days each in two different parts of the city. There was a whole lot we wanted to see in the city, and on top of that we needed to make a decision on if we were going to fly into Israel or not.

The decision was difficult because our plans were to fly to India after our Israel/Jordan/Egypt tour, but the Indian Visa is known to be difficult. Because around-the-world travelers use other travelers’ tales they read on the internet, to plan their own journey, and the experience of wanting to get India’s visa in Istanbul is actually common for travelers, there will be a post all its own. But to say the least, it was the hardest visa we have yet to get (though not getting the Brazil visa could be compared). So on top of seeing the sites, we spent various half days in the Indian Consulate.

tea and salep

outdoor exercize is very in

bought some sunflower seeds to eat down my the waterfront

But as far as exploring. We arrived by bus on an early Saturday morning. Not knowing what part of Istanbul we were in, and not having a map, we began the familiar practice of locating ourselves. Asking different shop owners and bus ticket vendors, we were given directions. We were trying to get to Kadıköy to stay with a couchsurfer named Turgay. He had a conference that day and we thought we could get to his house before he left, but once we found that in the overnight bus ride that morning, we had crossed back over to the European side of Istanbul and had a much longer commute to Turgay’s house, we needed to take a ferry back over to Asia. It was a little bit chilly in Istanbul and we had work we could get done and holed up in the corner of a coffee-house which turned out (to Veronica’s happy surprise) to be a Starbucks. We finally got ahold of Turgay later that afternoon once his conference was over and got the chance to take a shower.

Turgay’s dictionary

Supposedly the best baklava in Istanbul, we had to try some, it was good, but hard for us to judge giving our limited experience.

Turgay was a great host. A restaurant we were told we needed to go to called Ciya was just down the street from his place. One night he took us there, but we also shared meals and great conversations over breakfasts and when he got home from work. Turgay works at a publishing house and his normal job is to update the most popular Turkish-English dictionary in Turkey. He goes through, one word at a time, checking its current relevance. Turgay told us he really enjoys it, studying English Literature in the US, I believe he got either his masters or PHD at Purdue, and he said his favorite part was that he worked at his own schedule and often got off on tangents doing research about words, learning all sorts of interesting facts. He also sometimes translated picture books, but this was less often. Turgay has three cats, all rescued, that ran all over the house and loved to jump on anyones lap and get into mischief. It was really nice to have pets back in our lives, after leaving the dogs in Yalikavak that we loved so much.

markets

We visited the spice market and the grand bazar, which pictures and videos will explain more than my writing. Parts were crowded and overflowing, just the way a bazaar should be. We bought some saucers for the Turkish tea glasses we had and Veronica did a great job at bargaining down the price to about half of what was first asked. There is so much that we loved about Istanbul but the fact that we could take a ferry across the city each morning and night may have been a high, it was such a peaceful way of commuting. The street food in turkey is also wonderful, I had my fair share of donor kebabs which were always delicious and Veronica loved the corn on the cob that was sold in most squares and around the markets. A completely new drink was introduced to us in Istanbul, and we decided it is the best warm drink that would go perfect on a cooler fall day. It is called salep. A thick white drink made from ground tubers of orchid plants and sprinkled with cinnamon, served hot.  We prefered the kind offered in cafes rather than the street vendors.

SALEP!

tea and salep

Visually mosques are amazing. They create such a different city scape than we are used to , and the fact that Istanbul is such a water city, being built on the hills leading out of the channel, you can see the minarets everywhere. Each one has wonder but when visiting there is a common problem of becoming mosqued-out. Similar to cathedrals in Italy, if you stop at every beautiful mosque, you will start taking their history and wonderful detail for granted. But there are many mosques that even if you have seen hundreds already, are a must when in Istanbul.

Sultanahmet a.k.a. Blue Mosque

inside Sultanahmet

The two most popular are the Hagia Sophia and the Sultanahmet or Blue Mosque, which are right next to each other. Sultanahmet is still used as a functioning place of worship but Hagia Sophia is now a historical building and no longer used in the way it once was. The history is amazing, especially of the Hagia Sophia, and I urge you to click this link to learn more about it, but there is way too much for me to write much here. It has been converted more than once, being the Christian church during the reign of Charlemagne, and there are still wall mosaics that show this aspect.

Hagia Sophia

the Blue Mosque seen from out the window of a top level at the Hagia Sophia

Inside Hagia Sophia

The other half of the week we stayed with a women named Bahriya who lived in Besiktas on the European side. Bahriya also had a cat, though only one, named Siyami and we once again loved the animal attention.

Bahriye’s apt

Bahriya was also overly accommodating, taking us around the city to favorite restaurants and even to a famous Turkish bath called Çemberlitas Hamami, and we got a nice authentic rub down. It was a stranger experience for me, since men and women are taken to separate parts of the building, and I spoke no Turkish. So I had no way to explain what I wanted or did not want. They did speak little English, but I very much had to go with the flow. In all it was a great experience. We were Bahriya’s first Couchsurfing guests and were so happy that she took a chance on letting us into her home and life.

Many days we would wander around the streets, play backgammon in cafes and we visited a few parks. As we soaked up more and more of the city, we fell in love with Istanbul. A last-minute decision was to go to the Basilica Cistern which is an underground water system built by the Romans, with a quiet and very different feeling than the bustling streets right above. We were both glad that we decided to go and would recommend it to those visiting Istanbul for sure! In all, we know we did not see the whole city, but at that point we also knew that we would be back to Turkey, and had the mindset that what we missed then, we could see one of the next times.

famous medusa head used in the construction of the Basilica cisterns

Basilica cistern

In the end, we were able to get our India Visas, change our flights, with a three-day stop in Dubai, and would be landing in Delhi later that week.

Loving her desert of rice pudding

Thanksgiving at KFC (can’t find turkey in Turkey)

The day before we left, I bought a rare souvenir. Rare in the sense that I usually do not buy things when traveling, not that it was particularly hard to come by. It was a small, hand carved backgammon set. And it will remind me of the cold night we played a few games with Bahriya and her niece, drinking tea on the waterfront. This was just one of the many wonderful memories we have from the city and its amazing people.

Michael…

What gives? New Posts!

 

We are sorry, sometimes travel and people make you chose between posting and living life. We just went through this for the last few weeks but are now able to start posting again. Over the next ten or so days we will be working hard on getting posts, pictures and videos ready so that we can start to get caught up on sharing our adventure.

 

 

Thank you all for putting up with the recent slowness!

Michael and Veronica.

 

 

 

Going to Israel?

While we were still in Yalakavak, we had already made plans for the next part of our trip. We would go to Selcuk for a day and then onto Istanbul for almost a week before flying to Tel Aviv, Israel. From there we would go north and do a hike called the Jesus Trail that I was very excited to do. Then head south to Jerusalem and continue south into the dessert. We had already set up a workaway with a family and we would spend three weeks building an art center in the Negev Dessert. Then we’d be continuing over the boarder to Egypt, to see the pyramids and explore a little before finally flying to India. The whole leg would last about a month and a half.

From jesustrail.com

We had already bought our tickets to Tel Aviv but besides that exact dates were up in the air. When we boarded the bus, we were a little nervous because of the trouble in Egypt with protests and trouble with the surrounding embassies, but we had still decided to go. The bus we took to Selcuk was very nice and had a TV that was showing the news when we were on route. I was watching it as Veronica was reading and though it was in Turkish, I had the feeling that it was talking about Israel. I watched fighting in the streets and explosions. When we arrived to our hotel we checked our email and had messages from multiple people telling us about what was going on. There was an escalation in the situation in Gaza. Throughout the next week we received multiple emails a day from friends and family, keeping us updated on what was happening.

We had very little time to make our decision. Many said that things could calm down as fast as they escalate but who really knew. As missiles were being fired at Tel Aviv and there was a bomb on an Israeli bus, we needed to make up our minds. We continued onto Istanbul, and researched our options. If we were going to reschedule our tickets, we had to do it 48 hours before our flight. We were flying with Pegasus Airlines, a budget airline, and we researched where else we could fly if we exchanged our tickets.

The main idea we had was that we could go onto India early and spend a little more time there and in South East Asia. This could be good because Veronica was really excited for India and Israel is known to be very expensive (though we did have 3 weeks set up that would not cost us anything). Being towards the end of our budget it sounded like an okay idea. In reality, we did not think that we would be in that much danger. We would spend very little time in Tel Aviv, and chances were we would be completely fine. We were in contact with the family in the Negev Dessert and they said there was no problems by them. The issue we were nervous about was crossing the boarder into Egypt and being able to fly onward out of Cairo. The cost is much cheaper to fly from Cairo to India, but the Egypt-Israel boarder has had issues for years and with an escalation, we did not want to be stranded in Israel.

We still needed to get our India visas (this will be in another post) in Istanbul before we could change our plane tickets because India is very strict about this. In the end, we did not make the decision until a few days into Istanbul, but we decided to skip over Israel, Jordan (we wanted to at least see Petra) and Egypt and continue onto India. We will have to make a special trip later on in our life, because all of those places are ones I have a strong urge to see.

 (Here is a link to the family we were going to help in Israel!)

Michael…

Istanbul Video 1

Here is the footage from half of our time in Istanbul. Let us know what you think!

Michael…