Off Both the Beaten Path & the Technology Highway

Just wanted to do a quick post to let y’all know that I’m in Bishkek, capital of the Kyrgyz Republic, until tomorrow, when we head to Naryn – other side of Kyrgzstan (I’m still having huge difficulty spelling the name of the country — too jet lagged, or maybe just too many different languages and alphabets in the past weeks, not sure which). Anyway, internet access is not readily available; I can’t update my photos and tell you the stories yet of Istanbul; and I don’t know when (until maybe China) I’ll be able to update again. So, apologies, but I’ll try and post more, when I can.

Just in case you were curious about first impressions of the KYRG-? Soviet-style concrete block architecture; overgrown, leafy green parks; poverty; random bronzes and stone statues in the parks; brightness of the sharduks (felted rugs – I know I spelled that wrong, too); strangeness. The countryside is rumored to be lovely – we’re staying in yurts in Naryn, which at the least (after being in a tented camp in Wadi Rum, and a cave hotel in Cappadocia, Turkey) oughtta be really fun — we loaded up on wine in the duty-free out of Istanbul; and hopefully catch a game of that national sport, a form of polo using a goat carcass as the ball. And so, there’s bound to be an adventure, or seven, there.

Will let you know, as soon as I’m able.

XXOO M.

Istanbul

I’ve tried several times now to put into words my impressions of Istanbul, and of Turkey. I can’t. Words fail me; the complexity, the color, the tastes and smells and sounds, the humidity, the incredible overwhelming beauty and history of the Islamic and Byzantine cultures — it’s overpowering, and intoxicating, and potent.

Salaam Alaykum

The world’s tallest free-standing flagpole flies the Jordanian flag, over Amman’s frothy greyed limestone blocks and scattered ruins, including the Roman amphitheater, where 7 Western tourists were shot in 2007. Wrong place at the wrong time. I don’t think Jordan is any more like that than the US; in fact, it’s known to be pretty safe, all things considered. It’s just doesn’t seem like it’s very comfortable, unless you live in one of the “palaces” by the American Embassy, perhaps, or in a 5-star hotel, or are very, very wealthy.

Karak Attack

The last stop on the Jordan tourist hit parade was at Karak Castle, site of a huge Crusader fortress, under excavation. It’s just off the King’s Highway, and figures in the Bible as Kir and Kir Moab, capital of the Moabites, and is repeatedly renamed. In around AD 1184, Lady Stephanie, the Crusader heiress of Karak, was getting married while Saladin, leader of the Islamic armies, laid siege. Story goes that she sent out soje of the wedding dishes for Saladin; he in turn ordered that that part of the castle where the couple were celebrating their wedding night was not to be bombarded, so chivalrous of him. Her husband (or maybe her dad) Renauld de Chatillon was a true sadist, sadly; apparently he delighted in torturing prisoners and throwing them off the walls into the valley 450m below, according to the lonely planet guidebook. I knew some Catholics, in high school, who were like that – now they’re all state troopers in Rhode Island.

Wadi Rum

After Petra, there was one thing I still had to do to (although checking out Jerash & diving in Aquaba still are high on the list of must-sees in Jordan)…and that was take a ride with Bedouin in Lawrence’s Arabia. It didn’t disappoint.

Little Petra; not a hair band

Siq al-Barid, or Cold Canyon is “Little Petra”, and similar to big Petra.  Can’t tell you much about it; Samy’s not real good on the history (he was a mechanic/gas station/convenience store mgr in Orange County for

Petra

Petra is ancient, and silent, and raw, and wild. You’ve gotta see it, to believe it, and you’ve got to feel that rose-red limestone, and get all that nasty dirt and sand from climbing on your shoes. After the broad sweeping vistas of the desert, and the relatively minimal tourist traffic at Moses’ various rest areas and the calm of the Dead Sea, Petra is like a slow and crazy ride through an ancient Atlantic City boardwalk carnival, or actually, a Nabatean fun-house — anywhere where you can get mowed down by a camel, have your donkey run away with you up ancient rock-hewn stairs through the wadi, be totally ignored by men riding horses wearing their keffiyah (just like Yasser Arafat used to), or be consistently harrassed and chased by a chorus of vendors, who’ve never seen you before — “latah, lady you said latah – one dinar!!” …but it’s also phenomenally inspiring, uplifting, and a true marvel.

Moses was here

 
Moses, or as they call him around here, Musa, spent a fair amount of time during his 120 years round these parts; and, as promised by the Big Cahuna in the sky, never stepped foot in the promised land.  Instead, he struck a rock and created a spring that still runs like a river today (pictured above) in Wadi Musa (aka Moses’ Riverbed), running through Petra.  That rock was one of the stops on the Moses’ rock n’ roll tour, aka the King’s Highway, and the Desert Highway connector.

Where John the Baptist Set It Off

One of the still-in-development sites along the Jordan tourism hit list is the “Baptism Site”, Bethany-Beyond-The-Jordan, or Al-Maghtas, or, in Greek, Sapsafas.  Currently, there’s a gold-domed Greek Orthodox church, and the Roman Catholic church that was built for Pope John Paul II’s mass in 2000; there’s a Russian Orthodox church under construction, as well as a couple of others that are in the works.

Doing the Dead Sea Float

The Dead Sea has got to be one of the coolest, weirdest, and most relaxing places I’ve ever been. It did not surprise me at all when Samy told me the story of how the people of Sodom & Gomorrah were smote underneath, which is part of what makes the sea so salty (6x that of the ocean) — if you’re staying in one of the fancy new resorts that have just been built (and more are planned) it’s positively decadent.

The Citadel

Sultan Khatib, (I’ve got his number,  if you’re ever in Amman (or the Kempinski Ishtar, at the Dead Sea — more on that in a moment) found me a driver to take me to the Dead Sea, Petra and Wadi Rum.  Sultan did a video for the Intercontinental about the sights and sounds of Amman; he’s definitely the expert.  I didn’t get the chance to eat at any of the places he’s talking about in the video, but you can watch it here: http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/intercontinental/en/gb/locations/city-tour/video/amman

Amman again

So, I’m back from my little sojourn outside of Amman, and am now a little better prepared to tell you a little about Amman itself, and share some of the adventures I had, outside Amman. I’m expecting, tho’, that there’ll be more pictures than text, after this post, which sets the stage — I used up 3 2G memorycards; and completely depleted one camera battery. That being said, I should also add that my photographic skills emphasize quantity over quality at the moment (digital age) — so I’ll just show you what I consider to be some of the “better” pix, prior to photoshopping, which I’m saving to-do till I get home.

Amman Amman Amman

Try saying that three times fast.

I’m in Jordan, staying at the Intercontinental, where the very business, very international, and very nice hotel in Amman’s downtown hosts sheikhs (at least one with, as someone so politely put it, a “poor choice in escort services”) and international bankers (can’t turn round without hearing “JP Morgan”, or “Federal Reserve” or “stockholm, moscow and london”), large elegant weddings (with bagpipes and drums and all; and disco balls over the Jordanian disco); women dressed head to toe in black with slits for their eyes, who have to eat breakfast under their veils while their young sons, in full western kit, run roughshod all over the restaurant; and Euro 2008, again. The world is football crazy, in case you didn’t know that already.

I’m heading to the Dead Sea for a little spa-investigation; and then to Petra, where I hope to get a glimpse of what Lawrence wrote about. I’ll be off the internet for a bit — but will be thinking of you, perhaps while cursing at the camel I’ll be riding. Or perhaps while stunned by the beauty and engineering marvels of the Treasury in Petra. You know who you are. XOXO M.

Hvala and Cao, Sarajevo

Sarajevo, June 2008

Kudos to Melody for that terrific photo above of the river that runs through Sarajevo. What’s below are more photos, that at best, only hint at the warmth, fragility, tragedy, strength and beauty that courses through the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Medugorje, “Oasis of Peace”

It’s not hard to find God in the hills and valleys of Herzegovina – every vista inspires awe and wonder at creation and God’s handiwork. In 1981, six shepherds, Ivan, Jakov, Marija, Mirjana, Vicka, and Ivanka, aged 10-17, witnessed an apparition of the Virgin Mary, who told them that she would provide them with 10 secrets, that affected the whole world. She would appear to each of them every day until all 10 messages, unique to each, had been received by each; and then only appear once a year to each after that. Three of the visionaries have heard all 10; three have one left to go.