Turkey Part 1 - Family

So.

The past few days in Turkey have been fairly low key. Mostly visiting family and friends which has been good.

But I'll share with you a few personal tid-bits and a couple of interesting sites if you're keen to read on...

I'll start from the beginning then...

The longest leg of our Journey was the flight to the UAE. A boring flight, fairly uneventful, until we were landing... Oh dear... We circled above the airport for over an hour waiting for the fog to clear.. I didn't realise at the time, but what i thought was clouds rolling below us, was actually the thickest coverage of fog i've ever seen in my life.

Amazingly, the Pilot managed to land in it, even though visibility was (prior to the below photo being taken) probably less than 15-20 meters ahead...

This shot was taken after we had landed and wandered about the airport for a while...

Luckily, by the time we flew out, the fog had all but cleared... Still. Concerning experience.

On the downside however, during the previous flight, I had begun to develop an ear infection. Damnnnn... I noticed that during cabin pressurization as we ascended. Not fun. It's hard to describe the feeling, something in-between a vice clamped inside your head and pins popping tiny balloons inside your ear going at the same time seems descriptive. Suffice to say descent was just as bad. But! That was not all. We still had ANOTHER leg to go.

Frack.

The pain got worse each time, and there wasn't much I could do (not for lack of trying (stuffing an inhaler so far up my nose I swear I could feel my brain)).

A bit of panic set in when I realised that depending on the severity of my infection, I could be facing a ruptured ear-drum as a result of changes in preassure.

Not cool.

So as i sit here writing this, my ears are still 'underwater' and ringing. I've gone to a Turkish pharmacy which is a great thing. No need for Doctors writing perscriptions here. You can happily self medicate with anything you like.

I ordered a box of 16 x 500mg amoxicillin tablets to be taken twice daily for myself. It cost all of $2 AU.

I wonder if you can buy high strength painkillers/opiates/other restricted drugs over the counter here... It wouldn't suprise me if you could purchase Morphine or Vicodin over the counter. Turkey used to be (still is?) a major heroin producer... *shrugs*

Anyway!

So. Good news now.

I'm getting a new backpack custom made. Why? To put my Pelican camera case, tripod, medkit, food and water into, all in one go. It's costing about $120 AUD all up. Which, considering my previous bag (~$250 AUD) is quite a good deal. And hey, its one of a kind! :)

Alright.

A personal story...

So, many years ago, my father and his family lived in this house (below) in what were the slums of the old city. From nothing, my father worked and worked and worked to get us what we have now (quite a bit more than this shack)

To my amazement, this place has been abandoned (Cosmic forces at work?) and is now empty and forgotten to all but us...

It was a rather humbling experience. I often give my father a lot of grief for not taking time to enjoy life, however, he has known nothing but work for many many years in order to escape living like this. So it makes sense, and it is a part of him.

Still, his sacrifices means I can now enjoy my life and I'm still trying to convince him that he still has time to enjoy his to.

At least the local kids seemed to be having fun...

And speaking of local kids...

We swung past a school on the way though the old city... The kids, seeing my camera in hand, ran upto me asking I take their photos... At first it was kind of cute, but it quickly grew out of hand with more and more children running upto me, resulting in many tiny hands grabbing at my camera in some kind of frenzy.

Terrifying!!!

The kid wearing the balaclava didn't help either ;)

Anyway. That's all for today. I've gotta call it a night, i'll leave you with some photos of the castle from the old city! Its a public castle, anyone can rock up. Good fun, and possibly the closest I've managed to get to exploring thus far...