When you look at the travel brochures to Turkey, one of the displayed pictures is always of stone heads in rising or setting sun on a mountain. This is Nemrut Dağı (eng. Mount Nemrut). The Mountain is tucked away in the rugged mountains of southeastern Turkey and rises to an altitude of 2,134 meters. It…
Category: Travel
In the Heart of Silk Road, part 2
The alarm ripped me from sleep at 4:45 AM in Bukhara and the pre-dawn chill sept through the hotel walls. It was way too early to get up but I had had quite an adventure waiting. By 6:30 we were at the train platform, clutching tickets for the 07:01 Bukhara – Khiva and waiting patiently…
In the heart of Silk Road, part 1
Uzbekistan is a captivating blend of history, culture, and flavors that hits you like a whirlwind of turquoise tiles, fragrant plov, and relentless carpet sellers they could sell sand to a camel. I recently returned from this Central Asian jewel, clutching four cashmere shawls I did not know I needed until the bazaar vendors worked…
Spice Up Your Life
Humming Spice Girls yet? “Slam it to the left, if you’re havin’ a good time!” Well, grab your boots, metaphorically speaking, and get ready to shake up your taste buds, because this is the chaotic, colorful, and downright delicious notes of a food-obsessed person who treats eating like an Olympic sport and spices like gold…
Yabancı in İstanbul, part 2
Living in Istanbul as a foreigner is a constant exercise in embracing contradictions. One minute it is serene, the next it is a full-blown street party. And after over 2 years living here, just when I thought I was getting comfortable, Istanbul decided to throw in an earthquake for good measure. Because, you know, why…
Pompeii Past Preserved
What do you do when you binge-watch “Sopranos” again? You book a flight to Napoli, or Naples, if you will. The Other Me and I had this overwhelming need to go back to Italy and Tony Soprano convinced us that it was time to go back. With less then 2hour flight from Istanbul it is…
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