Fighting through the mad swooning chaos of the city!

Arriving on the border station of Turkey I woke up half dreaming and still sleepy. We had to stand in line at the stamp-police office. I didn't know Belgians needed to buy a specific visum, since most countries just got a stamp and that was it. So when I finally made it to the officer in charge he told me I had to go around the corner and buy a visum. But the guy wasn't there, I think he'd gone home already cause no one came after a while... Anyway first they told me I'd just have to wait a few minutes cause he had gone to the toilet... yeah right. I waited a while and finally went to explain the situation to the woman in charge of he train and passengers, and some other people in the station... it was like no one knew where the guy was, but no one took it too seriously :s ...

Everyone by now was having tea or morning coffee wit some locals, I had met some people on the train and they were all very nice traveller-types, and now they were having coffee trying to speak German with the local tea drinkers. A lot of them seemed to have been truckers once upon a time, and tried to tell us about this. They had a lot of fun with this one Japanese kid that was on my train, they teased him with karate moves, strange folk..

I was relieved when the angry pisser finally showed up, and gave me a visa. But he sure had no problem showing me his anger and contempt... fuck him!!
We drove on and in a couple of hours we were approaching Istanbul, the suburbs were huge and strange, neat new houses next to dumps and ruins, lots and lots of people, jumping in and out of the open gates of moving banliyo trains. Made it to the main station and tried to get something to eat, lots of döner here, my god... So I tried one, but wasn't very pleased with it, felt guilty about the meat and it just wasn't very good. Nothing like the nice and full pitas we have back home with some form of dressing on it... I guess I still have to find the right place.
Then I called my couchsurfing hosts and told him I was coming to his place. I followed his directions and had to take a boat to the Asian part of this city. I managed to find the ferry terminals, and a nice man gave me a free token to get on a boat, but then gave me the wrong direction so I was on the wrong boat :D...



I got of the boat on the other side thinking I was in the right place, not finding the train station... So I asked some body and he practically threw me on one of the minibuses... the place was full of them. Anyway I asked the driver 'Kartal', and he nodded approvingly.
The people on the bus were friendly enough and one of them told me he was going to Kartal and he would show me where to get off, at least that's what I thought his signlanguage meant...
We had to get off in the middle of the highway though and get on another of these ridiculous minibuses, whose drivers seem like overhyped psychopaths, yelling and honking all the time, driving like madmen with a temper... and it's even worse this week because it's Ramadan, and they can't drink eat nor SMOKE all day!
I eventually made it to the Kartal train station, tired and bummed from all the chaos and madness.



I tried calling Fatih but didn't get lucky immediately, tried again and got through. He asked me to find a port nearby where he would pick me up. That too seemed harder than one would expect, in these wild infested streets, turns everywhere, and an incomprehensible grid :D awesome!!!
I guess I'm in the world third largest city, trying to manage and find my way around the back city!!!

Fatih is a very friendly and gentle guy, I later found out I was his first couchsurfer – you wouldn't say so-. He offered me some of his mom's fine cooking and I was sooo hungry, it was awesome :D.
Then we talked a bit about music and he showed me some of his stuff, he made loungy techno and ambient music, good stuff!
I went to bed not too late though because I was beat.
I woke up still tired and sleepy and left Fatihs place with him because he had to go to work.
In my still woozy mind I forgot to pay much attention on the bus stops and landmarks as to get back here when taking the bus... shit!!!



I took the bus and boat back into town, took a bunch of pictures, felt kind of sick, probably from getting my second hepatitis shot ad day or two earlier. And walked like a madman all over town, IO love walking. I didn't have too much of a good day though, felt kind of absent minded, because the city's just so chaotic, my bag was broken so I had to watch out that my camera and the such didn't fall out (this in a place that's famous for pickpockets), stupid piece of crap bag I got in Bosnia – I still paid too much- (check out the movie : the story of stuff, it's an online presentation about stuff... really good), anyway this sentence is getting way too long, and of course I had on my mind the email my supposed travel partner – to-be wrote me.
She said something about maybe not coming, even though she wanted to, but her parents were pressuring her to stay in school... I fully understand the crazy gamble it is to fly across the ocean to meet and travel with some strange Belgian guy whom you've known for a few days a year ago.
Only a few people in this world are mad enough to make choices like that... I guess I'm one of them.

I guess it's up to her.
Whatever!

I got back that evening on the bus and couldn't find my way back to Fatihs place, I found myself on the last stop of that busride, which is supposed to be close enough. I called him and he told me it was too hard to find and he'd pick me up, nice guy! I had a fey beers and he some joints and went to bed, feeling more sick and feverish than before...
Woke up with a heavy cold, and a sad feeling, said fuck it and had a big sandwich and a whole bunch of sugary drinks to get energy.



I walked and bummed like crazy travelling through this town. First I tried to get to the Syrian embassy, no help from these Turkish people though, they first had me run 4 times across the same roads to find a bus that wasn't really going that correct a direction, then the bus drivers who I'd kind of asked to drop me off where I needed to be, forgot! And I had to walk back a while!
Fuck this ridiculous public transportation, it's worthless!!! I decided to walk from there on! Found the place by my own strength and anger, got a bunch of pictures for a visa, then heard that I needed a letter of recommendation from my consulate, walked across town to the Belgian Embassy, where those fuckers told me in fucking FRENCH that the ministry in Belgium decided not to give any letters of recommendation out anymore outside of Belgium!! FUCK!!! You pay taxes all year so the government WOULD NOT help you once again... First they don't get a fucking government together, but do get paid, fuck up every chance at decent politics, let the fucking business world run the country and then fuck you over again when you're abroad and need their help. I guess the Belgian people should be starting to feel very let down by their leaders, sitting on their asses, not running the country AND GETTING PAID IN THE PROCESS. Good awesome! Fuck this.





So no visum for Syria, I walked back though to explain the situation, no luck, friendly people though, wanting to help me but not allowed without that stupid letter. Okay, no Syria, no travelling partner, no shit!!



oh yeah the greenpeace boat was in town, telling these poor people to quit coal...



Guess the best thing in life is to be independent, where one can choose who and for how long to deal with certain people, well I'm lucky and going to Africa! I'm just going to take some time by the ocean and then fly straight to SA and start working again, I'm looking forward to it, I wanna be on the other side of the hemisphere, seeing different stars at night and feeling close to nature, working hard and writing and reading! It'll rock!
Anyway I'll leave it with that for now, tonight I'm staying with another cs'er, more downtown, staying another day or two in this city and then going to Butterfly Valley, it'll be awesome...

talk to you soon, sweet peoples of the world! Xox

Steven