Eurasia | On My Canvas

In Izmir (Turkey), a City Where The Sea Never Leaves You

things to do in izmir turkey people on the boulevard ocean sunlight (1)

Things To Do in Izmir, Turkey (If You Could Ever Leave the Seaside)

On Sunday, my first day in Izmir, I was awake at 8:45 am. I went to the toilet quickly, showered, and got ready. I scanned the receipts from Dubai to send to my travel insurance company (you can read the story in the linked piece). Everyone in the house, which meant my host Mohammed, his cat, and his friend, whom I hadn’t met, were still asleep.

Mohammed probably woke up at 10 but stayed in bed for another hour and eventually came to ask me if I would like Turkish coffee. I was scanning documents, which I continued to do after coffee. Over that big cup of delicious Turkish coffee, we talked. He said he would go to the market to get some things for breakfast. I offered to go too, but I think he felt it would be a waste of time. Before heading out, he took out a few tomatoes, olives, mushrooms, and a cucumber from the fridge. I told him I would chop the vegetables.

Mohamed went to the supermarket, and I continued to put together the insurance things. When he returned, I chopped the tomatoes and mushrooms, and he cooked them with eggs. He had also brought halloumi cheese, which he grilled. He heated the Turkish bread bibit in a sandwich press and made two big cups of tea, too.

rize city turkey mosque prime minister prayer time people cars things to do in rize turkey

A Few Hours in Rize Turkey: Things To Do in The City and More

Rize was more than a transit town for me. I had arrived in Rize around 11 am from Avanos. Avanos is a sister town of Göreme, where I had been for two nights and three days. Göreme is Capadoccia, the most famous location in Turkey, where you can find tourists from around the world. That is not so true for other places in Turkey.

Göreme was the only place in Turkey where I saw other Indian faces, not that I was looking for them. In Rize, there were only locals; at least, I didn’t see any tourists.

I had had a special bus experience from Avanos to Rize. But more on that in a separate article on the bus journey.

a lada car on the road in armenia seen while traveling in armenia

A Love Letter to Armenia

I want to write about Armenia right now. There is so much to say.

Did I see it enough? What did I feel? What colors do I remember?

I may have many notes from Armenia, but I have to speak from the heart. Sitting in this Sarajevo apartment, while the FIFA World Cup football matches play on the television that I have muted, with the cat having gone to her house, I mean I had to close the door and window on her, I am ready to write about Armenia.

Today was a lot of admin work: money transfer, phone factory reset, emails, and so many more things. I also went to the supermarket, but that was much later. First, I packed up from the first home, walked here, and checked in smoothly. I had thought I would meet a bulky or big guy, or someone my age with a family. Most probably an older, serious kind of person. Instead, I was shown the house by a young guy. Nihad is twenty-five. He is managing his father’s apartment, a father who is no more, sadly. He passed away last year from spine cancer. What a Siberian sniper’s bullet couldn’t do, cancer did. The cancer shifted from the spine to the brain, and after the surgery, when they thought he was getting better, the family lost him within two days.

By looking at the house, you can’t tell the religion of the family. Maybe someone more observant than me can. There are beautiful glass bowls and white lacy curtains, but they don’t tell that the owner is Muslim. Bosnian Muslims form the majority of the country’s population, and I am happy to have found a host amongst them.

hiking around lake sevan in armenia in picture sevan lake blue homes icy paths

Lake Sevan in Armenia: A Hike to Nothing to See, an Icy Path, and a Headache of a Hitchhike

On my second day in Sevan, I hiked a long way to see nothing. Ekaterina, my first host and self-appointed guide in Armenia, had suggested hiking to a place called Akhtamar. I hadn’t asked what was there to see.

In the morning, I made a cup of coffee and researched flights and visas for the Balkan countries. I had only twenty days in Armenia, and given my horrible experience at the Georgia immigration, I didn’t want to go back to Georgia. I had also seen the country enough and didn’t want to explore more. Armenia is land-blocked by Turkey and Azerbaijan. Iran was at war. So the idea was to go to the Balkans. As per my research, I could visit four countries without needing an additional visa. My US visa would work. (It did work. I flew to Sarajevo from Yerevan.)

I messaged Ekaterina. “Hey! One last question. Good morning. I woke up so late. Do you remember how long it takes to Akhtamar, the place you suggested? I will start probably at 12/1 the latest. Not sure if I will have enough time then!”

“I think it’s doable. But you can always go back down too. It’s 8 km up with an elevation gain of 600, so about 2.5-3 hours, plus 3 km of descent to the Akhtamar place, so maybe 1.5 hours there. And some additional time for hitchhiking back. Or you can just walk up until you find a place where you want to stop and turn around and walk back into the town.” Ekaterina was always direct about everything.

highway cars mountains sea izmir city used for feature image of bus from istanbul to izmir turkey article

I wrote most of this piece about taking a bus from Istanbul to Izmir City in Turkey as it all happened. Sharing it here as it is. I also added a part about the host in Izmir after I arrived in the city. Enjoy!

Leaving Istanbul, Taking a Bus From Istanbul to Izmir, and a Great Welcome Dinner in Izmir by a Couchsurfing Host

Today morning started at seven am. After the long laundry confusion (with a Couchsurfing host in Istanbul), I had gone to bed at almost 11:45 pm. A little more here and there and another toilet run, I put in my earplugs and tried to sleep. Earplugs because the dryer was still running. The host’s clothes, which he had asked me to wash in the machine, weren’t dry yet. I didn’t think they would dry at all with that pathetic dryer, which wasn’t working. The host had still not returned, so some lights were on too, but I couldn’t care too much. I covered myself with a blanket, and then you can hardly see any light. The couch was big and comfortable, and I was adamant about spending six to seven hours in bed (which was the couch). My bus in the morning was at 9:20 am. I had had a long cold and wet day out at the Basilica Cistern. Finding some vegetarian food and also the long way back had tired me out.

I looked at my clothes on the chairs. They were all wet, almost as wet as they had come out of the machine. My leggings and bag, which I had kept near the radiator, were dry. I should have put all the clothes next to the radiator. They would have looked too odd, though. All shirts, leggings, and undergarments wrapped around the radiator. No. No. We’ll see in the morning.

In the morning, I put a few more clothes on the radiator and removed the ones that had dried. Thankfully, I had clothes to wear. My leggings and jackets had dried. I went to the toilet and messaged this dryer story to my partner, Sagar. “I don’t know why he asked me to use the dryer when it doesn’t work. He knew I had to leave. Now I have to carry wet clothes. He asked me to wash his clothes, too. It was a huge pile.” Still grumpy, I boiled the kettle, started packing my clothes, and put my laptop on the charger. You need to be well planned for the day.

Time passes slowly when you have nowhere to go, but quickly when you have to be somewhere. I packed all dry clothes in one pack and made one empty for the wet ones. I signed a copy of my book for my host and sipped hot coffee, thinking that if I had to go to the toilet, I’d better go now, and not when I am on the bus. Right after eight, I went to shower, carrying all the clothes that I had to wear. My host had woken up too, and I had to get ready in the bathroom. I didn’t finish my coffee. I had to get ready.

Sevanavank monastery lake sevan near sevan writers house armenia

My almighty person in Armenia, Ekaterina, had helped me plan my Armenia itinerary. She had suggested visiting the Sevan peninsula and the popular Sevanavank monastery there.

“The monastery is popular so there are a lot of tourists, but it is nice.” Ekaterina had told me.

My post about hitchhiking to Sevan from Alaverdi narrates how I had reached my guesthouse. After a cup of tea, I was out to explore.

I put the peninsula on Google Maps and also read a bit about Lake Sevan. It is one of the largest freshwater lakes in Eurasia. For sure, the lake was big. Once the lake began, it never ended. I couldn’t see the other side of the lake. On Maps, it was huge too. It is about 5000 square km, covering one sixth of Armenia’s territory. Lake Sevan reminded me of Lake Titicaca in South America.

The ancient Sevanavank monastery was once on an island, but due to the overuse of the lake water for irrigation and power generation, it has now become a peninsula. Alright, I would see this peninsula and monastery.

the beautiful sevan lake sevan city armenia hitchhiking from alaverdi to sevan (1)

I hitchhiked to Sevan City, the biggest town on the banks of the giant freshwater Sevan Lake in the middle of Armenia, from Alaverdi in the North. The distance was 120km, and I was going down, towards the south of Armenia. First, I got a ride from the upper Alaverdi that dropped me near the bridge in lower Alaverdi. You can read about the fascinating town in the link I shared above (coming soon).

I walked in the direction of Sevan, both my bags strapped onto me. On the highway, I was picked up by two men in a small truck-van sort of thing. The guy sitting between me and the driver flirted with me all the way. He wanted me to stay back with him in Vanadzor so that he could show me the beach and take me out for a drink. I told him I had friends coming to Sevan from Yerevan and I couldn’t hang out with him. The insistence and rejection went back and forth for seventy-five percent of the ride, after which the lover gave up, the driver increased the volume of the music, and we drove on.

a monastery of armenia used as feature image for armenia visa for indians (1)

Armenia Visa for Indians: My Experience

Indian citizens who hold a valid visa or residence permit from the US, EU/Schengen, UK, or GCC countries can receive a visa on arrival for Armenia.

I showed my US visa at the land border between Georgia and Armenia. The officers didn’t ask me anything. I had to fill a form with information about where I would stay during my visit, my passport details, place of birth, countries visited in the past five years, was it my first time in Armenia, my profession etc. The visa fee was about 3000 Armenian drams or 9 USD (which I paid with my Wise VISA travel card). The visa was printed instantly, and the officer stuck it to an empty page on my passport. It was valid for twenty one days.

The officers were friendly. The one who was processing my visa exclaimed at reading writer as my profession, and I showed him my book. Then I passed through the biometric counter where my picture was taken.