Random trip photos from Asia Pacific and Eastern Europe

I figured it was time to do something about the 5 months' worth of random trip photos I never got around to sharing broadly but always kind of liked. You could call them the left-over batch. They're either stand alone shots that never seemed to fit into previous blog/facebook storylines or little gems I originally overlooked and fell in love with later. They cover my trip up to Croatia and are presented in chronological order.

Milford Sound, Southern Island of New Zealand

Jan 2013 

Just checking in

A view of the temple of Augustus in the city of Pula. Construction work is being done in the background as the city remodels its harbor

I'm in Croatia right now in a city called Split. In three hours, I'll catch an overnight bus to Trieste, Italy and then head into Slovenia. I can't believe I've spent almost two weeks in Croatia. I had an okay time here with okay weather and pleasant beaches. But there hasn't been much about this place that really stood out as something amazing or special. I'm sure Croatia would be a great place to visit for many travelers but it just wasn't for me. I've concluded the amount of fun I'll have in any given place is inversely correlated to the number of American tourists I'll find there.

Also, this is the first country I've been to where most people will turn away and ignore me when I try to say hi to them on the street. WTF Croatia?! Even people in China don't do that. How is it possible your manners are worse than the Chinese?

Since I didn't have anything good to say, I decided to stay silent and forgo any new posts here. It was a little painful to do since I've come to rely on my maintenance of this blog as a source of comfort. It keeps me sane to write entries.

And what can I say about how I've been spending my time lately? I don't do nearly as much site-seeing as I used to. Many days, I'll stay home and either doodle in my sketchbook or work on draft blog entries I never got around to publishing (none of them are about Croatia). I also met a handful of fucking amazing people I had the pleasure of sharing just a tiny slice of time with. That about sums it up.

So this is just a quick check-in letting people know where I am. I'll be hanging out along the West coast of Slovenia for the next week. If nothing else, I am succeeding at working on my tan (lines).

Day 2 in Dubrovnik, Croatia

View of the Dubrovnik coastline; a view being enjoyed by many couples cuddling on benches as I walked past alone

I'm sitting at a restaurant in Dubrovnik mooching it up on the free wifi because my hostel's internet is down. It turns out this place serves all-you-can-eat salad and bread for $4 USD. For Dubrovnik, where vegetarian meals typically cost $15 or more, this is absolutely a STEAL. My stomach hurts from all the servings I've helped myself to. I'm going to sit here for hours. I'm probably going to come back tomorrow as well.

There's a group of French men at a table nearby. They're drinking wine and talking loudly. One of them has twice attempted to toss a smile in my direction and both times I've pretended not to notice. He looks like he's of an age where it would be inappropriate for him to be smiling at me. This pisses me off.

There was a time when I was intrigued by the mystery associated with meeting new people. But after travelling this long, the romance has worn off. I like to sleep in instead.

Tonight, I'm indulging myself to a concert put on by the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra. I don't have the right attire for such an event but prices are too high here for me to buy a new outfit. I foresee the impending awkwardness as the solo female attendee walks into the building in relative rags. In any case, I hope it's a nice symphony. I think some good music is just what my tired old soul needs right now.

20 years later and the bullet holes are still there

The first set of photos below were taken in and around a street in Sarajevo nicknamed Sniper Alley. This major thoroughfare was located on the front lines of a siege on the city which began in 1992 and lasted almost 4 years as part of the Bosnian War. It's been about 20 years since that war but many buildings in this area continue to stand damaged.

Walking this street was a major goal of mine during my short stay in Sarajevo - a goal which seemed to perplex my tour guide, who was keen on rushing me past this area. But as a visitor who didn't live through these years personally, seeing this place was one of the only ways I could find my connection to the events. And there were plenty buildings to find bearing the scars of the war. Bullet holes often share the wall space with ritzy retail stores and other new developments as the city tries to find its way forward.

I hope these pictures serve to give interested readers just a small window into the city of Sarajevo and the ways in which it has changed or stayed the same since the war.

In and around Sniper Alley (Officially Zmaja od Bosne)

Photos from Istanbul and Safranbolu

A warning to any travellers who spend an extended amount of time in 3rd world Asia and then go to a Western city like Istanbul. The first thing you may find yourself doing is stuffing your face full of all the delicious Western food you hadn't had access to in several months. But try to hold back lest you suffer massive stomach cramps and constipation as your body can no longer digest the heavy carbs, fats, and fibers you once called your staple diet. 

Once the knawing pain in my abdomen subsided, I ended up having a nice time in Turkey. There was only enough time to see two cities in the one week I spent here but it was a great start reacclimating myself to the 1st (technically 2nd?) world.

Istanbul

View of Istanbul from the Bosphorus Strait 

Nobody stays in Agra for 6 days...

...except for me, apparently. Agra is not known for much more than the Taj Mahal. A visitor could see all the major sites in 1-2 days. And here I was staying in the city for 6 days straight as a favor to a friend who lives there. I don't know a single tourist who's stayed in Agra this long. When I asked my friend if he knew anyone, he said yes, they were all crazy people.

I didn't mind it so much, though. I recently entered a point in the trip where my energy for site-seeing has waned and I'm slowing down the pace to fit my new temperament. Here are some photos of things other than the Taj Mahal from the interesting places I went to during my second visit in Agra and Delhi. 

To start, here's a shot of a cool looking sky over Delhi. 

At the point my spirits were down and I started questioning why I was even travelling, I saw this sky and remembered how great it feels to get these random glimpses of grandeur. I've learned travelling is just a way to create opportunities for serendipity and my responsibility is to keep my eyes open.

My experiences dealing with Indian men in the tourism industry

Good bargaining skills are a necessity in Asian markets and it's definitely grown into a favorite pasttime for me. I love to wear down those unsuspecting merchants who initially size me up as an ignorant tourist. Sometimes I don't win them over, but when I do, it's an intoxicating victory. So I'm going to start this entry off with a story about the best bargain I've gotten so far on this trip.

I was in Jaipur and needed a new pair of white leggings to go with a dress I bought in Delhi. I walked down the market street one evening looking into each clothing shop, mostly ignoring the men attempting to entice me into their store. Then I saw one young man with thick rimmed glasses who, like every other man, invited me to enter into his shop. This time I did. It's superficial but I stopped only because I thought his glasses were cute.

He didn't have white leggings but he had tan ones I was willing to buy. So we started negotiations. And his initial price? 400 Indian rupees (about $8 USD). I laughed. He clearly didn't have a very high opinion of me. "How much you willing to pay?" he asked to get my baseline. "30 rupees." This time he laughed. At 60 US cents, this was a ridiculous price, even for India.