For starters, there are several channels broadcasting music videos, of varying quality. The best features nice cars, some impressive settings with proper light work while the videos on a tighter budget scheme might be set in a shady room with bizzare light work. What these videos all have in common is the ladies, weather they are the lead role singer or just an act they have drop most of the cover and appears strangely big breasted. 

This is not uncommon anywhere I guess but I get the impression that here it is mandatory. The hiphop vidoes are as always vanguard when it comes to public expo and this with complete lac of rythm in the dance. There is usually a number of guys in the background looking luke perry over their sunglases and are trying to look brilliant while spasticly moving.

Moving on to more serious matters, like the news we again encounter the big breasted beauty queen in all her glory. I’m not saying you can’t be a great journalist and still look like barbie, but here it is rule, not an exception.

Furthermore and to something compleatly different, why does everyone in turkey have two or more cellphones? I have seen farmers with two flashy cells mustering their cows with a stick. Is advertising that good, god i got to learn turkish!

Related posts:

1. Ankara revisited Days are passing quickly in Ankara. Temperatures outside has leveled...
2. Alone again or Love phrased it. Filip, my partner in motion, my moving...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

1

2

3

what is you opinion?

Related posts:

1. Interested in photography and always with high expectations on myself....

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I watched a documentary on Araki, the japanese photographer that has teared down every convention and tabu. I can’t really make up my mind on what to think about some of his pictures and I see that as a very good quality. It is not always clear what he wants to say or if there is anything to understand except that the moment has some importance to him for some reason. In any case, it does not leave one undisturbed. I love that.

great inspiration he is anyway, for looking at things in a different way. For sure the debate about the role of women in his pictures is important. It is not possible to overlook the disturbing roles they play. A woman spread out naked on the floor with a watermelon crushed between her legs is difficult to cope with, that is all I can say and that is why it is interesting. It can’t be comprehended.

Realised last night that i had erased a couple of hundred  photos from the south east of turkey before backing them up. That hurts.  Lesson learned.

Related posts:

1. Magnum A new photo book about Georgia just came out. It...
2. Ankara revisited Days are passing quickly in Ankara. Temperatures outside has leveled...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

At night fall I met Leon, a British biker coming from South Korea heading home. We decided to camp togheter and that night we decided, since we now had company to hit Nemrut Dagi, a stone head mountain just south of Malatlya. The morning after I realized that my back rack once again had given up and cracked in yet another place. bugger, luckily enough the Turks are skilled aluminum welders and I got it fixed for free in 5 minutes.

After a late start we only manage to climb the first hill, at the top we realize that there certainly would be more to come before we would reach our destination, only 40km on the map but for sure a hell lot more considering the serpentines. Kids along the way started to be annoying, constantly asking for money and things while pulling our kits got on our nerves. We had heard about people getting rocks thrown at them but we had nothing of that and luckily no dogs either. Just uphill, sun and a flat tire.

last bit to the top can be seen in the background

We reached the top of the ridge at 2000m on the second day out and we were celebrating what we thought was the end of the climb. After a short downhill and around a bend we looked up to see how the road turned and kept going up, seeming to aim at the top of the very highest peak around. That was a shock for the motivation. A deep breath and we climbed the last 400m gravel road while swearing and hoping that the sight at the top would be worth the two days of climbing.

So, however, we had to go down again, 10km of hand layed garden stones led us to our stormy camp site for the night. We had to snuggle into my tent both of us when Leon’s tent just about gave up for the gale force winds. Not much sleep that night, waking up just about every minute when the wind gusts lifted the tent.

The next morning we both realized that our rims were broken, we had to solve that and we stayed a night in a hotel in Siverek to figure it out. Siverek seemed to be a PKK stronghold and while asking the people on the opinion on Atakturk vs PKK the first got thumb down. It nowhere resembles the west of turkey, the people are different, they are more open and friendly but at the same time less considerate. My poor foot got ran over by ca car and the driver just shuddered his should like saying I should have watched out better.

Siverek

We decided in the end that we had to back to Ankara to fis the wheels, here we are after a night on a bus driven by a man with a death wish. We had to argue for a while before they would let the bikes on the bus, we were persistent and at the end they had to give in. Still makes me happy I only have to deal with that very rarely, on the bike there is no one to tell you what to bring on and what not. just the rim giving up occasionally when not considering the force of gravity

Related posts:

1. Alone again or Love phrased it. Filip, my partner in motion, my moving...
2. Erzincan and the knee The last few days have been a real test of...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Filip, my partner in motion, my moving friend on the long lonely roads has decided his body took one to many for the team and is heading home. knees, stomach and other issues were starting to get nasty. I appreciate the time I had his company, now it is back to solo riding. We stayed the day in Elbistan, not the sweetest spot on the planet but there was the guy who welded my aluminum rack without safty glasses in two minutes for three liras, a bit over a euro.

Elbistan, moments before adhan

Listen to a short check up type interview at swedish radio SR.

Anyways, heading to Mardin, it is supposed to be a hot spot, after that i have to decide on a route north, there are plenty of choice, anyone with an idea, east or west of Van? what could be the best?

Related posts:

1. Kurdistan I left Elbistan as the dark clouds blew in from...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

filip resting from some stomach issues

We got stuck in Kayseri, Filip had a bit of stomach problems. Today was a good day though, on the whole. Got up with the early birds to shoot (photograph that is) the city waking up. At six I was too early, bugger, found a bakery and had some good old bread – that cheered me up for sure.

Kayseri is this big city in the middle of nowhere, well like most places are depending where you are at when considering it where “where” is. It does not shine but it does not suffer either, it is not beautiful but the people are and at the end of the day, today at least, that matters.

At night, just before the fourth prayer, the one that breaks the fast for the day I found a park where people seemed to be serving food. With my camera I approached and started snapping away, people went from the hunger at their tables to pull me over to have their portrait taken. I spent a good hour documenting most of the guests at the place. have two hundered shots of happy hunger smiles and plates of food. I did not fnd out for sure but it seems like people from the nearby mosque were giving out food for the less fortunate. It was not really for us but when the people from the mosque insited that we would eat with them we sat down and had some soup and meat stew with break and water melon. This is the best side of traveling, the hospitality and smiles from the people. Turkey is, let me use the word: brilliant for this.

We have some of that rainy weather moving in from Istanbul and we are planing to run of up to the hills, to hide out there, if Filip is doing better tomorrow.

Related posts:

1. Alone again or Love phrased it. Filip, my partner in motion, my moving...
2. Tblisi After searching the streets of Tblisi for a couple of...
3. Kurdistan I left Elbistan as the dark clouds blew in from...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Heat has been our traveling companion and the sun our ever son present guidning light. We have slept through the hot part of the day when the temperature has reached 35 and compensated by getting up at dawn in freezing mornings. That is all good. The landscape is beautiful in the low sun and having a bit of bread with some obscur preserve like spead huddeled up in the sleeping bag is just as good as it gets.

Riding along with Filip has been a blast so far and sharing the highs and the lows is good. We are doing another two weeks before Filip returns for job in Sweden and I’ll have to decide wheather to spend the winter in georgia/Armenia or in the Middle East. Time will telL. For now, after a full day exploring the old christian barba papa style houses dug in to the bed rock we are going to sleep, early start tomorrow and some climbing to get out of the kettle here. Kisses and hugs.

Related posts:

1. stockholm sweden It took me some time to decide whether going back...
2. Alone again or Love phrased it. Filip, my partner in motion, my moving...
3. Ankara revisited Days are passing quickly in Ankara. Temperatures outside has leveled...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Filip, my travel companion for a month to come, arrived yesterday morning at the oriental express station with a train from Zagreb. We found a place to snack on some pizza and introduce ourselves. After chatting away about the passed and the future we decided to hit the markets to shop for the necessary gear to fit Filip. Istanbul can be quite expensive and for sure the shop keepers are used to haggeling. maybe even a bit grumpy in some places due to the lac of nutrition.

The great deals were not lined up as we had hoped and after scouting most part of the day and now having a selection of more or less good deals we decided to climb up to the blue mosque to do some sightseeing.

In the parcs around the mosque people had gathered to wait for the right moment to break the fast. A tension in the air. People were quiet, if they did not sell or buy something. Strange feeling to eat something when no one else is. I caught my self snacking on a peach while we arrived to a shop where the owner was fasting and a sense of guilt filled me.

Looking out from the blue mosque

People are tyring to do their best to be friendly and polite so in many ways Ramazan might be the best month to travel. But not shopping. The number of people smoking has decreased drasticly, hardly anyone is lighting a fag in the streets. The cafées are deserted and many have closed down. The smells, the mixture of fumes from cars and fumes from cooking has only left the former, unfortunatly. It is exciting to see the city tranform in this way, over a couple of days only.

Maybe it can be somewhat tricky to find food during the days of Ramazan. In Istanbul it is really not a problem, there is not the same selection but still some restaurants keep open all day. In the country side this might be different. We’ll find out when we leave Istanbul tomorrow morning.

Related posts:

1. Ankara revisited Days are passing quickly in Ankara. Temperatures outside has leveled...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

iso 3200

I might get some campany for a few weeks through Turkey, very exciting if we can woirk that out. Plan now: head towards Georgia by roads through the mountains.

For now, out in the streets to work more on my photo skills, real happy over the comments I’ve got on my photos, really helps me to think a bit extra when shooting. what is the point?

Have a look at this, great activism: The vacuum cleaner

Who would not want to read this book, huh?

Related posts:

1. stockholm sweden It took me some time to decide whether going back...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.