South East Asia Accounts

As I write this I’m on the airplane which concludes my two and a half years in South East Asia. I know I have the “Asia bug” and I won’t be able stay away for too long; I already have plans to be back before the end of this year. After all, I feel I have only got a taste of it, or just seen the trailer. When I land back in Turkey I will have all these comparisons in my mind and I’ll perhaps blog those also but for now I’m still dealing with the separation from a loved one.


Asia has been very kind to me. I had no seriously bad incidents but quite a lot of good to great experiences. During the 875 days I spent there I visited 9 countries, crossed borders 22 times but visited embassies only 6 times. I like it when friends DON’T ask me about my favorite country, but of course I had my favorite locations. This time I had Penang in Malaysia as my base and because of that I spent 28% of my days, 247 days that is, in Malaysia. The other countries I spent time in are Thailand (196), Philippines (171), Indonesia (116), Taiwan (60), China (57), Cambodia (22), Laos (6) and Myanmar (15 minutes). Each of these places left its unique impressions on me and I left a bit of my heart in most of them.



Although I mostly rented rooms or bungalows, I also camped out for 111 days, stayed in friends’ houses for 34 days, stayed at monasteries or retreat centers for 33 days and slept in busses and trains for 25 nights. I drove 22 different motorbikes, 4 different bicycles and no four wheelers. I completed three courses and received certificates for them (CFQ qi gong (My), PADI open water diving (In), and Agama yoga first month (Th)). I did two meditation retreats (Th) and I’m happy to have been a part of three rainbow gathering seedcamps (Th, Ch, Tw).



I fell in love with Asian food and this led me to gain 16 kilos but I lost half of it already (I’m no longer skinny, mom). I went up 3 volcanoes, dived 14 times and visited 13 hot springs. I got bitten by a dog once (Th), got mysterious jungle fever twice (Th, Ph) and got my spare money stolen once (La). But I’m happy that these have been the only unfortunate events. Ah, and the 7 times I had a flat tire on the bike.

I guess I grew up a little when I was there and I can easily say that this change has been in a very positive direction and this surely has something to do with the places I’ve been and the people I’ve met. Now that I’m in Turkey I can see how special it was to be there, how soft and gentle, how diverse and nourishing the feeling of being there in Asia. I know I can’t be away for too long.

I’ll be back.

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If you didn't know how obsessed I am with numbers, now you do :)

Nonsense Visas for Nonsense Borders

Sometimes I can’t believe I’m still living in this age where there are borders, visas, governments, armies, police and all that goes with this mass illusion we wrongly call civilization. I have been feeling we’ll be done with these quite soon and I still believe that. But it seems it’s not time just yet.

Last year I went to China. It was really smooth. I went to the embassy in Bangkok, filled in a form, paid some money and returned 4 days later to receive my passport back with a sticker inside. No questions asked. It was funny to go by boat from Thailand to China on the Mae Kong river, which is the border between Myanmar and Laos. It’s like walking on the thin line people draw on the map and say “this is one country and this is another” as if when you are on that line you could tell one side from the other.

Then this year in April, just the day I was going to buy tickets for Macau on the way to China, there was the main news that China changed the visa regulations because of the Olympics. I had thought Olympics would make it even easier for foreigners to go to China but it was just the opposite. They asked to see hotel reservations and return tickets, neither of which any serious traveler in such a vast country has. It meant that for the Olympics they only wanted tourists and not travelers. But more than that, they had some other new rules such as “passport holders of Asian countries can take China visas in their home country only”. And this didn’t apply to Malaysia which I saw as my current home unless I had a working visa there. I had to go back to Turkey in order to go from Malaysia to China! After the Olympics, I heard, they changed the visa laws back to the traveler-friendly earlier one and everybody took a deep breath. It was almost unseen in this region and perhaps just an arrangement for only once.

Lately I’ve been planning to go to Taiwan. As soon as I arrived in Malaysia I started to call the consulate but first the numbers were wrong and then I could only talk to robotic ladies which would connect me to non-answering departments. I sent an e-mail which also received no answers. Finally I went to the office for China Airlines and got a more private number of the consulate. I rang and managed to actually talk to a real living being. She asked me my nationality, made me wait a few minutes, asked if I’m working here, made me wait a few more minutes and in the end returned and said, “we can give you a visa only if you have a working visa in Malaysia, otherwise you have to get it from Turkey.” If I had a working visa here, I’d be working and wouldn’t be going to Taiwan for a month, would I? It’s kind of similar to that you have to prove you don’t need money in order to get credit from the bank. It is nonsense.


And I sit and think. Taiwan’s official name is Republic of China, as oppose to People’s Republic of China where visa is an easier story, and I had of course imagined it to be a more free country than China but it turne out to be a Beurocrat’s Republic of China. And in the end it’s supposed to be the same country anyway. All these Malay people who inhabit Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and other countries in the region have their root sin Taiwan. But Taiwan still has some openness to learn from these countries.

Malaysia gives 3 months permit at the border to any foreigners for free. Indonesia charges some and gives a visa on entry for one month or in the embassy for two months. Philippines gives three weeks free at the border which can be extended up to two years without leaving the country. Do these countries feel more secure that they can invite people like that? Do Taiwan have more terror than them so it has to keep things in control? Does it make sense?

Perhaps I should look into my passport, the only one I can get because I was born within certain borders. It’s the passport of Turkey, a medium sized country in the Middle East. Aha, Middle East. Perhaps that’s why. Everybody knows about muslims terrorists and although they didn’t strike Taiwan yet, who knows they can sometime soon. Does it make sense at all?

So I changed my plans and decided to go to Thailand, which gives one month free visa at the border, and see some friends and do ameditation retreat toclear this energy. And I think “Thailand must be pretty deserted now because of this airport occupation of the most anti-democratic democracy movement. They’ll be happy to see another foreigner and I’ll be happy to see less.” But then, in the evening I learned that they changed the visa policy! Now they give only 15 days on the land borders. If you fly in you get 30 days but if you come overland it is only 15 days or you have to get a visa in the embassy. This is so absurd. Why now of all times when the country is suffering an unseen 50% tourist loss? It doesn’t make any sense.

So I decided not to stay so long in Thailand, let them loose me, and go to Myanmar for a month for which I need to get another visa. I heard a friend was refused a visa there last month and he assumes it is because his passport was from USA and USA supports the opposition in Myanmar. I wonder if they know about muslims. I hope they don’t.Muslims don’t care about human rights anyway so I guess they’d be getting along pretty well.

Long time I have stopped considering traveling in Europe because the treatment they give in the consulates in Turkey is simply inhuman. I refuse to be treated like that. So I’ve been happy in Asia where the countries are not saturated with illegal immigrants from Turkey or scared of muslims. But this last visa troubles I had with two Chinas is making me consider eliminating Chinas from my map also. They’ll be loosing, not me :)

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Revision, December 29, 2008, Bangkok

Just to prove the absurdity of all theses "absolute" laws and regulations, today I received my 60 days visa for Taiwan. As soon as I arrived in Bangkok I called the consulate, got to a real person pretty fast, and the nice lady replied me with the words "you just come here, fill in the form, pay the fee and pick it up later." But, but, the embassy in KL even sent me an official enough e-mail containing a long list of requirements such as invitation, reservation, return plane ticket, proof of funds and the worst of all resident visa in Malaysia. I asked to the lady on the phone and she giggled "no, no, you don't need to buy your ticket or anything, we only need your bank statement."

So I went there the next day, had a brief and nice interview, mostly about the reasons behind my continuous traveling and the lack of Turkish visitors in Taiwan. Then today I received it. I'm really happy about it.

So what was wrong in Malaysia? Perhaps they had the Muslim Alarm on, or only business travelers fly from Malaysia to Taiwan, as oppose to genuine tourists who fly from Thailand. In any case this goes to prove one thing: even when the officer behind the desk is telling you it is just the law and there is nothing he can do about it, he may be wrong or just trying to avoid you. Laws are not absolute; they bend. And as conscious people we'll help them bend wherever they can.

Traveling in the Philippines

Philippines is not a very well traveled country but is well worth it. It has anything from coral islands to mountain jungles. There are many endemic animal species and different indigenous cultures. It’s also generally a safe and healthy place to travel. The only thing that keeps it out of travelers’ maps is its remoteness.


Logistically, Philippines is not a very easy place to travel. First, it is not near anywhere; it just sits by itself near the edge of the vast expanse of Pacific Ocean. It’s not on the way between any two locations unless you’re going from Australia to China. Then, it consists of 7.107 islands, spread out from north to south. There is a big national highway that runs all across but the roads are not always in good condition and neither are the busses. Trains are virtually nonexistent. To travel between distant islands one has two choices, the ferry and the airplane. Like Indonesia, Philippines also has many local airlines with cheap prices and some with old propeller planes. Ferries take more time and depending on the boat and the class you choose it can be either very comfortable or not comfortable at all. I took Superferry once for 13 hours on “tourist” class (second cheapest of the four classes) and it was a big AC hall with about a hundred double deck beds and was very comfortable. You can even travel very cheap by cargo boats if you have the time and the guts.

The good thing about traveling in the Philippines is that you can speak English to anyone and they will understand you. This makes traveling more hassle-free and also sometimes leads to forgetting that it’s still Asia where the bus arriving “just now” may in fact come an hour later.

The prices for transportation are similar to other SE Asian countries (such as a 6 hr bus ride for about $10) but the visa is the most expensive I’ve seen. You get a 3 weeks free on entry which is extendible up to two years without leaving the country. But each 2 months extension costs about $70-80 (different charges apply each time), which makes it around $250 for 6 months which is simply unheard of. On the other hand, Philippines being the only country in SE Asia which doesn’t have any land borders, it may be seen as a blessing that they extend it here, rather than forcing you to fly somewhere after two months, like they do in Indonesia. That would surely be less nice and more expensive. This also explains why and how there are more expats here then there.

Since it’s way out of the way to anywhere, there are not many foreign travelers in the Philippines. The foreigners are either expats who are settled here, students (mostly Korean) or missionaries. So in touristic places the accommodation and services are adjusted for Filipino tourists. And they travel in groups, sometimes big groups. So what you find are rooms good for 6 or good for 10 or 15. Sometimes it is hard to find a double room and single rooms are nonexistent although sometimes there are dormitories. So when it comes to renting a room it makes it so much cheaper to share it with a group, and more expensive if you’re just a couple. I have stayed in a room good for 8 just by myself but the owner was kind enough to let me pay for one. And it is close to impossible to guess from the name what kind of accommodation is waiting for you. A resort can be a hostel, an inn can be a guesthouse and cottages can be a hotel. Transient usually is a place for groups which also has kitchen, cable TV and other furnishing. Homestay or pension is usually the cheapest but has less privacy. And prices for a similar room in different places can change dramatically with no objective reason.

On planning a trip to the Philippines, one must be careful with the seasons. With around 30 typhoons hitting the country every year, typhoon season, June to November can sometimes be unpleasant. Roads can be closed due to flooding or landslides and the mountains can be too cold and wet. Ferries and planes also may become unreliable. But of course this is also the discount season while Christmas and Easter times are the high seasons when it may even be hard to find bus tickets or rooms.

But apart from all these practical aspects, Philippines is a very pleasant place to travel. People are just great, they are kind and when you are in need they will sort you out. If you ever get the chance, don’t say no to going there. You can hardly regret it.

Icould Travels So Can You

Sometimes it makes me sad to see people give up on traveling because they think they cannot. Although they would very much like to travel, they think traveling is a kind of skill only some people have. They are mostly wrong, traveling can be learned.

I have some friends back in Turkey who would make excellent travelers if only for once they’d make the leap and start to travel. But instead they spend years asking the same questions and “getting ready”. So I decided to help you get ready. There is not so much to be prepared for anyway, it’s all in the mind.

The first obvious obstacle in front of starting to travel is of course finances. Although you do need money to travel, you shouldn’t take the amount you spent during your 1 week holiday in a resort hotel by that famous beach and multiply it with the weeks you want to travel for. First of all, when you travel, especially for a longer time, you gain by not paying some bills that you have to when you are settled, such as water, electricity and telephone bills. If you normally live in a big city like Istanbul, it is also very likely that the total cost of your monthly accommodation will be less than your monthly rent. The best way to figure out how much money you will need for traveling in a certain place, just like other things, is to ask people who have done it before.

Although it is normally against the law to make money with a tourist visa, there are many people who do that and make their money along the way. You may have a certain talent or something you produce but of course the most important thing is what is in demand where you want to go. If you make music or perform, you can make street performances in most places in Europe. If you are a good looking young girl you can make pretty good money as a hostess in Japan and finance your further traveling (it is not uncommon among travelers). If English is your native language you can teach in places like Philippines or Brunei where teachers are in demand. Perhaps one of the most common ways to make traveling money after busking is selling handicrafts in local tourist markets. If you are creative enough you can make pretty good money in the flea markets of Goa.

And do not forget that once you start to travel you will learn to reach the cheaper alternatives. You will find out the local restaurants and take some local transportation, which will all be cheaper than the touristic ones. You won’t have to lower your standards to the point of discomfort but you will learn about those things that you always had but didn’t really need.


The second big mind obstacle people have between them and traveling is fear. What if I cannot find a place to stay? What if I get my money stolen? What if nobody speaks English? There are so many what if’s that it is simply impossible to answer all of them. It is always good to remember that, even when we live in the supposed security of our hometowns, there are still many such questions one can ask. What if you are robbed? What if there is a traffic accident? It is better to filter the questions and ask only those which will help you be better prepared.

How do you know how to move around, where to stay, what to do when you travel? Well, if you don’t like the travel guides like many travelers, the internet is full of great sites who’ll give you all sorts of information. But the best way to get relevant information is to ask people. Once you are on the way, you will meet other travelers and it will become a natural part of your interactions to inform and get informed about the road. The best options are rarely listed in internet sites, far less in travel guides. You learn these things as you go along.

Many people feel insecure in new places. Today’s mainstream culture is built on fear and all the movies, all the news and many modern stories tell about unfortunate events as if they are the norm. You are constantly told that you are only secure when you are behind a strong and locked door, at home. One reason I want to help people to start traveling is to make them see for themselves that this is not true. Perhaps you also don’t believe that the world is so full of crime but knowing feels really good and can change your feelings about life in general and traveling helps it.

To play it secure you can use travelers cheques or a credit card. Money transfer services are pretty common around the world these days, in case you’ll need to get some money sent. Never carry all your money in cash. Also divide it to few portions and put them in different places so if you loose one it is not all you have. Carrying a little bag hidden inside your clothes is also very common. And after you have done these please stop being paranoid about your money being stolen.

There are places which are more dangerous than others. Usually there is more crime in cities then in rural areas and there is less crime in countries where the distribution of wealth is more even. Still, I think, one of the most important things is your attitude. If you look very flashy, as if you are carrying a fortune in your valet, of course, you may attract some hungry people. Same apply for being paranoid. So leave your Blueberry, laptop and other gadgets home; you won’t need them anyway. Avoid looking like a rich tourist (even when you are one) and also show it with your attitude. Travel light, and travel with a light which will create a shield around you.


Although most people would prefer to have a good travel companion, traveling alone has its own benefits and is not that bad at all. You will have much more time to think or meditate and random people will approach you more often. You’ll make many friends and you may even receive more invitations. The best thing about it is that when you travel alone you feel free, independent in doing whatever you want or going whichever direction you desire. And when you come across fellow travelers it is a greater joy.

There are many marginal questions which in most cases depend on what you are planning to do. If you are going to do hiking you may need shoes and if you are going to China learn some Chinese. When you are missing something it may become a good learning experience depending on your attitude. I had great time with people I had no verbal communication with and I can laugh about getting wet and being saved by some angles along the way. This is about trust in the universe.

Attitude matters a lot. If you are paranoid, you may actually attract some of the things you fear. If you are suspicious of people, it is unlikely that you’ll inspire trust in people anyway. If you are negative in your attitude and accusing, you are actually asking that your experience teaches you a good lesson about these. After all my traveling years I can easily say that what they meant by “who travels more knows more” is this. When you are in a completely new place where you don’t know and where nobody knows you, you are completely face to face with yourself. “A new place is a negative mirror” says Calvino. When you travel you learn these things much faster and if you get the feel for “making your way” than you may also get wiser. Of course, there are some people who interpret things very differently and keep on traveling being complete a**holes. Well, ask them about their experience and you may see that they are still learning what they have to, but perhaps the harder way.


Some last words for the traveler of the near future:

- Travel light. With your initial insecurity you may take lots of useless things with you; drop them along the way.

- Be responsible for your own health. Discover which local foods agree with your personal digestion and be your own doctor. Carry only a little natural medicine.

- Learn the art of making friends. Carry things between places. Give as you receive.

- And most importantly, enjoy it! Traveling is fun.

Traveler vs. Tourist

There is a long lasting and never resolved dispute about tourists and travelers. Many times it seems these two do not like each other and sometimes people serving tourists do not like travelers and vice versa. It seems to me that most people do not know the distinction as it is mostly hard to tell by the looks of a person whether s/he is a tourist or a traveler.

A tourist, in my humble description, is a person who travels for a limited time (tours), has a greater per day budget, usually buys a whole trip rather than planning it himself, buys lots of souvenirs, takes lots of photos but does not learn much about the local culture or get to meet local people. These are not necessarily bad things. Most people do not have the time to travel long and learn local languages and since their holiday time mostly means a time to rest, they also prefer full facilities, rather than learning about the local ways of doing things. It is understandable.

A traveler, again in my humble dictionary, is a person who chooses traveling as a way of life, either for life or for a certain amount of time (but rarely for just 2 weeks). He may still buy some souvenirs but he has to be careful that his bag doesn’t get too heavy because he won’t be hiring porters to carry it for him. He may stay in some hotels but because he normally wants to make his money last as long as possible to be able to travel more, he stays in guest houses, camps and tries the local foods, takes the local buses, etc. Since he wants to use the local market he learns some daily local language and meanwhile makes a few local friends. This also is not a good thing without exceptions. For example, some travelers get too stingy and overdo the bargaining. Some get too arrogant as if they are Marco Polo.

I read somewhere that, some years ago the Tourism Ministry of Thailand conducted a research to see which one is better for their tourism industry. The result was in favor of travelers. The final report said that the travelers spent their money in smaller and more local establishments and thus helped the distribution of wealth; that travelers are much more sensitive to culture and environment, and this type of tourism is more sustainable. So they seem to have concluded that the Thai government shall support travelers and this may be a reason why Thailand remains a very friendly destination for backpackers.


Please do not get me wrong; not everybody that has a backpack is a traveler, and not everybody who stays in an expensive hotel is a tourist. In most cases it is not that easy to say which is which. And also some real travelers still leave a bad influence and some tourists do god things. What is important is to have a good travel and to leave a good influence behind.

Tourism in general is disastrous for the environment. There are many wasteful sides of the resort tourism to start with. The buffet meals are the most wasteful way to feed ourselves. Hundreds of air-condition rooms in a hotel (plus their mini bars) has the same effect on global warming as an airplane. Many tourists prefer to keep on with their habits when the are on tour and for this the hotels have to import all sorts of food, beer and whatnot to suit their tastes. The cultural influence is also pretty degenerative as these people don’t get the time to learn how to respect the local culture (as if they’d care). Since they don’t know about the local prices they pay very high prices for everything and although on the surface this seems to be a good thing for the local tourism industry, it raises prices and creates the image that tourism is the new gold. They create these concentrated areas which sooner or later becomes too crowded with hotels and shops to enjoy. All around the world you can see this kind of tourist ghost towns which were once very nice spots but are now completely spoilt. Strange enough they also look the same, with the same kind of resort hotels you can see everywhere.

On the other hand, when one has the time and energy to go the hard but more rewarding way, there is much to discover. Taking a local bus is not as comfortable as the air conditioned tourist bus but it gives one the chance to feel where he is. Staying in a village house or a homestay, being a guest to the people of the place is of course why one goes all the way there. For me it has been hard to understand why people go half way around the world to spend a week in a resort hotel which is a replica of the one back home. If you cannot handle eating the local delicacy of fried cockroaches, maybe you can have a coffee in the village coffee house and learn a little about their daily pastimes. There is hardly any hotel entertainment as fulfilling as a village wedding.

But there are disturbing things about travelers also. Some travelers demand too much from the locals as if they have to be taken as local citizens because they don’t stay in hotels. Some demand lower than local prices and exaggerate haggling. The stereotype of a traveler is also pretty scruffy and dirty. This can be excused by being on the road for so long but only to a certain extend. I have also met many travelers who get easily angry with people who either confuses them with or wants them to be tourists. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s what they know and it’s ok. If you want to have a chance to change this, start with having a positive attitude.

There is also the off road impact. When bus loads of tourists take a safari tour to see elephants, they bring in cash for the conservation effort but they also leave a huge footprint. But travelers also do this, although it is on a smaller scale. With travelers things can be a little more dangerous because they like to discover, to go to places where not many people go. Thus they can find an unspoilt piece of land and in some cases spoil some it. Remember that many beaches and other famous touristic places which are clogged with resort hotels today were discovered by some adventurous travelers in the 60s. It is a hard work to keep your mouth shut and also let the locals know that you rather camp there but it is very necessary.

These are just a few points of the ever-lasting debate of tourists versus travelers. You can always come across a supposed traveler complaining that those backpackers come to small towns and spoil the place by demanding air conditioned rooms and toast for breakfast, just like tourists. On the tourists side, they have an equivalent complaint about travelers keeping the rotten huts from being renovated by staying there and smoking dope all the time. There are endless examples.

Although I feel myself to be closer to a traveler, nobody likes to be boxed and neither do I. After all I’ve recently been taking great many photos and visiting very touristic places like Angkor Wat. The way I travel is more of traveling fast for some time and then settling and feeling one place for longer. I’m not a big a fan of local transport as I used to be also but I love new food experiments (recently I’ve been happily introduced to fertilized, semi developed chicken eggs). I just like being there, rather than seeing what’s there.

When you are going somewhere just think that you are actually going to be there and have an influence and be influenced. Make it nice. Give thanks.

Pros and Cons of Being a Foreigner

Sometimes I complain that being seen as a foreigner rather than just someone, and in some cases as a money milking cow, is insulting. There are not many places where foreigners are treated like normal people, like in Malaysia. In other places it has its advantages and disadvantages.


Anybody who travels knows this, if you look like a tourist with a camera hanging over your belly, you are inviting the local establishments to overcharge you. It is true that this cannot be generalized and I have even experienced taxi drivers who would still take the normal way even when I had all my tourist gear on me but unfortunately this is a rarity, a nice surprise.

In India, sometimes it was so disturbing that I gave up all my western outfit pretty early and went around barefoot like a local traveling person. Of course, they would know I was a westerner but their expectations were clearly lower. Speaking a few words of the local language also helps but I recommend that if you want to ask “how much?”, first you learn the numbers. I have seen the local five turn into the English “ten” very easily.

On the positive side, being a foreigner makes people feel you are their guest. You may ask the road and have someone guide you all the way to where you wanted to go. Or you may be taking a crowded shared mini-van and they empty the front seat only for you. Sometimes some people give you the feeling that it would be a big crime for them if they leave you stranded without that red string you are looking for and they go and find it for you.

You are also allowed to ignore the local moral rules to a certain extent. As long as your personal sense of respect permits it, you can do things the locals would never do out of fear of being criticized by their fellow citizens. You can kiss your partner where no locals does it and mostly, people around you would take it as “that’s the way it is in their country” (of course, there may be some old ladies around who wouldn’t like it at all and give you a terrible frown). You can jump on a moving bus or get off at the red lights, use the exit to enter places, forget to tip and sing aloud if you like. It’s not that I do all these things but I realize sometimes that just being who I am is already too much in some local standards. Funny enough this applies to my “home” city where I’m still seen as a foreigner anyway.


The other day we were out at night and felt thirsty. We stopped by a 7-Eleven and I got a bottle of beer and asked them to open it. Somehow they were not equipped to do that but the security guard did it for me. I sat there having a donut and drinking my beer when the cashier turned up with a little plastic bag and asked me if he can put my bottle in it. He said it’s not permitted to drink liquor there! I told him I could go out but he insisted I don’t mind as long as it’s in a plastic (as if I would put a bottle of coke in a plastic bag). Realizing that I’m the only privileged person having a beer in a 7-Eleven I felt like a colonial master (it was night, I was half drunk, I excused myself in the morning).

Here in the Philippines they see me as a “Cano” (from Americano) and I let it be. Thinking how American people usually act (I make a terrible generalization using the disrespectful loud tourist stereotype) I feel I do not need to stress myself too much about the local customs. But I do respect these people (honestly they are really great) and try to learn being respectful. I don’t feel I’m being overcharged here because they are not so used to tourists anyway (the few foreigners around seem to be rather living here). I’m just happy to be the guest of these very kind people and I do my best.

Pilgrimage

I know this journeying on the face of the world is nothing but a journey inside to find my inner self and in that sense it is a pilgrimage. When I travel I try to be conscious of what my experiences touch inside me. Sometimes the reason why I’m there makes itself very clear, and sometimes it is pretty hard to understand why I had to live that particular experience. Everything happens for a reason and this pilgrimage I’m on will lead me to my Mecca sooner or later.



I have also been to many pilgrimage places literally. I have been in the golden temple of Amritsar, the main Zoroastrian fire temple in Yazd, two Kumbha Mela’s in North India all at the right time. I’ve had a hand shake with H.H. Dalai Lama, did the 10 rounds around the biggest Buddhist temple Borobodur, been to the source of river Ganga and more. They all have been very memorable moments but I know they are also just superficial. I know I don’t need to go on a pilgrimage to become a pilgrim. I am already one.



In his book The Art of Pilgrimage, writer Phil Cousineau gives the description of pilgrim by some other people.

A pilgrim is a traveler that is taken seriously.

Ambrose Bierce

Pilgrims are poets who create by taking journeys.

Richard R. Niebuhr

Personal answers to ultimate questions, that is what we seek.

Alexander Eliot

And he lists five excellent practices for travelers on sacred journeys:

Practice the arts of attention and listening.

Practice renewing yourself everyday.

Practice meandering toward the center of every place.

Practice the ritual of reading sacred texts.

Practice gratitude and praise-singing.

Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old,


seek what they sought.


Matsuo Basho

The day we were grounded

Indonesia consists of thousands of island and to go from one to another used to require a long ferryboat journey until the cheaper airline companies took over the market. Today there are over 20 Indonesian economy airline companies who carry people within the archipelago. However none of them, even the national Garuda Airlines, are not permitted to fly to the West due to their weak security and history of accidents.

One strange thing about these flights is that, as oppose to buying in advance to make it cheaper, in Indonesia if you want to pay less you have to buy your ticket at the latest minute. Of course you take the risk of not finding a last minute ticket and that’s why we also played the auction game of booking flight tickets at the latest time they are available.

We were in Bali and wanted to fly to Indonesian side of Borneo and cross to the Malaysian side the day before our visas ended. For this we had to fly from Bali to Jakarta and from there to Pontianak on Indonesian Borneo. Although we were checking the internet everyday, suddenly it seemed like all the flights were getting booked. We wanted to fly with Adam Air which was offering the most reasonable prices but we missed the last tickets for the Jakarta – Pontianak flight. So instead we booked Adam Air from Bali to Jakarta and Lion Air from Jakarta to Pontianak.

8th of March 2008, early in the morning we went to Denpasar International Airport, checked our luggage in and went to the gate to wait for our flight. While waiting I read on the newspaper from the day before that Adam Air would reduce the number of it’s flights next week. From the waiting hall we watched our orange colored plane be taxied to the gate and our luggage get loaded onto it. Then the newspaper of the present day arrived and on the cover was the news that Adam Air is unable to pay the insurance fees due to the big number of crushes it had and was going to freeze operations within a week. Then we watched our luggage be unloaded and the plane be taxied away from the gate. “Please wait” was the only answer we received from the gate crew even after the flight seemed to be delayed an hour. Strange enough on the airport screens it was still written that the flight was on time. When we started to push for some more answers we realized we were not the only people getting anxious about their connecting flight from Jakarta. There was a Taiwanese couple bound for Taipei and a German guy with a long chain of connecting flights he was afraid to miss.

When we were taken to the office downstairs the personnel there were already in a hard situation trying to answer so many demands at the same time and quickly. I fixed all my attention on one person and became her shadow whichever corner she went to hide until I managed to make her buy for us tickets by Garuda Air to Jakarta, leaving now. We ended up literally running together with another guy to the ticket and check-in counters. Just when I started to run towards the gate for the new flight I was stopped by the same guy telling me that I had to go down with him to the baggage claim and fish our stuff from a large pile of stranded Adam Air luggage there.

Somehow this exercise took my anxiety a bit and we enjoyed the non-economy class flight with the big Garuda airliner. But there was a little problem. Because of this delay, we seemed to have only 40 minutes left between our arrival to and departure from Jakarta, which was a very risky amount of time considering that the check-out counters sometimes close half an hour before the flight. So we made a plan. As soon as we landed we would split and I would go down to pick our luggage while Maya would run to the Lion Air check-in counter and stop them from closing. This we did. The 10 minutes waiting in front of the carrier belt felt like an hour and but when I finally made it out of the gates I realized we still had 30 minutes. Then the information guy told me that this was the international terminal and the Lion Air was in the domestic terminal, few kilometers away and I had to take a taxi. I looked around to see if I could spot Maya in this crowds but of course it was impossible, she could have been even on a different floor. So I went ahead with our initial plan to meet at the check in counter and took a taxi. Surprisingly when I arrived at the Lion Air check in there were still a line of fellow passengers but no Maya.

Then I wanted to slow down the time, make it last longer so that Maya would arrive but she woudn’t. I sadly sat on my luggage trolley and watched the screen notification turn to “departed”. I had just missed my first flight.

I went to the Lion Air counter and told them that I had lost my wife. After the initial giggles one of them decided to be my assistant on this mission and took me to the first terminal where Maya was still waiting for me. She had thought that the plan would have changed because the terminals would have been far apart. It was the expensive taxi ride that had given her the idea that even if she took a taxi it wouldn’t arrive on time, although for me it didn’t take more than 5 minutes.

Sometimes, in times of crisis, accidents, or sudden loss of something, a weird sort of coolness takes over the emotions and tells one to stop. We didn’t talk. We knew it was very easy to start to argue and accuse each other for this situation. We sat and had a drink.

Now we had to find a way out of Indonesia before we ran out of visa within the next 2 days. Adam Air was fully grounded and all the stranded passengers have booked all the other tickets on other flights. It was practically impossible to find tickets to anywhere on the direction we wanted to go within 2 days. So we went back to the superstar of budget airlines and booked a flight by Air Asia back to Kuala Lumpur.

We wanted to travel all across Northern Borneo and Brunei and take a boat to Southern Philippines but it was not to happen. We ended up grounded in the heat of Kuala Lumpur and later flew to Philippines.

Hadith and Instant Karma

Prophet Muhammed said:

" There is no better companion on this way than what you do;

Your actions will be your best friend;

Or if you're cruel and selfish,

Your actions will be a poisonous snake that lives on your grave."

I think this explains, along with other things, why people have completely different experiences of seemingly the same trip they have. It is true that on the way it is much easier to experience instant karma. One who travels knows that the energy you emanate attracts a similar energy. Your actions and even thoughts are equally rewarded.

I travel

When I was in elementary school I had my best friend Cinar and the one game we loved most was missing the school bus and exploring the way back from school. We would go around the neighborhood villas with a wide awake imagination and all the narrow roads would be full of adventures, the monstrous guard dogs would want to eat us alive while we would try to reach the last piece of food left on earth, the cherry on that tree.

Then when I grew up things changed just a little bit but still today, sitting and watching the 3rd typhoon of the year hit where I live with full strength, I tend to see it as God getting too hot and turning on his fan a bit too strong while we desperately struggle to keep our clothes dry. I’m happy to be here now to see one more manifestation of Godly power.

Even when I was very young I knew I wouldn’t be satisfied with staying in Turkey (mostly because I’m from Turkey) but at first I was thinking I could find another place and settle there. Traveling helps one learn about himself much faster and one of the first things I learned about myself was that I couldn’t be happy stopping for too long. I needed to discover.

I am so thankful to my parents who sponsored me for one month interrail trip to Europe when I was 16. After a few more visits to the West I saw it clearly that whatever I was looking for was not there. And I had a few pushes sometimes when I tended to stop. After my 2 years of hibernation in Istanbul, having a steady work, steady girlfriend and a nice rented house, I was kicked out of Turkey by the army which wanted me to wear uniforms and carry orders for 18 months after they give me a risky operation on my spine. India was welcoming and extremely rich, richer than I could ever imagine any land to be. So for a few years I thought I could settle in India and keep traveling in that country which is anyway 5 times the size of Turkey. But it was not to be.

What it gave me was this sense of being a traveler. [I’ll explain it separately how different for me a traveler and a tourist are]. There I started to live down to earth, travel in remote places, cook and enjoy local food, learn local language, make a few local friends, and in short be there rather than see there.

This required more time than just traveling with a schedule and a camera. Since I didn’t carry a camera, I had to sit in front of that mountain and take it in slowly. Mostly I would just rent a house there and do everything right in front of that mountain until I was sure I had it in me. I don’t know what else I took in during those days but one of them is the traveler’s bug for sure.

I was very fortunate for having a rent income to support my travels but just because I don’t have to work, not everything is hunky-dory. For a long time I stubbornly insisted on local ways. I felt this is the way I can deserve what I am already given. I wouldn’t take any touristic buses or eat in touristic restaurants. I was in India for 3 years and I haven’t seen Taj Mahal. I would generally try to live on the cheapest edge. Which taught me a lot of things and made me a stronger person. But the time comes when one says “ok, now I know I can handle the 20 hours of bumpy jeep ride, so I can take the super deluxe bus this time”. Another hard thing about traveling is all the family and friends back “home” calling me back all the time. Two out of 3 communications with anyone back there has the question “when are you coming back?” while I don’t make such plans. If I made such plans, for example, to go back to Turkey, let’s say, in 10 months, I’d feel I have to speed up and do all the things I want to do and be in all the places I want to be in before I go to Turkey. I want to be back to Thailand and Indonesia, I want to visit Nepal and Sri Lanka on the way back. I want to dive a few more coral islands and surf some more, perhaps go up a few more volcanoes, but putting this in a time frame is somehow impossible.

On the other hand I’m aware I am not a hard-core traveler. I am very slow, and lately, pretty touristic. My friends who were with me in Thailand when I first arrived in SE Asia about 20 months ago have been all around Asia, some went to Australia before we met back in China and now most of them are in the Americas already. I’m still here.


I can go on for hours when I start to talk about traveling. I believe everyone should travel. I believe the world would be much less problematic if more people traveled (and I’m talking of traveling and not a one week tour where one stays in a global hotel, eats global food and meets only other tourists). I really would do my best to inspire anyone to travel. So I’d love to answer any questions that would make traveling clearer for you (as long as it is not “what’s the meaning of life?”. That you have to find out for yourself.)


When I was in the university I met these two Brazilian travelers. They spent some weeks with us and we gave concerts together and made good friends. One of them, Marcus Borges Dias, gave as much time as it takes to tell me what traveling is all about, how they arrived in Portugal with a one year open ticket and traveled across North Africa doing all sorts of things. I don’t know if he knows that he became my guru but I received his guidance from the universe and I wish I have the occasions to return it.

May this blog be a means to giving a hand to other travelers.