Mediterranean Blues

This winter marks what seems to be one of the most memorable holiday I've ever had so far. Flying to the Mediterranean part of the world and then straight to the Emirates is probably not a very popular choice among Indonesians. But I'm telling you, I would never regret taking this trip and I would never, ever think that the Europe is the only place fascinating enough to spend your vacations in.

Turkey

There's a reason why it's called the Pigeon Valley

Anyone who's been to Turkey knows that there's no place like Cappadocia. It's basically one part of paradise, leaked to the Earth, and dropped to the land of Turks in Anatolia. It's a wondrous place full of magical volcanic peaks and rich histories of the Arabs, Greeks and the Turks themselves. 

The view from the hot-air-balloon ride

Flock of birds in Cappadocia

I would recommend you to go to Turkey if you are craving for the kind of adventure that requires: a) basic body language skills (as very few people in Turkey actually speak English and the language doesn't sound anything quiet like any other languages I've heard of) and, b) lots of historical and natural touch in your trip. Turkey is very rich in history and culture as it is the melting point of East and West, of Islam and Christianity, which resulted in the majority of the country being pretty much secular these days, even though most of their names are still very Arabic. 

Ephesus, the less-maintained ancient city outside of Rome

Pamuk, in Turkish, means Cotton. Which represents the Cotton Castle quiet well.

Let's not forget Pamukkale, the famous city with its beautiful Cotton Castle. It's not a very large area, sure, but it's such a wonder how the volcanoes shaped this all-around-white landscape with some pools of natural warm water among others.

Oh, hi!

No, that's not the snow. That's what they called the calcium carbonate (now excuse me for not knowing how to put that chemically as I survived my high school chem test by writing song lyrics). The snow had just caught up with me while in Konya, as pictured below. There's nothing in Konya. The picture was taken just for the sake of the snow. Because I'm Asian that way. 

Asian tourist's MUST do

Moving on now, to the very, very famous capital city of Turkey, Istanbul. If you read Orhan Pamuk, you'll find out that he gets much of his melancholia from this city where he was born and bred, and the winter season just happened magnify that sensation. Now, I'm sure you all know that this city is divided in two parts: The Asian and The European part. And a few years from now, the Republic of Turkey will be part of the European Union, too. But what I didn't know was how very European most parts of the city is now. From the parks to the public phones and newsstands, not to mention the cobblestoned pathways and the small, relatively maze-like streets between the legendary Hagia Sophia to Grand Bazaar, they all look pretty European to my Asian eyes. My foolish brain almost thought I was somehow transported to Brussels. What's missing was the delicious 1 Euro waffles.

You probably can't see for the buildings, but even the lamps remind me of a good park in London

Now, about other things to be concerned of. Let's just say that the food in Turkey is not something that I would recommend you eating. Six days in Turkey is like a six days series of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern. I don't hate them. I'm just not fond of them. But food is all about taste anyway. Eating is part of traveling. In Turkey, it's just one part that I could not be excited about. And about the people. They have the same tendency as Italians to speak loud and with gestures. And many of them don't speak English, even just a simple 'yes' or 'thank you' wouldn't work for them. You will find that even people with the lowest paying job in Turkey would probably land a role in Indonesian FTV, and if they're lucky, as the main character. Haha. I'm not saying that they are so much more good looking than Indonesian people, but they kind of... are. Not to be worried, though. Because secretly, they are very fond of Asian people too. Apparently, they rarely see yellow-skinned people with light complexion and small, slanted eyes that according to some stories, they like to ask Asian tourists to take pictures together! Ah, human. How very similar we could be, wherever we are.

United Arab Emirates

Living in the equator most of time makes me never appreciate the power of the warmth during the day. When I first arrived in Abu Dhabi, I almost cried with so much excitement. The winter-clad Turkey made me miss the light of the sun and how warm it feels on my skin! Turkey made me so much happy, sure. But the sun in Abu Dhabi is what I really missed. It is pretty much sun-drenched but windy, so it is fairly warm without making you sweaty because the humidity is far below what we have here in Indonesia. 

Some ray of light, at last!

Okay, well, there's not a lot to see in Abu Dhabi. I like this city basically just because I missed the warm weather, and they've got so much to offer, and because I like seeing rich people's house, which is plenty here. They're so rich, they even park their yachts just outside their houses even though it's nowhere near the water!

The embossed artwork on Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. The same pattern sits all over the walls and floors of the grand mosque

The infamous Swarovski chandelier inside the grand mosque

Other thing you need to expect when visiting Abu Dhabi and Dubai is what I'm guessing is their Arabian philosophy, that is: the more, the better. Semua yang ada di Dubai (dan Abu Dhabi) itu lebay. They're like this new intern in your office that you know could do well, but goes way beyond anyone's expectation. It's like they build and do things with steroids. But I think they put that philosophy to a good cause when they decided to build a spectacular mosque called the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. The ornaments and details inside of the mosque is fabulous, that they sure have put the word Grand to the right use. They're also moderately Islamic, because aside of the fact that Dubai's entertainment rivals those in Vegas and Macau, they also let Non-Muslims enter this grand mosque, although not to the parts of the mosque intended for praying.

Public display of Dubai Aquarium

How lebay is Dubai? In Dubai Mall, one of the most popular shopping malls in Dubai where they practically put together every brands, every retail stores known to man, they also have the Dubai Aquarium, and put on display one of its gigantic exhibition for public. In addition to its glory, they have this thing called The Dubai Shopping Festival, where they make the stores give about 50-70% off (even to new arrivals!!) and open until about, well, 3 AM. During normal days, the mall here in Abu Dhabi and Dubai open until midnight anyway, so... 

That's Dubai Skyline for you

Okay, now, things to be concerned of. You will not find a lot of Asian tourists in many tourist attractions in UAE, because they're too busy exploring the malls (Well, it's kind of a shopping pilgrimage anyway). Instead, you will find so many English-speaking tourists whose accent ranged from American to New Zealand, and some Europeans, such as Russian and German (I can't tell if they're visiting or really expats, but since it was in Burj Khalifa so I supposed they were visiting). In fact, the majority of people living in these two major cities are expats. The indigenous people only inhabited about 20% of the population, so whenever you see men wearing tawb or women wearing abaya, chances are, they're not even Emiratis. In fact, it's easier to find a worker from Bangladesh, Philippines, sometimes even Indonesia! And don't worry about the food. Unlike in Turkey, where even finding Chinese restaurant (even people!) requires detailed search, if Arabian cuisine doesn't suit you, you still have so many choices to pick. Because both cities are very international, you won't find a problem finding KFC. Problem solved.

 It's not the Sahara. But I did wait for a little boy to come and ask me to draw him a rose, while I was fixing my broken plane.

In conclusion, do not be tricked when people ask you, Why would you travel to Turkey and UAE? What's in there? Well, it has so much to offer, like the history that the East and the West refused to tell you, or the mind-blowing greatness of Dubai that the Western world never tell you, because they don't want you to think that the Arabs have the money to pay their people to build this small country. Being on a trip should make you change your perspective. And this one, I guess, have changed the way I look at this part of Middle East that is conflict-free, and beautiful, and has the potential to rule the world.

pictures are my own