Switzerland

Last weekend in Turkey it was on-dokus Mayiz (May 19th- Ataturk Youth and Sports Day) which meant we got a 4 day weekend. True to Davis style, I used the opportunity to visit a fellow international teacher in Switzerland. I arrived in Geneva first thing on Saturday morning and we spent the day touring the hub of many international organizations, including the United Nations and the Red Cross. Geneva sits at one end of Lake Geneva, the second largest body of freshwater in Europe who's coastline is split between Switzerland and France. I have to say climbing to the top of one of the city church's bell towers the lake makes quite the backdrop for the Alps which surround it.



We used the day to visit Geneva and in the morning made our way toward Mike's school in Leysin which is on the opposite end of the lake. Stopping in the small cities around the lake I didn't think anything could be more beautiful. However, it continued to surprise me and every time we rounded a corner a valley or different part of the lake would open up in front of us and it was always more beautiful than the last. The small cities were really sweet, with both a lively waterfront and then uphill an old town section. Finally, we reached the stop at the base of the mountain where we would proceed with our journey up to Leysin. To get there you have to take the cutest little cog train up the mountain and the view along the way is stunning of course. Around Lake Geneva is a big wine producing region so on the way up the mountain, there was terrace after terrace was cut into the hillside holding grape vines. When I woke up in the morning, it was so foggy and I was so high up it felt a bit like being the clouds. Luckily, the mist burned off and I spent the whole day out hiking by myself and loving every minute of it. I had the mountain to myself and I felt a little bit like singing "The Hills are Alive" but stopped myself just short of that level of cheesiness. I can't promise that I didn't hold out my arms and spin around though.



The next day I went down the mountain to visit Vevey and Montreax, which are both absolutely lovely towns around Lake Geneva. Montreax is famous for it's jazz festival every summer where many of the greats have played since the first festival in 1967- including Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, Ella Fitzgerald. Besides the festival, Monteax is also famous for the song "Smoke on the Water" which Deep Purple penned there after Frank Zappa lit a flare gun in the casino thus setting it on fire.


We all came out to montreux

On the lake geneva shoreline

To make records with a mobile

We didnt have much time

Frank zappa and the mothers

Were at the best place around

But some stupid with a flare gun

Burned the place to the ground

Smoke on the water, fire in the sky

View from Montreax. Switzerland on the left. France on the right.




















Statue of Freddy Mercury in Montreax















The Swiss having a leisurely afternoon by the waterfront playing giant chess.



View from a hiking trail in Leysin















View from Vevey




View from Lausanne





Swiss Clocks
















You know me and knockers
















Water fountains, which are in every town square. Fresh Swiss spring water.



Balloon artists and 3 scooter thugs (apparently, this is the way to travel in Switzerland).

Faces

Here are some of my favorite people shots from my recent trip to Thailand.

Tuk Tuk Driver in Nonthaburi (suburb of Bangkok).

Fresh Spring Rolls in the market at Nonthaburi

Man and his puppy shopping in the market.

Two ladies relaxing in the sun on the border of Burma.

Young boy in a Chinese village in Northern- eastern Thailand.

Mung boy flying a kite on the Burmese border.

Mung girl on the Burmese border.

Mung Villager

Friendly Mung children in a village outside of Mae Hong Son

Villager getting fresh drinking water.

Boy at the local market in Mae Hong Son.

Mother and child in Mae Hong Son.

Girl playing checkers with bottle caps in Chiang Mai

Lady riding past the Buddha statue in Chiang Mai's China Town.

Soda salesman in Chiang Mai.

Lady taking her food to market.

Young novice (monk) in Chiang Mai.

Monk Bowl (alms bowl) salesmen in Bangkok.

Banana Pancake lady (fried in butter and then covered in condensed milk and sugar... mmm).

Thailand's Buddha

In temples, shops, private homes, there is not shortage of Buddha's in Thailand. From luxurious gold, to wood, to plaster of paris here are my favorites.

Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho

Buddha head nestled in the roots of a tree in Ayutthya.

Remainders of a Buddha in Ayutthya.

In a temple in Chaing Mai.

Phrathat Doi Gongmoo Temple in Mae Hong Son

Phrathat Doi Gongmoo Temple in Mae Hong Son

IIn the Buddist tradition when a person does to temple they buy packets of prayer things from the temple. One of those things is a piece of gold leaf -- the gold is placed on whatever part of the Buddha that corresponds with their prayer.

Two Buddhas in the back of a truck ready for transport in China Town, Bangkok.

From a Wat Phra Na Men in Ayutthya

On the street in Chaing Mai

A selection of Buddhas in Bangkok's Chatuchak Weekend Market.

Buddhas fresh from the factory on the streets of Bangkok ready to be delivered.

Camel Wrestling



I have been incredibly lax in my blogging since the summer. I promise I'll catch up but for now I'll start with last weekend's camel wrestling extravaganza and then go back and do some retroactive postings.

Our school semester is coming to an end and feeling the stress of marking finals and desperately wishing I had banned glitter from the term projects, we headed down to Selcuk for camel wrestling. Camel wrestling is a two century old tradition and the wrestling camels are literally born into the business (they must be from camel wrestling ancestry). Because of the enormous cost to train and keep these camels each one is worth about $25,000. Though the rules seem vague to the foreign onlooker, we were informed that a camel wins by making another camel scream, run away or fall over.

On Friday night, we arrived at the Nisanye house in Sirince and instantly knew it would be a fantastic weekend. We walked in the door and were greeted by a fireplace and a basket of wood. Upstairs there was a giant room with an even bigger platform bed. The bathroom was a miniature hammam decorated in marble. The next morning we were surprised to find a basket crammed full of breakfast items- eggs, olives, tomatoes, pomegranate, fresh fig jam, quince chutney and attached to our door in a cotton bag was fresh bread from the local bakery.

After a filling breakfast we spent some time exploring the town of Sirince. Sirince is an old Greek town on the mountainside overlooking the historical site of Ephesus. The landscape is reminiscent of Tuscany, but with it's Greek and Ottoman style houses is uniquely Turkish. We poked around all morning in old churches and the local market and then took the bus to Selcuk. Thinking we had already missed the camel wrestling parade we took our time strolling through the orange tree lined streets. Then, suddenly Allana and I caught a glimpse of a camel walking down the street and took off in a dead sprint to catch the parade—we were those crazy yabanci (foreign) ladies running after camels. Walking down the street were hundreds of camels decorated in their beaded, sequined, embroidered, taseled finest. Strutting beside their animals were very proud camel trainers who were trying to garner the crowds' support. Also, setting the scene were troupes of musicians who weaved in and out of the parade stopping by the spectators to play traditional Turkish music called zeybek—the only way to get them to leave is to dance or pay them. We followed the parade to the end and took the opportunity to get some close up shots of the gladiatorial camels. It was when we got close that we realized how massive these animals actually are; clearly they are bred for fighting.

Sunday morning was the big day. How to describe it? Well, the hotel owner put it best; "You will see dozens of grotesquely puffed-up he-camels and large crowds of dead-drunk provincial Turks having fun." Our expectations were set low at a raucous day of local flavor, however when we arrived at Pamucak beach we were almost immediately taken in by the festive atmosphere. Herded in with the hundreds of other male Turkish spectators, we followed the crowd toward the hillside. Camels were walking around everywhere and a cloud of delicious smelling smoke from BBQs haloed the “stadium”.

It’s hard to tell which was more fun, the actual wrestling or the celebratory attitude of the spectators. Soon we were swapping food with the locals and rooting for our favorite camels. And let me say we got the better end of the deal in the food swap—people were grilling whole fish, sausages, beef, lamb and chicken. There was dolma and salat, raki and fermented turnip juice (ugh),fresh fruit and, of course, the obligatory olives. I even ate some camel sausage, which was surprisingly delicious. Oh and no… the sausages aren’t made from the losers. I asked. We were almost embarrassed at our meager offerings of dried fruit, bread and cheese.

While the rest of us were eating and dancing, the antsy warriors waited to compete, literally foaming at the mouth, .The wrestling was incredible as these camels were unexpectedly limber. In many cases they pushed each other with their heads, but often one camel would put its head under the belly and between the front legs of the other camel and try to flip it! Because the trainers are very protective of their camels about 60% of the matches ended in a tie, but when a camel was actually knocked over it was quite impressive to see such a massive animal hit the ground. The camels are also incredibly strong; it would take about 20 men on either camel to separate them when they got in a deadlock.

Although we went down to Selcuk for a laugh, we left feeling like we got one of the most authentic Turkish experiences possible. I think I’ll have to put it on the calendar as an annual event!