Ramadan

Alright so the first thing to bear in mind is that this is not a faithfully informing report on what Islam or Ramadan is. Quite simply it is what I have come to understand so far and have come to experience about both. If there's something here you don't like or think is inaccurate, don't be offended (it's not my intention in any moment), it's just how it has come through to me. Want to add, correct, suggest, critique, hate-mail me? I'd love to get it all (just send it as a message and not as a comment).


     So when I got to Turkey my friends reminded me that the month of Ramadan was coming up and therefor some of them would fast for that entire month. Now I don't know about you reader (depends which reader you are I guess) but to me Ramadan always sounded like that exotic thing Muslims do every year and that excuses them from joining in on pic-nics and hikes. Of course after a good deal of traveling and 5 months living in a 96% Muslim country (Kosovo) I had become slightly more informed than that. And now I was in an officially Muslim place where everyone (not really everyone, specially not in the touristy Sultanahmet area of Istanbul where I was living, but a good deal of the Muslim population) was going to observe it and what it demanded and what it encouraged.

     In an attempt to better understand Muslim culture, Islam and what it really feels like being a Muslim during this month I decided also to fast for the whole 30 days. Of which I kinda cheated because I'm not a Muslim and therefore did not follow absolutely everything demanded or suggested by Islam of course (I mean if I'm not a Muslim it won't be the same). But I tried my best to the delight of my Muslim friends and the frustration of those non-Muslims around me.

So a little background info is due:

     If you like you can go ahead and google Ramadan, Ramadhan or Ramazan and get the wiki explanation but I'm trying not to read it so I give a full, personal and unmarred-by-correctness opinion. So yeah, googleing it might be useful.

     Ramadan is the month in the Islamic calendar in which Mohammed [(Peace be upon him) I won't repeat it every time but you can if you want] received the revelations of God also known as the Quran. So it says:

     The month of Ramadan is that in which was revealed the Quran; a guidance for mankind, and clear proofs of the guidance, and the criterion (of right and wrong). And whosoever of you is present, let him fast the month, and whosoever of you is sick or on a journey, a number of other days. Allah desires for you ease; He desires not hardship for you; and that you should complete the period, and that you should magnify Allah for having guided you, and that perhaps you may be thankful.

Quran 2:185

     So fasting this month means that if you take those words to heart or in many cases if you are simply born into a Muslim tradition, you abstain from eating, having sex or drinking anything at all while the sun is up. That means about 16 hours of no food, no sex and no liquids whatsoever. In addition Islam does not condone drinking (although it says nothing specific of smoking) even though many Muslims do drink. During Ramadan many that otherwise do, refrain from drinking alcohol or smoking (mostly the no smoking only lasts until the end f the day). All of this is done not only to burn your sins away as the name implies but also to remind you of those who have nothing and should be shown compassion. That's why during the month of Ramadan, Muslims should give more money to those in need (Zakat), curse less, do good deeds, pray and recite the Quran more (the Quran should be recited completely by the end of the 30 days).

     To me the spiritual part (sins, prayer and recitation) has no effect but the idea of making yourself feel physically what people who do not have food or drink available to them is a remarkably selfless and noble thing that really pushes you to compassion towards those in need as well as strengthening the bond of brotherhood between human beings. It is something I would recommend anyone doing as it also teaches you how we take so many things for granted.

     In a sense this type of abstention is something I have practiced towards money during my travels without cash, plan or readily available food, but this is more organized and widely supported.

     Anyway, you wake up and go by your day normally, of course trying not to look at people eating and not pushing yourself too hard because your body is weaker. There are 5 daily prayers which you should attend either at the mosque or at home and so the day goes by until it's around 8:30 PM and with the call to prayer from the nearest mosque, Muslims are allowed to break the fast (Iftar). It takes place at home, on the floor in the mosque, in restaurants, in parks or anywhere you can (although it should be in the company of family or friends).
     In Turkey it is broken with dates or olives and water, followed by a light soup a main course and quite often a dessert and black tea. This of course is how it is served in restaurants (and encourages over-eating). In some homes it is served much lighter, sometimes having no meat or the main course being quite light. As I've been told Mohammed simply broke his fast with 3 dates and water, prayed the sunset prayer and only then ate a proper meal (but try having 3 dates and then stop and concentrate on doing anything else, it's really tough). So if you can do it like Mohammed, that's more points for you, but it's ok if you don't. The main idea is simply that you don't eat as much as you would during the last 16 hours in 1, that kinda defies the point of fasting.

     Today Iftar has become more a time of being with your family and sharing with each other as well as cooking for one another. I wasn't able to do this but it was still possible to sit in the company of good friends and break the fast together.

     From that point on Muslims pray as much as they can/want before going to sleep again or just stying up until it's time to have Suhur around 4:00 AM, the last meal you'll have until the next Sunset.

Note that I say "around 4:00 AM" because they change everyday according to the astronomical position of the earth in relation to the sun and not the handles on the clock.

     On a more personal account, Ramadan was pretty tough but I fasted for nearly all of the 30 days. I was sick for 2 of them (I don't think related to not eating though) and broke the fast. I guess it might be easier to do it when you get to that point of the first day when you just can't stand the hunger, thirst, dehydration and headaches that feel exactly like being on a hangover, if you are Muslim because you don't need to feel stupid when you ask yourself why your putting yourself through it.

     Although after that first day the headaches cease and your body gets used to the rhythm of eating less at fewer times of the day. Working at the hostel and making breakfast in the morning was a bit tough to endure though, specially not being able to lick your fingers when you got jam on them. But on I went fasting and also occasionally going to the mosque, washing up and praying in congregation as well as by myself (I had to get the full experience).

     Ramadan 2012 started on the 20th of July and the last day of fasting was the 20th of August, which was followed by three days of celebration, visiting elders and eating sweets (Bayram). And after all of it I feel quite good, clean, haven't had a drop of alcohol since July and I think I might even have gained 1.5 Kg, as is the result for many who overdue their Iftars a bit. Also going through with it made me a lot more curious and understanding of Islam and Muslims as well as gaining me a lot of points with Muslims who, knowing that I fasted, opened up more easily to me.

     There's so much more I've learned and that I'd like to say, but right now I'm close to Bursa at my friends' place (Daniel, Priscila and Oliver) where I came from Istanbul and in a few hours I should wake up and start hitch-hiking down to Pamukkale, Hierapolis and the ruins of Aphrodisias. It will be about 435 Km and I now have a fellow bearded hippie camping no-cash no-planes couch-surfing buddy from Italy which I'll be hitching part of the way with. I hope to have internet access soon and post some of those adventures here. See you all soon!

Istanbul

Well now, I still have a whole month of catching up to do since I only left you with the account of how I arrived in Turkey and not how I stayed here for so long. I have many other things to write about but I thought it would be unfair not to register this for the sake of my travel adventure and hopefully yours when reading this.
So I arrived in Istanbul with Alex and spent the first night in a public park just outside of Ataturk Airport and the next day we went on looking for couch surfing hosts that could have us for a couple of nights before either of us got back on the road. I was up for finding more lush green parks to squat, although Alex being dirty and tired decided for a hostel. I went along so that maybe I'd be able to use their showers before heading off again.
It was a nice little place called the Harmony Hostel on the main touristic area of Istanbul called Sultanahmet (next to the Blue Mosque) and their terrace had a spectacular view. I decided to stay there for the afternoon, chill and use their free internet and computer. As the day neared it's end and I with no sure host in sight met up with the owner and started talking, telling him my story. In the end of it he simply asked "Do you have place to sleep?" to which I said no and no money to stay in his fine establishment to which he immediately replies "Ok, you stay here for free". Surprised and thankful I did.
Sleeping on a matress in an air-conditioned room in Istanbul Summer heat is a wonderful thing and the next day I proposed to the owner that I repay his kindness by working for him and improving his ratings since I speak a few languages, have worked in a hostel before and most importantly know what it takes to make a good hostel (most important are the guests, who really make the whole athmosphere for fun and having a traveler working there who knows how travelers think). He said OK and had me staying for free, eating for free and getting a modest monthly pay (quite modest, but I was ready to do it for nothing). My job was to hang around the wonderful terrace area and chat around with guests, make breakfast, play music on the computer for ambience and just be generally helpful while enjoying the nice breeze from the Bosphoros. It was a great time! While I was there I met so many interesting people doing all sorts of trips like Chris who biked his way from the Channel Islands on his Jersey to Asia trip (google Jersey to Asia) and got stuck in Istanbul waiting for his passport to come back from the Pakistani High Council in London for his visa. Or David from the Netherlands who travels down to Istanbul nearly every month to spend some time with his Turkish girlfriend (has been to Turkey 14 times in the last year alone). Or Rey from the Mauritius Islands who records a very detailed photo report from erywhere he goes. Not to mention the three Muslim Danish sisters (Khadija, Asma and Mariam) who travel around and keep getting their pictures taken by tourists who are anxious to photograph a woman in a hijab.
All this was really great and laste for a great 2 and a half weeks in Istanbul with lots of fun. Although after that time I had met Elif who I started to couch surf with and was so nice to me treating me with the best of Turkish food and hospitality and introducing met o the greatest dessert in the world... KUNAFEH!

With Elif I had some great times here in Istanbul and slowly lost my fear of cats as well as aquiring a taste for many things like kebaps, çay and many more. Part of me stays here and part of me goes. Tomorrow I leave for Bursa where I meet my friend and old neighbour Priscila along with Daniel and their son Oliver. From there I hitch-hike on to the ruins of Aphrodisias, to Konya, to Capadocia (perhaps even to Batman) and then to old Tarsus and Mersin where I take the ferry to Northern Cyprus.

I’ll keep this one short if you don’t mind ;)

From Prishtina to Istanbul

     So it’s been nearly a month and a half since I posted on the blog, I know and I apologize. Many things have happened since I last wrote my thoughts down and there were times I didn’t have access to a computer and others when I did but had so many other things going on around me that I couldn’t get myself to sit and write. So I’ll try to give you a “quick” summary of everything that went down since my last post in Kosovo.
     Just after posting about the truckers I left in a late afternoon with my German friend Alex Krimm (whose last name was a misspelling by the registry office at the time and actually makes us related) who as a nice looking blue eyed blonde I must admit facilitated in much the day’s hitch-hiking into Serbia. We crossed the border on foot in Merdare and when interviewed by the border patrol we got by with a simple: “These are not the droids you are looking for” (gladly the Force has great power over weak minds and he didn’t bother looking much through my passport to see the 8 huge black Republic of Kosovo border stamps on it and we went about our business). From there we then had to wait for the slow go of truck traffic through the border in hopes that a passing truck might carry us a bit further. While waiting we met another hitch-hiker from Germany, Benjamin, who was making his way South through the same border as us with his rather small backpack. No tent, no cooking gear, just the very basics and a positive mood. Less is more!

After a while waiting we caught a ride til  a village about half-way to Nis where we would get on the Amsterdam-Istanbul truck route, but stopped for the night in this little village. After a 30 minute walk, we found this nice grassy field where we laid down my Quechua 2 Second tent and retired for the night. 

      It was a hot night and we had no water left so I walked out to find a family of 4 who lived next to the field just getting home. After finding that the wife spoke English we started to communicate. I was able to get some water and them very interested in our trip. They were very nice and not only that, after I had gone back to the tent the husband shows up with two bottles of mineral water and a bag with cookies, canned tuna, instant mashed potato mix and more. We felt so great about having experienced such kindness that we wanted to thank them personally and in the morning we stopped by the house before leaving again and were welcomed by grandma with Turkish coffee and her own homemade sugared plums (Delicious!). As the Balkan saying goes “The house belongs to God and the guest”. Speaking to the husband in our half German, half Serbian talk, we found that he was part of the Armed Forces during the war with Kosovo and gave us accounts of some of the things he witnessed including the NATO bombings (one less than a kilometer from his home) and showed us a bit of the city and the Serbian tanks still parked at the barracks in Prokuplje.

     After that he dropped us off at a gas station, bought us a coke and we went on to find a guy who went out of his way to drop us off at a small gas station on the E-80 to Bulgaria. It was not exactly where I wanted to be since small petrol stations are rarely visited by large trucks and it’s hard to get them to stop from the highway. An ideal spot would have been the toll station just a few Km North, but because there were no side roads we were sort of trapped there. Nevertheless we took it easy, asked around the drivers, met some Portuguese and Spanish speakers, played cards and listened to Bob Marley when the sun was too hot, napped, found a den of baby mice, enlisted the help of a gas pumper who was eager to find us a ride and even took the time and ink to make ridiculously huge hitch-hiking signs.But still after many hours we were still there and our patience, with each other, running out (patience with hitch-hiking never runs out because there is never any other option, so you might as well just chill and keep a smile on your face). Finally a Turkish truck stopped and we convinced the driver to take us to Sofia.

His name was Gokçen (or Hassan) and as the truck drivers I have mentioned before, a family man doing his long haul across Europe. He only spoke German and Turkish so we ended up practicing my German and learning some Turkish (Alex felt quite at home). On the road though we both decided to ride with him all the way to Istanbul, which was my plan all along but Sofia was Alex’s stop and would have been a good distance covered in one day. 

 So he did, drove us to Bulgaria where we waited for his truck to go through and also met two Polish hitch-hikers doing the same route on another Turkish truck also waiting for their driver. Hassan drove us all the way to a stop just before reaching Plovdiv where we had a great full Turkish dinner a sat drinking raki until 4:30 in the morning when we all stumbled into his truck to sleep.

Next day, rise and shine at 11 am to continue driving and because of the water drunk with Turkish raki, no hangover! We set off again through the sunflower fields of Bulgaria on and on until the Turkish border of Edirne, where again we waited for Hassan across the border, cooked lunch and oddly enough met the same two Polish hitch-hikers in the same situation as us (the only difference being they were headed to Istanbul to fly to Kenia and then back to Poland. Why? Cheap flights and curiosity after watching The Lion King (which I’ve heard most Kenians don’t even know).

 After a while we met our respective truckers and kept on going. Hassan took considerably longer because the Bulgarian border officers kept wanting him to pay more and more to get through. Border crossings are easy enough for pedestrians and drivers but for truckers they are long, troublesome and depending on the country, quite expensive (bribes).

Still we kept on going through the even more plentiful sunflower fields of Thrace (felt an urge to play Plants versus Zombies) until finally arriving late at night just outside of Istanbul where we all said our goodbyes and got offered a trip to anywhere on the way back to Denmark we would start in 5 days. Me and Alex negotiated the confusing streets and walked along the Marmaris for a few hours until finally we found a bakery and soon after a park where we camped for the night behind some trees. We did have to move when the sprinklers turned on at which point I went to sleep against a tree and Alex found a cozy spot on a bench.

Left Kosovo on July 2 and arrived in Istanbul on July 4. I am still in Istanbul.