Aleppo, Syria

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Of Souq, Karfels and Free Snacks and Heaps & Heaps of Generousity

A week in Syria in Aleppo and Damascus was short, but the Syrian people have touched our hearts deeply through their little gestures and generousity. Their genuine warmth and smiles made Syria one of the friendliest countries that I’ve ever visited, far more so than Iran.

As we walked along the streets, people smiled and said, Al-sarmal-lay-comb-Welcome! They may not speak English at all but the English term, Welcome, seemed engrained into their minds, even the old shopowner who didn’t utter a word of English.

Syrian people are dessert and pastry-lovers. There are many small bakeries and shops selling the authentic desserts and snacks. On our second day, we were attracted by the delicious spread of snacks nicely displayed in the shopfront. Unable to resist the temptation, we went into the shop to buy a few snacks to whet our appetite. We chose about five snacks and went to the counter to pay for our selection. The shop attendant placed the snacks into a nice box, and to our pleasant surprise, they said, “No, Free!” We were thankful and went out of the shop, with a “melting-heart”. “The people are so nice, can die, make my heart melt” we chorused.

On the same day, we went to the largest souq in Aleppo and had some very interesting conversations with some of the shop owners there. We were offered free bread when we stood by the side to watch them prepare the bread, Weichean was given a small slice of soap by a passer-by. I was offered nuts by the shop-owner at the tailor shop while Weichean and Arlina were busy bargaining for cheaper buys. Maybe it was because it was rare to see three Asian gals travelling in Syria on their own, but the hospitality was heartfelt.

Making Friends at the Souq in Aleppo, Syria
We were in the souq talking to a bunch of young shop owners who were relatives. They have about 17 shops in the souq, all selling carpets, scarves and jewelleries. It was really fun talking to them, hear them “bitch” and bicker with one another. One of them even had a Singaporean boyfriend previously.
I was talking to the gay shopowner when his “gaydar” sensed an attractive foreigner walking passed the shop, eating his kebab and became completely distracted. He stood up from his seat, and said, “In my next life, I wished I’m the sandwich.”
I laughed, and his brother said, “You see, my brother is gay. Very obvious. And I’m straight.”

“Not for long, retorted the brother, as he puffed the smoke from his shisha casually.

One of them, the youngest 19-year-old, was totally infatuated with Wei Chean, “She’s so beautiful, so fucking beautiful.” “She’s too old for you, I told him jokingly.” “Missus, age does not matter, size does. If I love somebody, I will plan for our future.”

Arlina and Her Mistaken Identity
Arlina could possibly be a closet lesbian. At least the Syrian men in both Aleppo and Damascus thought so.
"You are gay. I can see it through your eyes,” said one of the cousins at the shop further down the stretch of shophouses. Arlina tried very hard to change this mistaken identity but without much success, even when she said, “I like boys! I like boys very much.” He refused to believe her and insisted that Arlina should meet his girlfriend who is bisexual. “I show you photographs of her.” Within seconds, he came back with photographs of his girlfriend and asked Arlina if she fancied her. “But I like boys, girls no feeling,” she stressed.
He remained convinced that Arlina was gay.

Just then, another of the cousin came, and he said, “My sister was normal before she met this girl. Once you meet her and you let her touch you, you will change.” The situation was so absurd I couldn’t stop laughing.
“Okay, you give her 15 minutes. Just meet her for a while, I will call her on the phone now, you talk to her, and chucked the phone to Arlina. Arlina sulked and refused.

“Today after work, we go for a party. I will get her to come, and with us, we go for a party, okie?” I knew where and what he was talking about. These private parties can turn out to be rendezvous parties for the young Syrians and sex would probably be somewhere in the agenda. I quickly said something casually, “Oh, we have to go to the mosque later today.”

“I asked you to join us for a party and you said you want to go mosque,” He signed and said. My answer to his question was way out-of-context, but we quickly made our exit before things became dodgy.

Four days later, the 26-year-old lawyer we met in Damascus during the day trip excursion at the waterfall said the exact same things about Arlina interestingly. “Yes, I think you’re gay. Because I can see it in your eyes.” Arlina was hopping mad and insisted to know why. “Maybe not now, but definitely five years from now, he said, with much conviction”. That left Arlina speechless, and me, the bystander, bemused. But one thing for sure, I know my old pal long enough to know that she is perfectly straight, and perhaps for “cheeko” than any of the “cheekopehs” we have met along the way.

My First Hammam Experience in Turkey

Getting Scrubbed by an old Turkish Man and Experiencing the Hammam in True Turkish style

Getting myself, scrubbed and foamed and massaged by an old Turkish man in the hammam, with my guide next to me, was a somewhat embarrassing yet unforgettable experience.

Arlina and Weichean had their first taste of Turkish bath in Istanbul. I gave it a miss because of the untimely “auntie’s visit”. My final chance came when we were in Cappadocia. On the last day in Cappadonia, I decided to sign up for the Turkish bath on my own since the cave hotel had no heaters and I had yet to try the traditional Turkish bath.

After dinner, I roamed the streets in search of my Turkish bath. Most of the agencies I approached were unable to arrange the bath session as I was the only participant. I walked up and down the streets and finally managed to book my Turkish bath at Cappadocia Tours, with the help of the owner, Ertan, who was willing to bring me to an authentic Turkish bathhouse, which is about 12km away from Cappadocia, Finally, I thought and I agreed instantly.

“The massage will be done by women right?,” I asked, almost innocently. “No, by men,” he said. “Really? I was shocked, having second thoughts of going to the bathhouse.

“Come on, you are in Turkey. Think about it, the family has been doing the hammam business for many generations. Many Turkish people, women, children and men go there. Don’t worry,” Er-tan reassured me.

“What the heck, do what the Romans do, and now that I’m in Turkey, follow what the Turkish people do”, I thought to myself. “Okay”, I said, “I’ll trust you,” I confided in Ertan and he smiled and nodded, “Thank you, don’t worry, no problem.” I paid the 35 Liras, about S$50 and arranged for him to meet me at 8.15pm at the Nomads Cave Hotel.

I took a slow walk back to the Cappadocia Cave Hotel and went back to the room to get my toiletries. “Hahahaa…somebody is going to pay money to get molested again,” jested Arlina when I told her about the male masseur. “If I don’t come back in one hour, please remember that I’ve arranged for the hammam bath at the Cappadocia Tours,” these were my last words to the gals.

Ertan was 26 years old and he shared his plans to go on a six-month backpacking trip in Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore end this year. I told him about my travel experiences in these countries and told him the taboos in some of these countries, what to look out for, the nice sights to see and all I knew about these places.

We soon reached the hammam. When we first entered the hammam, I was a little hesitant. There were two men, one in his late thirties and another in his sixties and a teenage boy. I was given a checked-cloth to change in, and was directed to one of the changing rooms. Once I came out of the room, the old man locked the changing room, and tied the key to my right wrist.

He brought me to another room, the main hammam room, where there was a small wooden sauna room, a big marble slab/table in the centre, and two rows of taps at the side. There were three men in the room, they took a quick glance at me and continued with their bath activities. I sat next to the taps and doused myself with hot and cold water. Ertan followed shortly. “You can also go into the sauna, just knock on the window if it’s too hot for you,” he said. There were two other teenage boys in the sauna room when I entered. The room was hot but bearable. I stayed there for about 10 minutes before I coming out to pour hot and cold water onto myself. The marble slab in the centre of the room looked very tempting, should I try and experience and lie down there with the rest of the people, or should I just skip it? I had a mental debate and decided that I should lie there just to feel how it was like. The marble floor was surprisingly warm and comfortable. I lied there for a while, counting the number of holes on the top, and breathing in the hot air in the hammam.

Soon, the thirty-something year old hammam staff beckoned me to go to the next room. It was a relatively small room, with the marble slabs on each side of the wall. One Turkish man was having himself foamed and massaged by the old Turkish man. Ertan was very nice, he stood outside the room, and reassured me that he would be waiting for me outside. Within a minute, he got sick of waiting outside, and sat next to me, watching as the man scrubbed the grim and dirt from my body. “I should have a camera here to take photographs”, he joked. “No, I will not allow it, no way,” I retorted, with some embarrassment. After about 10 minutes of scrubbing, which was not as hard as I thought it would be, I was asked to go to the next table, where the old Turkish man was waiting.

I was asked to lie facing downwards as he lathered soup onto my body. It was a hard-to-describe feeling having an old man, a complete stranger, massaging soap onto your body. I kept my eyes open at first and I was confronted with the big bulging stomach of the old Turkish man and his bushy underarms. It was strange to see face-to-face with the Turkish man, looking down at me, with his armpit hair revealed. I tried closing my eyes, but felt a sense of insecurity, thus I decided to keep my eyes open. When he was done with my back, I was asked to turn to the front. I must say that they are very professional. He only “covered” the areas that were exposed and did not attempt to touch the “out-of-bounds” areas at all, and I was thankful for that. So, I decided to close my eyes. The session was soon over and I was asked to go back to the hammam room to take a shower. I went back to the hammam room but couldn’t find the shower room. I decided to just alternate the hot and cold water from the running taps as my shower.

It was a refreshing and a different experience indeed, but I wished they had added more strength and force when they scrubbed and massaged, like the way they treated the Turkish people. Personally, I thought 35 Liras which is approximately about 50 SD dollars, is a pricey price to pay though. I went back to my guest-house, feeling cleansed and ready for a good night’s sleep. Thankfully, I did not have to “combat” the icy water in the Nomads guesthouse that night.

Cappadocia, Turkey

- Of Huge Penises, Underground City, Horse-Riding in the Valleys and My First Hammam Experience

The Nomad Cave Hotel is housed in one of the traditional “pigeon-holes”, stone formations formed by the volcanic ashes. The room is literally "carved" from these formations. It was low season and Cappadocia was relatively tranquil and quiet. The room was comfortable, but the only problem was that there was no heater in the room and no hot water in the shower.

Cappadocia was reputedly one of the best places in the world to take the hot-air balloon, but a 45-minute ride costs 125 Euro pounds, which is equivalent to 400 Singapore dollars. We decided to skip the experience and opt for horse-riding in the valleys instead.

Horse-riding through the valleys

The one-hour horse-riding session through the Rose Valley and some other valleys cost about 20 Turkish dollars and was an interesting experience. My first horse-riding experience was in Australia about seven years ago but this was a different experience. In the short one-hour ride, we’ve learnt many things about these horses.

My horse, Anika was a very lazy one, who was always in search of green pasture to graze. She didn’t mind being the last in the group, as long as she got her greens. Flowers were equally acceptable to her. Pulling the leather straps to nudge her had absolutely no impact when she was enjoying her grass as she would not budge an inch, not even a milli-inch. I've tried "counselling" Anika in English, in Singlish and "sayang" her mane, and thankfully it worked a little.

Wei Chean’s horse was very obedient to the master of the stallion and would follow him wherever he went. But the Salem-horse lookalike would go berserk at times and strike a 45-degree up-slope gallop pose when he felt like it. That was scary, even just looking at the horse perform his stunts. Thankfully, Weichean managed to maintain her balance on the horse.

Arlina’s “bat-man” horse was quite hard to manage at first, but Arlina soon found a special way to “communicate” with “bat-man” with her (ah-ah) meaning yes, and (osh-osh), meaning no. She managed to cruise through the valley with ease, through her constant ah-ahs and osh-oshs and her usual song-rattling and that amused our guide so much that when we returned to return the horses, he praised Arlina for “singing very good.”

North Tour
Goreme Open-Air Museum, Causin Old Village, Fairy Chimneys, Cappadocia Wine Factory, Penispolis Valley

“I’m going to bring you girls to see the largest penises in the world”, said Max, our guide. Max has been a guide for many years. It was our first day tour in Cappadocia and we were brought the UNESCO-known sight, Goreme, We also tasted some of the wines that were made in Cappadocia in the wine factory as part of the tour, visited the Open-Air Museum and the Fairy Chimneys and other sights.

Our guide, Max, decided to give us a steal for our money and brought us to Penispolis, where the sandstone formations looked very much like huge penises. It was a slow stroll but theview from Penispolis was quite awesome. One of the young cheeky Aussie even “posed” with his new-found “confidence-stick” as his girlfriend shook her head and smiled.

Max said, “I probably enjoy the tour more than you do,” as he showed us all the interesting stone formations in Cappadonia and shared stories about a beautiful Turkish girl who ran away on her first day of her marriage and became a hermit. Nobody knew why she ran away and she remained very much a mystery to many Turkish people.

South-Tour
Rose Valley Hiking, Underground City, Pigeon Valleys
The one and a half hour trek at the Rose Valley was a very pleasant one. We had lunch at the same venue, near the Goreme, a wonderful spread of salad, tomato soup with macaroni and pottery beef stew. The Underground City was my personal favourite. It was amazing to see how advanced the people were in the old days, to see how the secret dungeons were all internally linked to other tunnels within the city. There were special partitions for stables, for cooking, for storage of water, a well and a very good air ventilation system. Within the Underground City, there was even a church for the people to do their prayers. So how did the people “do their business”, I asked out of pure curiousity. Our guide said that there were no toilets within the Underground City and people who dispose their “waste materials” outside of the city. It would take loads and loads of civic consciousness and heavy fines to keep the Underground City clean and waste-free, if it was used in today’s society, I thought to myself.

Doors were made of concrete stone carved into circular shapes, like the “rolling” doors. Each door weighed a hefty 400 kilograms and when the enemies neared, the residents of the Underground City would just shut the stone doors to block the invasion of the intruders. According to Max, there were as many as 7000 people living in the Underground City at one period.

The engineering that went behind the creation of the Underground City was simply amazing, considering that the Underground City was constructed more than 4000 years ago,

These tunnels were only discovered by farmers in 1995 and excavated by archaeologists shortly after. It must have been a really exciting excavation for the archaeologists to discover this complete underground city. It was also during these two tours, South and North tour that we befriended 32-year-old Seiko, from Kyoto who was travelling in Turkey on her own. She was a small, petite lady, but a feisty and adventurous one. Though small in build, she has been to the United States and even India on her own last year.

Olympus, Turkey

-Of Treehouses, the Meditteranean Sea and Unexplored Ruins

Olympus is a great place for outdoor activities such as kayaking, canoeing and rock-climbing. Too bad we were there during the low season.

The two nights we spent in the Kadir’s Tree Houses were super comfy. The mattresses were very good and the comforter ultra plush. We had the choice to sleep in a shared dormitory treehouse, or a bungalow next to the treehouse with attached bathroom. Having travelled for many hours, we opted for comfort over the authentic treehouse.

We decided to just chill out and relax in Olympus since the Mediterranean sea and explore the ruins were just a few kilometres down the road.

The next morning, we strolled to the Mediterranean Sea and the sea view was awesome. Wei Chean and I climbed to the top of a cliff and were rewarded with a breathtaking view of the Mediteranean sea. We left Arlina mid-way as her height-phobia prevented her from climbing further.

Many tourists were happily relaxing and sun-tanning themselves along the coast. Wei Chean and I were busy admiring the interestingly-shaped pebbles. I chose some really pretty stones, as a little gift for my supervisor, Lena who had graciously approved my one-month leave and covered my duties during my absence.

The Meditterranean sea was breathtakingly stunning, we picked stones, played in the clear blue water and explored the nearby ruins which reveal the civilizations way before our times.

There, we met a shopowner who had retired from Tirestone after working there for 25 years and decided opened a little shop selling his specially made jewelleries and his wife's clay items. The shop was a simple shack, with bamboo curtains, basic but nice. He could speak simple English. One of the necklaces caught my eye, it was a slice of dried lemon, with some luminous colouring. I hesitated, thinking I could buy it the next day if I really wanted it. Too bad, I've "missed the boat" though. I went to his shop which was just around the corner three times the next day to be greeted by closed curtains.

We also met a Malaysian gal and her Australian husband who had just been to Cappadocia. They had taken the hot-air balloon in Cappadocia and said that though it was expensive, it was worth the money. I was more interested in parasailing or paragliding but it was equally expensive. We decided that we would find other more economical ways of entertaining ourselves.

Lazing around at Kadir’s Tree Houses was equally enjoyable. Hearing the knocking and drilling sounds, the happy whistling of the workers, while sipping tea amidst the Persian cushions and carpets in the wooden shed is blissful.

Turkey, Istanbul- Kite-flying with Chisen and Dad

Kite-Flying at Istabul- The bond between a doting father and his sweet daughter
Nobody would have planned this into the itinerary, but I had my first experience of flying a kite in Istanbul by chance. We got tired of the touristy Grand Bazaar and decided to take a slow stroll along the waterfront in the morning.

It was very tranquil and nice just enjoying the sea breeze and taking a relaxed walk away from the tourists. I spotted two persons sitting amongst the rocks. The father beckoned me to go over and join him and his daughter who were flying a kite. Without hesitation, I hopped across the rocky stones to where they were seated, and took over the string and the kite. Watching the little green kite soar in the air, I tried to make small talk to the father and daughter duo who couldn’t speak English.

Wei Chean and Arlina soon joined me in the “charade” game again. We managed to get their names, Osman (the father) and Lisen (the daughter). Lisen was a friendly yet shy little girl. When I tried to speak to her in English, she smiled and said in an almost adult manner, “Turkish yes, English no.” And when she spoke to me in Turkish, I said, “English, yes, Turkish no.” Though language was a barrier, her shyness soon eased off. As we were walking along the waterfront, little Lisen was so sweet, she plucked a little flower and placed it on my ear.

I was trying to tell him that eating in Istanbul was expensive through simple English and hand gestures. He might have understood, and walked us to the well-known fish market where there are numerous fish restaurants. We were quite broke and did not want to go to any expensive restaurants for lunch. In the end, we suggested having lunch at a roadside kebab stall which costed less than 5 dollars per person. The lunch was not a luxurious one, but a very heartwarming one. Through the little gestures of the father and little Lisen, we could feel the strong bond and love between them.

After lunch, we continued to walk further to one of the must-see attraction in Istanbul and Lisen continued her kite-flying attempts with her dad at the big square just outside the university building. Osman is a single parent. Two of Osman’s friends came to meet us and drove us to another popular sight to see famous tombs. They even offered to send us back but we turned down their kind offer and told them that could make our way to the guest-house ourselves. We bade farewell and promised that we would email the photographs to them.

Though we did not see any important sights or attraction, the few hours with Lisen and her father was very well-spent and memorable. From complete strangers to acquaintances, we were glad that we made friends with little Chisen and her dad, and of course, the little green kite.

Turkey (Istanbul, Olympus, Cappadonia)

Of tulips, sandstones sights, tulip cups, apple tea and one cool chick!

Coming from Iran into Turkey, we suffered from a slight cultural shock on the first
day when we arrived at the airport, like country bumpkins on a virgin trip to the modern city. Everything seemed so advanced and modern in Istanbul compared to the inward-looking Iran.

Women without their headscarves, big signboards shouting international brands and rows and rows of beautiful tulips lined the streets in Istanbul. These were some of the common sights in Istanbul, but sights that you can never see in Iran.

In Iran, most women are either completely clothed in the chadors (a black cloth that covers them from head to toes), or at least their heads would be covered with black scarves. . At the airport toilet, we saw some sexy Iranian women letting their hair down, literally, and boy, they look gorgeous. Having “tudungfied” ourselves for the last two weeks in Iran, it was exhilarating to know that we did not have to “take cover” behind the scarves in modern Turkey.


One Cool Chick- Lilian Moro, 38 years old biker on a 3-year bike expedition around the world

We met the coolest babe, a 38-year-old biker from Switzerland at the Orient Hostel. She is a window display decorator and had quit her job for this trip. She has been travelling to many parts of the world, including China, India, Middle East and many many little-known places on her bike over the years.

She was on her three-year bike expedition around the world, starting from Turkey. She had saved for about 5 years for this trip, working part-time and saving all the money and was waiting for her 62-year-old dad, who was on his way from Switzerland to be the pillion rider on her bike for a month. It was amazing to hear about all the arrangements and planning she had to do, getting horse carriages in Pakistan to carry her bike from the border to another part, having to dismantle her bike into different parts to clear the custom, and assembling them back.

Lilian had heaps of interesting stories to tell and is a really nice and down-to-earth gal. Her infectious laughter, which often ends with a snort is very endearing. We liked her the moment we met and chatted with her for a while and I think she enjoyed our company too. We chatted for hours about the toilets in China, the men in Iran, the headless chicken she axed which still managed to run quite a far distance and many others.

She also related one incident when she caught her mom dancing in a frenzy manner in the middle of a field in India, to protect herself from the vultures which were looming above her head to show that she was still alive. She also worked as a diver’s guide and told us about how one of the people she brought into the ocean missed the wonderful view of the shark which was within was 2-metres from him when he was distracted by Lilian’s action of taking out her survival. knife.

We've met many interesting characters in Turkey.

Mr "Of Course"
Mr "Of Course", a Kurdistan restaurant owner who could speak Mandarin as he used to have a Taiwanese wife. He's 38 years old and has a family business. Besides the restaurant, the family also have a hotel that is within walking distance. Mr "Of Course" caught my attention as he spoke fluent Mandarin. I was roaming along the streets while waiting for Arlina and Weichean who had gone for their "virgin" Turkish bath and massage.

Mr "Of Course" has very outstanding features and his restaurant had a good spread of Turkish dishes which was very tantalizing. After Weichean and Arlina's massage, we went to his resturant for dinner.

Mr "Of Course" came over to our table to chat with us and we invited him to join us. He had worked in Singapore for many years as a chef in Hilton Hotel. Mr "Of Course" had very strong opinions of everything, some not so politically correct, but nonetheless, entertaining. We were like little girls asking for his comments about people for entertainment sake.

"Turkish women- very lazy.
How about Malay people?, we quipped.
"Malay people, always Al sal malai come, but they don't buy or eat. They always cook and eat at home."
"Iran people, they know nothing about Muslim faith. Believe me.no good."
"How about Kurdistan people?" We told him about the cute Kurdistan baby and the handsome children we met in Tehran. Kurdistan people very good-looking.
"Of course, he said." "Our bodies are perfect," he added, as a matter-of-factly.
Mr Of Course told us stories about his little rendezvous fling at the airport and the gay attempts he encountered. "Me talk, "don't disturb, go away. I looking girl".
Fidelity somehow seems to be non-existent in Middle East. Often, we hear stories from the Iranian men about their "girlfriends", that it's good to have more girlfriends.

"Gonzales" Father
Gonzales is the name of the popular Garfield in Istabul. I can't recall the name of the owner now, but he owned a little shop that sells trinkets and clothing in Istabul. He was very friendly and spoke good English, and best of all, not "cheekopeh". We chatted for a while and found him to be very comical and animated.

Though I'm a cat-phobic, I can't help but feel bemused by his love for his pet through the numerous stories he shared about his cat. Asked how he got Gonzales, he grinned cheekily and said that he had actually "stolen" Gonzales from his neighbour as he found Gonzales very cute. His neighbour had even asked him whether he had seen the lost kitten but he feigned ignorance. His neighbour soon found out and took Baby Gonzales back, but Gonzales would always come running back to his shop. Every time his neighhour brought him back to his shop, Gonzales would be back in the "cat thief"'s shop in no time.

"Gonzales is now very old and lazy, nobody wants him," he told us about his "son" affectionately> He told us how he accidentally "burnt" Gonzales when he tried to give him a shower. Cats normally howl when they are forced to shower,as they don't like water. He thought that the howl that Gonzales made was "normal", only to realise that Gonzales was howling because of temperature of the water. There were many stories about his beloved cat that he shared with us, from how he had to rush him to the doctor for his injured paw, how Gonzales had many girlfriends in the neighbourhood,to the "cat party" with many jumping cats in his shop on an evening that he chanced upon, and Gonzales' first girlfren which died when she was pregnant amongst others.

Gonzales' dad is currently studying in University and laughed when he told us that he had spent almost 8 years in university as he kept failing. He wanted to come to Singapore to study,but lamented that Singapore only wants the very intelligent students and he only had Ds and Cs to flaunt. His "niceness" and warmth was very easily felt and we were completely at ease with him. He also had some vintage dresses and tops, some of which were altered by his sister. Wei Chean ended up buying one of the ethnic tops from his shop at about S$50.


Ocean Seven Restaurant
We had intitally thought that Ocean Seven was a pun on Ocean Eleven, but it turned out otherwise. Ocean Seven, interestingly, is owned by seven brothers, whom all sported long hair. According to the youngest of the seven, his mom loved them having long hair as she had no daughters and made all the boys grow long hair so that she can comb and tie their hair for them. Eating in Istanbul was heavenly compared to Iran. Their dishes at Ocean Seven were very delicious and we had a very enjoyable meal there.