It's been a busy week or so on the road since we left Istanbul. All of the sudden now, we're in northern Europe (Riga), checking out the city during our 14 hour layover. It's a nice change of pace before we dive into Central Asia.
It was a bit sad to leave Istanbul, but I was excited to experience the east of Turkey again. We took an overnight bus to Yozgat, a town in central Anatolia that we chose because none of us had heard of it before. From there, we hitched eastward, our goal being the town of Doğubeyazıt, which sits beneath Mt. Ararat at the very eastern end of Turkey. Before we made it there, however, we were invited by some Kurdish folks to the hot springs in Diyadin, a town about 40 minutes west of Doğubeyazıt. I had been there two years earlier, for a picnic with some old Kurdish men we met in Doğubeyazıt. But I had only seen it at night in the dark, so I when I saw the whole thing in the late afternoon light it was quite beautiful. On the way home from the hot springs, our gracious host/driver Berat discovered that his motorcycle had been stolen. Since my Turkish is pretty bad, it took us awhile to understand what the situation was, but we drove all around town, picking up people and dropping them off, stopping at the police station, and then at a restaurant where Berat treated us to a delicious meal that consisted of meat in a tomato sauce dipped in bread. We were out of cash, and our cards didn't work in the local ATMs. So they put us up for free as guests in a hotel, and bought us a ticket on the minibus to Doğubeyazıt the next morning.
After Doğubeyazıt we continued north. We were traveling the same roads I had traveled two years earlier during my trip to eastern Turkey. In the next town, Iğdır, we got stuck in a downpour that lasted more than an hour until Yılmaz, a retired boxer, gave us a ride north to his hometown of Tuzluca, where he bought us Turkish pide (pizza) and we ate together in darkness because the power had gone out. Then we went back out into the rain, trying to hitch a ride out of town, and eventually gave up and accepted a generous Kurdish mother's invitation to join her and her family for tea. We climbed the stairs to their apartment and drank endless tea, ate bread and smiled and laughed with the extended family of six or so kids and two mothers, aunt and uncle... Some were Kurdish and some were Turkish, and though they each were proud of their heritage, they bonded together in love and friendship. It is difficult to describe how beautiful that experience was, but when I get to another computer I'll upload some photos that might give you an idea.
The next morning we started hitching early and made it to Georgia by mid-afternoon. We stopped in the first town across the Turkish border, Akhaltsikhe, and ended up staying there two days, absorbing the new culture. Things were cheap there; the two of us ate a huge, delicious meal for 12 lari total...something like $8. The second day in Georgia we went to Vardzia, an impressive cave monastery, where we met a group of high school kids on an end of the year field trip. They took a liking to us and invited us to ride their tour bus with them back to Akhatsikhe. On the way one of the students sang Georgian folk songs, accompanying himself on guitar. A crowd of students formed a circle around him in the back of the bus, and Ryan played darbuka along with him. His voice was beautiful and the songs very moving; the experience reminded me of my own past high school trips, but at the same time I savored it as an interesting viewpoint into Georgian culture.
We spent the last two days in Tbilisi, staying with our host Koka, an air traffic controller at Tbilisi airport. One day we made a trip to Kazbegi, where we hiked to a monastery perched atop a mountain. At the top, you are standing at the same level as the clouds, and the views are incredible. It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever experienced. Yesterday, I had the wonderful opportunity to play two of the Stockhausen Klavierstucke for a Georgian pianist named Nino Zhvania, who a Georgian friend of mine from MSU had connected me with. The insight she gave me opened up so many possibilities that I will be able to apply to all areas of music. Afterwards, she gave Ryan and I a walking tour of the city, and we climbed to a castle of the top of a hill, with a view overlooking Tbilisi. I hope to come back to Georgia some day soon...5 days was not enough to experience the great variety of natural beauty that the country offers and the warm hospitality of the Georgian people.
So tomorrow...Dushanbe! Performances at the orphanage and the US Embassy Public Affairs officer's house on the 17th, Bactria Cultural Center on the 18th, and the Shahidi Museum on the 19th. I can't wait to meet the Tajik musicians and to play again with Mette and Ryan. I will post some pictures from the past week in a few days.
And one last reminder...kickstarter ends tomorrow! 42 hours and $262 left to go!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/300879978/moyindau-tours-central-asia?ref=live
It was a bit sad to leave Istanbul, but I was excited to experience the east of Turkey again. We took an overnight bus to Yozgat, a town in central Anatolia that we chose because none of us had heard of it before. From there, we hitched eastward, our goal being the town of Doğubeyazıt, which sits beneath Mt. Ararat at the very eastern end of Turkey. Before we made it there, however, we were invited by some Kurdish folks to the hot springs in Diyadin, a town about 40 minutes west of Doğubeyazıt. I had been there two years earlier, for a picnic with some old Kurdish men we met in Doğubeyazıt. But I had only seen it at night in the dark, so I when I saw the whole thing in the late afternoon light it was quite beautiful. On the way home from the hot springs, our gracious host/driver Berat discovered that his motorcycle had been stolen. Since my Turkish is pretty bad, it took us awhile to understand what the situation was, but we drove all around town, picking up people and dropping them off, stopping at the police station, and then at a restaurant where Berat treated us to a delicious meal that consisted of meat in a tomato sauce dipped in bread. We were out of cash, and our cards didn't work in the local ATMs. So they put us up for free as guests in a hotel, and bought us a ticket on the minibus to Doğubeyazıt the next morning.
After Doğubeyazıt we continued north. We were traveling the same roads I had traveled two years earlier during my trip to eastern Turkey. In the next town, Iğdır, we got stuck in a downpour that lasted more than an hour until Yılmaz, a retired boxer, gave us a ride north to his hometown of Tuzluca, where he bought us Turkish pide (pizza) and we ate together in darkness because the power had gone out. Then we went back out into the rain, trying to hitch a ride out of town, and eventually gave up and accepted a generous Kurdish mother's invitation to join her and her family for tea. We climbed the stairs to their apartment and drank endless tea, ate bread and smiled and laughed with the extended family of six or so kids and two mothers, aunt and uncle... Some were Kurdish and some were Turkish, and though they each were proud of their heritage, they bonded together in love and friendship. It is difficult to describe how beautiful that experience was, but when I get to another computer I'll upload some photos that might give you an idea.
The next morning we started hitching early and made it to Georgia by mid-afternoon. We stopped in the first town across the Turkish border, Akhaltsikhe, and ended up staying there two days, absorbing the new culture. Things were cheap there; the two of us ate a huge, delicious meal for 12 lari total...something like $8. The second day in Georgia we went to Vardzia, an impressive cave monastery, where we met a group of high school kids on an end of the year field trip. They took a liking to us and invited us to ride their tour bus with them back to Akhatsikhe. On the way one of the students sang Georgian folk songs, accompanying himself on guitar. A crowd of students formed a circle around him in the back of the bus, and Ryan played darbuka along with him. His voice was beautiful and the songs very moving; the experience reminded me of my own past high school trips, but at the same time I savored it as an interesting viewpoint into Georgian culture.
We spent the last two days in Tbilisi, staying with our host Koka, an air traffic controller at Tbilisi airport. One day we made a trip to Kazbegi, where we hiked to a monastery perched atop a mountain. At the top, you are standing at the same level as the clouds, and the views are incredible. It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever experienced. Yesterday, I had the wonderful opportunity to play two of the Stockhausen Klavierstucke for a Georgian pianist named Nino Zhvania, who a Georgian friend of mine from MSU had connected me with. The insight she gave me opened up so many possibilities that I will be able to apply to all areas of music. Afterwards, she gave Ryan and I a walking tour of the city, and we climbed to a castle of the top of a hill, with a view overlooking Tbilisi. I hope to come back to Georgia some day soon...5 days was not enough to experience the great variety of natural beauty that the country offers and the warm hospitality of the Georgian people.
So tomorrow...Dushanbe! Performances at the orphanage and the US Embassy Public Affairs officer's house on the 17th, Bactria Cultural Center on the 18th, and the Shahidi Museum on the 19th. I can't wait to meet the Tajik musicians and to play again with Mette and Ryan. I will post some pictures from the past week in a few days.
And one last reminder...kickstarter ends tomorrow! 42 hours and $262 left to go!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/300879978/moyindau-tours-central-asia?ref=live