13.10.2000

Dear friend,

Thank you for sending me an e-card. I haven't seen it yet but I guess it must be good.

I spent the whole of my birthday on a bus, travelling alone for seven hours from a place called Selcuk to a place called Bursa. I guess that was a special way to celebrate one's birthday.

Most Turkish men stare at me when I walk on streets. I am yet to work out the reason. There are three possibilities - lone woman, Asian woman, woman with loose long hair. Or lone Asian woman with loose long hair. Some of them just stare, some giggle and say 'Japanese' behind me. Some teenagers (boys and girls), when they see me, whisper among themselves 'Japanese!!!' This is ridiculous.

Many men have tried to talk to me. Most I think wanted to sell me something or practise their English. They would say, 'Hello (or Konnichiwa). Where are you from? Do you speak English? May I ask you a question?' And when ignored they would yell, 'I said hello!', making me feel very uneasy. Sometimes they would say 'You are very beautiful'. And once I heard, 'Vous etes tres belle', which really made me laugh (I had known the words but had never heard them spoken. I thought nobody could say those words.) Once, at 5am on an overnight bus journey when I was barely awake with a greasy face and smelly mouth, a young man said the above things to me and ask my permission to sit beside me. I really wanted to slap him on the face and kick him out of the window.

But despite the above, Turkish people are very friendly and quite helpful (may be a little too much for me). And the country is a much more westernised, modern and convenient place than I imagined. In Istanbul, for example, it's just like in Hong Kong. But of course Istanbul has a history of thousands of years.

I will fly to Paris tomorrow (14.10.2000) and be back to Hong Kong on 17.10.2000 pm. See you later.

7.10.2000

Dear friends,

Hello. I've just spent an almost completely meaningless day in Konya, Central Anatonlia. Konya is supposed to be one of the important places for the Muslims but I'm getting tired of the muslim monuments. And the men here are like pests. I was forced to spend USD9 on a taxi ride (instead of USD0.3 for a mini-bus) so as to get rid of one who followed me. Here it is hot, dry and dusty and there is no shopping opportunities. The day at last brightened up, though. A girl asked how old I was (they do this here) and she guessed 25! Ha Ha Ha!!! LOL!

I must now wait for my bus to Pamukkale which will depart at 24:00. And it is now only 18:35.

I've just called a hotel in Pamukkale. When I asked if there would be a room for me, the answer was an immediate "of course". I wonder how that hotel looks like.

5.10.2000

Dear friends,

I'm now in a town called Urgup in the central part of Turkey (Cappadocia). This is a quiet, sleepy and dusty little town. Not much to see. I arrived here today but am too tired to go anywhere else. I plan to take a local tour tomorrow but am not really interested. Seems that I have already seen plenty on the ride from the airport to this town. The hotel I'm staying in is a very beautiful cave hotel (very very beautiful and a lot of running hot water). And I can do my laundry using the washing machine here. Don't even want to leave for the tour.

PS - Unfortunately the hotel is some distance from the centre. And the sun is fierce.

PPS - Dared not go out after dark. No dinner. Very miserable. And there's no TV. So I've started to read Edith Wharton's "The House of Mirth". Very enjoyable.