I know that some of you may find this only trivially interesting, if at all, but I believe this subject needs greater attention if we are to achieve a better understanding of the social and political conditions in the countries of the Middle East. If you want more information on internet censorship, where and to what extent it is taking place, and how to bypass it, check out the brilliant work of the Open Net Initiative, a project coordinated by University of Toronto, Harvard, Cambridge and Oxford Universities at www.opennet.net

But, magnanimous platitudes and serious political discussion aside, I will dutifully fill you in on my travels.

At the moment, I am in a city called Hama, in Syria.
Since I last wrote, I have blasted through much of Iran, and Turkey, visiting Esfahan, Shiraz, Tehran, Istanbul, Cappadocia, and in Syria, Allepo and Lattakia. My thoughts linger on Iran and Istanbul as the most memorable.

After I posted last, my German friend Jonas and I took off for Garmeh, a tiny oasis village in the middle of the Iranian desert. Getting there proved to be an experience on its own. Initially we hoped to find a direct bus from Yazd to Khur, the nearest town to Garmeh. Naturally, this bus was not coming any time soon, so we proceeded to get on a bus going in the vaguely right direction, hoping to get off at some place closer to Garmeh and find another bus or hitch. After a few hours, we were let off at a traffic circle in the middle of nowhere, where we suspected we would find a bus to Khur. After some dreadfully long minutes and no bus, we flagged down a cement truck going in the right direction and the driver and his two buddies ecstatically shoved us into the sleeper and off we went! After a few minutes and some struggled attempts at conversation, one of these fine gentlemen produced a gas cooker and some mysterious black substance and proceeded to cook the latter on a metal rod over the cooker. At first I was really not sure what was happening, but the festive laughter and excitement of these truckers which followed the ritual made me quickly clue in. These guys were going to smoke some opium. I had waited for this moment since arriving in Iran (no, not because I was so excited to try it, but more so because I wanted to know if the rumours were true) and finally, in the back of a truck on an Iranian desert road, I was offered opium. My German friend quickly joined in the fun, but I was reluctant, thinking that at first that at least one of us should be lucid enough to figure out how to complete our journey (I had no idea what to expect from an opium high). And so it went, they smoked opium while I nervously watched the driver, who was also smoking opium. After another few hours, we arrived at some other place in the middle of nowhere, and here the truckers let us off. After dining on some canned tuna on stale nan bread which we purchased from a small shop, we managed to catch a bus heading for Khur (Yay!) and by late evening we were in a cab heading from Khur to Garmeh. What we discovered there was absolutely amazing. Picture a vast desert landscape stretching as far as you can see in every direction and in the middle of it all, a beautiful forrest of palm trees. This is Garmeh.

We stayed in a guesthouse build by a Tehrani architect named Masyar, where we were fed wonderful meals and huge quantities of dates. But beyond that, I saw a desert salt lake, spent a few hours in a Sahara-like desert with proper sand dunes, heard the silence of the desert on top of a mountain, and met some amazing people. On the second night, I met some Tehrani musicians that were vacationing there. We got along amazingly well and ended up jamming with traditional Iranian instruments for several hours. This was, of course, nothing short of amazing, an almost trance-like experience. The next night, I got to talking with a young photographer named Pooya who was there to get away from the pollution and crowds of Tehran. Chatting over tea, he showed me the photos from his latest photo exhibition, showcasing the joie de vivre of Cologne’s Germans during Carnival, a several day long hedonistic feast of beer drinking, music, food and just general raucous fun. The interesting thing about this, I thought, was the fact that this guy was doing pretty much exactly what those of us that travel to exotic countries do – take photos of locals in their natural environment, in an attempt to capture their fascinating other-worldliness. Additionally, the most beautiful photograph in the collection was one of a costumed couple kissing, but due to Iran’s stringent “moral” censorship laws, this photo could not be displayed in the gallery.

So that’s it. The trip to Garmeh was amazing, as was most of Iran. And now, after a week in Turkey, I’m in Damascus, Syria, one of the oldest still-inhabited cities in the world. More on Syria and Turkey later, but worth mentioning is the fact that Syria (see above, “rogue state”) is the first place I’ve met Americans. And lots of them.

More later, but for now, Salam Aleikum.

this place has proven to be very atmospheric, relaxed, filled with interesting sights and people and really i could spend a week here just exploring the ancient mud brick city (one of the oldest cities still inhabited today, according to UNESCO). yesterday, checked out one of the holiest zoroastrian sites in the world – “chak chak”, a small abandoned zoroastrian village, and some other interesting and odd places like the ‘pigeon tower’ (apparently pigeon shit, being highly disgusting and high in phosphate, makes for very good fertilizer). Had a guide yesterday, who is incidentally, a zoroastrian. i think if i had any religious inclinations at the moment, i would consider this beautiful religion.

its three principles (which I think are very much in line with iranian mentality) are:
Think good, do good, be good.

In other pretty much inconsequential news, i’m falling in love with photography again. Having taken upwards of 900 photos in the last week alone, some are actually good!

met some cool people at my hostel, strangely enough, many of them german. i’m off to a tiny oasis village in the desert today with one of these germans. Apparently the camel population there is higher than that of people… and since ive already eaten camel (nothing special, tastes like beef) I think it’s time to ride one.

that’s it for now. On a random note, for those of you that are at all interested in middle east history and politics, i highly recommend reading “The great war for civillization” by Robert Fisk. Excellent (1000 page) overview of the region over the past 100 years.

khodahafez.

If you are reading this, you must have received and followed up on my little alert email. I’m happy you did!

Now then, let me fill you in on the insane travels I’ve embarked upon. Or at least I like to think they are insane, aka pretty cool.

At the moment, I am sitting in a modest net cafe in a desert town called Yazd, in central Iran. I’ve just arrived here not two hours ago, a la surprisingly comfortable ( and Air-conditioned! ) bus from Esfahan, another gorgeous Iranian city.

Why am I in Iran? Well those of you that I have not stayed in regular touch with might find this to be a reasonable question.

The answer is: because I was curious. And also because I refuse to believe that this country is home to a plethora of terrorists, extremists, or any other such devious characters we are led to believe. In truth, I wanted to visit this country partly because I have never been here, partly because I have always seen it as a bit of a mystery, and partly to see the remnants of some of the oldest civilizations on this planet.

Having been here for just under a week, I can now say that this is one of the most amazing countries I have ever seen. The people are absolutely the kindest, and having met them, I am in utter disbelief that we in the west are fed such false superlatives that lead us to think that this country is full of savages. This is absolutely wrong.

Some funny/interesting random things that people have said to me here:

Standing inbetween cars on the train to Esfahan, conversing with a young Iranian student, I notice a giant block of ice laying on the floor. Me: “Can you tell me why there is a giant ice block there?” The guy: “You are Westerner with all the knowledge! I thought you would tell me!” If irony could kill…

Random dude biking around Esfahan: “Anything is possible in Iran. Except the impossible.”

What about Islam? Are people super conservative here?

Well, this is of course the Islamic Republic of Iran – naturally almost everyone is actively religious. And while some people are quite conservative, most young people that I have met have mentioned alcohol, sex, and other such n0-no’s completely casually. And while I haven’t consumed any alcohol or had any sex here, it seems to me that the locals are doing what they want to do in the privacy of their own homes.

Now let me tell you, I am feeling a bit weird in my own skin here.  Getting around is a bit of a challenge and my Lonely Planet is an essential. I understand almost nothing around me,  signs, people’s conversations, things people say to me in Persian, etc. But, with some effort, this has been some very rewarding traveling. So far I have seen one of the world’s  most beautiful mosques, the second largest square in the world -  after Tianamen (sp?) Square,  lots of desert, and of course a glimpse of Iranian local life. The weather has been perfect, hitting around 26 degrees during the day, and about 10 degrees at night.

The plan from now on is to hang out here in Yazd for a few days, go on a desert tour, see the old town, etc. Then on to Shiraz, Tehran, and then catch a train to Turkey.

I will do my best to post as regularly as I can while I’m traveling the middle east, and since there isn’t much night life here, should be able to do it.

Khodafez for now.

Let’s sum up the current dossier: I have found a job (and a new home) at a Scottish pub called McJoys, 20 seconds walk from my apartment, and it has to be the coolest place I’ve ever worked. Yes, there are problems but I work with about 30 very cool people, get fed for free (we serve food from the Italian restaurant next door), and of course, drink for free. I also make pretty ridiculous money by Canadian standards. I work at said bar around 60 hours per week so I’ve made many friends there, with staff, guests and the musicians that play there.

I’ve also been playing producer… The aforementioned musicians that played at my pub had a song they wanted recorded and I need practice so I brought my stuff over and we recorded the whole song in one day. Needless to say I’m still working on mixing it but it sounds pretty decent! The singer is a gorgeous Swedish girl who works in one of the restaurants near my pub. More musicmaking with her is definitely in the works – she is great!

Next about my travels. So far I’ve only had a few days off and every time it’s happened, I’ve gone on little trips. The first was to Stockholm, Sweden. Words escape me when I try to describe this city. Stockholm really is the capital of Scandinavia in many ways: beautiful, clean, packed with history and surprisingly diverse architecture, metalheads, and of course, many stunning women. The decision to go was entirely sporadic, I woke up one day and realized that I didn’t have to work for the next three days. Before dressing or having breakfast, I started scanning flights, trains and buses to every place I’ve always wanted to visit that is relatively close to Denmark. Berlin, Prague, Warsaw, Stockholm…First let me say that I could have gone to every one of these places for less than $200 Canadian. In the end, I decided that the smartest thing was to take a night train to Stockholm that night and spend 2 days there. Of course this was not enough time, but I figured I’d at least see a bunch of sights, meet some people, and just relax from work. I arrived in Stockholm the next day. Excited and extremely tired, I stumbled out of the train station in the morning, only to be welcomed by a very strange emptiness embodied in the completely deserted streets and an eerie silence. This was obviously very odd, but I decided to write it off to the fact that it was 6 am and probably people were not such early risers here (although it was a Wednesday). Little did I know that it was Sweden’s National Day (think Canada Day, except more creepy since most people are blond and blue-eyed). This meant that absolutely everything was closed. Even the tourist office. Add to this the fact that I had lost the piece of paper on which I wrote where my hostel was. FUCK! Anyway, I knew that the hostel was a boat and how many boat hostels could there be, I mean, come on. So the logical thing was to walk around the harbor and try to find it. In the end, I spent 4 hours doing this until, miraculously, I stumbled upon some other boat hotel which directed me to my hostel. That was the first adventure in Stockholm. Needless to say, strange things happened to me along the way but I’m already being longwinded enough so I’ll spare you the details. In Stockholm, I ran around during the day checking out the sights, including a very cool museum the main artifact of which was a 17th century warship that had sunk in the harbor shortly after casting off, was forgotten for 250 years, and then found again and salvaged in 1962 in incredible condition, along with the remains of the crew and many other fascinating pieces of history. Anyway, blah blah, lots of great sights and museums, go check it out for yourself one day! The second day in the evening I was waiting for my night train back home. I had about 4 hours to kill and decided to spend it on the deck of my boat hostel. Sitting in my deckchair with my book, I was approached by two rather attractive girls who had also come out on deck to enjoy the evening sun. We started chatting and after a few minutes, they invited me to come to some sort of private party. Needless to say, I accepted the offer and we were off, me with my ripped jeans and t-shirt and backpack and they with their trendy little outfits. We took a cab there and there turned out to be an art gallery opening. The girls turned out to be designers. The other guests all artists, designers, musicians, etc. Amazing how I seem to run into the same kinds of people everywhere I go. The girls also turned out to be living in Copenhagen and one of them, a DJ who spins regularly here, promised to guestlist me to any of her gigs. So the trip to Stockholm was fantastic, and photos shall be posted.

Since then, I also took another trip this past weekend to an absolutely insane music-film-theater-counterculture festival in the middle of nowhere, Germany. Since I’m still sort of collecting my thoughts on that one, I’ll leave it for another post. But the photos will also be posted.

In other good news, I just got my own apartment in central Copenhagen. If you are thinking of visiting, now till August is the time to do it. You are most welcome!

Things are crazy. Life is amazing. I finally got my Danish work visa yesterday. Plans are changing. That is all for now.

I suppose you can call me a Eurocentrist or a Europhile or just aware of the reality that this beautiful array of countries is amazing and I wish I lived here. Currently, I am in Copenhagen, Denmark, one of the only places on Earth in which fairy tales, food, and brilliant design come together to offer a fascinating and cozy city in the south of Scandinavia. This is the base of my other travels, which will commence as soon as I have made some cash working some random job at amazingly high pay To update you quickly on what this place is all about: Copenhagen is a small city by our North American standards – 1.5 million people reside here. The city is mostly low-rise, with many canals and other waterways surrounding and intersecting it. Sometimes this produces a lovely stench you’ll find only here and places like Venice and Amsterdam. Copenhagen’s charm lies in its beautiful historical architecture – from as early as 1100 to the middle ages, to gothic, to classicist, to modern, and everything in between. Filled with castles, churches, and cobblestone streets, this city also boasts some of the best modern design of everything from streetlights to public transport. Copenhagen was once home to such prominent figures as Hans Christian Andersen, Søren Kierkegaard, and currently Prince Frederick and his lovely Australian bride…

Denmark’s welfare state is beautifully operated, providing some of the world’s highest standards in healthcare, public transport, public education, and so on, which is all run on a modest 68% income tax and 25% Value Added Tax on all products and services. WHAT THE HELL ARE WE COMPLAINING ABOUT WITH 14% SALES TAX???
Luckily, I can enjoy most of these things without paying a penny in taxes, thanks to my clever (and bastardly) skills of tax evasion… By which I mean, I don’t yet have a job.

However, getting onto that topic, Just today I found a job! Well, I shouldn’t speak too soon since all I actually got was a “trial shift” next week at a Scottish Pub… But, I’m hoping it will work out. I thought it was amazing just how easy-going people are here, take my job search for example: I walk into this pub and luckily, the manager is there. I tell her I am ready to work like the slaveboy that I am, any time of day or night. She doesn’t ask me almost any questions and proceeds to tell me to come in next thursday… Fantastic! Now I won’t have to join the Asian street creeps in picking up bottles and cans to deposit to the grocery store!

A few more points about my experience so far:

I blend in like nobody’s business and people are very surprised to find out I am not Danish. Thank you Aryan looks!
Beer is very cheap here.
The Danes know how to dress, how to eat, how to drink and how to behave in public.
I have discovered the beauty of BLUE, fungasy, smelly cheese!
I have a mobile phone and you can send me text messages from anywhere in the world at: 4541255025
You must read the book called “Are you experienced” by William Sutcliffe. It is hilarioso!

That’s all for now, thanks for reading this crap if you did!

Farvael!