So this blogging thing? I kind of left you a few weeks ago and didn’t really follow up on the rest of my trip, which I plan to do now as well as a few other things. It’s not that I didn’t have time, just no inclination and I didn’t think the posts would be as good without actually showing you with pretty pictures.

Now I’m back in Australia. I got back on Friday night actually and have been trying to get shit done whilst feeling jet-lagged, so finally I’ve come back to catch you up with photos.

I left you as we were about to head out and see Pamukkale, these kind of pure white limestone cliffs and natural springs. I’ve never seen anything like it and with the heat, the cold water over our feet felt so good. The water was so nice floating in the mineral salts thick in the water. And at the top, there are the ruins to an ancient Greco-Roman city in case you didn’t think it could get any more amazing.

Out of Istanbul, we discovered that less people speak English and whilst it was hard, the challenge was kind of fun and I think if I was there for longer than two weeks, perhaps months, I could perhaps pick up all the basics without clutching onto my phrase book.

The other amazing thing outside of Istanbul, were the beaches on the Mediterranean coast. We spent three nights in Datça and taking into account I usually hate swimming because my skinny pale body can’t handle the cold water, this beach was beautiful to swim in. Thinking about the weather now, it’s in stark contrast to the biting Melbourne cold that was a shock to the system upon my return.

Back in Instanbul, and by this time feeling mostly better since getting sick at the start, we dined on amazing food and saw the usual sites such as the Blue Mosque and Aya Sofya. These Islamic holy sites, constantly reminded of with the calls to prayer throughout the day, are of a scale and detail that cannot be matched with modern architecture and I couldn’t help but wonder about the racists that oppose such structures being built in the Western world. We’re missing out. And considering I’m not a religious person, The Blue Mosque was about as close I’ve come to any kind of spiritual experience. The place was far more moving than any church I’ve stood in.

So the weather was amazing, the sites something you wouldn’t see elsewhere, the food great, and being away from everything was nice, but I’ve heard people go overseas and are ‘changed.’ I’m not sure it applies to me. There’s been nothing revelatory about my trip and actually I kind of relished getting back home, except when the jet lag kicked in.

What now? Well amongst editing fiction, perhaps writing some new stuff, gearing up for refugee protests, performing at a RAC fundraiser, trying to get to some Melbourne Writers Festival sessions, I guess I need to look for that job. That’s kind of scary. Who’d hire this radical anyway? My Google results are like a resume of who not to hire, updated daily by yours truly. I did apply for uni though so at least I only need something casual or part-time.

As for the blog, being away has meant a slew of ideas for posts have stored themselves up and I’m eager to get to them. Some of the things you’re likely to see are (and please comment if you have a preference):

• Reviews of MJ Hyland’s This is How and Chine Miéville’s Embassytown
• Political analysis in times of crises and a response to people who say ‘Now’s not the time to play politics’ such as what people said around the time of the London riots.
• How anonymity and trolls affect debate and free speech on the internet
• A response to Jason Coggins’ piece in Write Anything about episodic storytelling with something to do with the format and tropes of wrestling (though this is likely to be on Write Anything as well)
• A look at crowd-funding, in particular, the site Pozible (with interview)

Now all I need is to sleep during regular hours and I’m all set…

It’s fucking hot in Turkey. I’m getting used to it, but will also put up with it because Turkey is beautiful. That’s probably what everyone says when they go overseas and see a new place, but I say this even after some rough days.

We arrived on the Thursday around lunchtime after a long flight, which wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected it. I’ve been hammering through M.J. Hyland’s This Is How, the food was awesome and I slept pretty well.

One of the first things you notice about Istanbul is that for the most part, my phrase book is kind of useless. I feel kind of bad that everyone seems to know English here. Istanbul is packed with tourists and it seems the locals live off us, and most know pretty good English. Even when I tried to speak in Turkish to a shop keeper, I must have said it wrong because he shook his head like he didn’t understand so I spoke in English and he got it right away.

I bought a Galatasaray jersey from the bizarre, which seemed to attract a lot of attention. Either people would come up to me and shake my hand and say “good team” or shake their head and tell me to “change.” One shop keeper asked me if I was Australian and after I said yes, yelled across to the shop keeper on the other side in Turkish pointing to me and the only words I could pick out were “Galatasaray,” “Australia” and “Harry Kewell,” who’s an Australian who plays for Galatasaray.

In Australia, barely anyone can speak another language and so our tourists have to try and learn English but if you stayed in Istanbul, you could get away with not having to speak Turkish. But where would be the fun in that?

I can say a few words, often badly, and our two local friends who showed us around seemed to get a kick out of my attempts to say “teşekkür” or thank you, as did the nurse as I tried to say a few words after our friends explained that we could not speak Turkish.

Nurse you hear me say?

On the third day, I woke up with gastro, which is one of the things I dreaded about happening overseas. I couldn’t eat for a whole day and was feeling pretty week by the end of it. I was very lucky that our Turkish friends were actually doctors, and after antibiotics didn’t seem to do any good, we were considering going to the hospital. The problem being, it was late at night and it would be crowded.

So we ended up at the hospital Esma worked at, a Turkish psychiatric hospital in Istanbul where I was given IV. That has to be one of the most bizarre experiences of my life. Ever since I’ve been finding it hard to eat much other than plain things which is really fucking annoying given the food here is amazing.

We flew from Istanbul to Denizli last night, where our friend Dilan lives. We plan to go see the Pamukkale, which are some hot springs near by alongside an ancient Greco-Roman city. I’m feeling much better today so when we go out, I hope my appetite is good enough to enjoy some Gözleme, which is best in the smaller towns according to Dilan.

My bags are almost packed. Clothes, toiletries, one paperback, a Kindle for the rest, notebooks, a camera and soon my laptop. I feel like I haven’t packed enough and that I’m not quite ready.

We fly off at 10:55pm for an almost 24 hour flight. Hoping to do some writing or reading. I vacillate between excitement and nervousness because I’ve never been overseas before. Oh and I have my passport. I’m not forgetting that.

I’ll be taking photos and blogging when I can. You might even catch the occasional tweet @benjaminsolah