Unsure What an Good Title Would Be

Turkey was great. I wish I had more time there. I only had the chance to visit a few places and did not even make it to Istanbul.

I did, however, go paragliding near Fethiye. I took video with my camera but am having some trouble uploading it to anything (YouTube and Facebook) and for some reason cannot view it with a computer using Windows Media Player. I know the video took because I can watch it on the camera but I cannot move it somewhere else, which means I cannot delete it and make room for pictures. If any of the three readers of this blog have any ideas, please let me know.

As for my Turkey experience outside of paragliding: I need to go back. Attila's Hostel outside of Ephesus is probably the best hostel I have ever stayed at. Ephesus itself is cool, but does not compare to Petra. The whole country, rather everywhere I went in the country, has a great vibe and feels relaxed and interesting.

I did really hate paying the 10 Euro port tax twice. And, I ordered a chicken sandwich meal from Burger King, regular size, no tomato, no mayo in Turkey just before getting on the ferry. I got two Whoppers meals, king sized, and what I can only assume was extra mayo because there is no way Burger King puts that much mayo on its food normally. Get it you way my ass. On the ferry a group of 5 older Israelis sat with me. They liked that I did Birthright, but seeme to question whether I was actually Jewish. Nice enough people, especially for Israelis, and made for a more interesting ferry ride than would have been otherwise.

So, I decided to spend the night in Samos after arriving from Turkey. I book a 12:30 ferry to Athens for 41 Euro. I have grown friendly with an Australian guy, Anthony, that is working for the place that sells ferry tickets. He is staying in the same hostel as me, though he is not paying for it as it is part of his compensation. We went out last night with some other guy, David, to experience the Greek nightlife. It was fun. Too much fun, in fact. I slept through my alarm and missed my ferry. Now, I have an extra day (really more like two days because the next ferry does not leave until 4PM) in Samos and a day less in Athens. All that is fine with me. The real down side is the wasted 41 Euro. I refuse to pay for another night in a hostel so, kind of as punishment to myself, I am going to leave my bags with Anthony for tonight and sleep on the beach. Yeah, that sounds cool, and it is for the most part, but the beaches in Samos are stone beaches, little sand if any, so my sleeping surface will be less than comfortable.

As a result of this, I will only have about a day and a half in Athens. Which, people tell me, actually is enough time. In my guidebook there is a "Athens in Two Days" textbox which includes several things I am not interested in so I think I will have enough time in Athens.

As indicated by the previous paragraph I have not been to Athens yet, but 6ish weeks into my trip and 5 countries under my belt (Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Greece, and Turkey), Greece is easily my least favorite. It is still nice, but clearly ranked last. It is beutiful ; the entire country is a post card. The people are friendly. At the same time, I cannot identify the source or cause of this opinoin. I think part of it is that all the islands are very similar to me. Also, I know part of it is that I feel like the entire country is full of tourists. I have met so few Greeks it is amazing. If you do not include the Greeks that I have met using services (hostels, buses, etc) the number drops to single digits. Everybody here is visiting or working here for the summer (and working for a tourist service).

I have spent part of my extra time in Samos on the Internet (obviously) at 3 Euro per hour, which is a lot but actually reasonable for the area. I am trying to oranize a guided tour in Kruger National Park in South Africa. I found one that looked great and way cheaper than all the others, around $400 for 2 night/3 days. Then I realized that was the per day cost. Then it became similarly priced to the others. I need to book one soon but I am having some trouble doing so. I emailed the company a bit ago and hope for a quick response.

Unrelated: I keep forgetting to post something I thought was funny. Within a scan of a couple days about 1.5-2 weeks ago, I was told a look considerably older than 25 and pudgy. Never in my life have I been told either of these things. People generally guess I am several years young than I am. And I am not a chubby person at all. Never have I been. When I left the States I weighed about 125 pounds and I have lost a noticable amount weight since then. I have to pull my belt so tight that the waist of my shorts folds onto itself in multiple places.