Pitfalls

It occured to me just how long its been since I last posted here. It's hard to believe it's been over a year since I found myself caught in that horrible conflict between Israel and Hizbollah. In some ways alot has changed--details--but I guess in many ways the song remains the same. Maybe bloodshed and conflict are simply a permanent fixture in our world.

Unfortunately the situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated since I was there last September, and things have boiled over to Pakistan. Luckily the U.S. has not declared war on Iran (yet?)

All is not doom and gloom though, at least not for me in my own little bubble here in Florida. As comfortable as this bubble is, I find it unfortunate that I will be stuck in it for at least the next 6 months until I finish my degree in Journalism.

While many might think I am insane, I honestly cannot wait to burst this bubble and return to places such as Afghanistan and Pakistan to cover the events that are unfolding there. As terrible as many of these events are, I feel driven by something deep inside of me to go and witness them first hand. Not out of some voyeuristic curiosity, but because I feel that it is essential to document such things in the hope that in some small way I can educate people about the realities of our world.

It is so easy to be complacent living in our bubbles, the comforting womb of denial and myopia. If I can pop a single one of these bubbles I will feel like I am making a difference. (Wouldn't it be nice to pop all 6-point-something billion bubbles? Hah, like that will ever happen...)

Anyway, thats my little bit of ideology for the day.

Oh, and if any of you are interested, I have updated my website since you last visited:

www.jeremyveverka.com

As always, it's a work in progress, so check back from time to time; I'll be putting new content up soon...

Safe and sound in Syria.

I have been in Lebanon for the past 4 days. I didn't want to say anything until I was able to leave safely (I know you all would have been worried sick about me!) but now that I have made it to Syria, I figure I can spill the beans.

While I was in Beirut, I watched the sitation escalate from nothing to what it is now. What follows is a series of entries that I wrote while there.

Friday afternoon, 7/14/2006:

As can be imagined the reality on the ground is quite a bit different from the sensational stories they must be reporting on CNN etc...
I do not mean to say that the situation isn't serious and it certainly has the potential to get worse, but overall the Lebanese seem to be relatively relaxed about the whole thing. The general attitude seems to be that this has happened before and that the whole thing will blow over.
The BBC reports that "residents hoarded food and queued for petrol, amid fears of prolonged violence." While this is not a false statement they fail to put it in context. For most Lebanese, life goes on. We went down to the beach today and there many locals where relaxing smoking Nargilehs and fishing. The only naval boat that could be seen in the harbour was a Lebanese coastgaurd boat which was enforcing the Israeli blockade. This is hardly a scene one would expect in a city "under seige" as CNN reports.
There have been repeated attacks in the city and elsewhere around Lebanon throughout the last few days, but they all struck exact targets.
Whether or not you believe that Israel has been using excessive force or has merely been targeting Hezbollah targets, you can not deny that their attacks are very surgical and that they take precautions to limit the number of civilian deaths. Before bombing specific Hezbollah targets in the south of the city, they flew over and dropped leaflets telling the residents to evacuate.
The city does feel very quiet--many businesses are closed and the busy downtown area and pedestrian walkway along the water called the Corniche are all but deserted compared to the usual bustle. People do wait in expectation for the next attacks, looking up in the sky when an airplane flys over, or glued to the television waiting for updates, but overall people seem to get on with their lives.

As far as my own personal experiences, lastnight I sat in a seaside cafe on the Corniche chatting to some Lebanese. One recieved a phone call and told us that Haifa had just been hit but missles. This was a serious escalation and it guaranteed that an Israeli counter strike would be soon to come. Minutes later we watched as Israeli gunboats travelled south along the shore towards the Beirut airport. Soon after explosions could be heard in the distance. We climbed up a nearby hill and watched the blazing inferno of a fuel depot which has just been hit.
That night while I slept in my hotel room in the Hamra district, I was awoken by 3 very loud explosions which rattled the windows. It sounded very close but it is hard to judge the distance of such a loud concussion. In reality the explosions where probably 5-10km away as they were likely hitting Hezbollah targets in the south of the city. Anyway, it was quite an adrenaline rush being woken like this and it took me about an hour to fall back asleep. This was perhaps the only time I ever felt any remote sense of personal danger, but overall I do not feel that my life is in any significant danger here. The targets are nowhere near me. My biggest worry personally is whether I can reach Syria whithout having to spend hundreds of dollars to get there.

In terms of what will happen in the coming days, I am not convinced that the whole thing will blow over, but it does have the potential to get better assuming some outside mediators can step in and put some pressure on the Hezbollah and the Israelis to settle down. Certainly if the two parties are left to their own devices the situation has little potential to improve.
I certainly hope that through some internation effort Hezbollah can be forced to disarm, because the fledging Lebanese government certainly doesn't have the power to force them to do this on their own. Despite Israel's claims to the contrary.
Certainly Israel is in the right in thinking that Hezbollah is a bunch of a$$holes. That is essentially what they are, and I feel bad for the Lebanese people that they are at the mercy of such hot headed pricks.

Either way, I am going to attempt to cross the border back to Syria tomorrow. Unfortunately the main road linking Beirut to Damascus has been bombed so we (me and a guy Marc that is travelling with me,) will have to attempt a crossing farther north. Unfortunately I have heard that drivers are trying to ask for $250-$500 to take people all the way from Beirut to Damascus via this route. Instead we will get to Tripoli on our own and from there attempt to get transport to the border. Once in Syria we will rely on local transport to get us where we are going. Hopefully by this method we can make it to Syria for under $100. Insha Allah.

Friday Night, 7/14/2006:

I just watched as Hezbollah launched a missle from southern Beirut striking an Israeli warship. There were large explosions on the ship and fires burned that were visible to the naked eye for atleast a minute after. Minutes later there were firework celebrations and I was soon surrounded by a group of cheering men shouting "Allah u Akhbar!!" and various pro-Hezbollah warcries. I figured I better put my giant camera away and dissapear quitely before they discoved that I am a foreigner and the mob mentality kicked in. Minutes later fighter jets could be heard screaming overhead and there was an intense series of explosions. Apparently the Israelis struck the Hezbollah HQ.
The situation seems to be intensifying exponentially, and Hezbollah has declared all out war against Israel. I hear that Israel may bomb the road to Syria from Tripoli. This would be very bad since that is the way I was planning to go tomorrow. I will try to find an alternate route to Syria. If not, I have no other choice but to sit here in Beirut and wait for them to evacuate us by chopper to Cyprus. I hope it doesn't come to that....

Saturday Night, 7/15/2006

Getting out of Beirut wasnt all that easy, though it wasnt all that hard either. We (me and this Kiwi guy,) were able to hire a taxi to take us along the "back roads" which havent been bombed to the border. For this service we paid $150 each. Probably the most expensive taxi I have ever taken, but I figure you cant put a price on safety. I met people at the border who had paid upwards of $1000 to get there, so I guess we did alright.

As can be imagined the border was complete bedlam. It was totally swamped by people fleeing to Syria. It took about an hour of intense pushing, shoving and shouting (and sweating) in the immigration office just to get my exit stamp. On the Syria side things were fine though. They were even giving Americans entry visas.

Any way, I never thought I would be so happy to be in Syria! I smoked a victory Nargileh in Damascus to celebrate coming back alive. I feel bad for the people who are stuck there and have to wait it out though.

I wasn't originally planning to go to Lebanon on this trip. But, it was so close and I had heard such terrific things about it, so I thought I would go check it out for a few days. Besides, I figured I could use a little R&R before heading "off the beaten path" for the next few months. I guess what I had in mind for my stay in Beirut didn't quite pan out. Instead I got to experience my first warzone. I certainly do not regret going there though. I have to admit that the whole thing was extremely exciting and not something I will soon forget.

I was able to take a series of photos of the Hezbollah attack of the Israeli warship, but at the present time I am sorry to say that I can't post them due to limitations of the computers here. :(

I'm in Cappadocia. Once the heart of the Hittite empire, and mentioned in the Bible, 'Kapadokya' as it is known to the Turks is an area in south central Anatolia which is typefied by its bizarre landscapes riddled with ancient cave dwellings carved in the soft volcanic rock. 

In prehistoric times, two large volcanoes Erciyes Dagi and Hasan Dagi (both now extinct,) errupted, covering the entire region in volcanic ash. Over the eons wind and rain have erroded the tuff in to strange and dramatic shapes--giant columns with bulbous heads of rock balanced precariously on top like some sort of toadstool, set against a background of coral like formations a hundred feet high. Subsequently, as humans occupied these lands, they found that the volcanic stone could be easily worked and carved, and proceeded to riddle the hills with an endless series of small cave dwellings.

Not only where these caves used for habitation, but also for raising pigeons, and a surprising number where carved in to elaborate churches. Often appearing to be little more than humble caves from the outside, once on the inside, these churches open up with spacious columned interiors with vaulted ceilings (all carved from a single piece of rock!) and every square inch was, at one point, covered with vivid frescoes depictings scenes mostly from the New Testament. Unfortantely few of those frescoes remain today, and most of the ones that do have been badly damaged by the elements and vandalism. However, the few that still remain today are nothing short of breathtaking.

I explored one such church today at the Goreme Open Air Museum, and though I am not Christian, I found the beautiful frescoes of  the Karanlik Kilise church so moving that I must have spent at least an hour admiring them (and photographing them, without a flash, of course!)

The frescoed ceiling of Karanlik Kilise, meaning 'Dark Church', so called because there is only one window which lets in very little light. This explains why the frescoes retain such vivid colour some 800 years later.

The remains of an ancient cave carved in to the soft volcanic rock. This is a typical scene in the Cappadocian landscape.

The bizarre pinnacles of Zemi Valley, meaning 'Love' Valley, no doubt given this moniker due to the formations resemblance to a certain part of the male anatomy.

The 'fairy chimneys' of Zemi Valley under starlight.

Update from my travels...

I must apologize for not having posted sooner, I have been travelling so much it has been hard to find the time to write...

Anyway.... I started my journey in Europe, which since I fýnd it to be rather similar culturally to what I am used to, I will keep my descriptions of it brief. (Though feel free to ask me if you want details.)

I landed in Vienna on June 2 and spent a few days checking out the city. The highlights would be Schonbrunn Palace, the Cathedral of St. Stephen, and winetasting with the locals in one of the many little squares. Next I headed to Budapest for a few days which is city full of amazing architecture. It has the feel of Eastern and Western Europe blended together. The view over the Danube of the Parliament building on one side and Buda Castle on the other was particularly memorable. I then took a train to Romania stopping in the towns of Cluj, Sighisaora, and Brasov ýn Transylvania. The small 14th century citadel at Sigi, and "Dracula's" castle at Bran were definitely the highlights of Romania. I skipped the capital of Bucharest and headed straight for the town of Veliko Tarnovo in Bulgaria. Unfortantely I came down with a bad cold there and had to spend a few days recouperating and couldn't explore much. It was a wonderful town to relax in though. After recovering, I was on the next night train to Istanbul. This is when I feel that my trip really started; europe was just the preamble.

 Reaching Istanbul is definitely like reaching a different continent: the smells are different, the people dress differently (headscarves on the women mostly, though many in Istanbul dont cover themselves...) the culture is different (people are amazingly hospitible and friendly, unlike the relatively cold europeans,) and instead of churches, one can see the minarets of Istanbul's plethora of grand Mosques dotted around the city. It is clear that at one point the city was the capital of the Muslim world, though now it is quite liberal--a wonderful blend of muslim history and culture and modern "western" ideals. I went to see the underground cisterns--huge underground water tank meant to hold water for the city during times of seige. It was built by Emperor Justinian in the 6th century AD when Istanbul was still Christian. It is a massive underground room with huge greek columns supporting the ceiling. Most of the water has been pumped out of it, but a few feet remain at the bottom where some sort of large fish can be seen swimming around. Most of the great historical sites in the city are from its Muslim era, and they include the Aya Sofia (once christianity's grandest church which was converted in to a mosque by the Ottomans, underneath the beautiful muslim art can be seen mosaics of Jesus and Mary et al, both religions providing equally beautiful but very different aesthetics,) The Mosque of Sultan Ahmet (called the blue mosque becuase of the beautiful blue light which fills it at sunset as the light filters through the Islamic stained glass--something which they borrowed from the Christians, I believe...), The grand Mosque of Sulemaniye The Magnificent (one of the greatest Sultans of the Ottoman Empire--his mosque is also one of the most magnificent in Istanbul and is amazingly well preserved.) Other sites in Istanbul included the Grand Bazaar (you can buy pretty much anything there, but it is a bit touristy these days.) and the Egyptian Spice Bazaar (there were dates, pistachios, different teas, sweets ranging from Turkish delight to Baklavah and numerous things i couldnt identify. its delicious smells and explosion of colours--reds from various peppers, greens from different kinds of henna, and every other other colour--immediately make you feel as though you have entered asia.) And the crown jewel of sites in Istanbul would be Topkapi Palace, an exquisite Ottoman palace with an extensive treasury containg treasures from all accross Europe, Russia, China, India, Persia, as well as homegrown bejewelled scepters and thrones from the ottomans themselves. In the palace one can take a tour of the Harem (which actually was the family living quarters, not just a place for sex,) which gives you an idea of the sultans actually lived. I probably could have spent weeks more in Istanbul just exploring what that city has to offer, but its cost and the ever persistent drive to explore new places made me move on after a few days. I took a night bus down to Selçuk, a small city on the Aegean coast which is a base for seeing the ruins of Ephesus, an ancient Greek city which was once the biggest city in the region with a population of over 200,000! As can be imagined, over two thousand years later not much of the city remains but it is clear that it was once a very significant place. I actually didnt pay too much attention to the history of the place while I was there, I was too busy photographing the picturesque ruins to care. That afternoon I took a dolmuþ (a shared bus--the name litterally means stuffed grape leaves, referring to who the jam people in it...) up to a quaint little village called Sirince which is up in the hills and is full of little vinyards making sweet and fruity wines from quince, peach, grapes and other fruits. It has the feel of a small European wine village except for the Minaret of the village mosque which towers over the little houses and when you hear the Muezzin the village stops and takes a moment to pray. The next day I took a bus down to the Mediterranean coast (south) of Turkey to a small coastal town called Fethiye. From there I stuffed my self in to another grape leaf (Dolmus) to the tiny village of Faralya which claims to have only 800 inhabitants and only in the last few years did it get a road. It is thus quite cut off from the rest of the world and thankfully so from the circuit tourists who are prevelant in western Turkey. The village is perched on steep cliffs high above a small verdant valley known as "Butterfly Valley" due to a kind of butterfly which inhabits the area. The valley has a small beach on the calmly glistening mediterranean sea and is only accessible by boat or by a 40 minute hike down the dangerously steep cliff. The intrepid traveller I am, I of course opted to take the hiking trail. It was a fun hike and included ropes down some of the steeper parts to use as handholds. The beach was well worth the hike and a spent a while lazily floating around in the warm sea. Unfortunately around midday a few tourist boats came charging up and unloaded a torrent of package tourists on to the poor unsuspecting beach. I thought I was watching a reenactment of the invasion of Normandy! Luckily, after they splashed around ther boats for half an hour, they left just as quickly as they came, no doubt off to invade the next tranquil beach. Doushbags. After relaxing for a while I made the hike back up the uninvting cliff. It didnt help that at midday the sun was hellishly hot... Anyway... that's about it for my travels... Today I will go back to Fethiye and catch a bus headed for Ankara. I am going there simply to get a visa for Syria. Though a bit out of my way, I have decided that since Syria  is so close it would be a travesty not to go explore it. I plan to spend 4-5 days there and then I will continue on through Eastern Turkey as planned.

I am sorry that I cannot post any photos at this point. Internet is very slow in this village, so it'll have to wait until I get somewhere with highspeed access....