Back to the land of the fairy chimneys. Göreme.

M

y first visit to Cappadocia was six months ago - it was early summer and the valley was filled with verdant green vegetation and wild flowers in bloom. It is now early winter and although the backdrop of the surreal, rocky landscape remains unchanged, signs of winter are in the foliage - leaves have fallen off the trees and berries have replaced the flowers. It is still as an enchanting landscape now as it was back then.

The long road back to Turkey.

I

should have known that it was not going to be an easy affair getting to Turkey when my plane arrived late in to Paris. Originally, I had a two hour layover which is usually sufficient to transfer planes. This time however, I had only about 45 minutes which is barely enough time so I found myself running from one terminal to another, wishing there weren’t so many people walking in front of me and hoping that the security line would be short. Of course, it was not to be my lucky day so in the end, I was just about the last person to board the plane to Istanbul. Squashed in the middle seat, which I hate, I found myself seated next to a man who was obviously battling a bad cold. Thankfully, he knocked himself out with Sudafed but I’m still hoping he did not pass anything along to me. I don’t want to be sick on this trip.

What a difference a financial crisis makes.

I

just bought my plane ticket from Istanbul to Kayseri. It cost me 104 TRY (Turkish Lira). At today's exchange rate which is 1USD = 1.496 TRY that comes to about $69. The same ticket would have cost me about $88 back in January when the rate was 1USD = 1.18 TRY. Unbelievable price drop.

2008 will go down in history for two memorable events. The first is the nomination of an African American, Barack Obama, as the Democratic Presidential nominee. The second is the global financial crisis that started to unfold earlier this year when Bear Sterns collapsed.

Turkey....I'm coming back.

I

'm going back to Turkey!.....and I can't wait! I left my heart in Cappadocia and I need to go back to find it ;-)

I just traded in 50,000 air miles today and got a round trip ticket from Washington Dulles to Istanbul Ataturk. It will be a short (okay, for me it's short) two week trip. I need to work out the itinerary and then get my visa. Very excited to be returning....and so soon!