Category Archives: Holidays

Day 526 In Beijing: Blue Tour In Cappadocia, Goreme Open Air Museum.

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Just imagine living in these homes.

Just imagine living in these homes.

 

The last stop on our tour was to the Goreme Open Air Museum.

I didn’t take a lot of pictures here because we were pretty tired and there are a lot of churches.

Most the churches in this area don’t allow pictures inside so we only have pictures of the outside.

There are many paintings, and frescoes, on the Church walls and they are quite impressive.

However, many of them have the saints eyes scratched out through vandalism.

Also, the Muslim religion forbids the depiction of the human form, or icons, and supposedly they were afraid of the “evil eye.”

Considering how old these paintings are, and that they are not from the dominant religion in the area, it is rather amazing they are in the shape they are in.

We actually made one more stop, after the Goreme Open Air Museum and stopped by a Jewelry store.

Jill and I had wanted to buy her a ring and we wanted our guide, Sukru, to help us with the bargaining and make sure we weren’t ripped off.

We bought a ring, with a Zultanite stone, and it was gorgeous.

I’ll post some pictures of it, in the near future, as it is a stone that changes color with light (up to 6 colors that we’ve seen so far) and is only mined in Turkey.

 

Day 525 In Beijing: Blue Tour In Cappadocia, Rug Throwing Video.

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Getting ready to throw the rug.

Getting ready to throw the rug.

Jill and I kept the best video for last.

At least, in my mind, it is the best.

It shows how much the rug changes color depending on where the rug is seen by the viewer.

The rugs are weaved specifically to do this so the owner can basically have two different rugs at one time.

It is a heck of a deal, as some of these rugs were only a few hundred dollars, and if you think of the months of work that these women put into them, that isn’t very much money.

We just loved the colors, the brightness, and the wonderful designs on all these rugs.

We wish we could have bought some of them but since we are going as minimalist as possible, it didn’t make any sense.

So, we just have memories and that is enough.

 

Day 524 In Beijing: Blue Tour In Cappadocia, Rug Co-op Videos.

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RugsAfter our guide led Jill and me down the Hall of Rugs, he took us to a massive private room.

We knew what this was about as Jill had gone on these before and warned me: this is the sales pitch.

They show you lots of rugs, many more than you can even imagine, and try to tempt you into buying one.

The Turks are very good at bargaining and pressuring people to buy, in a nice way, but since we lived in China, where bargaining and pressure tactics are at a graduate level, we weren’t worried about saying no and walking out without buying anything.

Jill and I plan to keep traveling the world for the next 10 years and so that tends to make it impossible for us to buy things since we won’t really have a set place to store then nor do we really want material things to weigh us down.

I’m actually writing an ebook on minimizing and how to be more efficient at this moment and it is really coming along nicely.

We were then able to just enjoy the show and be caught up in the full attention the salesman, and his attendants, gave to us.

As well as the Turkish coffee, and apple tea, that they gave us.

That was utterly delicious!

Take your time watching the videos and enjoy the skill, and style, that these men use as they showed us at least 50 different rugs, from different materials, and different areas of Turkey, and different sizes and shapes.

We sure did.

 

The man throwing the round rug was our guide for the Co-Op tour.

 

They let me walk around on the rugs as they were putting them away.

 

 

Day 524 In Beijing: Blue Tour In Cappadocia, The Hall Of Rugs.

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The Hall of Rugs.

The Hall of Rugs.

 

After seeing the women weaving the rugs, our guide took us down a long corridor best described as the “Hall of Rugs” sort of like the Hall of Fame.

They were incredible.

He told us more about the history of rug making in Turkey and the conditions the women used to work in and how they are better now.

He also told us that he loves his job and enjoys being able to show people this amazing art each and every day.

When he spoke, you could hear the pride in his words and see it in his eyes.

This is someone who had found a job that he loved and was very proud of doing when he woke up.

As we walked into the Hall of Rugs, Jill and I noticed a rather obvious sign stating that “No pictures and no videos.”

We looked at our guide and asked, “So we aren’t allowed to take pictures in this hall?” in hopes that he’d let it slide.

He looked at us, smiled, and said, “Oh, you can take all the pictures you want.  We just don’t allow Chinese people to take pictures.”

Jill and I guessed the reason why, as we’ve been living in China for just over a year, but wanted to hear what our guide’s reason was just in case we were wrong.

He added, “They come on the tour, take pictures, and then copy them with inferior quality and material.  It has happened so often that we can not allow them to take pictures anymore.  We have no problem with anyone else taking pictures.”

Jill and I laughed at the absurd reality of the situation and started taking a few pictures just to document our trip through the Hall without being obvious or rude.

It is about fitting in, for us, as we like to be tourists but also want to be the kind of tourists that aren’t that noticeable all the time.

There is no way I can show, through pictures, the incredible detail and exquisite workmanship of these rugs.

You have to visit Turkey yourself to see, and understand, them and how the culture informs their artwork.

 

 

Day 523 In Beijing: Blue Tour In Cappadocia, Rug Co-op Videos And Happier Than A Billionaire.

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Working on a larger rug.

Working on a larger rug.

 

Jill and I were totally absorbed watching the women weave.

They were lightening fast and we couldn’t believe that they could do this, day after day, without suffering major pain or injury.

I’m guessing they did but the money they could make before they retired, around the age of 40, would hopefully be enough to support them and their family.

We didn’t ask them what their husbands do, and for all we know they work at the same co-op selling the rugs, but I’m guessing they don’t make a lot of money doing this and it is a tough life.

Even with the percent the co-op gives them, I’m sure they struggle.

It gives Jill and me even more reason to be thankful for what we have in our lives and how we are able to live them.

How many people get to move to China, on a whim, work 3 days a week, and then travel around the world living a rather wonderful life?

Not that many that I know although, as we travel more, we meet more and more people doing this and are inspired by them.

One of the people we’ve met is Nadine Hays.  I starting reading her book, “Happier Than A Billionaire” while we were on vacation and loved it beyond belief.

Well, we haven’t actually met her in person, but we met her through her book, and then on Facebook, where we’ve become fast friends already!

It is a travelogue about a couple, in their 30s, that decide to chuck the jobs they hate and move to Costa Rica.

Jill has visited Costa Rica before and thought it would be a fun read but didn’t have time to read it, so I borrowed it from her.

I now want to visit Costa Rica as soon as ppossible   Nadine’s book is hilarious, scary, and amazing.  It is everything that can happen living an expatriate life and both the good and the bad.  She leaves nothing out and she and her husband, Rob, do an amazing job of overcoming whatever is thrown in their path to make their dream life.

She’s now written two sequels and continues to live the dream.

I would suggest anyone, whether you want to actually live the expatriate life, or just read about it, buy her book and read it immediately.

Just click the Amazon link below and buy it.  It is a deal at $2.99 for a kindle version!

Happier Than A Billionaire.

Back to the women weaving, making their lives their dreams, and Turkey.

 

This is a short video showing the women moving as fast as humanely possible.

 

This video is longer but the guide explains exactly what is happening as it goes along.

Day 522 In Beijing: Blue Tour In Cappadocia, Rug Co-op.

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So intricate and so perfect.

So intricate and so perfect.

 

Jill, the tour group, and I head off to our next destination, a rug making co-op.

I grew up, as I’m part Armenian, with a lot of Armenian rugs around my house.

It was the one bit of that culture, other than dolma and pilaf, that my family brought with it from Armenia when they moved to the USA many years ago.

I love looking at them, and the intricacies of how they are woven, and was extremely excited to see people at work and making these beautiful pieces of art.

Each of us received our own tour guide, with the Colombians getting someone that spoke some Spanish and English, as that is what they spoke also, and the Dutch getting someone who spoke German.

Let me say this, the Turkish have the tourist industry down to an art.  They have so many guides, that speak so many languages, it is rather amazing.  They really know what they are doing and how to make people feel comfortable.

As an Armenian that is a lot to say when you consider the history between these two countries and the massacre that happened against the Armenian people back in the early 1900s.  I’m glad to say that when people asked where I’m from, and I told them Armenia, they were excited and stated that “We are brothers!”  It was great to hear that these old hatreds are disappearing and people are becoming more inclusive and caring.  I’m not sure about Eastern Turkey, where it is much more religious and provincial but Western Turkey is fairly open-minded at this point.

Our guide told us about the work these women do, and how difficult it is, and how it is a dying art.

The women are only allowed to work for 20 minutes at a time, and then take a 10 minute break, so that their hands, and eyes, won’t be injured.

They are also only allowed to work for 4 hours a day.  Many work from home since they have kids and other duties to do so they only come into the co-op to deliver their rugs or work in front of tourists.

According to our guide, many of these women retire at around 40 years old because of the stress and strain to their bodies from doing such repetitive and tedious work.

That is just another reason why this art is dying out and younger people aren’t interested in doing it anymore.

One of the bigger rugs (5 feet by 9 feet) could take about 9 months to make one if it is cotton.

If it is silk, however, it can take double that or almost 1.5 years.

The women get about 70% of the sale while the co-op gets 30% so it seemed like a pretty fair deal for them.

 

Day 521 In Beijing: Blue Tour In Cappadocia, Lunch time!

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A vase, wine bottles and the cellar.

A vase, wine bottles and the cellar.

 

After we saw that pottery exhibition, the tour was set to have lunch.

Jill and I aren’t big fans of Beijing Chinese food.  It is usually quite greasy and very oily.

It tastes like the food is quite slimy and the vegetables don’t have a lot of flavor.

Since we tend towards vegetarian, it makes our choices quite limited or very expensive since the imported veggies and fruits cost so much more than the domestic products.

Since we’ve both been to Turkey before, we knew that we were in for a wonderful meal every time we sat down to eat and we weren’t disappointed.

The very cute restaurant we went to had a nice balcony overlooking the valley but the owners told us to sit inside since the bees were flying around outside and they’d bother us.

We took their advice and ordered our food.

Our group consisted of our friends from Colombia, three women from Holland, and then us.

Our guide, Sukru, took off and we all just hung out, eat and discussed our lives.

The food, as we guessed, was fantastic.

Jill’s main course was mushrooms with cheese on top of it and mine was a clay pot full of veggies in a red sauce.

And, of course, to top it off, we had baklava for dessert.

As we left, we realize that the wine cellar for the restaurant was dug out of the walls, just like our room back at our hotel.

 

Day 520 In Beijing: Blue Tour In Cappadocia, Sultan’s Ceramics Making A Vase.

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A true artist throwing clay on a kick wheel.

A true artist throwing clay on a kick wheel.

 

Jill and I continued on the tour and, as we neared the end of it, they led us into a room with a man sitting at a potter’s wheel.

He smiled kindly and our guide informed us that he was going to show us how the vases were made and give us a little show.

I’d write more but the video really speaks for itself.

And for the artistry, and utter joy, of the man throwing the clay, kicking the wheel, and making a vase.

It is worth the time to watch it all the way through.

 

Day 519 In Beijing: Blue Tour In Cappadocia, Sultan’s Ceramics Wine Vase.

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An artist and his work. These are vases for pouring water or wine.

An artist and his work. These are vases for pouring water or wine.

 

Jill and I were checking out the beautiful art at Sultan’s Ceramics when our guide decided to show us exactly how the vases were used.

It is really hard to explain, or show, on a blog what it is like being in such a different world, but I do my best.

Consider that we met 8 days before I moved to China, and Jill came here about 1.5 months after that (without any plans to come to China before meeting me), it is pretty amazing to think that we’ve now been to Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an, Tianjin and a few other cities in China.  Add to that Malaysia, Sinagpore, Mongolia, Turkey, and Greece, it has been an amazing way to learn about each other and grow as a couple.

They say that going on a trip lets you realize if you are compatible and, if that is true, we are probably the most compatible couple in the history of the universe.

We rarely have disagreements, and I think we’ve only really argued once, and that with the pressure of living in China, her working on her website SF Tourism Tips, while dealing with the Great Firewall of China, and my job as a psychotherapist, is an excellent barometer of our ability to handle pretty much anything that comes our way.

We plan to keep traveling for most of our lives, unless we find just the right magical spot to settle down and this puts us at an advantage because we already know that we can travel well together and balance each other when times get tough.

I’m not saying everything will be roses, all the time, just that there is something wonderful about having a partner, and being a partner, that the other person can depend upon to be there when either of you is needed.

Being on these tours, and travels, with Jill, reminds me of the joy and love that can be present in this world when someone takes the time to focus on what is important and keep working until your dreams come true.

Watching the men work on these pieces of art, I think they are doing the same thing each moment they throw the clay, form it, and paint it.

 

 

Day 518 In Beijing: Blue Tour In Cappadocia, Sultan’s Ceramics.

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Step by step painting.

Step by step painting.

Jill had been on a few of these tours before and knew that they would take us to showrooms.

These showrooms would have demonstrations of how different textiles, and art, is made and then we’d be able to buy them.

We are both very frugal, and since we plan to be traveling for most of the rest of our lives, we didn’t have any plans on buying anything but wanted to see the demonstrations just the same.

The first location we went to was Sultan’s Ceramics.

They have been in business for many years, as some of their craftsmen are 6th or 7th generation potters and painters.

I say craftsmen because women don’t do pottery in the shops.

They do the weaving.

It is very defined, even now, and it seems it will that way.  That is neither good nor bad but something specific to the culture.

We first met our guide from Sultan’s Ceramics and he explained how they first started the business, how long they have been around, and how they make the pottery.

They then invited us to watch the artists at work and were mesmerized.

I don’t know if I’d want to be doing this, hour after hour, because I’m thinking my eyesight, and my body, would wear out.

They are so exact, so perfect, and so repetitive that I can only imagine one must love what they do beyond belief.

Looking at the faces of the men working, which alternated being serious to utter joy, makes me think that they do.