It is the end of 2019 and I am home for the holidays. I wanted to summarize my thoughts on the first four months of travelling to 16 countries in a good old list.
Distance walked: Total 1001.70 miles; Average 8.14 +/- 3.07 miles; Median 8.1 miles
Steps: Total 2,205,417; Average 17,930 +/- 6,728; Median 17,648
Floors: Total 1,988; Average 16.16 +/- 14.83; Median 12.
Favorite Country: Spain. Nothing was hard in Spain. The public transit was great. Intercity rail was great. The food was great. The museums and tourist sites were first rate. As a bonus, the costs were reasonable too.
Most Interesting Country: Morocco. Morocco exists at the junction of Africa, the Middle East and Europe. There are three official languages (Arabic, Berber, and French). There is also an understanding of English and Spanish by most people. The old cities (medinas) are a labyrinth. There are mountains and deserts. It takes more than eight nights to unpack this place.
Country I would most like to return to: Israel. I spent six days in Israel which is not nearly enough to gain an understanding. Jerusalem, as the center of the Jewish, Christian and Islamic worlds, it is the most consequential city in the western world. It deserves more time.
Place I would most like to spend in exile: Almaty. The landscape architecture of this city is fantastic with wide boulevards, big parks, and people making use of these amenities. It has great public transit in the city (outside the city, it needs improvement.) It has a beautiful natural setting. My favorite Russian bath or hammam is there (Arasan). All that and it is dirt cheap. One could wait out the end of the Trump era and not spend much.
Place I would least like to go back to: Cyprus. It has beautiful beaches and mountains, good enough food, some interesting historic sites, but it is difficult to get around. You need a car and the driving is on the left. I cannot drive on the left.
The most expensive place I visited: Israel. That factored heavily into my decision only to spend six nights here. The capsule hotel in Jerusalem was $34/night.
The least expensive place I visited: Kazakhstan. The subway in Almaty was something like 22 cents to ride. Most meals were under $5. A flight from Astana to Almaty was $32 including a check bag and seat selection on SCAT.
Best Value: Naples. Naples was so much cheaper than the rest of Italy. Italy had a large variance in cost. Venice and Rome were quite expensive. Bologna was reasonable. Naples was cheap. A margherita pizza would set you back about $4, a drinkable bottle of wine could be had for about $2. A week in an AirBnB in a good location was $200. There’s also Pompeii and Vesuvius and a lot of other things. It could be a lot more expensive and still be worth visiting.
The most underrated place: Azerbaijan. There’s a lot of money in Azerbaijan. There’s also poverty and corruption. It was the world’s first oil boom and one of the oldest cultures on earth. There’s war, islam, tea and exclaves. A lot to explore and deserves another trip.
The most overrated place: Georgia. It was not bad, I just found it lacking given the recent hype it has received. Cappadocia deserves an honorable mention. It also, was interesting, just over touristed and doesn’t quite live up to the hype.
The easiest place to get by speaking only English: Greece. I gave up even trying to speak Greek. Everyone seemed to speak English.
Best Tourist Trap: The Dead Sea. It is all about the tourist, but it is otherworldly.
Worst Tourist Trap: Riding a camel. They are ball busters. A couple of laps around the parking lot is enough. There is no need to go through the desert for two hours. Don’t ride the camel.
Friendliest People: Uzbekistan. Probably at least in part a function of the fairly small number of Americans visiting, but I made it into several photos. The people were very welcoming.
Best food: Overall, I would say Spain. There’s a wide variety of food available in Spain. In Israel, I was surprised by actually liking the falafel. I have never been a fan in the US. Naples is the ancestral home of pizza and an amazing style of ragu. Istanbul had several of my favorites. It’s hard to go wrong with meat on a stick and kunafe is just a gift from the Gods. I also really enjoyed the Moroccan cuisine.
Best wine: Georgia. One of the oldest vitricultures in the world. Their winemaking process differs from most others due to the contact time with the whole fruit in the fermentation. They make two varieties of red, I prefer the sweeter of the two.
Best Dessert: Kunafe. It’s my true love. Overall, I didn’t eat that many desserts. Gelato in Bologna was also very good.
Memorable food: Kunafe in Turkey at many different locations. Ojakhuri in Georgia (caramelized pork with potatoes and onions). A pizzeria on the outskirts of Naples where I had a pizza with peppers. Ragu in Naples. Falafel in the muslim quarter of Jerusalem; Falafel in eggplant with tahini in the market in Jerusalem; Many dinners at La Mina in Madrid. Tagines in Morocco; Seafood and rice in Lisbon; Meals by an African chef ordered over Google Translate in Lisbon. Restaurants in the neighborhood in Istanbul. They were lowkey and the servers got to know you and welcomed you back.
Most overrated food: Khachipuri — The Georgian bread and cheese dish that is all the rage. I don’t see the point. Add a red sauce, swap out the cheese for mozzarella, maybe throw on some fresh basil and you would have something.
Food Mistakes I have always made and probably will continue to make: Eating in high end places. When Tanya and I travel (particularly in low cost areas), we tend to make a reservation at a high end restaurant. When she joined me in Istanbul and Madrid, they were no exceptions. We ate at Asitane in Istanbul and Sobrina de Botin in Madrid. Both meals were good. We enjoyed our time there, but rarely bring them up.
Best Bath/Hammam: Arasan Baths in Almaty. Two types of saunas, a steam room, two types of cold tanks, a swimming pool., massage, scrubs. You can luxuriate for hours and spend under $50. Second place: Taze Bey in Baku. Weird as hell and more expensive. Definitely visit if you are ever in Baku.
Worst Bath/Hammam: The stinky sulfur baths in Tbilisi. At $12, it was overpriced.
Best Ruins: Ephesus outside of Seljuk in Turkey. Gigantic and with excellent interpretive materials. Pompeii and Volubilis (Meknes, Morocco) do not compare.
Best Public Transit: Spain with an honorable mention going to Uzbekistan.
Most pleasant Transit: High speed rail in Uzbekistan. The Spanish-built trains were smooth, quiet and fast.
Most interesting Transit: Kazak rail which had none of the pleasantries of Uzbek rail. It was 14 hours from Nukus to Beynau in an old Soviet sleeper car packed to the gills with Uzbeks. Vendors walked through the selling pieces of fish, chai in old vodka bottles, bread, clothes and anything you might want. I was a bit of a novelty, being the only American. The generosity of the Uzbeks was amazing, offering me food, gat, and chai. A woman flirted with me over Google Translate.
Worst Transit: A nine hour bus from Baku to Tbilisi. I sat next to a crazy, old Turkish man who seemed bent on starting a fight with the guys in front of us.
Worst Drivers: That’s a tough one. Azerbaijan, Georgia and Naples are all in the running.
Flights (20): Kansas City-Newark (United); JFK-IST-Nursultan (Turkish); Nursultan-Almaty (SCAT); Almaty-Shymkent (SCAT); Aktau-Baku (SCAT); Tbilisi-Ankara (Turkish); Istanbul-Budapest (Easyjet); Budapest-Istanbul (Easyjet); Istanbul-Thessaloniki (Turkish); Thessaloniki-Paphos (Ryan); Paphos-Tel Aviv (Ryan); Tel Aviv-Rome (Ryan); Milan-Naples (Italy Air); Naples-Milan (Italy Air); Milan-Madrid (Ryan); Madrid-Marrakech (Iberia); Fes-Valencia (Ryan); Valencia-Porto (Ryan); Lisbon-Azores-Boston (Sata); Boston-Charlotte-KC (American).
Minivans (4): Shymkent-TashKent (border); Beynau-Aktau; Marrakech-Fes (tour lasting two nights); Meknes-Fes
Trains (14): Tashkent-Samarkand; Samarkand-Bukhara; Bukhara-Khiva; Nukus-Beynau; Tel Aviv-Haifa; Rome-Florence; Florence-Bologna; Bologna-Venice; Bologna-San Marino; Bologna-Milan; Madrid-Toledo; Toledo-Madrid; Fes-Meknes; Porto-Lisbon
Car with driver (1): Khiva-Nukus
Bus (3): Baku-Tbilisi; Haifa-Jerusalem; Jerusalem-Tel Aviv
Rental car (1): Ankara-Cappadocia-Konya-Denizli-Seljuk-Istanbul
Guided Tours (15): Registan in Samarkand; Old City in Baku; Gobustan in Azerbaijan; Stalin in Georgia; Hot air balloon in Cappadocia; Food tour in Budapest; Food tour in Istanbul; Dead Sea tour in Israel; Walking tour of Jerusalem; Food tour in Bologna; Food tour in Naples; Sobrina de Botin tour in Madrid; Food tour in Marrakech; Desert tour in Morocco; Food tour in Lisbon.
Where I Stayed:
Hotels (39): Samarkand (2); Bukhara (2); Khiva (2); Nukus (2); Aktau (2); Tbilisi (5); Ankara (2); Cappadocia (3); Seljuk (2); Istanbul (10); Rome (2); Florence (1); Milan (2); Boston (2)
Hostels (12): Nursultan (2); Almaty (4); Shymkent (1); Tashkent (2); Haifa (1); Fes (1); Valencia (1)
Pod (3): Jerusalem (3)
AirBnBs (65): Baku (8); Konya (1); Denizli (1); Budapest (8); Thessaloniki (6); Paphos (5); Tel Aviv (2); Bologna (8); Naples (7); Madrid (8); Marrakech (3); Meknes (2); Lisbon (6)
Transit (5): Flights to Nursultan (2); Bus to Tbilisi (1); Desert tour of Morocco (2)
Countries visited (16):
Kazakhstan: 9 nights
Uzbekistan: 10 nights
Azerbaijan: 8 nights
Georgia: 5 nights
Turkey: 20 nights
Hungary: 8 nights
Greece: 6 nights
Cyprus: 5 nights
North Cyprus: A few hours.
Israel: 6 nights
Italy: 20 nights
Vatican: A few hours.
San Marino: A few hours.
Spain: 9 nights
Morocco: 8 nights
Portugal: 6 nights
Total Out of Pocket Cost: $12,147
Estimated Value of Points/Miles Used: $5,757
Cost not using points: $17,904 (a fictitious number).
Do you have any questions for me?