Bulgaria & Turkey, November 2001 Travelogue
Monday, Nov. 5th, 2001On Monday, I got to San Francisco on Amtrak and asked Brooke to take some shots of my fully-burdened posture. On the way, I chatted with some security workers from Ardenbright security. They said they had recently been given raises, increasing their base pay $3, to $13 an hour. One of them was clocking 8 hours of overtime every day!In the airport, I couldn't resist the bargain price of cigarettes in the duty-free shop. I bought 2 cartons for $16.50 each. A 5-carton box was selling for $80. No, I don't smoke, but I asked a Brit in the airport how much a pack was in the UK, and he told me $5.25 a pack, minimum. So flying across the ocean with these two packs increased their value 3-fold, I just have to figure out how to get rid of them. On my flight to London, I sat between of Raj from Berkeley, and Akeel, a brash but loveable Muslim on his way to visit Iraq. Maybe you can guess what we talked about. Akeel was talking about the Hindi and Pakistani population of the UK, and he made the hilarious suggestion that the British had east-Indian slaves at some point in history. Raj and I almost couldn't stop laughing. |
 SF Garbage Man salvages a satellite dish  With backpack on Haight Street  The International Terminal at SFO  A real hand-scanning machine at SFO  The five-carton handi-carrier: US$80 |
Tuesday, Nov. 6th, 2001Upon arrival in London, the local time was 9 am, eight hours further ahead than my body, I think I was supposed to try to stay awake until the night fell, but I didn't make it. I checked into my old favorite, the Hyde Park Hostel and grabbed the first underground train into the heart of London. Despite my brisk pace and the buzz of the city, I was falling asleep on my feet. An annoying wind rose up and foiled an otherwise beautiful day. I escaped back underground and got back at 3pm in time for a nap.Around six I was awoken by a loud bunch of hostellers, woke up and hit the town again, taking time to make reservations for the London Eye, a giant Ferris wheel somewhere in town. The reservations are for Thursday, so wish me luck finding it. |
 left to right, Raj, Me, and Akeel.  camera crew in London.  I felt right at home at the Cock Tavern  Some re-construction north of Tottenham Court Road |
map of Bulgaria | map of Turkey
