Everyone has a list of places he/she would love to visit and Turkey was pretty high up on my list. Egypt & Iran are somewhere at the top of the list too.
I've been meaning to write about the trip but it was hard to distill the experience into paragraphs. In a few hours' time, I'm leaving for another trip. This time to Jordan & Jerusalem. So I'm attempting to write about the Turkey trip now in order to preserve the memories and to reevaluate why I travel in the first place.
I'm going to cheat here, by embedding the video below instead of recounting in detail the places that I've been. [The lucky winner's itinerary mirrored mine exactly, since we shared the same travel agency, POTO Travel & Tours.]
Oh, how I looked forward to the trip! After 5 months of work (Jan - May), I needed a break from my routine. I wanted to be immersed in a completely different environment, as the one I was in had me feeling constricted. So I was looking forward to experience and marvel at fresh/novel/foreign scenery, architecture, food, language & culture.
The trip fulfilled my expectations and more. I loved exploring the various UNESCO World Heritage Sites and experiencing new sights and sounds, so completely different from what I'm used to.
Thus, I completely agree with Pico Iyer when he said, "And if travel is like love, it is, in the end, mostly because it’s a heightened state of awareness, in which we are mindful, receptive, undimmed by familiarity and ready to be transformed."
So after 6 months, I'm ready to fall in love and be transformed again, this time by Petra, Masjid Al-Aqsa, Dome of the Rock, the Dead Sea and other places I have yet to see...
P.S. Please pray for our safe journey!
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