On my way to Turkey

Here I am, on the road again. Yes, again you'll say. Never enough, I would add.

So at this point, I'm somewhere between home and Turkey. Crazy? Bah!

I had chosen not to travel this summer. But I changed my mind. Hesitated between Switzerland, Croatia, Turkey, and the UK. Asking around, I found myself a traveling partner ready to board for Turkey. Decision made!

But now, the conditions got worse there. Protests are going on and on in Erdogan's country. Go or not to go?

Of course, there is the financial aspect. Flight was booked and I won't get a refund unless I'm sick or it's way too dangerous to go there. And I have that feeling that the risks, ever present in Turkey, one must admit, are probably concentrated in some public places like Taksim Square. Would be surprised if the protesters invaded the mosques and the other very touristic attractions.

So I'm leaving. I'll see. My instinct will be my first ally. Nothing keeps me from changing my plans if I feel unsafe. But for now, after looking at the warnings on the government website, I'm not worried.

Let the adventures begin...

Hostels in Amsterdam

With Brel's song in mind (Amsterdam), I started looking for a hostel in Amsterdam. Just in case. Because I usually travel in the low season. But not this time. And it appears the city of vice might get crowded in June.

Conclusion : when hostels get full without any effort from the owners, there is no need to offer a good service. When you look at this, the average rate on hostelworld, for any of these hostels, is pretty low. Cleanliness, staff, apparently, everything is "not so good".

So I gathered my informations from friends living in Amsterdam. They confirmed : the hostel world in that city is a jungle.

A jungle because you might end up with smoking, drinking, noisy roomates. With the Red Light nearby, you know... That's where you might want a hostel with a no-smoking, no-drinking policy.

A jungle too because when you read previous customer's comments, you understand it's gonna be pricey for average service. When your description states the showers don't work that well... and you don't plan on fixing them, it means you probably still make a lot of money out of your crappy hostel.

Other downer : unless you want to go far away from the city, the fares double for a bed on Saturday. Yes! You won't find a bed under 60 $... in a dorm.

Anyway, I booked to ensure I would sleep somewhere. Took a cancellation insurance. If I find some people to share a room, it might be cheaper in a hotel...

That said, I won't hold back from commetning once I get there. Stay tuned.

La Nouvelle

On another subject, I now write a column called Le Bourlingueur in the weekly newspaper La Nouvelle. French readers will find me there once a week.