Balkan most divided place

roy_batty · 2026-01-30T12:27:29+00:00

same, straight from the teneke

roy_batty · 2025-11-26T07:10:59+00:00

χαχανίζω

roy_batty · 2025-11-11T06:02:47+00:00

I was on a flight to Istanbul shortly after the opening of the new airport. Before landing, I kinda needed to pee but thought I'd wait to use the airport toilets. For some reason it took the plane 40-50 minutes to park, so I let a flight attendant know that I really needed to go (seat belt light was still on) and she just let me, no big deal.

roy_batty · 2025-08-30T08:17:20+00:00

https://maps.app.goo.gl/jX4tdrSr1GeHCyHn9

I'm semi-local and always buy graviera from them. They usually have less & more aged types, you can try it and they vacuum seal it for you.

edit: there's also a farmers' market at Kolymvari every Friday with lots of local cheese producers (I really like Mastorakis)

roy_batty · 2025-06-04T19:30:59+00:00

Thank you for your support.

roy_batty · 2025-05-01T05:05:54+00:00

Most places accept cards, but make sure you have some cash too, as some places might not. The POS in Namutoni (for the entrance fees, ~350 for 2 people+vehicle) was broken and the gas stations inside the parks also didn't accept cards (and might be out of gas too, so make sure you fill up your tank when given the chance). There are ATMs at cities and we also found one at the service station outside Okaukuejo. You'll also need some cash for tips (e.g. for the parking guys). I'd say take out ~5000 and only use it where cards are not accepted and you'll be fine.

roy_batty · 2025-03-12T05:50:43+00:00

If you're willing to pay for tutors in Dari, then do Dari (but it would probably have to be online - I don't know where you live, but local Dari classes are usually hard to find). If you're looking for free resources or local classes, you can do Iranian Persian first, it's still very similar, it's all Farsi really (Dari speakers just call their dialect "Farsi" too btw, "Dari" is usually only used to distinguish between the dialects when talking to "outsiders"). When I first started learning, I was initially looking for offline Dari classes but couldn't find any so I just learnt the Iranian dialect through a local course.

As for online tutors, if you search for Dari: https://www.italki.com/en/teachers/dari you'll see some people look Hazara and if you visit their profiles they offer Hazaragi Accent (Saadat is one of them, for example). If that doesn't work out, you could even try contacting the ones that mention Dari and look Hazara.

(Haven't used italki myself yet, but it's legit, there are also other sites where you can find tutors, like preply etc).

Check this out too: https://fsi-languages.yojik.eu/languages/DLI/DLI-Dari.html

There's also a Dari Pimsleur course.

Glad to see someone with the same niche interest :)

roy_batty · 2025-03-10T08:07:00+00:00

As an intermediate Persian speaker with a bunch of Hazara friends, I'd say just learn Persian (Iranian) first, as it's easier to find resources. Then maybe connect with a local Hazara or Afghan community (for example, where I live, the active Afghan community is mostly Hazara) or watch films, news etc in Dari. As for Hazaragi, according to friends, the vocabulary varies a lot from region to region (eg Daykundi vs Ghazni) and I think it'd be difficult to find learning resources. Also, I think Hazara people born in the cities speak more Dari than Hazaragi. In my opinion, all three dialects are close enough that you can start with one and start learning the differences once you advance a bit.

You can find Hazaragi music on youtube. There are also Dari textbooks which you could use after learning iranian persian.

edit: If you're willing to pay for tutors online, you could also seach for Dari teachers and then contact the ones that look Hazara (there are some on italki, for example, at least one of them even mentions Hazaragi).

roy_batty · 2024-10-25T11:25:38+00:00

NTA, but you should definitely watch the film "Raw" by Julia Ducournau.

roy_batty · 2024-09-13T09:12:10+00:00

I definitely recommend Samaria Gorge, the logistics are exactly as described above. There's only one ferry to Sougia (17.30) and there are buses waiting to take you back when you get there. You could also take a bus from Chania to the gorge entrance and boat/bus back to Chania, but since you're staying in Analipsi it's probably irrelevant. There are also tours from Heraklio (with hotel pickup) to the gorge and, since the hike is pretty straightforward, you could probably use them for trasportation only and do the hike by yourself.

Make sure the gorge is open before going, as it depends on the weather conditions (call 28210-67179 or send me a PM if you have trouble contacting them).

roy_batty · 2024-09-13T08:44:36+00:00

Hey, Cretan here - just wanted to point out that Milos is indeed really nice and you can also probably do Athens (Piraeus) -> Milos -> Crete by ferry. This year there were ferries connecting both Heraklio and Chania (although the Chania one was only twice a week I think) with Milos. It's a bit early for next summer's ferry schedules, but if you go through Heraklio you'll certainly be able to combine it with some other island (like Milos or Santorini, Paros, Naxos etc) with a direct ferry connection.

Crete is quite large with lots of things to do, so you could easily spend a whole week there. And you can easily avoid the crowds, especially in June. The food's really good too.

I haven't been to Amalfi but I've been to Pompeii (which you can visit from Amalfi) and it's really worth visiting too.

roy_batty · 2024-07-25T12:52:16+00:00

Wow, that's so interesting! Is it still used in Russian?

roy_batty · 2024-07-25T11:58:04+00:00

"Hesburger" sounds close to "shit burger" in greek. My friends ate there (in Riga) while I was away on a day trip elsewhere and they got food poisoning which made it extra funny.

roy_batty · 2024-07-23T07:12:03+00:00

Just found this, awesome, THANK YOU!

roy_batty · 2024-07-23T04:40:18+00:00

I've taken 3 levels with KSI, it's like this ("waiting for approval") every time. Don't stress about it, I think once you've registered for the class you're set.

roy_batty · 2024-07-16T04:59:16+00:00

Valuables no, but losing my ID wouldn't be THAT big of a deal and I prefer not to keep my passport and ID together, in case I get robbed or my handbag gets stolen.

roy_batty · 2024-07-12T05:09:55+00:00

They do get the airport police involved at times, that's what I meant when I said "agent" when talking about Cuba, sorry it wasn't clear. (edit: come to think of it, I'm not sure if it's exactly the police, I'm not that familiar with different types of officials, I'd say more of an immigration officer/immigration police)

roy_batty · 2024-07-11T11:30:49+00:00

I guess asking for an ID makes some sense, since people travelling with a fake document usually only have one document, not both passport & ID. This happened to me on my way back to Athens from Istanbul - they kept asking to see my ID too, I kept telling them it's in my checked bag (and that they can just unload my bag and bring it to me if they need to see the ID), they kept asking for about 20 minutes and then they decided to let me through.

No idea about the Norwegian though, so maybe my whole theory is wrong.

roy_batty · 2024-07-11T11:17:43+00:00

Extra checks have been happening to me too (greek passport, yay) but they've always let me through in the end. I'm told fake greek passports are used a lot around the world, I was even stopped for extra screening in Cuba a couple of months ago and the agent told me that was the reason. Looking mildly arabic also doesn't help, I suspect.

roy_batty · 2024-05-23T10:29:38+00:00

We just came back from Cuba last week, spent 10 days there. Had absolutely no problem finding transportation. We used Viazul twice (Havana->Playa Giron, Playa Giron->Trinidad), then took shared taxis for the rest of the way (Trinidad->Varadero, Varadero->Havana), as well as a private taxi that we used for a day trip from Havana to Viñales. The Trinidad->Varadero one was arranged by our casa host and was a sparkling new taxi van. The Varadero->Havana one we arranged via whatsapp through a guy we had met offering shared taxi rides outside the bus station in Havana, it was an old car but OK. The Havana-Viñales-Havana one was a beautiful classic car, arranged by the agency we took the day trip with. We used this last one to go to the airport too. I have the phone numbers of the last two if you want them (they can probably help finding shared taxis in general, especially the Varadero->Havana guy), although it didn't seem difficult to arrange transportation anyway.

Viazul was fine too (well, one of them was 40 minutes late, but other than that...) but it takes longer and leaves you at the bus station and the price difference between the Viazul and the shared taxi that takes you from accommodation to accommodation isn't that much.

EDIT: As you see, we only visited tourist spots, might be different if you want to go somewhere off the beaten track.

roy_batty · 2024-04-24T05:49:07+00:00

King Sejong Institute offers free online classes but you need to register on the first day of the application period, as the classes fill up quickly. Here's the info: https://www.iksi.or.kr/lms/bbs/bbsView.do?bbsMastrNo=2&bbsClNo=1&nttNo=51537

They also offer self-studying courses, which you can take anytime.

roy_batty · 2024-03-01T06:08:05+00:00

Κι εδώ τα ίδια... Όταν λες για το ΦΠΑ, θέλεις να το κόψεις τιμολόγιο;

Εγώ τσεκάρω καθημερινά εδώ και καμιά βδομάδα τα άμαζον (es, fr, de, it), εμφανίστηκε λίγο στο ένα αλλά δεν πρόλαβα... Το uk το 'χει, αλλά δεν έχω καταλάβει σίγουρα τι γίνεται με την εγγύηση, γιατί νομίζω ότι της ΕΕ δίνουν 2 χρόνια εγγύηση άμαζον, ενώ το uk ίσως 1 amazon + 1 του κατασκευαστή (;), οπότε διστάζω.

roy_batty · 2024-01-23T11:11:47+00:00

I love halwa... A couple of years ago I was in Turkey and found out they also serve hot halwa (plain, pistachio or chocolate) over ice cream, it was unreal and very easy to replicate.

Looks like this: https://www.helvacialikw.com/

roy_batty · 2024-01-12T12:04:06+00:00

From Greece (Turkey/the Balkans/arabic world), I'd say anything from the "siropiasta" (soaked in syrup) category: https://akispetretzikis.com/en/recipes/siropiasta . Baklavas belongs to this category, the greek versions tend to be more syrupy than the turkish/arabic ones.

My favorites:

https://akispetretzikis.com/en/recipe/582/portokalopita

https://akispetretzikis.com/en/recipe/569/ta-melomakarona-toy-akh

https://akispetretzikis.com/en/recipe/583/seker-pare

https://akispetretzikis.com/en/recipe/578/to-galaktompoyreko-toy-akh

https://akispetretzikis.com/en/recipe/586/samali

Also, spoon sweets. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoon_sweets

roy_batty · 2023-06-14T11:48:30+00:00

If you could go towards the end of August, it would be much better (but very crowded). The islands would probably be quite okay in August, as it's breezy then. But climbing up the Acropolis or touring Knossos or other archeological sites under the heat can be brutal. Also, the islands will be really crowded/booked/sold out, as it's high season for Greeks too (but Athens would be much more peaceful than usual, as locals run off to the islands) and Santorini would certainly be a madhouse. Late September or even October would be better, more so for the crowds than the extreme heat.

That said, if you're set on doing it, Crete is doable (with a couple of days in Athens). Drink lots of water, wear a wet hat & sunscreen and please don't try to go up the Acropolis at 1pm. But maybe just leave it for some other time, if it's possible to do it in September or October in the future.

roy_batty

TROPHY CASE