Travel plans

So about those dogs. My landlady had Annabelle (the big, furry one) shaved. I didn't see her for two days because she was apparently hiding in embarrassment. Ostensibly comfortable enough with her new look to make herself public, she finally came out last night on to my terrace while I was watching a movie with a friend. I heard my landlady laughing and calling to her. I came out and before me was a skinny, hairless, quite pathetic looking dog. I started cracking up and tried to pet her but she ran away from us to the outdoor stairs. The neighbors came out to see what all the hub-bub was about. They took one look at her standing on the stairs and just started laughing hysterically. At that point the poor dog probably thought, "Forget these assholes," and she ran off to the park across the street. I haven't seen her since.

Anyway, I'm traveling to a place I've wanted to go for a while. Tonight I leave for Eastern Turkey. It's the land of Kurds, and most Turks as me why on earth I want to go there. I'm excited to see what this other side of Turkey is like, especially after hearing so many things (good and bad) from so many people for the last two years. My itinerary is as follows:

Istanbul to Trabzon
Trabzon to Erzurum
Erzurum to Van
Van to Ani and Dogubeyazit to Van
Van to Hakkari, Sirnak, Siirt and Mardin
Mardin to Diyarbakir and Mt. Nemrut
Diyarbakir to Istanbul

I'll post some thoughts after the trip, as well as some photos. Herkese gorusuruz!