San Francisco Travel Notes
The journey I started from Seattle unfortunately took 27 hours and was one of the most ridiculous journeys of my life.. I’d say it was even worse than the 29-hour trip from Paraguay to Bolivia.. Let me briefly explain what it is. Since the bus tickets are expensive, I thought I’d look for a flight ticket from Seattle to San Francisco, but the last minute prices were too high as I traveled without a plan, schedule and route.. I was forced to stay with a lousy bus company called Greyhound again.. The ticket is not less than 125 usd. There is no seat number on the ticket like the previous ones, first come gets on the bus. If the bus is full, you can’t get on and you stay on the next one.. Of course when the next leftover comes. Anyway, we arrived at the Portland terminal and they said there would be a bus change.. We got off and we’re waiting for the other bus. After 5 minutes, it was announced that the other bus would leave in 3 hours.. We waited for 3 hours at the terminal in an unrelated part of Portland at midnight.. When the other bus came, I grabbed my hand fast and got on immediately.. Those who couldn’t get on stayed on the next bus.. After 5-6 hours, we went to the terminal in another city this time and we were told that the bus would change again.. We got off and waited there for at least 2 hours for the other bus. The terminal is small but full of people.. Of course, everyone took their place at the door to get on the new bus first.. I was able to get into one of the last seats. Those who could not get on again stayed on the next bus.. We arrived in San Francisco after such a ridiculous 27-hour journey.. I guess it wouldn’t be wrong if I say don’t buy tickets from Greyhound company.
As in Seattle, accommodation is very expensive here, so I’m going to an Indian friend’s house I found on couchsurfing.. I’m going but it’s 12 o’clock because the bus was delayed. I’ve never met the man before, we just texted a couple of times and I got the address and that’s it.. Well I’m going home now. Let’s watch a summary of what I wrote in the video and continue.
As you can see, Balu welcomed me very warmly.. Since the man did not know which food I liked, he prepared a 3-course meal.. One vegetarian, one with pork and one with chicken. So I’m confused what to say. I knew you were Indian before you came. Now I am ashamed of myself for my thoughts and prejudices about him.. I’m not saying this as a joke, it really was a good life lesson for me.
Of course, the man’s house was also very nice.. A dream house for a traveler like me with its view, location and cleanliness.. He gave me the spare keys and said you’ll be on your way tomorrow. Because he will go to work at 8 in the morning.. I stayed in this super house for 3 nights and traveled around San Francisco a lot.
After having breakfast in the morning, I threw myself out. Since I am a person who likes to walk, I took a coffee from the first coffee shop I saw and started walking slowly on the streets of San Francisco.. I walked for about 3 hours until the Golden Bridge, taking a break from time to time.. I think this is the most famous place in San Francisco. I also share a photo of it.
Then I took the city bus from here to the center. One way ticket is 2 usd and you can pay the driver.
I saw the most black people in San Francisco in America. It is not in my nature to discriminate against religion, language or race.. In fact, I have always favored black people because they are oppressed all over the world.. Wherever I see it, I try to make love. But it seems to me that the people here are a little rude or, I don’t know, a little cold.. So maybe I met the wrong people, I don’t know, but this was my impression at the end of the 6 days I stayed.
There are too many homeless people here, as I see everywhere else in America.. The majority are blacks. But I haven’t seen the harm of the homeless anywhere. They want coins at most, you say no, that’s all.. Anyway, let’s continue after making our social determinations 🙂
I went to Clarion Alley street, which can be considered in the central area, because I love street art.. The peculiarity of this place is that there are graffiti on every wall, left and right.. And these graffiti are constantly changing. There were interesting works when I went.. I am sharing a few below.. After visiting this small street, I wandered around the main streets.. There are shops on the left and right, but I haven’t seen much worthwhile.
Let’s go San francisco’s other known place to the Alcatraz prison. It was one of the places I was curious about before coming here.. Especially not to watch the movie Escape from Alcatraz and not stop by here.. But unfortunately, the account at home did not fit the market.. You have to make a reservation at least 2 weeks in advance to enter because every day is full.. No matter how hard I tried, there was room for 2 weeks at the earliest.. Entrance fee 30 usd for those who want to know. Of course, if you have money, you can always find an entrance ticket by paying 50-60 USD 🙂
Now we are in Fisherman, another touristic area.. This place is constantly crawling with tourists.. Because there is a lot of attraction to do. First, I got an animal-style menu at In-N-Out Burger and satiated.. Menu price is 10 usd but the hamburger you eat is very very good. If you come to Los Angeles or San Francisco, I say definitely try it.. It doesn’t have branches in New York or many other states.
Because the Fisherman’s area is very touristic, there are many gift shops and similar stores.. But you can guess that the prices are high. I wandered around a bit and went to the area where the old arcade was.. This is such a fun place.. Everything is full of arcade consoles from the 80s-90s. And you can play on your favorite console for 1 usd.. Perfect for nostalgia.
There are a lot of piers in this area and some of them have their own special features.. For example, pier 39 is always full of sea lions.. It is strange to see so many sea lions in the city, but watching them is also a pleasure.. If you ask how the sea lions sunbathe here every day, the story is as follows; While the pier was being built in 1989, the works were interrupted for a while.. At that time, the sea lions discovered this place and started to sunbathe.. People also looked after the animals loved this place, no one interfered with them. That day, they are constantly going out to the pier and sunbathing.. Of course, it is impossible not to see and respect this value that Americans give to animals.. I keep saying millet to us.
I had a good chat with Balu one evening. He is a software developer and works for a large company.. But what he wants is to come and live in Europe. The reason is that the working conditions in America are heavy for him.. And he complains that his annual leave is less. Says Germany or France have twice as many annual holidays and public holidays as we do. He bought the house he lived in and expects his debt to be paid in 2 years.. Then he has plans to go on a long trip around the world.. People I met during my trip to America said the same thing.. In America, the living standards are high, you can buy a house and a car, but everyone complains that there are not many vacations.. I thought I’d pass that off as a footnote too.
Because I love San Francisco, I decided to stay here longer.. After staying at Balu’s house for 3 days, I had to leave there because another stranger Balu had promised would come.. Also, 3 days is more than enough for couchsurfing guest 🙂
I’ve arranged a hostel in the very center of the city. This was the lowest priced one I could find as the prices were so high. Bed fee for 8 person room is 55 usd including breakfast. So a lot.
Let’s go to Golden Gate Park, another area to visit.. It’s a little hard to understand how such a big park is in the heart of such an expensive city.. It is even more difficult for a Turkish citizen like me.. I liken this place to Central Park in New York.. Inside, there are lakes, botanical parks, vast greenery, museums, tennis courts, stadiums, sports fields, a whole world of things.. I don’t know which one to tell. Is it the best, you see the park map here. Whatever you are interested in, I say go there.. If you have time, it’s great to spend a full day here.
As I said, I love this place and i want to stay more but hostels are expensive too. I found someone at the last minute while searching on Couchsurfing.. My host this time around is called Brain and he lives in Oakland across the street from San Francisco.. The room had traveled quite a bit at the time, but now it has taken a break and is working.. Anyway, we talked on the phone, he said, “Let’s meet at the metro station, we’ll go home from there.”. I’m going to go by subway, it’s good, so when I said that the house is close to the station, I encountered another surprise.. You’ll see what happens when you watch the video below 🙂
It’s been 2 weeks since Brain moved to his house. There is not much furniture in the house, in fact, there is no furniture at all 🙂 But the strange thing is, there is a 140-inch newly bought giant LCD TV and two camping chairs in the house.. I said you didn’t even buy a seat, but you bought a huge TV. I gave priority to this, he said I will take the others in 1-2 weeks.. we laughed. The next day, when we returned home together, there was a huge parcel at the door.. I said I guess her things are coming slowly. When we opened the box, I saw that it bought a huge sound system for the TV 🙂
It didn’t matter that there was no bed at home because I have a sleeping bag. I also bought the mat from Brain to knock it down. Although there are not many items in the house, as you will see in the video, it is quite beautiful.. It is not easy to live in such a house, especially in such an expensive city.
Let me talk a little bit about this expensiveness.. I talked to Balu and Brain about this and they both said the same thing.. After the famous silicon valley was built in San Francisco, big companies moved their offices and even company buildings here.. As companies and employees increase day by day, house rents, house prices, parking fees, food and beverage, whatever you can think of, started to increase in direct proportion to them.. Balu gave 500 thousand USD to the house he bought.. If the monthly rent of the house where Brain lives is 3.000 USD. Now think about the rest. Especially the parking fee I saw somewhere in the center was astonishing.. Those who are curious can have a look here.
Today I will go to Muir WoodS, which is famous for its trees reaching 90 meters.. Normally, you can join daily tours and go for 40-50 USD, but I increased the round trip to 9 USD by using the municipal buses.. If you have time, use public transport.. The entrance to this natural park is 7 usd.. This is a real natural park because you can see the gazelles you know in their natural habitat.. The interior of the park consists of different tracks.. If you like walking, you can enter the track that cuts your eyes and stay alone with nature.. I spent about 2 hours inside by choosing one of the short lanes.. The tallest trees I’ve ever seen in my life were here. There are even some that are almost as long as a football field.. Actually, the place called Redwoods is better for similar trees, but it takes a lot of time to get there and a car is required.. That’s why I managed with Muir Woods. But if you have time and opportunity, I say skip this place and go to Redwoods.. When you look at the photos from google, you will understand why I said so.
If you are wondering about shopping, I suggest you take a look at my article on Shopping in America, as I mentioned in my previous articles.
Let’s go to the nightlife. San Francisco was perhaps the place with the busiest nights during my trip to America.. I especially liked nightclubs where blacks were dominant.. Entrance to the only places is usually paid.. If you say that place is yours, this place is mine, you will push the budget.. Everything is closed at 2 am anyway, pick a decent place for him and go there directly, I say hang out until the night is over.. If you choose places with 3-4 floors or different scenes, you will have a fun time without getting bored.. Unfortunately, the prices are high for someone who travels inside like me.. But it is very easy to communicate with people here, as it is everywhere in America.. Do not hesitate, get acquainted.
After being a guest at Brain’s house for 2 nights, I am leaving San Francisco, where I stayed for 6 days in total.. i really like this place. I don’t think I’ll be coming to the West Coast again, but if I do, this is the first place I’ll stop by.
Now I’ll take the bus to Los Angeles. This time I bought the ticket from Boltbus, not Greyhound.. It was very comfortable, I recommend. Price is 40 usd.
Stay in Los Angeles for 2 days and then to New York I’m passing.
America Travel Notes -6- New York
America’s Shopping Guide