Sixty One Degrees

Which planet am I on?

Kars, Turkey

Eastern Turkey is very weird. Everywhere you go you see just guys. Right now I'm sitting in a telephone office and I can see ten guys inside and just outside. There are no women anywhere in sight. Everywhere is the same. Cafes, shops, hotel foyers (especially!), the street, internet cafes. No girls anywhere. I feel like I've stepped in to the twilight zone.

The search for Velvia

A spotted collection of sources for Fuji Velvia film (and others sometimes) across SE and Central Asia and beyond. Hope this helps someone.

China

Chengdu

Mingjia Photo Lab, opposite Chengdu Hotel

Only Provia 100F 135. Velvia 50 and 100F in 120 and 4x5. Astia?
Nikon shop about 2km north of Mao, on 1 (N) and 3 (E) bus routes.

Beijing

No Velvia of any kind. I didn't look real hard but I checked quite a few places. Several of the photo shops on Xichang'an Jie, just west of Tiananmen Square, had a box of Velvia 50 in the display cases but none actually in stock.

Velvia 100 seems to unavailable anywhere in mainland China. Kodak is much more prevalent than Fuji. Although you might luck out with Sensia and Provia.

Hong Kong

Should be okay. In the Stanley st group of photo stores I found two places that had Velvia 100, although they don't have large stocks. I cleaned one store out when I bought 12 rolls. Velvia 50, Provia and Sensia should be okay.

They mostly don't keep the Fuji stuff in the fridge, although they do keep Kodak there. Go figure.

Recommended for slide processing:
John Leung Studios, 1st flr, 6 Heard Street, Wanchai

Kashgar: no Fuji slide film at all. Kodak though. (Most of China is like this).

Thailand: almost nothing in Bangkok (six rolls on Kao Sanh Road)

Laos: no
Cambodia: found some in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh
Vietnam: no

Kyrgyzstan: fuhget it. I haven't seen any slide film of any kind. Same goes for all of Central Asia. Even Tashkent's got nothing.

Iran: some Kodak in a couple of places. Don't count on it though.

Georgia: no Velvia to be had but a very good Fujicolor processing place in Tbilisi at N43 Melikishvili Ave. They can do slides and B&W as well as excellent prints. To find it head from Rustaveli metro past the Philharmonic and towards the university. It's on the right (north side) just next to an excellent internet cafe. Ph. 25-07-13.

Armenia: good Kodak shop in Yerevan, just off Abovian St, north of Republic Square. They had Portra 400 NC and a few different B&W variants.

Turkey

Ankara: Velvia available at Sanfo Fotografik. Tuna Çaddesi 18/32 Yenişehir. ph. 435 6757. A couple of other places also.

Excellent camera repair at Tecno Camera. Atatürk Bulcan İnce Han, no 103/60 lvl 8. ph. 424 0021. Ask for Mehmet Köse

Istanbul: Lots of options in a great set of camera stores in the streets just behind the ferry docks at Eminönü. Just below Sultanahmet. Film here is much cheaper than in Ankara. About $10 a roll compared to $14 or so in Ankara.

Eastern Europe: Having loaded up in Istanbul I didn't really check anywhere in Eastern Europe. But for friendly camera repair in Budapest I can recommend FotóSzervíz at Akácfa utca 59, a couple of blocks from Octagon. Call them on (1) 321-7131.