Thoughts of a Nomadic One

As the sun's rays shines out over the peaks of Cappadocia, I can't help but laugh at the chain of random events that transpired yesterday.

I arrived to Selcuk in the morning from the overnight bus from Istanbul. I spent 45 minutes walking to Ephasus (site of well preserved Roman ruins) in the morning heat. It was going to be a hot day and I didn't last more than 1.5 hr before I was too hot and satisfied with my visit.

As I started to walk back on the long stretch of road connecting Ephasus to Selcuk (no one else was walking since it was so hot), a cabbie called out to me, "Selcuk? 10 Liras, it's too HOT to walk!"
Not willing to pay 10 Liras, I started on my long and painful journey. I later realized that it had hit 42C in Selcuk when I was walking and after 1 hr of walk, I was only halfway to town! Not willing to suffer a premature death due to heatstroke, I decided to stick out my thumb and hope someone had the generosity to give me a ride into town.

Fifteen minutes later, imagine this: Me, sitting on the back seat of a farm tractor as it pulled into downtown Selcuk. I wished someone had taken a picture of me right there because it must've been a ridiculous sight.

I spent the rest of the hot day on the internet at a hostel that I wasn't even staying it and watching the only thing that was on their TV (Lilo and Stitch 2). This continued my run of bad movies first started by Dubrovnik's Ripley's Game.

I then took the 4 P.M. bus and was on my way to Goreme, Cappadocia via Parmukkale. But then something happened. While we were pulling out of the Parmukkale station, the engine wouldn't pick up and after sitting in the unventillated compartment for 10 minutes, the place felt like a sauna and everyone got out of the bus (it was still 38C at 9 p.m.). It took 3 hours for them to finally fix it and even when we got on, you just knew everyone was praying that it wouldn't break down again. That feeling combined with the Turkish edited version of Littleman made the ride less comfortable than it could've been.

For the two full days, I've been in Turkey, I can't help but remark how friendly people are even when they're not actively trying to sell you something. Turgay from Paris Hostel, Selcuk let me stay in the shade and gave me Turkish coffee. Kassim, a Turk I had met on the bus to Selcuk, and I talked about life in Canada and Turkey. In Parmukkale, I talked to Mandur, a geography student trying to get people to his hostel. He and I had good conversations about life, women, weather, business and Parmukkale. Though there are differences, its remarkable how similar people can be across cultural divides. When I told him I missed Canadian summers composed of cottages, beers, BBQs, he said that his friends do that sometimes; they get a sheep from his grandfather, go up to his friend's mountain nomad home and BBQ. Throughout the bus ride, I was also getting looks since the backcountry almost never sees any minorities (esp. an Asian Canadian!) However, after the delay, we didn't need to speak the same language to share our humour and frustration. A look, a smile, a shake of the head, it transcends all cultures.

And now, as the sun rises over Cappadocia, I wonder what other adventures lie ahead!