Karadeniz – Do you know about Muslims

Apologies for my less than average attempt at blogging recently. It has been an extremely stressful and uncertain time for me, as my lovely housemate decided to kick me and Maiju out of our home because we didn't invite him to a party. With three weeks left in Turkey, this was not fun. The reality of staying on peoples sofas for a few weeks, along with 9 months’ worth of my stuff that I had collected was not ideal. However, the situation was resolved with many thanks to Phil – who agreed to take us in for a week or two. Many Thanks.

So, let us rewind for a week or two. Imagine it is the 1^st of May. Close your eyes and let the waves of time take you there. Okay children? So I shall begin.

IT ALL STARTED ON THE 1^ST OF MAY. Jannet, Marijke and Steffi  - Marijke’s friend from Holland (the most wonderful dutch ladies) Lorenzo, Andrea (the best Italians in Turkey) and myself were to begin our venture to the North. With a very severe lack of planning, we were on our way to Samsun. The over night bus ride which is now standardized in my Erasmus year was bearable, and made amusing by the bustime snack of “finger time” cake. We arrived in Samsun at 6 am – and spent a lot of time milling around the bus station trying to figure out our next plan of action. Finally, we managed to take a shuttle bus to the harbour, which was followed by a small nap on the harbour steps. We walked along being the only people awake in the small city. After a few hours we had our Turkish Coffees, I read everyones fortune’s (Fal – the reading of someone’s fortunes through the remainders of their Turkish coffee is a skill I have perfected over here!) Andrea got shit on by a Pigeon and we decided that Samsun wasn’t so good. As soon as we could we jumped on another bus to Unye – a small town along the coast. We arrived at Unye at about mid day – quickly haggled a hotel down to a satisfactory price and then began to enjoy ourselves. We grabbed lunch, with the help of 3 15 year old school boys who were fascinated by the Italians and minced off to find a beach to spend the day on. (or the beeeiiiiitttccccccccchhhh in Italian)

Following this, we grabbed some dinner and had a very pleasant walk along the harbour.

The next day we headed to Ordu – another small town on the North. After jumping off the Dolmus rather suddenly, Jannet realized she had left her purse on the bus. With everything in. Panic. However, after about 30 mins of flapping and trying to figure out which way the bus station was – I received a call from Serap – my Turkish friend who had originally bought our tickets to Samsun. She told us that Jannets purse was found and given into the Ordu bus station! The luckiest thing ever!!!

Following this fiasco, was a fiasco of my own. You know when you’re scared of something and then you always think you’re not scared because you haven’t done it for a while? Yeah…  turns out you’re still scared. I discovered this unfortunate truth on the cable car, which was 9888888208382 miles high and took about 6 hours to get to the top of the mountain that shadowed Ordu. Luckily, my friends let me squeeze their hands to death to try and assist me. But jesus, I am so scared of heights its unreal. However, it was worth it with an absolutely amazing view over the ocean and the country side that bordered it. The north is a really special place, and so so so so so green in comparison to the sapphire blue ocean. Once more, we sat ate and slept. What goes up must come down is a very unfortunate truth as I faced my fears once more to head back down. We once more strolled along the harbour, being the only foreigners in sight and had to sneakily drink beers in the park like 14 year olds. The north is a lot more conservative than I first thought.   That night, we decided to head to Trabzon – the whole aim of the trip to the north itself. And thank god we did, as here is where it gets good.

As we sat at Ordu bus station, with our best friend who worked for the bus company, getting us free tea and making sure we were very well looked after we got a lot of looks. Most of us are used to this now, always exclaiming “Yabanci var” when we feel we’re being looked at. There was a family sat on the bench next to us consisting of a three year old girl, two women and a teenage boy. They were very interested in us and we tried to have a very limited conversation. When we stopped for cay, we thought it would be a good idea if they could call ahead to a hotel for us as we had nowhere to stay and it was already 10pm. This was met with an invitation to stay at their house in Trabzon. After literally a minutes deliberation we all decided that this was an amazing offer and very happily took them up on it. (This involved a lot of very bad Turkish, very bad English and a man on the phone that apparently spoke English. He could not  understand me, but he understood Lorenzo’s English perfect – perhaps they were on the same level!) Upon arriving in Trabzon we all gathered to enter the unknown. In a matter of minutes we were in our own private dolmus, along with flashing disco lights and very very loud, very very old trance music. Odd. We arrived at their home to meet their mother, a very traditional looking woman who was about 4ft tool, about 5 metres wide and dressed in very tradition clothing. She welcomed us with such a huge smile on her face. All 6 of us crammed into the apartment that consisted of only 4 rooms. Together we were 11 people. We sat down to one of the most delicious meals I have ever eaten in Turkey. All prepared by the mother at about midnight, it was absolutely incredible. Followed by home made Baklava and buckets of cay we were all so full we could not move. The three year old that I mentioned before had taken a shining to me – and we quickly became best friends playing games of “Kedi Nerede?” (Where’s the Kitty – in reference to her bedraggled stuffed yellow cat) “Kedi Var!” followed by lots of kisses. Within a few hours she refused to not be by my side, even though I was very sick of asking where the kitty was. I was also told by the mother of the family that I was not allowed to leave the house, as she thought I would make a very fine wife for her 15 year old son. Poor boy, he was so embarrassed. It was funny for the first time but after about the 7^th mention I actually thought I was going to be kidnapped and never seen again by my family.  At about 3am, after hours and hours of broken conversation and funny moments we were finally allowed to all cram in and get some rest. It is amazing how much fun you have when neither of the parties can understand one another.

In the morning we were treated once more to amazing Turkish hospitality, with the most impressive and tasty Turkish breakfast I have ever eaten. Incredible. Following this, we ventured into Tarbzon. Trabzon is a really really interesting city, with a very unique feel to it. I was surprised with how conservative the North was, but it makes sense as we were also so far East. We were one of the only women who were not wearing headscarves – and I saw more women in full burqas than I have ever seen in Turkey. There is also a certain energy to it, a hype that is difficult to explain. The windy streets were grey and cobbled and it looked very different to the cities I had visited before.  

We had decided that with our limited time we had to visit the Sumela Monastery. We arranged a bus to take us there. What a sight. This was by far one of the most impressive and beautiful things I have ever seen in my life. After about 20 mins of driving out the city, the landscape was so green and so luscious –it looked like it could have been a valley in France. There was also a ridiculous amount of walnut trees, we were informed that 80% of the world’s walnuts come from this area of Turkey. The drive began to wind itself round mountains and burbling streams. It was really beautiful with so many shades of green.  (50?) Nestled in the greenery was the Monastry – which looked like it as just hanging to the rockface. Built in the 1300 as a Christian retreat, and then conquered and remade in the 1800 it’s history was evident. It was interesting to see inscriptions in Arabic, Persian, Russian, and then eventually Turkish – giving a very physical representation to the history of the area. If you ever get the chance, go. It will blow your mind:

We returned to Trabzon in time to check out the market. The Trabzon women did not take very kindly to the foreign girls and I heard a few women say some very untoward things, but this did not deter us. We minced around the carsi, buying more scarves than needed and trying our luck at haggling in every possible situation. Shopping with Italian boys always takes a lot of time, as the hour or so in the scarf shop proved. We somehow managed to find our way back to the families house for another massive dinner. At around midnight we decided to depart, after a lot of convincing we should stay (and an awkward moment when one of the women told us her husband had been hitting her) we managed to convince them that we had to leave for our flight. This was after a brief session of Turkish dancing however; check this out for a prime example:

So, we headed into the night and back into Trabzon. We expected to be able to grab a beer and just chill before our flight at 6 am – the only trouble is…  Trabzon closes at 11pm. Literally nowhere was open. We wondered around with our backpacks on wondering how to kill 6 hours. Luckily, we saw some fellow Yabanci wondering around who were also on their Erasmus in Trabzon (why would you?) we asked what we could do for a few hours. They told us their was nothing to do, but suggested we grab some beers and head to the university as it was just next to the airport. After grabbing some Efes we discovered that the dolmus’s had also stopped running. After asking a shopowner how we could get there, he said he would drive us! And so we all jumped in his car, he locked up his shop and true to his word, dropped us at the university. Another demonstration of insane black sea hospitality!

When we arrived at the university we were greeted by a group of students who were on their wild Saturday night bike ride. They’re English was very limited, they were also very conservative and were shocked to see girls… girls drinking beer… wearing skirts. We had a lot of fun trying to understand each other.. “I get the ball…. You get the ball…. We have the ball…. We go get the ball… you have ball?” and “Do you know muslims?” Yes.. “Okay.”

When it got to 3 am we decided that we should leave with our balls and muslims – the conversation was getting ridiculously hard to follow and everyone was on a bit of a crazy sugar high from the cherry juice on offer.

Conclusions

-          People from the black sea are insanely friendly and helpful

-          It is probably best to wear a headscarf in Trabzon.

-          We still don’t know who has the ball

-          I am still scared of heights

From ESN Med'ness - to Kalkan to Fethiye to Izmir to Efes.

On the 20^th of April 2013 over 300 international students arrived in Kemer, Antlaya. They were there in the name of ESN MED’Ness (Erasmus Student Network sur la Mediterranean ) It was safe to say that the Royal Palm Resort did not know what it had got itself into…

After a 9 hour bus ride, which was hilariously Turkish timed (meant to leave Ankara at 1 am – left Ankara at 3am) and a surprisingly good kip we arrived in Antalya. It was pretty nice to feel the excitement building as we drove down the coast parallel to the crystal blue sea. Upon arriving at the hotel, it looked like we had entered some kind of international youth refugee camp. There were  bags and bodies sleeping and sitting littering the lobby for as far as the eye could see. We were ushered downstairs for an incredibly cringe worthy talk about how we should buckle (or set, in Turkish English) our seatbelts for “the crazy ride that was in front of us.” It was really gay.

By  some weird twist of fate, we somehow landed a private villa on the beachfront. It was real sweet with a balcony that looked right over the palm trees and onto the beach. It was also good to get in contact with people, as you could just shout from the balcony. I have a slight suspicion that my roommates did not really appreciate the levels of drunk which were achieved, but I had fun.

The hotel was all inclusive. After losing my band twice in 20 minutes, I was finally to accept the challenge that the British view all inclusive as. Apparently on the first day our group drank over 7,0000 litres of Efes and ate over 3 tonnes of food in the 2 and a ½ days we were there. Very impressive I think. The weather was beautiful, the gin and tonics were free and the international love (in reference to Pitbull) was creating a lovely atmosphere. Now, as my good friend Semih once said “I am not drunk from the alcohol, I am drunk from the atmosphere.” In this circumstance, I was very drunk from the alcohol. Daytime drinking on a beach is never a good idea. Daytime swimming in the sea after gin is also never a good idea. Daytime passing out on your bed that you are sharing with someone, and in turn soaking the entire bed right through to the mattress is also never a good idea. Evening time refusing to wake up to go to dinner is also never a good idea. However, spontaneously waking up at 10pm… declaring that you refuse to miss out on the fun, getting up.. getting into PJ’s… realizing they are PJ’s, getting out of said PJ’s, putting your swimsuit on(?) and then getting dressed, managing to call someone to hold the bus for you and then running to said bus with even a waterproof cover for your camera is the greatest achievement of humanity to date.

Said bus was taking us to a foam party. On a boat.  Now, I haven’t been to a foam party since I nearly got stabbed for being the only white 14 year old in Mode back in the day, and generally they are not really appreciated. However, we were on a boat, which was pretty cool, everyone had been drinking all day and things were a bit silly. We danced alot (especially very obviously ripping the piss out of a Turkish guy who was stood alone at a very awkward distance to the majority of the crowds concentrating very hard on his moves… we thought we were being subtle. We were not.) The night proceeded in a fashion that a night would proceed when 300 students from all over the world have been drinking since daybreak and are then put on a boat. And then I got locked in the toilet. And these photos happened;

The next day with sore heads and wet beds (many thanks Evie Stannard, the bed was still not dry) the all inclusive breakfast was demolished. Unfortunately, on this day it rained on and off and so entertainment was sought by throwing fully dressed people into the pool, playing card games and general mincing.  It also included Spa activities, including a very fun Sauna experience in which Rie decided to test out her incredible Turkish whilst being slightly inebriated. Cok sicak yaaaaaaaahhhh. Saka saka. SO on and so forth.  By this time the hotel staff absolutely hated our guts. No idea why.

That night we were to have our final party to say goodbye to the weekend. However, due to the amount of alcohol our group had collectively consumed the hotel put a two hour gap on our unlimited drinks. I have never seen such anger in so many peoples eyes (except Maijus, my finnish Roomates – whom at this point had been drinking for a fair few hours and was “Very much draaaaannnk Evieeeeee”) At one point I actually heard someone tell the barstaff that this was an abuse of his fundamental human rights, and if the manager was not called then he would file an official complaint with UNHCR. Not really, but you get my gist. Everyone was livid, some were proactive   - Me – and went the 100 yards outside the hotel to buy some beer and then bring it in.

The logic of closing the bar was proved ridiculous as soon as it reopened, with people ordering 8 drinks at once etc. It was chaos. Luckily, I was aligned a la turk and Yanki told the bar man we had been waiting for 45 minutes and that he had to serve us right now. The night was going well, until Maiju went mental and I literally wall of Jehrico’d her to the floor and pinned her there (gin diplomacy). Later, I dislocated my knee. This was entirely the fault of the Italians and Christine Agularia, and no fault of my own what so ever. This was rectified with many people holding ice to my knee, helping me get up the stairs and me describing the whole experience as worse than labor.

Fun.

The next day we departed Antalya and began our voyage to Kalkan. Many thanks to the Wood family for being incredibly generous and allowing us to stay in their beautiful home. After taking a taxi for four with 7 people in, two minibuses and a nice stroll we arrived at Villa Tahta. I had told the guys (this being Coco and Lizzy from Holland, Yanki the Turk American from New York, Rafay from some poor deprived village in Pakistan somewhere, Joel from Ireland and my right hand man, Maiju from Finland) that the place would be impressive, but I don’t think they were prepared for the beauty of Kalkan and the villa itself. We had a very fun evening sitting on the terrace sipping on red wine and playing Psychologist. The following day we hit up Patara Beach – the  longest stretch of white sand in Turkey. We chilled, drank Efes, swam in the sea and had ridiculous conversations. On returning home we took a dip in the pool and made some food. The gang were to head back to Ankara on this day, but the adventure continued for me and Maiju. We spent a chilled evening in the Merkez drinking Turkish Coffee and enjoyed the stillness of Kalkan. It was very weird to be there off season, as every other time I had been there was in the peak of summer. It was also nice to be able to speak a bit of Turkish to the people that are used to speaking English in Kalkan.…

The next day we took a bus to Fehtiye – grabbed some lunch and then boarded our 5 hour bus ride to Izmir. We had decided to Couchsurf in Izmir very last minute. Arriving in Izmir we had no idea where to go, we were told to get on some form of shuttle service by an angry fat man and we complied. After 20 minutes of said Shuttle we still had no idea where were, luckily we struck gold and managed to get off the bus in the heart of the student part of Izmir  - our host lived right in the Epicentre of Izmir student life. Izmir is very different as it is the most secular city of Turkey, aswell as Istanbul. It was strange to see mini skirts replacing headscarves (not literally, no one had a miniskirt on their head and a headscarf on their hips.) Our host was quiet, but nice, he took us for food and went out of his way to show us the sights on Izmir in the dark. We had a very funny bus ride back from the city centre in which the bus driver was livid as a student hadn’t paid his fee – just like the 3 am buses in Leeds) The bus driver actually stopped the bus and went to interrogate a few prime suspects, which caused much hilarity indeed.

We awoke early to continue our journey to Selcuk, to visit Ephesus or (Efes) in Turkish. If you don’t know what it is then educate yourself; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephesus. After arranging our bus back to Ankara for the evening, we hopped on a Train to the small town of Selcuk in which Efes borders. After both falling asleep and nearly missing the stop be arrived safely. Efes itself was amazing, one of the most fantastic and amazing places I have ever visited;

 Dislocation on Tour

 Being the only unwanted females.

There was also a lot of cats we fed Borek too which made it 100000 times better.

Our 8 hour journey back to Ankara was hell, with a screaming baby and my feet swelling so much that my little toes looked like the sprouts you get on a potato when it is old.

It was a fantastic journey, filled with amazing people, amazing memories and such good fun. I think this was the best trip I had made in Turkey so far. (All with a dislocated knee – I am woman. I don’t let no knee stop me doing my thing – although credit goes to all those who carried my rucksack and helped me walk, I literally could not have done it without you.)