adventures in the Far East [part I]

Day 1: Monday August 13, 2007

Sometime last year, I was afflicted by the sudden fear that I would never manage to travel to eastern Turkey. I was convinced that all the other Fulbrighters would leave, I’d be stuck alone, and thereby I would have no one to go east with. Its one thing to be going to the western coast, but I much preferred that I travel with someone else to the east…if nothing else, it reassured the Loved Ones back home.

sidenote #1: This is an important one because I do not want to be misunderstood.

Eastern Turkey is generally viewed, and rightly so, to be a more conservative region of the country. It is a region filled with tension between Turks and Kurds and, in the past, has been victim to some terrorism, though that is mainly concentrated in the southeast [here I speak of the northeast as simply “the east”]. Note, however:

This does not mean that it is unsafe to travel in eastern Turkey, even as a lone woman.

While women, especially those of the blond hair-blue eyed ilk, are prone to getting weird looks and cat calls, it is rare that one feels physically threatened. It's really more annoying than anything else...but it can be annoying in a way you've never known.

General common sense is, of course, necessary, and traveling with a partner helps one avoid awkward situations [duh]. Luckily, because it is a more religiously conservative region, there’s not much to do in the evening as there aren’t really pubs and bars open and movies are all dubbed. This means one inevitably returns to the hotel at an early hour to watch crappy French or German MTV instead of standing around outside in the dark. Thus, the goals of common sense are aided by the general conservative environment! Who’d have guessed?

In all seriousness, the east is not a place to fear and the people there are generally happy to help. Additionally, any knowledge, really any knowledge, of Turkish is a big plus—even if that just means knowing how to say please and thank you—as it attracts people and inspires the kindness and hospitality that Turks are so known for.

I ardently encourage people—men and women—to go visit eastern Turkey. It’s a fantastic place with an incredibly rich history—so many cultural, religious, and ethnic groups have inhabited it at one time or another—and there are such beautiful relics to show for it. Added bonuses: it’s easy to get around and there are oftentimes many other internationals [French, German, Israeli] traveling the same route, which can be helpful in terms of information and grouping.

Lucky for me, my prophecies were unfulfilled. Dear Yvonne stuck around, consequently, I got to travel out east with someone cool who prioritizes food as much as I do. Can it get much better than that?

Now, if you’ll remember, back in August I had a momentary moral crisis about leaving Ankara during the drought. Thankfully, my moral stature is easily shattered and I got over it, resulting in said trip with said cool person to The East [Kars, Dogubayazit, Van].

Yvonne and I were very much flying by the seat of our pants. I returned from Budapest on August 10^th and we headed out east on August 13^th. We didn’t even really talk about going until I got back to Ankara so, obviously, we didn’t do a whole ton of planning. In retrospect, we were pretty stupid:

Yvonne was living in Istanbul and I was in Ankara. We planned to start in Kars, but the Kars airport was closed. Consequently, we had to fly into Erzurum. Lucky for us, we could get on the same plane—originating in Istanbul [Yvonne], stopping in Ankara [me], on to Erzururm [both of us].

Now, that was a pretty stupid plan, no? Sure, I would know if Yvonne had made it on to the plane, but what was she to do if I didn’t make it? Of course, we didn’t really realize this scenario until that morning…when we were both seated on the plane [hoorah!].

So, off we were to Erzurum. It was a pleasant flight, except for the fact that we were both famished but everything, and I mean everything, is strictly For Sale on the plane. That means any snacks are for purchase. No complimentary nothing! Egad. Luckily, neither of us was thirsty and I had keenly thought to bring some granola bars along.

The Erzurum airport was nice—not too overwhelming—and the bus to the otogar was easy to find. We hopped on, paid our 5ytl and managed to get to the station pretty quickly. Unfortunately, just as we got to the otogar a bus to Kars was about to leave and it was filled to the brim. The next one wasn’t leaving until 4pm. Drat.

But, better to have a seat than to stand for the three or four hours on bumpy dirt roads. So, we went into the otogar and bought tickets for the 4pm bus. Hilariously, as I was walking into the main hub I saw the attendant from the Ankara-Erzurum bus I’d taken with Tiffin at the beginning of our Black Sea adventure. I think he recognized me, as well, because we both did a double take. I reckon he only remembered me because of my entirely awkward sleeping position and perhaps recounted the misery of how he constantly had to chide me for having my feet sticking out in the aisle.

Haha, how ridiculous! But, I digress.

Yvonne was famished, so we went into the cafeteria and munched. It was only about 2pm at that point, so we still had awhile. We went upstairs and Yvonne read while I tried to read but instead fell asleep. Eventually, 4pm rolled around.

We boarded the bus—lucky us, front row seats [that’s what you get for being a foreigner]—and immediately realized that it was going to be a long, hot ride. Yvonne rushed out and bought some more water.

The bus was crowded and the ride took us over some bumpy, dusty roads. The scenery, however, was truly fantastic. We drove through a deep canyon, surrounded by incredibly pink rocks.

sidenote #2: Really, those rocks were fantastic. The only time i've seen a rock that pink--we're not talking pink like a granite here, this was pure pink--was at the Tuscon Gem and Mineral Show. There was this incredible halite [salt] that was bright pink and had beautiful crystalline shapes. Truly magnificent stuff. But, that pink was a result of a certain type of bacteria, which I doubt explains the pinkness of this stuff.

Unfortunately for my rump, however, the trip took longer than expected…partly because we had to go quite slowly since the dust became so blindingly thick at points. It was dark by the time we arrived in Kars, but the driver was kind enough to bring us to our hotel. I was glad for that as I was not stoked about walking around Kars at that hour in the dark with my bags unsure of where I was going.

The hotel was mainly packed with businessmen and other foreigners traveling to Kars to visit Ani [ruins of the ancient Armenian capital], i.e. the same as us! The guy running the desk was a bit gruff, but he treated us with more sympathy than the other tourists because we spoke Turkish. He helped us organize a trip to Ani the next day—a number of people in the hotel were going and there is one guy in Kars who runs a minibus service [he’s actually mentioned in the LP].

We brought our stuff upstairs—not an easy task, I should say. Those stairs were at such an angle, nearly vertical, and we were tired. But, we made it and the room was nice enough. We decided that we should go get some dinner before it was too late and made our way out. On the way down, we stopped by a room where we heard English language TV seeping through the door. We thought we’d ask their opinion on places to eat. The couple—Katrina and Andrew—were from New Zealand and suggested just checking out some places down the main drag.

So, we headed down the street. We saw one place and analyzed the food selection, decided against it, proceeded a bit farther down the street, and then realized there was no other choice. We turned back and ended up with a bunch of yummy ev yemek.

Just as we were finishing up a scrumptious sutlac [sootlach; rice pudding] two fellas, who obviously knew no Turkish except “adana kebap”, walked in and stood around awkwardly. They did know some English, but Yvonne and I couldn’t place their accents. There were some strange exchanges between the guys and the man behind the counter, but eventually they managed to order some kind of kebap. And then…they left.

Everyone was pretty confused.

And then…they came back. With their packed backpacks.

I suppose they were taking a night bus somewhere and thought to have a late dinner while they waited.

The waiter and the cook were discussing how strange the guys were and Yvonne and I laughed because we could understand what they were saying. The waiter gave us a big smile and the we noticed an increase in the Funny Factor of the subsequent comments.

Eventually, though, enough was enough and Yvonne and I went back to the hotel to relax and watch crappy dubbed French MTV.

Our first foray into French MTV was a fantastic one as it gave us this little gem by Kamini. Since returning from our trip this magnificent testament to the art of music has saved me from the depths of despair on oh-so many occasions!

disclaimer: this is NOT for those under 18 or over, let’s say, 32?; those with an aversion to the French language; those with no sense of humor. i will take absolutely NO responsibility for what it does to you, whether that means shaking your head or cramping in your stomach from laughing too much.

After laughing our butt’s off and being entirely unsure as to how we should react, we fell in to bed, dreaming-oh-dreaming of the coming day’s adventure to the glorious ruins of Ani!