Wow!!! What a place to camp. Perched in a small clearing a few meters from the road the hill drops off into a steep valley and the river below. With rocky mountains on all side Its a perfect place to wake and enjoy the morning...Setting off, I only make a couple of kilometers before a family invites me in for breakfast :) These guys are awesome! Extremely entertaining people. The two girls take a liking to the video camera and we sit and laugh as they run around chasing the chickens, trying to catch them on film.
The trucks have thinned out and walking through this part of Turkey has become a pleasure...apart from the heat!!! It is still early but already stinking hot! Supposedly the temperature in Kozan, which I hope to make by this evening, was 40¡ yesterday.
Passing a little hut in Salmanli some kids run out and call me over. Happy for another rest I go for a chat. Turns out I just crashed the local religious education class but luckily the teacher doesn't mind, even ensuring that a minute after I sit I have a coffee in my hands...
The kids are great and are well impressed I can read their text books in Arabic. I don't understand any of it but it's good to know that my four months in syria wasn't completely wasted. At least I can impress someone, even if they are all under 12 ;) And from what I keep getting told, no-one in Turkey understands Arabic anyway, they only recite so my ignorance isn't discovered ;)
As I go to leave the teacher stops me...
"No no, you must stay for lunch..."
I don't need much convincing :) "Sure"
After learning some Islamic prayers the class ends and we retire to the back of the Mosque. The teacher's wife prepares an absolutely divine meal which leaves me feeling like curling up and going sleep. A few cups of tea fixes that and after a big
"Thank you" I hit the road.Fiver kilometers later I come across a restaurant and realize I've developed a bit of a celebrity status in these parts. I was wondering why the trucks had suddenly stopped asking me whether I wanted a lift...
It's great, every question I get asked is answered by another customer. Between them they already know everything about me. Name, age where I'm going, where I've been, what I had for dinner last night...It's wonderful being able to just sit and relax :)
When I start again it's the middle of the day and I realize I'm not getting far in this heat, spotting a beautiful spot next to the creek I set myself up to wait it out. Peacefully taking in my surroundings I get a shock when once again, just when I think I've found a place by myself another road sweeper spots me and comes for a chat :)The evening walk is still hot but at least bearable, and the scenery is wonderful. Craving a Sprite I spot a little shop and go for a look. The next door neighbor informs me the owners gone to pray and comes out with some tea instead. There is a backgammon board inside so I challenge him to a game...
I end up spending a couple of hours playing away and it is well dark by the time I go to leave. They offer to let me stay but night walking is a pleasure at the moment...
A few dogs come to chase me out of town but even with my mp3 player on I get plenty of warning. Generally dogs start barking as soon as they smell me, at a distance of around 2kms, so I have lots of time to prepare ;)
The road turns straight and flat and I drift away in my thoughts...
Some time after midnight dogs start barking all around and I realize there are hundreds of goats in the paddock next to me. Grabbing my torch I ensure all the dogs are behaving. The road is a good 1-2m higher than the paddock and most of the dogs are happy running around below, only one makes the effort to come up and challenge me...
My adrenaline is pumping, with this many sheep dogs around things can turn ugly very quickly, but as long as I only have one directly challenging me I know I will be fine. Keeping him in the torch beam I'm surprised at how confident he is. Most dogs wont get within five meters with the full force of the torch directed their way but at times this one gets within a meter...
Yelling starts up around and I figure the shepherds are trying to get their dogs back under control, a rock lands between me and my attacker then all of a sudden things start getting slightly surreal...
A gunshot rings out and the next rock almost hits me...
Are they aiming at me???
With the gunshot the dog retreats so I swing the torch beam to the rock thrower. Sure enough this freaks him out immensely and the barrage intensifies. All my hard learned Turkish disappears in a flash as something comes out of my mouth that I'm sure is incomprehensible to all...
I can see by the moonlight the guy who fired the shot is running my way. Hitting him with the torch beam I make out he is carrying a pistol but my action causes him to stop dead, I watch in horror as the pistol gets raised in my direction and he braces himself to let off another shot...
Holly crap!!! He's not firing warning shots, these fuckers are actually trying to kill me!!!
My initial reaction is to drop to my belly, with the road higher than the ground below he won't have a shot, but this will do very little to defuse the situation. The good thing with pistols is I know most people would have trouble hitting an elephant from 30m, especially with adrenaline pumping through their veins. The chance of him hitting me is slim...I just pray he's not on the Turkish pistol team! Taking a deep breath I stand up straight, arms above my head and light myself up with the torch...
"Tourist! Tourist!!!"
The rock thrower stops immediately and even though I stalled the other guy's shot he doesn't look convinced. With the weapon still aimed at me he runs forward, getting within 5m before finally confirming I am what I claim to be. The pistol gets hidden behind his back as he comes over to start his interrogation...
I thought I remained quite calm but suddenly realize I am covered head to toe in sweat! My interrogator has a freaked out look in his eye which does little for my nerves, slowly my wits start to return and I can make out small pieces of what the he's saying. Managing to explain what I'm up to he finally extends his free hand to introduce himself...
"I'm Aberdeen. Come stay the night with us, it is dangerous out here by yourself"
Fuck! No kidding!?! "Thanks, but I want to get a bit closer to Kozan..."
"No come, stay! We can have tea and breakfast in the morning"
"How far is Kozan?"
"Five or six kilometers"
Wow, I covered a bit more distance than I thought...and I think that's enough excitement for one night anyway...
"OK, sure"
The rock thrower goes his own way and Aberdeen leads me to the spot he shares with another guy. They sleep under the stars and I'm happy to join them. I never realized how noisy goats are but get a few hundred of them together and they make a racket. Burping, coughing, farting, pissing. Combined with the adrenaline still racing through my veins it's a while before I finally drift off...
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