Van

Finally made it to Van after probably one of the worst travel days in my history. I think Mercury is in retrograde or some crap like that. Just not a fun adventure, which is to be expected from time to time I think. Seemed pretty odd though that it all happens at one time. I woke up that day to a screaming kid at 1:30am, then again at 3:30am for morning prayers, then again when the kid woke up at 6:30am. So I went down for breakfast at 7:30, and proceeded to WACK my head on the doorway, (sucks to be tall at times). At that one moment in time I actually uttered the words out loud- that is not a good omen-, and I was right. It took three hours and two different Internet cafes to upload one image and blog entry! Now I hate self-fulfilling prophecies, and try not to buy into them, but this is extreme. The whole day just kept saying- it will be a bad day, stay at the air conditioned hotel, go in two days!- But there are times I just have to plow ahead and learn from the experience...and if I really don’t have to go, then I have learned not to go. Trust your instincts and follow them if you can, if not do your best.

So the bus was late, but that happens. It was also packed, which was a surprise to me when several people mentioned how quiet and remote Van was. The first omen was the cracked windscreen...that grew and grew as the trip went on.

Next was the attendant that removed his tie and shirt as soon as we left the station. The amazing service and assistance you receive on busses only happens from major city to major city. The bus from Konya to Van...yeah, one cup of tea.....uhhhh..thats it! He removed his shirt because the AC would only work once in a while, and was turned off when there was a hill. So a 14-hour bus ride with 28 Turkish men would prove to be interesting I thought. But hey, that’s the joys and price for international travel.

Anyone that has traveled anywhere outside the US, especially to Italy and Mexico know how frightening the drivers can be. Turkey is no exception to this rule. Several times in my journeys I have felt like -this is the point where I die in a STUPID taxi/truck/bus accident-. They do go fast, they do like to pass everyone, but they also like to just drive on the left side of the road...at night...when the freight trucks can travel the easiest and fastest. This coupled with very narrow, very old, and very rough secondary roads provide great material for -Worst Bus Crashes- videos back in the States. Well, lets just say that from now on, I will be listening to my instincts.

The freight trucks generally travel average speed, but in very long caravans like in Australia. It sort of looked like Mad Max with 10-20 trucks with a dozen lights on each winding around the hill side and crosscut passes. Buses seem to hate these because they go slower than us...and we were already late for our other pickups. So a few blasts of the horn and we would pick our way forward. Keep in mind that there is a line of trucks in front of us as well, coming AT spatial navigation, and us, so timing is very critical in this game. I’ve driven a couple of racecars and a few sports cars in my days, and I know this is a higher brain function. Now, I’m not exactly sure what or how it happened since I had a very bad seat in the middle of the bus and it was late at night, but all I know is that we were performing one of our many passing maneuvers and, well, law of averages would have it..we clipped an oncoming truck and put him into the ditch alongside the road. He was carrying rebar. There is a careful ballet that they perform when they drive, flashing of lights to signify passing, move over, slow down, go faster, fuck you..etc. There is also the famous tooting of the horn for the same purpose. After 3-5 hours of this maneuvering and horns and flashing lights I think I actually grew accustomed to it..sort of like mortar fire. He hit the horn and lights, but I think we had no room to swing back over, so the oncoming truck had no choice and no shoulder to ride into. His load shifted and down he went. He was injured; some of the rebar came through his rear window. After an hour or so, the cops and the Gendarme worked everything out and we were sent on our way..again this felt like everyday events. So the men were all chattering and tsking like women. I just wanted to throw up.

Now at 2:00am we are heading towards Siva’s. We have made no stops, no food, no drinks, and the occasional blast of AC to cool things off. Again, not sure how it happened, but I am sure why... we ran out of gas. Yeah...gas...ran out....empty..no fumes..no reserve....yeah..in the middle of nowhere...don’t even mention cell service. So, an hour and half later, a policeman took one of the THREE drivers to a gas station and we got 5 liters of gas. This act of running out of gas is a quintessential male function, we have all done it once or three times...so I can almost understand...almost. Now the story could have ended there, we fill up, head to a gas station fill up etc etc. No. We had to continue to be, well, MEN! The driver forgot to get a funnel. You kind of have to have one. So another 30 minutes and 3 drivers later, they figured out how to cut a 2 liter coke bottle into a funnel, filled most of it and decided to wear the rest of it. They got the bus cranked up and off we go! An hour later, and around 10 gas stations later, we ran out.... again. Why didn’t he stop? Because we were already late for our next pick up, and he thought we could hold out, and he was a MAN! Just cant admit defeat can we. So, needless to say, we did stop finally and got gas, and we all ate and stretched, and we made the rest of our normal stops, with a little more AC.

The drive through the country itself was amazing and a great way to experience more of the rural aspects of Turkey. The landscape itself is remarkably similar to New Mexico around the Grants area and parts of Taos. Its desert like, but with more grasses and a few more trees randomly spread throughout the long sloping hillsides. Most of Turkey is volcanically formed and not the best to grow things in. Turkey seems to have one big advantage of large aquifers that they can pump and irrigate from. There were spots on the way to D?vr?? that looked like the lava fields around Acama Pueblo; very rocky and very rugged, yet they would clear as much as they could and farm it as pastures for their goats. Let me tell you, as a goat lover, you can definitely get your fix on goats out here!

We went south through the mountain and river passes into Elaz?? down to D?yarbak?r. Again with features and landmasses like the Taos gorge and the drive up along the Rio Grande in New México, the drive was amazing to watch. They get snow in the winter and heavy rains in the spring, making a lot of the roads just dirt washboards. The good news if I come back for the same trip in 3 years they will have completed the construction on they were doing. I wash I had a better seat to photograph from, even if it was just bleak canyons and rock walls. The rest of the trip was around D?yarbak?r and up to A?r? and then down to Lake Van. It was probably the most circuitous way to have gone to Van, as well as one of the most grueling and unnerving, but there were beautiful aspects as well. Tons of Sheppard’s and goats feeding on the countryside, the amazing canyon and pine tree hills in the river passes, and the drive around lake Van. Lake Van is outstanding, and sort of plain. There were no boats on it; there are no real beach or lake front resorts or houses, no docks and very little lakeside life. Its not really a lake, but more an an alkaline inland sea with the best cobalt and turquoise colored water. You would see from time to time naked kids running in and out of the water, with their fully over coated and scarved mothers and sisters watching them. There looked like places where villagers would take horse drawn cartloads of sheered wool to be washed at the lakeside.

We finally arrived in Van around 5:00pm....nearly 24 hours after leaving Konya...it was to take 15 hours. All I could think of was taking a tax? to the hotel, taking a shower and laying down for a long air conditioned nap. I think I have sort of hit that point that my buddy Tim mentioned of fatigue and overload on long trips. I just needed to go easy. But not yet. I got into the city of Van, which is much more modern and metropolitan than I anticipated. Got to the hotel, and the tax? driver took off with my bag in his trunk. I know this has happened to a few of you, so I didn’t panic. I thought maybe, since he dropped me of across the street, he would loop around to drop off the heavy bag. Yeah.......no. SO I told the desk clerk, and he said it happens a lot, not to worry. Checked into the NON air-conditioned hotel. only the 4and 5 star have a/c, took a cold shower and laid on the hot bed listening to the amazingly LOUD sounds of remote little Van. I think I did sleep for a half hour. Decided I got myself into this mess, I better try and do what I can. Went to the front desk; no bag. Now the desk clerk is kind of young and speaks pretty okay English, but thankfully he does not know the word -asshole-. He stared to accuse me of forgetting the bag, being careless and lazy. I explained that I just wanted another tax? to go to the bus station to find the driver and get the bag..Im sure it was a misunderstanding..no accusations..just want my damn bag! The manager came out; the kid explains the situation, and the manager replies- you need to take a tax? back to the bus station and look for the driver and ask for your bag-, uhhh.....yeah..thats what I said. I swear, I know this shit happened to everyone, but this was getting extreme. So after I laugh, say a few choice words in Spanish,(just in case) and the manager gives me the hotel security guard to go to the Ottogar, where as soon as I walk over, 5 guys start yelling Hasims name..who just left. They have me sit down, I go through the mime routine of what happened..we all have a laugh, and Hasim shows... with the bag intact. I say thank you, and go back to the hotel-not sure what the hell happened, why, or what I did to deserve all of this...all I know is that I was treating myself to chocolate ice cream for dinner, and I did!

Today is a new day, and everyday always brings something amazing, I believe that. I received a letter today from a friend that I bumped into in Istanbul. He came to Van last week ahead of me, and climbed My Ararat! He made it back safe, and had a great time. The bad news he told me that kidnappings are on the upswing the past few weeks,(sorry mom). So today I am taking it easy, writing, looking at plane ticket changes and making sure that I am still registered with the Consulate here in Van. I may go back to Konya and explore an archeological site I heard about on my way out. It is being dug by the Germans and English in the countryside outside of Konya. Then again, I may just be a typical man, buckle down and come up with a new plan for Van. I would like to do a side story on the carpet makers in the villages around Van, as well as see Ararat. There are a lot of great photos to be made there! Or I may bail and go to Oregon...who knows!

Enough for now, more soon.