Hey Guys
So I'm finally in this small little town called Decemko (pronounced dechemko) near Izmir in Turkey. I left India yesterday in the morning absolutely wasted. (Thanks Aman for taking care of me). Like, I remember in one moment I was singing and dancing and in the next I'm at the airport and Aman and Massi are telling me to puke into a Plant because I had to catch my flight. He was forcing down dirty shots of coffee and lots of Snapple.Aman was constantly on the phone with Anya (Who was also freaking out) OMG!! I must have given them such a heart attack. My massi luckily was working at the Oberoi's, so I got an airport representative to take me inside. I had no idea how I got my bags checked in (or did I?). That guy was killer - I think his name was Neeraj or Nagraj.
I still dont remember how I cleared the security and emmigration. I remember that Neeraj guy telling me to fill up an emmigration form, only I know how I held that pen and wrote my name on it. Lol..What fun!! So finally when I reached the lounge, sense came to me and I sobered down. Guys you need to do this. Get on a flight drunk. Lol. Still cant get over it!!
So anyhow, when I got on the flight the stewards were all Men, but you already know that because I just called them stewards. No females! My plans to pass some time with the ladies bombed and I just slept through the flight. The food was not surprisingly Shit! My flight had to land at 9:15 am in Istanbul, and I had a connecting flight to Izmir at 11. My flight actually landed at 9:30 and by the time I came out it was 9:45. I knew I was dead. The immigration line was HUGE. And I mean HUGE. I asked people for help, but no one knew English and told me to fend for myself. I died. I knew I was going to miss my connecting flight in a country whose language I didnt speak. I just had it then. I made the sorriest face you must have ever seen, had a tear in my eye and jumped the que saying "I dont know Language, i will miss flight..boo hoo" Quickly got my passport stamped and made a run for the domestic terminal. Checked in and before I knew it I was of to Izmir.
During the flight, the scene was really breathtaking. And I'm not even joking. The Landscape of turkey is very hilly, (loads and loads of hills) with lots of lakes thrown in. Its like we were traveling on mountain tops. Its sunny with a cool breeze blowing. So very green and CLEAN. The women are really pretty and everyone has green eyes here. The people are gorgeous! They have this bronze tan, well built, all thin, with short hair and green eyes. The women are Fair with long flowing straight blonde hair. Im actually surpirsed they're not walking the ramp. FYI, I love green eyes, so I was staring at everyone like a letch.
I landed at Izmir, got my money changed and headed off. When I exited from the airport, I had no idea what to do next or how to reach Dilkili. This is where my adventure started. And boy, what an adventure!!Before I left the airport at Izmir, I asked the help desk how I could reach Dikili. They told me to catch a bus from outside and go to the Ottogar. Two questions, where is the bus stop. What the fuck is Ottogar.Actually three questions, How much does it cost? I really took these things for granted back home, but this was a completely different ball game. After asking nearly 6 people, who thought I had lost it, I finally found the bus stop and then went to the Bus Station (Ottogar in Turkish). When I reached the Ottogar, I was asking for Dikili.
After waiting for half an hour, the bus to Dikili finally came and I put my luggage onto the bus and got in. I thought we'd buy the ticket inside once we've started. This ugly looking man comes and starts screaming at me telling me get off the bus. He kept speaking in turkish and all i could do is shrug my shoulders. This other lady pointed at a kiosk and said Ticket! Ticket!. And I was like Oh!! Thats what u were saying. So I got off and asked the guy for a ticket. He started muttering something else. I lost it this time. I shoved the money in his face and started screaming. DIKILI DIKILI!! He shouted back and told me to leave. By then, my bus had started reversing and was going to leave. I knew I was dead for sure!! The bus had my luggage, my money, my passport, everything. So i was basically going to be raped really hard. I ran and stood behind the bus, "Ab toh aar ya paar", My bhangipanti actually saved me. The guy got off, took off my luggage and left.
I went back to the kiosk and started asking him for a ticket again. Thats when I found my saviour. He asked me "Do you speak English?" And I was like "HELL YEAH!!" He spoke to the guy behind the counter and told me that the previous bus was full and that I had to buy a ticket for the new one and that he was on the same bus so he could help me out. FINALLY!! I thought, someone who can save me. He told me that he was going to this town called Candarla (Pronounced Chandarla) for an audition for playing the guitar. Killer guy he was. Just passed outta high school, chilling. His name was Bekhtir, or soemthing close to it.
Once I got on the bus, The ride to Dikili was beautiful, Between these hills were lakes and beside these lakes where beautifully coloured houses with people laying on the beach. The olive trees growing everywhere, the conifers(Surprisingly!) It was Awesome. By the time I reached the Ottogar in Dikili, it was 6:15. I had to reach my resort. The funny part is, that i did not know whether there was anyone to meet me there, or whether there was even a conference going to be held. For all you know, they canceled it last minute and I'm stranded in this beautiful, but scary place. Once I got down, I asked for Decemko from this shop. The middle aged women did not know what I spoke, and I did not hers, but I asked for Decemko and said Otto (Figuring out that Otto had to be bus). She said Saat and made a seven sign. Saat actually means time. I sat in her shop till then. She gave me free food and drinks and just smiled at me. It was so interesting that for me to even ask her how far Dikili is from Decemko, I had to draw this diagram and ask her for the distance. She then called her son, who wrote 10 km for me and smiled.
The bus finally came, I got on. The bus took 3 Turkish liras and played Turkish Songs. By the way, Turkish songs sound like a mix between Bhangra and arabic music. Damn interesting.
When I was appraoching Decemko, I knew this was it for me. It was late and If I couldn't find the Decemko Holiday Resort, I was doomed. The driver dropped me off randomly at this one place and told me to search for the resort on my own, because he did not know what "Holiday Resort" meant and I did not know how to say it in Turkish. So I got off with all my luggage and started tugging it aimlessly. When I reached this one random resort, I asked for the Holiday Resort and asked whether this was where the Climate Advocacy Institute was. She coldnt get me at once, CLIMAX!! but then smiled and invited me. I knew I had reached. I no longer had heavy boots. My adventure had ended, or infact had just been taken to another level.
This other American woman came down from upstairs and said "Oh Samar, we've been so worried, we realised too late that u had to come, we sent a taxi for you, we even had announcements at the airport, we thought you were lost." And I just said one thing "It was worth it"
Dikili and Decemko are at two ends of the bay overlooking the sea. There are green hills behind and a sea infront. A little warm with cool air blowing. No really, this is how I saw Turkey. Even though I havent seen alot of countries, Im sure that this has to be the most beautiful place. You dont know what to get awe struck by, the people or the scenery. My resort is on the beach. The people are nice and life couldnt get better. There is a wireless connection with a speed of 500kbps. So all I do is sit at the beach with my lappy and when i get bored I read a book with this beautiful scenery infront of me.
I miss my hindi and chat pata food, but sometimes you need to go away from somethings to realise its worth.
ALOHA!!
:D :D
