Sunday, December 28, 2008

Malatya Day 7

I got really excited when I flipped on the TV the last morning in Malatya. On the kids’ channel, Looney Tunes was on! I was really excited, because Looney Tunes hasn’t been on TV for several years. I watched for two hours straight, until Mert came to get me for breakfast. After breakfast, we packed up as we had to check out of the guesthouse by 10am. We left our bags near the front desk and went to waste time downtown. Mert, Canan, and I just wandered around downtown. We met up with Beril and her husband. Beril is another grad student from METU. I sat next to her and her husband on the bus ride to and from Mt. Nemrut. Her husband was really interesting to talk to. As he and Beril are slightly older than everyone else, they were great to talk to about more socio-economic issues in Turkey.



He explained to me that Turkey’s largest problem was their refusal to dissolve the class-based society. To become a politician or businessman, you need to know be a part of the upper class, or be closely associate with someone who is. Another problem is that men will own large areas of land, becoming self-appointed governors of small areas, probably about the size of counties in the US.



We all got lunch at the same restaurant. By this point, they had recognized me, not only as an American but also as the guy who only eats baked potatoes. I knew I couldn’t eat for a while because of our flight at 6pm, so I ordered too. They were kind enough to scoop out the potatoes and arrange them on a plate for me. It is just another example of the kindness displayed by the Turkish people.



After lunch, we walked over to the tourist information booth, so I could get a Tourist Ministry poster from Malatya. The tourist information office was located inside a beautiful garden lush with palm trees and fountains. It was very much an oasis in a broiling and dry city. We sat down and enjoyed cool drinks for a few hours until we had to grba our bags and head to the airport.



Beril’s husband had negotiated with a taxi driver to take us to the airport for the amount it would cost us to take the Havas bus. We picked up our bags and all crammed into the taxi. I had forgotten how far the airport was from the city, but I guess they can’t position air force bases too close to city centers.

After getting into Ankara airport, we took a Havas to the Asti, or Ankara bus station. They dropped me off at my dormitory at around midnight. I was completely exhausted, but it was a spectacular trip. I wish I could have visited Urfa, a city near the Syrian border, but at least I got back safely.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Malatya Day 6

The next morning at 6am, Canan, Mert, and I got up to catch the tour bus to Urfa. After waiting at the designated spot for 30 minutes, the owner of the tour company came by and told us that due to the accident the day before; everyone else had pulled out of the trip. She offered to allow us to accompany the two-day trip and have a car bring us back that night. We would be leaving for the return trip to Malatya at around midnight and getting in around 3am. We all decided that this was not a very safe plan, as we could be stranded by an unreliable car. We told the woman that we would not be taking the tour, and that we wanted our money back. She said that we should come by her office later in the day to claim it. So, we went back to the guesthouse and slept for a few more hours.



When I finally woke up, Mert turned on the TV in our room. There were military parades on most of the channels. August 30th is Victory Day in Turkey. It signifies the Ataturk’s victory in the Battle of Dumlupinar, which signified Turkey’s independence from Greece, who was supported by the allies in World War I. It is celebrated by several hours of military parades at Ataturk’s Mausoleum in Ankara and televised throughout the country on government TV channels.



We, finally, woke up and ate breakfast. As Canan and Mert had not seen the museum in town yet, so we decided to go see that. The streets were lined with red and white streamers and balloons in celebration of Victory Day. Lots of street vendors were around from the parade that happened earlier that day. Although we never witnessed the parade, the decorations were evidence of the importance of this day to the Turks.



There was a vendor selling these white pods from a plant, which are a naturally type of chewing gum. Mert bought a small bag, so they could try it. It was apparently good that I didn’t want to try them, as they were apparently somewhat awful.



When we got to the museum, the security guard recognized me from the other two visits. He asked Mert if I was a journalist as I had carried my camera with me all three visits. He told Mert that he could arrange for me to meet with the archeologists who work at the museum if I come back in two days, or Monday. Mert told him that I was an American who was visiting, and the guard laughed. He told us that we could take pictures of whatever we wanted, as long as I didn’t use my flash. This was the third set of rules regarding my camera in as many visits. By this point, I had seen everything; so I focused on taking pictures of the more intricate pieces, particularly glass vessels and gold coins.



After leaving the museum, we went and got lunch. Still eating bread, I started to find mealtime being the least favorite part of my day. Afterwards, we went to go get some dondurma, Turkish ice cream, so they could have some before we left the next day. We were meeting up with everyone else for dinner, after they all returned from a trip to a waterfall nearby, so we had lots of time to kill. At this point, we went to go pick up our refund at the tour agency office. Mert and Canan were surprised that we got a refund at all. Apparently, refunds are a rare occurrence in Turkey. I was rather happy that we received one as the trip cost over 100 lira.



We ended up walking around the bazaar again. I ended up buying a few hand made copper dishes to act as sugar dishes for my tea sets that I had purchased earlier. We went for dinner at the same restaurant we had been going to for the past few days, so I could have more potatoes. I really have to say how much I appreciate everyone for accommodating to me to such a degree. I know that everyone felt somewhat guilty that I got so sick in their country, but everyone really went above and beyond to make me as comfortable as possible.



Since we had gotten up so early, we turned in early. Although it had been a relaxing day, it still was quite tiring with the extreme heat.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Malatya Day 5

I have to apologize again for the lapse in posting. Between research, school, and the holidays, I have been hard pressed to find time to update. It’s probably a good thing as my advisor has been using that as part of the metric to determine if I’m actually busy or not. ;-) Anyways, I have some free time over the next few days, as I am finally taking a break from work. Happy Holidays to everyone.



So the fifth day, or Friday, was an exciting day. It was the day we took the first conference sponsored day trip. Leaving at 3pm, we took buses up to Mount Nemrut. For an in-depth description of you should definitely read the Wikipedia article, the sites’s website, or see the APOD picture. As I don’t want to blatantly copy the description from Wikipedia onto the blog, I highly recommend you go read the four short paragraphs which are posted.

Since I planned on hot weather the whole trip, I did not bring a sweatshirt at all. When we arrived in Malatya, Damla inquired to check that I had brought a sweatshirt. As I had not, everyone was worried that I would freeze on the trip to the summit of Mt. Nemrut. That morning, I decided to quell their worries and buy a sweater. I decided to go down to the bazaar to purchase one from one of the street vendors, as I thought that would be the cheapest solution.
I went downtown with everyone, but split off when they waited for the dolmus to take them to the university. I walked down the street, which was lined with clothing merchants. One seemed to feature tops and sweaters. I walked in and through hand motions and the Turkish word for sweatshirt, he started to pull down lots of types of sweaters. I chose two of them and he told me that it would cost 150 lira, which I knew was outrageous. I as I said that I didn’t want the second sweater, which was more expensive, we started bargaining the price of the second sweater. I eventually got sick of it and was adamant that I did not want the sweater. I paid what he quoted me for the first sweater, which was 70 lira.

The thing about the whole situation is I got worn down enough where I just wanted to get out. I didn’t keep in mind that I could leave at any time, which I knew full well was an option before I walked in there. I guess I hope that this serves as a reminder for someone to not forget that you are meant to bargain for anything not sold in a store while abroad, especially in the Middle East. Anyways, I thought I would point that out, so someone else might benefit from my mistake. The worst part about this is that the summit of Mt. Nemrut wasn’t even cold!

After buying the sweater, I went to go stock up on bread before the trip. The trip advertised that dinner would be served at the summit, but I knew that whatever it ended up being would not be something I could eat. I grabbed a loaf from one of the bakeries, and stocked up on pretzel sticks at a convenience store around the corner. I, accurately, hoped that my system would be able to handle the pretzel sticks, as I was getting really sick of bread after eating it for nearly two weeks and almost exclusively for the past week. I made my way to the university to meet back up with everyone at the conference before boarding the buses.



I chilled out in the lounge while the conference wrapped up and everyone was fed lunch. The buses started arriving at 2pm. We stood out front waiting for the buses, and tried to board one but I wasn’t able to find a seat, so all 8 of us piled back off. This small fact will be extremely important later. Meanwhile, another bus pulled in, and we were able to take over the whole back of the bus. At this point, I think I should point out these buses were in the style of dolmus, so they seated about 14 people with an aisle on the passenger side of the bus. To get to Mt. Nemrut from Malatya is a 4 hour drive on a dirt road with the last few miles consisting of steep and narrow switchbacks. This dirt road is a non-descript turn off from the main highway, so it would be very hard to find it without prior knowledge that it takes you to the top of the mountain.



We made two stops along the way. The first was about an hour into the trip at a small convenience store, at which people could buy water and snacks. There was a natural spring there as well that some people took an interest in. Everyone in our group bought a few snacks and rested in the shade. A small cat came to nuzzle us and beg for food. After about ten minutes, we boarded the buses again and continued on. After about another hour, we passed through a small town, which was incredibly cute. All the town consisted of was a small mosque encircled by a few even smaller houses.



Later, the second stop was slightly more exciting. We stopped at a small waterfall on which was built a fishery and restaurant. They had a fishpond within the building, from which one could choose a fish to be prepared. Tijen, Damla, and the Canans found berry bushes below the restaurant and picked several fist fulls of blackberries. I didn’t have any as I was still cautious about what I was eating while on such a long bus ride. We loaded up into buses and drove for another 90 minutes. After the waterfall, I didn’t really pay a lot of attention to the drive until we came to the switchbacks during the last 2-3 miles. Instead, I was actually trying to update my blog as best as possible. Apparently, it is hard to type at the bus rocks back and forth. Who knew?!?



As we crossed the tree line, we could see for miles. The road at this point became barely a one-lane trail. It switchbacked steeply up the side of the mountain with very tight turns. The road, as well as the rest of the top of the mountain, was made up of a reddish limestone. Upon arriving, we disembarked from the buses, and walked about 1000 ft before we reached a shack. Thinking that we had already paid for the park entrance fee as part of the tour price, I continued to walk up the hill before getting yelled at. Apparently, visiting the site cost an additional 5 lira. I found this slightly irritating but paid it nonetheless. There are two sides of the summit to the site, the eastern and western sides. As the tour was intended to get us there around sunset, the colors of the setting sun on the rocks was stunning. Unfortunately, there weren’t any tour guides to explain the history of the site. I would have even settled for an explanation in Turkish to none at all. As it turned out, once again, my guidebook saved the day. After seeing the statues of Zeus, Herculues, Tyche, Apollo, and King I Theos Antiochus on the eastern side, we moved to the western side to watch the sunset. Both sides have the same statues but the surroundings are slightly different. Both sets of statues are supposed to be on throwns, but all of them have been moved over the ages. There was an formation of rocks that all the METU students sat down on. We all broke out snacks and waited for the sun to set. At this point, I broke out my guidebook to read the description of Mt. Nemrut to everyone as no one really had any idea what the significance of the monument was. As you can see in all the pictures, there is a reddish light cast on everything. The reddish limestone reflected brightly in the light. As the sunset faded, we all walked towards the buses. The little shack that served as the visitors’ center was selling little plaster figurines of the statues. Since there were only 3 lira apiece, I ended up buying 5 of them, one of each statue.



Upon reaching the buses, we were given a cheese, pepper, and tomato sandwich with an apple and bottle of water. We all hoped back into the buses and started the long ride home. I noticed the bus driver was driving rather fast for it being pitch black outside and a one lane, dirt road. I tried to write as much about the Malatya trip on my laptop as possible before I finally couldn’t take the rocking any more. I tried to sleep as best I could with the rocking. About 45 minutes from home, we suddenly pulled over. The driver was frantically calling someone, and someone else on our bus received a text message from someone on another bus saying that another bus had gone off the road and rolled down a steep embankment. Someone else received a call, from which we learned that no one had died but several people had broken arms and/or suffered from cuts from the broken glass as the van had rolled down the embankment. The creepiest part about this whole experience was that the bus, which overturned, was the one we were originally going to ride in. It only happened to be dumb luck that I couldn’t get a seat on it that we didn’t get seriously hurt along with everyone else on that bus.



The driver determined that there was nothing for us to do other than continue on returning back to Inonu University. Apparently, several ambulances had been called to carry people to the university’s hospital. We all sat there silent and stunned for the rest of the trip. The driver was nice enough to drive us all the way to the guesthouse from the university. We turned in as soon as we got back, as we were supposed to get up at 6am the next morning for our day trip to Urfa, a city near the Syrian border.