Joe’s Trip to Turkey 1999 (2 of 10)

As we wandered down the coast, the temperatures got hotter and hotter. I am now drinking a gallon of water a day, plus the occasional adult beverage.

It was a long stretch to cover in one day, and the Isuzu bus has only a 4.3 liter engine so it was often done in second gear. Comparison to an overloaded VW bus would not be unkind. We listened to ghastly pop music tapes and drank water. Mountains covered with scraggly pine trees, fig orchards and ripe sunflower fields went by as Abba played.

There was a stop at what can best be described as a row of fruit stands. Wrinkled old men selling cool stuff from nearly identical stands. Black olives, honey, local olive oil, under ripened nectarines, lovely figs, freestone peaches and amazing melons. We came, we saw, we gorged. Veni, vidi, piggy.

We were now in a hurry. Or as much of a hurry as one can be in an overloaded bus smelling of figs and Abba.

We were going to the Ruins of Pergamum. The R.O.P. is tre cool, or cök supa as the Turks say. A fortress, a theater, lotsa marble pillars, constructed before any of us were around. It was one of the richest and most powerful kingdoms of the Greek Empire. Situated high on a hill to aid in defense from tourists, the ruins are spectacular and not all that ruined. The theater is intact. As amazing as it is, the reason that I am mentioning it is that we were there during the eclipse. How many people can say that they saw the last eclipse of the millennium from Pergamum? Where were YOU during the eclipse?

Lunch was good. I ordered three starters; a bowl of mystery soup, (Soup der the jury is out), some börek, which are kinda like cheese filled eggrolls and a wonderful eggplant salad. These appetizers were 300,000 each, or 70 cents a piece. My main course was spicy lamb meatballs (köfta) and rice.

That night we stopped in Selcuk. The staff remembered me from last year, for I am not a typical customer there, I am not 25 and Australian.

The Fez Bus is a ‘Hop on, Hop off’ bus and most people had done either one or the other. My new ‘mates’ were all Kiwis or Aussies in their 20’s, but with different names. They sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to me, and we all had a few too many glasses of raki last night. My advice? Beware of strong liquor that changes its color when water is added. Malathion does that also. Coincidence?

We are pretty far south now, the water is blue, the beach is white sand. I have hopped off the Fez bus for a couple of days, though one could easily spend a week or more here and be very, very happy.

Yesterday we departed from Köycegiz, a small agricultural town on a lake. The Fez bus bunch had stopped at the Tango Pension, a clean, modern hotel.

In the morning after my Raki-drinking birthday, it was time to settle the bill. My room (double bed, ensuite bath), dinner, breakfast, an hour of Internet usage, one liter of cold spring water, three glasses of Raki, came to $22.50. Can’t hardly complain about that.

Read all the adventures!
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10

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