Twas a fantastically ancient roadtrip we embarked upon these past two days.
would you like to hear about it?
well sit down, relax, and listen to a story that could only be related to The Odyssey....Annie Style...
The rain poured from the sky. We knew that it was imperative to find a ride home, otherwise we would be forced to stay amongst the Germans, Russians and Canadians for a calcium eternity. We all faced each other, water drenching our panicked faces, as we sprinted across the bus graveyard to find the one, lonely taksi that would surely take us to freedom....
It all began on Monday. After a festival filled weekend in Ankara, I sat staring out of my office window as the sun peered through the silver lining of the clouds. The weekend before Ankara had transformed into a Party Paradise, there had been dancing on the streets, musicians on stages, stomach-turning carnival rides and, of course, copious amounts of intoxicating beverages. Every night was a blur of colors, as we danced well into the evening and stumbled our way home with dirt on our feet and friend requests in our facebooks.
Yet we were back to gloomy Ankara. The scenery was desolate, even the stray dogs looked bored. "It's going to be another long week" I thought to myself, and I sighed.
"Hi Will, Hey Max. What's up?"
Our colleagues friend had come to visit our wonderful city, and I had seen them both at a table outside my office. I was doing sudoku puzzles and trying to get my mind off the dismal city, while subsequently improving my IQ.
"Hey, did you know that Wednesday is a holiday?" Will said, ever so smoothly.
I was in disbelief, I stared at him like a zombie, until he added "Ya, apparently Ataturk made Wednesday official Youth and Sports day, so we get the day off from work! Max and I are thinking about traveling to Antalya, but then we were thinking..."
I had stopped caring what Will had to say. I was on a mission. I was fully aware of the destination ahead of me. I jumped up, thanked them for the news, and began to put the plan into action.
Two hours later, bus times in hand, I lead Jamar, Julia and Warren down to the secretaries office to request Tuesday off. This was going to be two days of ancient bliss...it was on.
We ran home, packed a backpack of clothes, ipods and left-over pizza, said goodbye to our friends and our darling enemy, Ankara, and ran to the bus station.
It took six and a half hours and three charlie horses to get to our first destination. Pamukkale.
Pamukkale is translated in Turkish as Cotton Castle. It is a huge mountain, complete with the ruins of the ancient city of Heiropolis, and the calcium filled natural hot springs that sit on the edge of the mountain. We arrived at the top of Heiropolis very early in the morning. We decided to break into our stash of cold pizza, while alternating bathroom trips. Before we had even entered the grounds of Heiropolis, we were greeted by Mustafa, the Turkish Ice Cream man.
He had approached us forcefully, using his fake bird whistle in our face and asking us to buy his ice cream and various knick-knacks he had on display. Naturally, I didn't trust him.
"Hi Mustafa, My name is Jezebelle. These are my friends, Alex, Miranda and Jarmeesha"
You can never be too sure with these types.
Mustafa sauntered away, still calling on his bird whistle, when all of a sudden, a most unusual thing occurred. I looked above us at the many little birds, cheerfully chirping about, when I noticed one was unusually puffed up. Worrying about the birds health, I approached him to make sure he was okay, when he flew away to a beam directly above us. In a flash of passion, another bird joined him on the beam....and it was then disaster struck.
Warren started crying, Julia yelled the lords name in vain, and Jamar giggled ever so softly as we witnessed, right above us, the magic of the birds and the bees (minus the bees this time). I grabbed them and ran through a large group of parasol-laden asian tourists into the gates of Heiropolis just in time.
There we were, surrounded by stones that were covered in lizards resembling bearded dragons. We had entered the necropolis, the ancient graveyard. "Don't make any sudden movements" I said, as we tiptoed through the ancient tombs. "LOOK OUT" Julia screamed. Startled I fell into a tomb covered in spiderwebs. I too screamed out in horror to look at the approaching figures. They looked like monsters! Huge odd shaped heads, long scary arms. We could only see their shadows but we knew that the sheer amount of figures and lighting flashes that we being emitted from the mass meant sure death.
The mass approached us, blinding us with their grotesque flashes of life, muttering an evil, unknown language. I closed my eyes and grit my teeth, knowing they would surely take my life.
I opened my eyes, seeing a blinding light. "I must be in heaven" I thought...but as I looked up I saw it was just the sun coming from behind the clouds. "I am alive!" I exclaimed...and I turned my face to the side to see the intact bodies of Jamar, Julia, and Warren.
"IT WAS JUST THE ASIAN TOURISTS AGAIN"
thank god. another narrow escape.
we continued our way until we finally saw the oasis. We heard the voices of the sirens, which was really a bunch of Canadian tourists, calling us into the pools. We felt our bodies being pulled to the perfect light blue calcium lakes. Our backpacks, shoes, and various other clothing pieces melted off, as we began swimming around in the perfection. However, we looked up, and the dark clouds were growing ever nearer. We saw the retreat of the Canadians, and felt compelled to follow them.
It was then the rain started. We were stuck under the gift shop ceiling with the tourists, knowing very well we had to sprint across the parking lot to find a taksi that would surely overcharge us. Sure enough, as we ran, dodging raindrops, the man charged us 15 lira for a 5 minute trip.
Next stop was Smyrna, today known as the city of Izmir, a place that all Turks boast you must must go to. I guess all the hype ensured us of a certain let down. There were some nice greek people, some utter creeps, and a lot of Annie attitude that came out before we embarked upon a day trip to Efes.
Efes is not just a popular Turkish beer. It is, in fact, the ancient city of Epheseus. This city is where the biblical Ephesians took their home, and also where the Virgin Mary lived. Very moving to say the least. We got off the bus in Selcuk, where we were immediately accosted by taksi men begging to help us. After some ample bargaining, we got a ride to Mary's house, the ruins of Epheseus, and back to the bus station. Mary's house was but 4 walls, but a powerful 4 walls they were. We stood amongst the hispanic people and the home-schooled americans and gazed at her statue, while afterwards proceeding to the ancient city of ephesus to further make a mockery of ourselves.
We returned for a short stint back in Izmir, as we awaited our overnight train home. After making many friends and exhausting the one conversation I know in Turkish...it was time for us to go.
And so, we returned to Ankara, after staying awake to the sounds of children screaming and men snoring on the bus all night. We limped back to our home, feeling accomplished, successful, and very, very tired.
Perhaps a new conquest will come soon. Or perhaps this was our time, to see the ancient wonders and dodge the scummy salesmen. I have learned in these two days, that the worth of a woman is determined by her accomplishments, and I feel as though my price was just slightly inflated.
the end...
In other news, my computer broke and I'm bummed.... much love!
-Annie G
