Adana 30.10.2008

Am still in Turkey at the moment. Haven’t had time to write and also haven’t been in the mood. Sorry guys. It takes me forever to write even a short post. So we’re in Adana in the South of Turkey which is sort-of an industrial city. Not exactly fitting the profile of our so-called Africa-trip but what can you do. We’re here because Nadine’s flight was from here and we had to wait for our off-road tyres and now because we’re waiting for Christoph’s computer. We’ve been making the best of it though. We again managed to meet the right people. (May our luck not turn) Being in the hotel’s restaurant/bar area on our 1^st morning here some man came up to me asking me where we’re heading. I was surprised and delighted due to his good English and told him our mission. Long story short, Mehmet turned out to be a BMW GS-owner himself and also family of the hotel-owners and lets just say very well-connected through the city. Since the meeting he has sort-of taken me and Christoph under his wing and helped us so much with getting the tyres and getting it changed and getting us to a shop who had indicator-covers for me since one of them got taken out by a bird somewhere on the way through Turkey. He showed us around the city and invited us for a wonderful meal at one of his favorite Restaurants. We also got invited to the motorcycle-club-weekly-get-together organised by him, held in this very hotel. It turned out to be a very interesting and enjoyable evening. The diversity of people there was really something else. It’s now been 5 days since we met Mehmet and we’ve, unexpectatly, had a truly great time here. Through Mehmet we’ve met Oguz and Halil who are both very kind hearts and has become dear friends to us. All three of them has been completely going out of their way to help and keep us happy in every possible way. The Turkish hospitality is really something from another world. Once someone has accepted you as a friend there’s is practically no barriers as to what they will do to keep you happy. I’ve said it before, but it astounds me. Loyalty to each other and “old values” is very prominent here. More than in any other country I’ve been. Christoph’s computer-problem has just been sorted out (thanks to Mehmet, Oguz and Hahlil) so we’ll be leaving tomorrow.

I’ve come to realize that my Sudan-visa will not be valid by the time we get there because we’re so behind our original planned schedule. Needless to say I feel like crying if I think of all the hassle and work I went through to get this difficult visa. I’ve informed myself on the internet now about geting the visa again in Cairo and was relieved to learn that it should not be too difficult. (Although I’ve also read more than one horror-story of travelers being showed of.) Christoph sits in the same boat as I so at least we wont be wasting each other’s time in Cairo.

Halil just suggested that we go past Antakya tomorrow on the way to the Syrian border to see the worlds oldest church where Apostle st Peter preached. After being in the hotel for nearly a week I’m quite anxious to have my behind on  the saddle again. (Although it’s a wonderful hotel which I can strongly recommend: www.cetinel.com)

I can just hope that we will meet more people like Mehmet and Oguz and Hahlil on our journey. These 3 guys has proofed again that in the end of the day it’s not so much the places you see that makes the great experiences, but the people you meet.

As always, thanks for reading.

PS: To my English and Afrikaans readers who is not understanding Christoph’s German posts, it can be easily translated through different translaters on the internet. I can recommend it since it’s a pleasure to read.   

Mehmet