Essay : Love in the Time of Terrorism (or How I Spent my Summer Vacation)

I guess the time has come to tell you about my trip to Turkey. Josie, AT and I toured the country from September 19 to October 5, stopped in 9 different cities and traveled through dozens of others. Why Turkey of all places? Not many Canadians go there (especially not in the cities we went) and we like to travel to places to meet new people, experience new cultures. Constantly rubbing shoulders with familiarity in that context can be extremely annoying.

This photo of Josie was taken on the shores of Lake Hazar, a gorgeous and very hidden sight on the side of the road, lost in the mountains between Diyarbakir and Elazig. Apparently, there are thousands of corpses of Armenian people at the bottom. I didn't verify these claims, but you know me, I thought it made the place all that more fascinating. I don't know the best way to discuss such an eventful trip, but I've chosen one. So without further ado, here are the highlights from my trip to Turkey.

Kurdish people are really cool

This is the only photo I've taken in the Kurdish city of Diyarbakir. Our overnight stay was rather intense and involved: a public stabbing, a riot, a run-in with the Kurdish militia (YPG, Peshmerga, I'm not too sure what to call them) and a meal with Kurdish students. The PKK (the main Kurdish political party in Turkey) is considered a terrorist organization by several countries including Canada and it's a crazy notion to me, because the Kurdish people never felt hostile to me in any moment. They are peaceful, proud, warm and humane people who want nothing more than a place to live amongst each other. Breaks my heart what they're having to go through in Kobani, about 140 KM from Diyarbakir.

It's a fascinating city, although it was a little too edgy for me due to the political situation. Two days after our trip, people were dying in protests over there. This photo's a good example of how it feels to walk the streets within the walls of Diyarbakir, though. The streets are narrow and the buildings are very tall, so it's always a little dark. Outside the walls, it's noticeably more modern and less populated. It was beautiful and quiet and something about it reminded me of the Upper West Side in New York. Loved the city. Loved the Kurdish people. I wish them the best with the (once again) impossible political situation they're caught in.

Van is the most beautiful city

Van is located about 35  KM from the Iranian border. There literally are signs over there with arrows saying: ''Iran's this way, buddy,'' which is a wild fucking notion for any Westerner given how demonized the country's been in media. You'll meet a lot of Iranian tourists there. I think Van is the place where they go do a little shopping and spend a couple days off. One morning at the hotel, we had our breakfast next to a family that looked like characters from Persepolis brought to life. I'm pretty confident we were the only Western tourists in town during our 48h stay.

The entire region of Van seems to have been carved within the mountains. We're very proud of our mountains in America, but you haven't seen mountains until you've see the Van region. Mt. Yellowstone? Pffft! They got like, ten of these in the same region. They have so many  mountains that they don't bother giving them names anymore. On our way to Van we stopped in Dogubayatiz (an awesome and chaotic city that serves the world's best yogurt) in order to look at the famous Mt. Ararat and aesthetically, it was nothing special. Just another mountain, really. We had to be told which one it was.

When I look back upon my trip to Turkey, I keep thinking about Van.

Elazig and Harput

The Great Scam of travel guides about Turkey is that no mention is ever made of Elazig and the adjascent village of Harput. It's a hidden jewel of the East and you should totally go there. Elazig's a beautiful, über-clean and well-organized city where it was actually easier to shop and in freakin' Istanbul. Once again, it reminded me of a miniature version of New York city, which is a feeling I never got in the West.

One of my favourite memories of the trip is spending an afternoon with Mustafa the taxi driver, who gave us a guided tour of the historical village of Harput despite not speaking a word of French or English. He didn't care, he talked and talked and made hand gestures. He was so proud and was having so much fun showing us his city. Later, we had a meal with him where he ordered the utmost delicious food for us, including a wonderful dessert called (I believe) tatli. I travel for moments like this.

Faralya and the Valley of the Butterflies

In the last days of our trip, we unwinded in the small village of Faralya, on the West Coast. As you can see, it's on the very top of a mountain, right above the legendary tourist attraction of Butterfly Valley. There are indeed a lot of tourists there, but it's mostly European people. The Turkish West Coast for them is like Cuba or Mexico for us. It's all beaches and restort towns. Believe it or not, we actually climbed down this mountain to go into the valley. I don't think the travel guides stress how dangerous it is, you need to be cautious AND in good physical shape to actually pull it off. I was sore for two days afterwards.

The West Coast is beautiful, but rather uneventful. It's a place where people come to relax and unwind, not to have adventures. I'm ecstatic I've seen Butterfly Valley (which is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen), but I was a tad out of synch with the overall mood of the place.

In Cappadocia, go see the Fairy Chimneys

Cappadocia is a strange place. After spending a week in the East where no one talked a word of French or English, it was strange to be in a place where the locals actually spoke BOTH! The village of Göreme, which we stayed in, is so artificial it reminded me of Las Vegas. There is a LOT of North American tourists over there. We even met the only Quebecers outside of Istanbul aside from us. We spent an entire evening eyeballing one another across the restaurant. Seems like we weren't the only ones traveling to transcend familiarity.

There were no hot-air balloon rides during our stay due to shitty weather, so we had to do other stuff. If one attraction is worth it in Cappadocia, it's the fairy chimneys. It's a large park filled with giant rocks shaped like penises. If you climb up the rock structure, there is actually a fun (and rather safe) trek that goes all around the park where you can take killer photos and end up in the garden of a man named Beckir Uslu, who sells the world's most delicious dried apricots for extra cheap. Like everywhere in Cappadocia there are a lot of tourists, but at the Fairy Chimneys, you can do your own thing.

I thought about originally name this post Love in the Time of Beheadings, but after spending the month of October scrolling through the news and hoping for Peter Kassig's release only to look at his severed head at the feet of some fuckface soldier a couple days ago, I would've felt like an internet jerkoff doing so (but I thought I'd mention I had the idea. Go figure). It bums me out that selfless people who try to make a difference in war torn countries are getting brually killed nowadays, yet I find such cartoonish evil come to life fascinating.

Was Turkey worth it? Absolutely. Would I go back to my favourite spots? I'm not so sure about that. I'll make sure to cherish my memories and spread the word about what I've seen, but the political tension messed with my smooth Canadian mojo.