Turkey and I get Hitched

I hopped another expensive bus from Adana out to the beautiful beach town of Antalya. It was more of the Turkey I thought I was going to find. There were endless pebble beaches flanked by mountains complete with full sun and weather fitting for late Spring. A few castles from the Ottoman Empire dotted the horizon and the beachfront.

My hosts in this city were avid hitchhikers and we had a long discussion on how to go about doing it. We planned out a day trip so I could give it a whirl. The next day I was out on the side of the road, thumb out and waiting for a ride. Not to much later I found a ride up the coast. The ride was a rickety old work van. The road reminded me all about Highway 1 back in California. The winding highway stayed along the blue Mediterranean Sea the whole time and we rocked out to Turkish music the whole way. The whole day went well and I got all the way back with time to spare. I met truck drivers a construction worker and an agricultural engineer. I was hooked.

I said goodbye to the warm sun and headed north, all by thumb. In Ankara I took a day to rest and hung out with some very cool couchsurfers. Then I pressed on to Istanbul.

My rides to Istanbul were very fun. I started jumping up and down and pointing to one car with my other hand when I saw it rolling down the highway. The 1970's classic Camero painted with the Turkish flag colors swerved across three lanes to pick me up. Some sort of business man took me for almost 300km and was a fantastic doodler. With his sketches I learned he used to be in the military, had a family and I even learned all of their names, ages and what sports the kids did. I was lucky to get picked up by the next car. He took me all the way to Istanbul and he was even going to the same neighborhood as me. He helped me find my way through the massive maze that is Istanbul which involved a boat and three subway transfers.

Istanbul is one of the oldest cities in the world. Formerly known as Constantinople, its old town was especially fun. I went and wandered the maze of cobblestone streets and visited the famous mosques blaring the 'call to prayer' over its loudspeakers atop the steeples. The hospitality of the Turks is fantastic. They keep giving me things. The guy that helped me get to my hosts neighborhood wouldn't let me pay for any of my subway tokens. Others gave me gifts such as a Turkish pendant that is supposed to keep away the bad spirits and prayer beads that are supposed to calm you down when something is ailing you. My host keeps feeding me! Its fantastic but as a proud American I like to pay my own way or at least help out a little. These Turks wont have it