Monday night Ingo (my roommate) and I set out for a week long adventure in Turkey. Our plan was to take the night train to Konya, and from there to go to Kapadokya. We got to the train about five minutes before it left, and for the first couple of hours had the compartment to ourselves. Then, a couple of Turkish guys got on. For about the first hour it was really quiet, and then they got out their food and we got out our food, and the eating and talking began. The two guys go to a two year school in Isparta. Cihan, the older one with a ponytail, is learning the leather trade. The younger, Beyhan, is studying textiles. They were both really nice guys. Beyhan knew a bit of English, which only came out after he had drunk Vodka, and Cihan didn't speak any. So it was a good chance for me to practice my Turkish. The sleeping part of the journey, however, was not as good as the company. The seats folded down, but the heating was right under the bottom beds. So the bottom beds were really hot, but if we opened the window, then the people on the top froze. In the middle of the night Cihan was nice enough to trade beds with me so I could get out of my boiling bed.
The next morning we arrived in Konya two hours late at around 10. Our first order of buisiness was to find cigarettes and coffee for Ingo, and then the internet. Our internet directions were bad - Turks have this need to tell you how to get somewhere, even if they really don't know where it is, but at least the hunt lead us close to the center. Unlike in most cities, Konya's train station is not in the center of town. With no word from anyone on Hospitality Club or Couchsurfing, we decided to go straight to Göröme. So we boarded the tram to the bus station. And then, on the way, the tram hit a guy. So naturally, everyone had to go look at what was going on. Then the televison guys, polis, and ambulance arrived. After waiting about 20 minutes, the tram was allowed to leave. The bus station is really way out of town. By the time we got there it was snowing really hard. We found a counter advertising busses to Göröme, and they told us they were closed. Not understanding, we went to the next counter, where they explained that the roads were closed to snow. So we can't go today, I asked (in Turkish). No. When can we go? Tomorrow there is a big chance. Allah Bilir (God knows).
Needing a new plan we headed to the station cafeteria for tea and coffee. Looked at the book. Had some soup. Pondered taking a bus to Van. Then I went back to ask when they thought the busses would go. Or where else we could go. You can go to beyşehir lake or eğirdir lake they told me. You speak turkish very well. Your boyfriend (meaning Ingo) is lucky to have you. We don't know when the roads to Kapadokya will be open. Turns out, Ingo had been to eğirdir before and really loved it. Then, while talking to mom on the phone, she reminded me that we had been to eğirdir before. And so we decided to go.
Considering how snowy the road to Eğirdir was, and the fact that it was still open, I find it hard to imagine how snowy the other road must have been. At one point we stoped because there were cars in the oncoming lane, as well as a truck that had pulled over into our lane. And naturally, all the Turkish men on the bus needed to stand up, see what was going on, and give advice.
As we drove through the hills, the sky was the same color as the snow, making it sometimes impossible to tell where the land ended and the sky began. And it also began to snow. We arrived 4 hours later at Eğirdir, in the dark.
It was only this morning when I woke up that I got to see what was on the other side of the lake. It's absolutely beautiful. The lake is surrounded by mountains, that, at this time of year, have snow on them. From the town on the shore, it is a 2km walk to the island. Yes, they have made a walkway to the island, I guess making it not really an island anymore, but we were not walking on water. And on the way we found the most amazing icicles ever. Eğirdir is really windy, and on the windy side of this sort of land bridge, the waves were very strong. And probably since the beginning of winter the ice has been accumulating on the ground, trees, rocks, and table and chair. The chair really looked like it had teeth.
The island is really cute. As Ingo put it, if this was Germany, the island would have been totally cleaned up for the tourists. But it hasn't been, and so there are still old houses and dirt paths, and well, it has not been sterilized.
There isn't really much on the island though besides cafes, pensiyons, a playground, and lots of very nice views.
We found a place we wanted to stay, and after some tea, headed back to the shore.
At the bus station we discovered that there is a direct night bus to Göreme, and being poor, decided to skip paying for a hotel and to take the night bus. Sorry to the lady in the pensiyon!
While eating lunch, we got to witness the beginning of the doner making process. The donercu sliced the meat into very thin slices, and then put them all into a mixture of yogurt, milk, onion and other stuff and mixed it all around. He then put the meat back in a pan, and told me it would sit overnight like that. Then, the next day they would stack it up, and put it on the spit and cook it.
We decided it was much too cold to walk back to the island, and so instead walked along the lake, finding more giant iceicles. After wasting more time in a pastane and at the internet cafe, we boarded our night bus to Göreme.
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