It was January 18th, 2024. We had just crossed the border into Turkey, stopping briefly in Ancient Troy on our way to Assos.
I was very excited to visit Ancient Troy since I had just read “Song of Achilles”. If you haven’t read that book, I highly recommend it!
It was awe-inspiring to see the remnants of a city that’s thousands of years old. On our tour, I learned that there were several (10?) cities of Troy built on top of one another over the years. Amazingly, we were able to see the different layers!
Our bus ride to Assos was one of the most exciting rides of the entire trip. Our hotel was located in a very remote area down by the sea, which meant that we had to bus down a cliff to get there! Gulín, our tour guide, making an announcement on the bus:
“If you have vertigo, do NOT look out the window right now”
Of course, I looked.
I was instantly reminded of a similar experience I had in Granada, Spain during my trip in high school. That time, the bus was inches from the edge of a cliff. Absolutely nauseating.
I took a deep breath and put all of my trust in our new bus driver, Fatih. We had just met him that day 😅.
When we finally reached the bottom of the cliff, Gulín led everyone in a chant:
“Fatih! Chchch. Fatih! Chchch. Fatih! Chchch.”
We repeated this chant frequently throughout our travels in Turkey!
As I mentioned before, our hotel was in a very remote location, which made it impossible for the bus to drop us off at the front door. Luckily, the hotel had kind staff who came in vans to pick up our luggage. We just had to walk ourselves down the road. Nobody seemed to mind walking after several hours on the bus anyway!
I was meandering down the quiet street when all of a sudden, I saw my classmates moving as far left as possible with fearful looks on their faces.
I looked to my right and saw a cow that had seemingly escaped from its owner.
Laughing, I said, “You guys, it’s just a cow!”
I wasn’t afraid of cows after several years of living and working on a farm.
As I got closer to the “cow”, I realized that it wasn’t a cow at all…
It was a bull!
He seemed harmless, but I quickened my pace regardless.
What a way to be welcomed to Turkey!
Until next time,
Clara