Hitting the Turkish roads

Finding yourself in a foreign country for some period of time and residing in one place will not give you a full glimpse of all the fortunes that a certain country has to offer as well as their mindset. Speaking of that, Turkey is a country that every single of its corners will present to you various lifestyles and distinct environments.

While doing my voluntary service accompanied by my exploring spirit I decided to fully indulge in visiting places and more importantly to get closer to the Turkish people. In doing it so, one has to enter their personal space, to be allowed to travel together with them, and to be willing to engage in conversation which topics sometimes may not be pleasurable. So, with a purpose to discover them and hear about their country, culture, life, etc. I hit the Turkish roads and hitchhiked to my places of interest. In the beginning, I was reluctant about how it will be and whether I am going to wait a lot on the roads under the summers scorching heat of around 35°C. But, now after getting it done, I can state that altogether I spent more time writing the signs than to get a ride. Also, once you enter their car you are automatically perceived as their guest and you will be treated with nice hospitality. The help that I got from them was immense, not only the ride but also they will offer you food, especially from my experience stopping fora bowl of soup and the inevitable çay (tea) is the ultimate refreshment.

Living in Ankara and starting the journeys from this huge city was not easy and getting outside of Ankara was a trip of itself because on some occasions it took me up to one hour. So, in whatever direction you are heading you first go to Ulus, Ankara’s central area, and from where all dolmuş (minibusses or shared taxi) to every spot of Ankara are going. Ulus is the mother of the dolmuş. If you go West (İzmir, Eskişehir, Bursa, İstanbul), you go to Ulus and take the Turkuaz dolmuş from Denizciler DolmuşDuragı (as labeled on Google Maps). You go east (Samsun, Trabzon) on Ulusyou go to Anadolu İlahiyat Akademisi and take the Mamak dolmuş. If your direction is South (Kapadokya, Mardin, Konya, Antalya), then you go to Ulus again and take the Gölbaşıdolmuş from Altındağ Gazi Anadolu Lisesi.

To me, this hitchhiking experience was unique since I saw fırsthand Turkey’sdivision between its East and West, which means more traditional versus the more liberal way of life.

While conversing with the drivers towards Sungurlu/Boğazkale and to Konya, aside from the introduction topic, the conversations were aimed more about the current political situation, religion, and its necessity. The driver to Konyaeven asked me if I am maybe a terrorist and whether carrying some bomb. To which I replied: “Yes, two of them”; and he was even better: “Hmm, now you make me curious how you can fit them in such a small backpack”. That was a moment of relief because neither of us was serious. However, for me was a sign that the current situation in the world is playing a big role in everyday life and affects their opinions towards foreigners. On the topic of religion, I said to them that even though I have been given Christianity I consider myself religious-free, immediately imposed some need in them to say me that I should reconsider my choice and think about reading the Kuran and eventually becoming a Muslim. I understand that more members mean more strength, but still trying to convince someone about the religious choice I consider it a more intimate thing than to be discussed while traveling. Nevertheless, being firmly confident of my choice I was not giving so much importance to it whatsoever, but it remained for me as kind of a mystery whether is it correct or wrong approach. Arriving in Konya, once the capital of the Ottoman Empire and the city where the great XIII century poet, jurist, Islamic scholar, theologian, and Sufi mystic Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī-Rumi was living and creating introduced me to the surrounding of people that strongly follow the religious practices and cherish the teaching of Rumi. During the daylight, Konya is lively but quiet as the people do not want to disturb the peace of Rumi, whose museum and resting place fill the city with tourists. But, when the night falls, Konya is somehow odd since after 9 pm you can barely find an open place to eat, the streets are empty and even cars are not so prevalent. I found that situation kind of scary because I was worrying where are the 2 million people of Konya, what are they doing, and why they were not enjoying the summer nights outside. Eventually, aligning their life with Rumi’s lessons was the reason for it, and having a peaceful night with the family members is what the tradition dictates.

On the other hand, western cities, İzmir and Eskişehir, are different stories. Already in the car, the differences were obvious. The drivers were more open-minded, curious to hear about the place from where I am coming and our values, asking me did I like the rakı (anise-flavored liquor), how I am coping with the high prices of beer here and that real modernAtatürk’s Turkey is on the west. Mentioning him, I got to know that his parents were born in Skopje, the capital of my country, and even rarer information for me at that moment that his favorite song was Vardar Ovası (Vardar’s field) with Vardar being a river in my country Macedonia.

The moment that breaks all my suspicions about Turkish hospitality happened on the way to İzmir. A man stopped to pick me up although he was with a big kidney pain that he could not fasten his seatbelt. He was heading to his friend, a doctor, for a check and to learn about his situation since the doctors in his hometown, according to him, were not telling him the factual state. He was in pain, with bad and pessimistic thoughts, and seemingly assured for the worst. Despite all that, he stopped to help and left me wordless for a while. Also, I must not forget to say, the person that gave me a ride Ankara-Eskişehir was one of the politest I have ever encountered. He as well helped me with meeting my friend in the city and he spoke with him on the phone. Citing my host: “I thought some state official or from a bank speaking to me with such high addressing Bey (Mister)”.

The two cities are indeed covered with a progressive and vibrant atmosphere. İzmir, as a coastal city getting influenced by the tourists as well as from its history as a trade center, is liberal, noisy, and much colorful. I found that the people there are smiling more, speaks English or French or German, spending the nights in meyhane (Turkish tavern/pub) and their clothes adjust to the summer heat and not to the conservative attire. Likewise, Eskişehir (Old City) unlike its name, is a new city with modern infrastructure.

Emerging as a university center, with Venice style gondolas going up and down the river and with youngsters that are coming as far as from Hatay, a city that is some 800 km to the south-east, have a prolific alternative scene and urban living. In the very first 15 min walk around the city center, I grew a feeling that here is the new-generation of Turkey that wants no religious label and to aspire for their freedom and personal choice. Assuming from their appearance, I would say that they could only receive the “street-style fashionistas” label. Moving from Eskişehir to Bursa to me it happened something that I want to be an experience to all hitchhikers. I fastened the Bursa sign on my backpack and started to walk towards the intended hitchhiking spot while eating my breakfast. Only after several minutes, I did not even finish eating, a car stopped and the boy said: “Gel (Come)”. It ended even better; he invited me with him and his friend to walk around Bursa and to show me the landmarks, favorable silk shops and they brought me to the old village of Cumalıkızık. The day in Bursa ended up exchanging contacts and they promised that they will pay me a visit to Macedonia.

Therefore, I consider hitchhiking a very advantageous way of traveling since I can make new friends, hear from them the reality they live in, experiencing 100% local, and deducing that majority of the people are good and harmless.

In the end, regardless of either East or West, people were helpful and kind, and without their help, I could not successfully manage my traveling desire and discover the pros and cons of them and Turkey. My journey is finishing in Istanbul, an enormously huge mega-city that is considered as a small world with its nearly 20 million population.

P.S. I finished this article on the ferry Bursa-Istanbul, so more about my experience there, hopefully on the next occasion.