Friday, March 11, 2005
Turbulence
What was supposed to be a normal bus trip from Göreme (Cappadocian region) to Erzerum (Eastern Turkey on the Iranian border) proved to be far from it. As early as buying the tickets we found that this trip was doomed. The ticket seller in Göreme decided to tell us that there were no tickets to our destination just because we asked another bus company about there prices. As we just sat and waited for the bus regardless he figured that in the end he would sell us the ticket, but as the bus was already in the station we had little time to work out the details. We were also short with money and when Chris went to withdraw the difference the machine ate his card. Lucky for us there was a different machine around the corner and with tickets in hand we were off. Outside snow continued to fall horizontally with increasing vigor. After a bus switch an hour away we were off once again with a bus full of mustachioed men. The funniest of our bus company however was an older woman seated across from us who was holding on to the bus for dear life and had a look of fear that I have never seen someone maintain for such a long period of time. As we were sleeping she left us, but her reason for fear soon became clear as we awoke to a load noise. The noise sounded like a mountain was falling on the bus and we began to feel the drivers loss of control as soon as the sound began. We are not sure what exactly caused us to hit the side of a mountain, but no reason is a good enough. With no one on the bus speaking English there are a number of things that could have happened depending on what the sign language was intended to mean. Either way, we were now in the middle of nowhere being slowly snowed in on the "side" of the road. As time passed we both felt it best to resume sleeping but the ever growing boredom of our band of mustachioed men soon became too much for them and with us as their only chance of entertainment they soon woke us. I am not sure if you have ever been in a confined space with a group of mustaches, but it is more then frightening. It is down right disturbing especially if they are talking to you in Turkish and so bored they will not take sleeping as a legitimate form of escape from the overwhelming situation. I have had nightmares that I enjoyed more.
As we were the only ones going to Erzerum, our bus bitch (the bus steward) stopped the next bus going our way and rushed us onto our new uncrashed bus. Just when we thought we were finally on our way however a man came to collect money from us and we were again faced with conflict. Having paid for a ticket to our destination once already we were unwilling to hand over more money. Had we known that we would pay twice were certainly would not have agreed to switch buses, but with that not an option anymore we were at a loss. Our lack of Turkish proved useful as it bought us time, but the man demanding money grew impatient very fast and began to threaten us (with force) that our choices were pay or be left. The threat of being thrown off would not have carried so much weight were it not for the storm outside and the fact that now were were miles from anything. Looking outside white was all there was to be seen. Getting out in the middle of nowhere with a very limited knowledge of Turkish in the midst of a blizzard was hardly an option. Lucky for us a blind man who spoke English calmed the man down and began to translate for us. After an hour and a half of this the blind man became tired of his job and the angry defeated man (as we were clearly never going to pay or get off the bus) just sat behind us and watched us with evil eyes for the duration of the ride.
When we finally arrived we walked as fast as one can without running in the knee high snow and found our way to a cheap place to leave our things
As we were the only ones going to Erzerum, our bus bitch (the bus steward) stopped the next bus going our way and rushed us onto our new uncrashed bus. Just when we thought we were finally on our way however a man came to collect money from us and we were again faced with conflict. Having paid for a ticket to our destination once already we were unwilling to hand over more money. Had we known that we would pay twice were certainly would not have agreed to switch buses, but with that not an option anymore we were at a loss. Our lack of Turkish proved useful as it bought us time, but the man demanding money grew impatient very fast and began to threaten us (with force) that our choices were pay or be left. The threat of being thrown off would not have carried so much weight were it not for the storm outside and the fact that now were were miles from anything. Looking outside white was all there was to be seen. Getting out in the middle of nowhere with a very limited knowledge of Turkish in the midst of a blizzard was hardly an option. Lucky for us a blind man who spoke English calmed the man down and began to translate for us. After an hour and a half of this the blind man became tired of his job and the angry defeated man (as we were clearly never going to pay or get off the bus) just sat behind us and watched us with evil eyes for the duration of the ride.
When we finally arrived we walked as fast as one can without running in the knee high snow and found our way to a cheap place to leave our things
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