28 September ’04, Tuesday. Up bright in early, both of us all cleaned, pottied, and fed. I decided to wash “Bumble Bee” with the pre-used water from our sink, while Louise finished up the interior chores. Our stay with Sadam and his crew was uneventful, but very nice. For them to take us in, was above and beyond and with the great meal last night…great!!! We only had 20 million lira left, so I put it into the gas tank. It didn’t fill it, but I thought it would get us to Istanbul ok. Our route was down the “toll road” for about 240 km, and there was supposed to be plenty of “Mega Gas/Restaurant” areas on the way. After about the first 100 km I had noticed that: 1st, there were no off ramps and 2nd, were there used to be the famous “Mega Gas/Restaurant” areas, was now tall weeds….they had all closed after 9/11… It is amazing how much 9/11 has affected Turkey’s tourism, and the closed gas stations is only a small part. Fortunately, we had plenty of gas to get to Istanbul, so we weren’t in any danger of running out on this “toll road”. The amount of traffic on this road was also interesting…hardly nothing. We traveled many miles without seeing another car or truck going in our direction. Although, the closer we got to Istanbul (24-28 million people), the more cars and trucks we encountered. The terrain was kind of like riding into Yakima…rolling hills with farm lands and then, dried brush areas (but, no Mt. Rainier). Finally, our turn off came up so we could find our campground. The closer to Istanbul, the more traffic. Finally, it was kind of like driving in an “All Grown-Up’s Bumper Car” ride. Fortunately, no one actually bumped any bumpers, but the ride was thrilling. Within another 45 minutes we were pulling into our new campground. Lou and I both could hardly wait to hook up and head off to the showers. We grabbed the first 2 showers we found (right next to each other), and turned the water on high….COLD WATER SHOWERS…what is it about the soap not “sudsing”? Can this be…SALT WATER SHOWERS ??? You know after you’ve tasted the water (and you don’t want to taste it, because the Mamara Sea is the most likely spot the salt water is coming from, and it is polluted..), that in fact it is salt water. Second, after you’ve dried off, you fill sticky all over. Not the best of showers we have had… Then it comes to another chore that we just have to complete…washing of our clothes… Well, we knew there would be challenges on this journey, now we have encountered a couple and we will have to work our way through them. Again, 9/11 has become an issue here in this campground. This used to be a highly sought after campground. Now they have a large swimming pool, and wonderful looking restaurant, and campground that have all gone to hell in a basket. The campground is barely open…everything else is closed and covered with weeds and dust. Pretty nasty. The tourist just isn’t coming as they used too, and it is hurting the tourist economy drastically.
Enough politics…Tomorrow…let’s find an internet café (as they call them), and test out the bus system
Enough politics…Tomorrow…let’s find an internet café (as they call them), and test out the bus system