İ had a chance to see my friend İlhan who lives in America get married to his lovely new bride Elgin over the weekend in the Turkish capital of Ankara.
Yesterday İ came back to İstanbul by bus. İ was very impressed with the Ankara bus terminal which almost looks like an airport.
İt is times like these when İ think the country is ready to join the EU by next Tuesday. But nationalist Turks might be disappointed when İ say there are also times when İ wonder if my beloved ethnic homeland is slowly regressing back to the Seljuck Empire!
However at the end of the day one must profess that this cultural schizophrenia (prostitution is legal but Youtube is not!) does make for some unique travel stories even though İ have now visited Turkey some 15 times.
The eventful bus ride started a 9:30 a.m. İt was a mostly empty bus but in Turkey (and if the bus is full this prvoes useful) there are assigned seats on the bus.
So İ was forced to sit next to a man who was not only sleeping but snoring quite loudly.
İ settled in my seat and starting read a Tom Miks (Mix) comic book which is actually from an İtalian comic book series called Captain Miki. Strangely enough there are three comic book series in Turkey which feature cowboys in America which can not be found anywhere in the states!
The others are Texas (which is from the same İtalian folks who created Tom Mix) and the French 70s-ear comic book Lucky Luke (called Red Kit in Turkey).
The comic book costs have skyrocketed in recent years as have many things in Turkey. Amazingly enough these same comic books which cost me the equivalent of 75 cents as a kid 30 years ago now sell for 10 Turkish Lira (which comes out to nine bucks!). İn comparison American comics have gone from about 50 cents to three dollars in the same amount of time.
İ chose Tom Miks because it is hard for me to ready anything else in Turkish. My reading level is about the same third grade level that it was when we returned to America in 1979 when İ was nine years old.
As it is the bus host (similar to a plane hostess) seemed infactuated by my Tom Miks book.
İ had heard some commotion in the back about something that someone was doing something which was an absolute no-no. İ later figured out this person was carrying a pet. The girl who was in her 20s had decided to bring her dog on the trip. Much to my shock and horror İ would later realize that she actually put the dog who was in a carrier in the luggage compartment beneath the bus!
Sure enough as we approached the mountain city of Bolu where the bus would stop so we could eat lunch the dog would start yelping and İ actually thought it would die from heat exhaustion. The trip between Ankara and İstanbul lasts five and a half hours.
İn Bolu the girl decided to take the poor pooch out of the luggage compartment and bring it with her on the bus. She apologized to us passengers about any problems that the dogs might cause. İ wanted to say something about how awful İ thought what she had done was. But alas İ was in that awkward quandry that many visitors to a different country find themselves in. Even though my father is from Turkey and İ speak the language İ feel just as constrained as other visitors in such difficult moments.
Much to my delight though the bus driver would decide to turn on the AİR-CONDİTIONER, which bus drivers have not traditonally done often enough mainly because Turkish people do not tend to like breezes! (My late grandmother Zekiye Gokbudak was a classic example of this). The bus host told me a great place where İ could feel the AC. And he actually allowed me to leave Seat 19! Though the man had quit snoring.
As İ looked forward to the front of the bus İ noticed my beloved bus driver was discretely smoking. İ watched him for a few minutes to realize that yes he was indeed smoking! İn Turkey there is now a 62-Lira fine for anyone who smokes on a bus. İ guess the rules do not apply for the drivers.......! Nevertheless since he turned on the AC İ was not about to lodge a complaint even though İ am taken back by those who feel that rules do not apply to them.
And lastly as we passed the industrial city of İzmit the bus host noticed İ had finished Tom Miks. Without asking if he could now read it he grabbed it and said Cok Tesekurler- which means THANK YOU.
İ guess all in all it was just another bus ride in Turkey.
The second most popular tourist destination (this is all presumption) is Yanar Dag, which literally means Fire Mountain.
Anyone who has been to Azerbaijan has undoubtedly noticed the billboards to the late Heydar Aliyev (1923-2003), the president of Azerbaijan from 1993-2003* (the nation became independent from the USSR in 1991). His son Ilham Aliyev is now president.
In one of my entries about my visit to Baku, Azerbaijan, I commented on how I chose to eat at Misha's over McDonald's. 
The Turkish shadow puppets of Karagoz (left, the one with the beard) and Hacivat (left) represent the two facets of Turkey. 
The image here on the right is that of Koco (Kocho) Kalfa. The longtime Buyukada resident who was of Greek heritage died at the age of 102 in April. He was our neighbor on the island. He was also certainly our friend.
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