Turkey Tour: Part 3 - Sivas/Divriği

When I have a crazy idea, I go for it.

Put myself in ‘questionable situations’, without thinking through every possible variable that could go wrong, every consequence, every risk. And that has gotten me in trouble. Lots of irreversible mishaps. But it has also created universes where there’s potential for wild, magical things to happen.

Perhaps I’ve always been attracted to that allure of the dangerous, the wild bordering on reckless foolishness. I like finding myself (and thus, putting myself) in bewildering circumstances where I have no choice but to magic. Aka survive. There’s always a way. That way is sometimes the people - friends, strangers, sometimes the land, the earth, sometimes only your own willpower and wit and laughter. And sometimes the way is absolutely bizarre, terrifying, awesome, insane, and it would never have been conjured if we had not played our hand with a little abandon.

But of course, to each person their own - how to feel alive, how to feel free, fulfilled. Some days I also do not want exhilarating life-or-death experiences. Just being a couch potato with the peace and comfort of a book at home is also my kind of travel.

Now, our roadtrip that began the moment we decided to rent a car in a foreign country with very curious driving etiquettes and very questionable gravel cliffside one-way ‘roads’… this adventure was definitely the first kind of travel. The ‘worry-about-it-later’ kind where we get up first, and deal with how to get down the mountain as we go. There’s always a way. It’s true, seeing how I am now home in Airdrie in the comfort of my own room.

And what spectacular views we witnessed. It’s not just seeing. Not just a visual intake of the majesty and mind-boggling lush oasis green of the trees and streams at the bottom of the deep canyon. Not just the stunning soft fuzzy velvety rolling farmlands at the top of those menacing, alien desert red rocks. Somehow, it’s the view combined with every other physical sensation - sounds, smells, touch of the earth, taste of the air - and combined with the bizarre unexpected, unplanned path we took to end up here, some version of Banff, Canada, some version of the Grand Canyon, some version of the Great Wall of China, speaking a few words of Turkish, walking on see-through glass panes 9000 feet in the air … discovering an amphitheater at the top of the mountain… - it’s each moment of small and stunning surprise that compound upon each other to create the experience of this kind of discovery.

To be a humble tiny explorer. To play and wander. And get stuck.

Because yes, yes did we get stuck on the way down. At the top of that cliff as we were happily about to tackle this impossibly steep zigzap dirt path down to the village, two cars zoom up and stop right in front of us. Locals, for sure, with that confidence in driving these roads. They honk, politely, I think, and we just sit there. I look back. Ya, no way. No way I’m backing up that entire way up the cliff. We stare at the other cars, they honk again. That moment of despair. ‘Great, now what?’ Well, somehow, kindness and competence somehow always finds their way to us, even if it’s not coming from ourselves.

The driver in the oncoming car patiently comes out of his car and gestures for me to get out, meaning he will help back up the car. And somehow, both Darvn and I just trusted our lives to yet another stranger. Watching him reverse to the very edge of the cliff to make enough room for the other cars to just barely squeeze through, there was definitely a moment when Darvn and I made eye contact as he silently screamed and we both thought - yep that’s it. Goodbye Darvn, goodbye Car (we named “Walker”, since she-he saved us so much walking, but costed quite a few years of our lives).

But all’s well that ends well. Almost. After we thanked the stranger and he quickly drove his family past us to get to the top of the mountain, I got back in the car to find that the brakes were stuck. And both Darvn and I, increasingly dehydrated and incompetent, could not figure out how to get it down.

The defeat I felt. The exasperation as I got out of the car and started climbing that sharp incline of a path in the scorching heat, chasing after our saviour to come back and help us solve yet another tiny problem. Looking back, it’s all quite silly, but as I hiked those steps up leaving the car there, I felt I was going to burst out crying. How did this happen. Why.

But, we’re still alive.

The man looked confused when he saw me drenched in sweat climbing up the hill again. His wife looked terrified, perhaps they thought the car fell off the cliff. But I gestured that the brake wouldn’t go down, and kind man, bless his patience and soul, ran with be back down to the car, got in, plop, with one simple swift press/click/lift, released the brakes. My jaw just dropped but I didn’t even have enough energy to be embarrassed. He taught me how to do it a few times, and once again we thanked him and, finally set on our way.

The rest of the drive was … not all smooth sailing, but a few kind locals made way for us, and we were able to safely get down to the village and acquire some water, oh how delicious the water. How precious the memories…

And that’s just an episode of what will become of Walker in the days to come. Walker whom we were supposed to have for just 1 day, which turned into 3…

To be continued…!

***

Oh…also, didn’t even point out some impressions of Sivas! We arrived in the evening, and the weather was so cool and refreshing. The city center was bustling with families, kids, teenagers with their friends, everyone gathered out in the open squares just chatting, hanging out, eating roasted corn and ice-cream - the atmosphere was so fun, relaxing, and friendly. The city itself is so beautiful and the people so friendly - the kebab restaurant staff, the grocery store lady, the convenience store man who sold us water, everyone was patient, open, and polite, we felt immediately welcome. Even on the bus from the airport into the city, a family waved me to the back of the bus to offer me a seat, and the little girl began to speak with me in English, introducing his dad and grandpa. It’s really the little moments that touch your heart, these little tiny interactions during travels that somehow you take to heart and treasure just as much if not more than the majestic sights and experiences. <3

Day 7