Siberia

Siberia

Before we started travelling, we researched about South Asian countries a lot; but we didn’t think that someday we will go to Russia. We hastily write how to read Cyril letters on a paper; we can read almost everything even we can’t understand what it is. Irina, with whom we met on the plane, takes place in our story as a young Russian woman graduated from a university in Shanghai, visiting her family in summer holiday. As a fluent English speaker, she gives important tips to us about Lake Baikal during the flight. By chance, we learn that her house is close to the house of the couple who will host us via Couchsurfing. When the plane lands on the airport of the city dominated by Brezhnev blocks, we leave her to wait for a wheelchair as we got used to in South Korea. After everybody gets off, at the end of our long waiting we understand that staff of the airport has a totally different idea! Without using even the stairs of the plane, we get on a truck from the emergency exit and get off on the other side of the road which would take less than a minute by walking. It wasn’t necessary, really, but we can not explain it to the staff. When we get off, waiting for a wheelchair, we find ourselves queuing with crutches in a building looks like a train station of a small city. “What is all about?” We ask for help from a passenger to carry the bags and pass the passport check. According to the paper given to us,...
Konya: A Mystic Journey

Konya: A Mystic Journey

After the valleys shaped by the wind and water, we have passed through a geography completely different while we were going towards Konya. For a long while, we have driven without seeing any height until the horizon around Salt Lake. A close but infinite horizon… While we were struggling against the wind and trying to keep our vehicle on the road, we got into a sand storm. The atmosphere including tumbleweeds looked like it came out from a western movie. We tried to find the names of the villages we passed through from the map. We couldn’t. Then we checked them vie GPS. They weren’t there either. We were travelling towards infinity on a road, end of which was invisible. In this extraordinary atmosphere, we got off from our vehicle when we reached the Salt Lake. Then we realized the colorful bird on the buffer. So, we discovered the reason of the hitting sound we heard miles before. The bee-eater bird was still alive after the entire journey. There were 100 km to the closest veterinary. We put it into a box after checking its wings and paws. We ran into another miraculous encounter on the way to Konya with the bird who will be recovered and fly again the day after. The people are like birds… We ran into our traveller friend with whom we met in Ege 2 months ago and travelled together for a while. He hitchhikes just on the same place of the same road at the same time with us, and we go to Konya Mystic Music Festival together. When we reach Konya, we...