Turkey: Göreme and Kahramanmaraş: Ballooning In Bedrock.

Turkey: Göreme and Kahramanmaraş: Ballooning In Bedrock.

Now I consider myself a risk taker.

I've bungee jumped, fallen asleep on the subway and even drunk milk without looking at the expiry date. But when I'm floating in the stratosphere in a creaky basket, why do I turn to Jello?

Our bus arrived in Goremi, an ancient Turkish town whose inhabitants lived in stone houses dug out of the surrounding cliffs. They did this not because they saw The Flintstones and said "Hey we can live like that", rather they built them to protect the Christian residents from the invading Muslim Moors. Not content to look at them from street level, I decided to take an early morning balloon ride over town.

Leaving at 5am, I watched the eastern Turkish sunrise perched a mile above the ground - and I was petrified. Not sure why, maybe because the only thing separating me from plummeting to my death was a rickety basket and the Irishman next to me intentionally shaking the basket with a mischievous grin. But the scenery was absolutely stunning. I stared at it like a staring starer. I've never experienced such ins tense fear and awe. It would be like viewing a Van Gough on the sinking Titanic. Wow... Horrible example. If you think of something better please let me know. I'll edit it.

After another beating from a Turkish bath we headed for Kahramanmaraş in the Kurdish area of the country. Walking it's streets I noticed that we were the only tourists there. Well It was hard not to notice the locals pointed fingers and gawking mouths. This town was decidedly more Muslim as women were more covered up than in Istanbul. I was dismayed when two girls in our group exited the bus, one wearing tight yellow hot pants, the other wearing a low cut top. The hot pants wearer got one block before the stares and hisses of the locals forced her to buy a sarong. The low cut top girl ignored the locals and walked around exposing her bountiful bosom. Questioning her motives afterwards, she said that she didn't notice - she's used to men staring at her breasts.

Yes, she had a point. Her asses ts transcend race, color and creed as all men have penises and therefore will look at breasts. But as we are going to more fundamentalist areas (northern Pakistan anyone?) I for see a Muslim woman giving her a slap for her cultural indiscretion. Not sure if I would blame her. When In Rome.

Other highlights of Kahramanmaraş included a statue. Yes, a statue. But this wasn't a boring European statue. These Kurds know how to sculpt. It was a statue of a Turkish solider pointing a pistol at an enemy soldiers head. The enemy soldier was on his back begging for mercy as he clung to his shrieking wife. Talk about drama. Drama Indeed.

PS: Damn, I can't find an image of the statue on Google. I'll upload a photo later.