We woke up early to start on our seven hour journey out of Faralya and on to Gaziantep, Onur’s hometown.
At 7am we got shuttled from the lodge up to our parked car on the absolutely impassable dirt road. there were actually six total people trying to pack into a five person truck but thankfully the driver suggested two trips-saving us the horrible bouncing ride while mashed between people.
I had noticed lots of large water jugs spaced along the roads near Faralya, and when we asked the lodge staff they explained that it was for fire. They know that there won’t be any help from the government so the best they can do is water jugs located every 100 feet or so along all roads.
We then drove out of Faralya through Oludeniz, which I recognized from our 2016 trip, and Fethiye which we also visited in both 2016 and 2018.
We managed to find a Starbucks and delighted in our first cups of very American coffee. Not proud of it, but it was so good.
It was a four hour drive to the Antalya airport, where we checked in (two sets of security screening) and headed to the thankfully quiet lounge, thanks to my Priority Pass membership.
The flight to Gaziantep was mercifully only and hour, and we arrived mid thunderstorm and downpour!
Berkay drove Onur and I to our hotel, very close to their family’s house, and then went out to pick us up one of Onur’s very favorite foods: dürümcü, garbanzo bean bread wraps. They were vegan and super delicious but put us right into food comas, so Onur and I napped while Berkay headed home.
In the evening we walked over to the Özay’s to visit, drink tea, and be pressured to eat more delicious food. Sevgi made içli köfte and yuvalama çorba plus we tried some friend’s homemade wine (interesting) and fresh figs. So full. Never need to eat again.
Finally made it back to the hotel and fell asleep, just to be woken a little after midnight by a large fight down below our hotel. It seemed like two groups of men had a disagreement, not sure about what but there was a lot of yelling at each other and a few scuffles, which kept going for at least an hour, well after four police cars showed up. The police didn’t seem to do much, and the groups themselves did most of the restraining of hot-headed members. The ambulance on scene didn’t treat anyone, and I’m glad there weren’t any serious injuries because it was really entertaining to watch from a safe distance (8 floors above).
do all things with love 