As the month of Ramazan slowly edges towards completion, I’m beginning to realise how little time I have left before I set off for Istanbul. In three weeks time I’ll be travelling with my ex-housemate Ian, who will be my ward as it’s his first time to Turkey, and I, a veteran, will be responsible for keeping us both alive.
A list of things to take with me currently includes: Weetabix, my mum’s secret spice mixture, Bombay mix, tea and custard powder. The list is certain to get longer as the date of departure gets closer, however, for the moment these are all the things I can remember missing when I lived there before. Its funny how such ordinary things that I take for granted in England become so valuable when they’re limited; I remember treating the Weetabix bars like bars of gold, trying to savour each and every last bit of them.
As of yet, I have no set return date, though on a tourist visa I’d have to leave the country within three months; which is long enough to secure and settle down with a decent job, having already arranged for a place to stay, albeit unfurnished. The most important thing for me right now is to be able to create a base for myself, from which I intend to travel further afield. One of things (there aren’t many others, honest) I had regretted about my previous stay in Turkey was how unadventurous I had been in regards to the rest of the country. The only other city I had visited was Bursa, a small city just off the coast of the Marmara Sea.
Through some research and advice from a friend, I discovered that there is a train that goes from Istanbul to Teheran; my heart sank with excitement when I first heard about it. It sounded like something out of an old novel; there’s just something so romantic about being able to travel between two iconic, beautiful cities, across the landscape of the Middle East. If I’m able to make this journey it’d be a dream come true for me; Iran has always inspired and intrigued me, and for a visit there to not only be possible, but feel almost inevitable fills me with (anxious) joy!
However, for the moment I have to focus on getting to Istanbul before anything else. There is packing to be done, travel to the airport to be arranged and things to be bought; if all goes well, by this time next month, I hope to be somewhere in the city, showing Ian around, laughing as I smoke shisha and sip on Turkish coffee.
Andrew Wiggins
November 16, 2010
It’s about time you wrote something.