I’m in Ataturk International Airport on Istanbul’s European side. I arrived to Istanbul from Mersin via an overnight Mersin VIF bus ride. My flight to Kuala Lumpur leaves in just over an hour. My 36th Turkish stamp is freshly imprinted in my passport and I’m about to go to the boarding gate.

I was meant to have a baggage limit of 30 kilograms for my flight, 10 kg more than normal because of my Enrich frequent flying membership. However, when checking in, the woman at the Malaysian Airlines desk said she had not received word of this. This is despite me calling earlier the Malaysian Airlines office earlier this week and receiving verbal confirmation of the extra luggage limit. Thankfully, I didn’t have to pay for extra luggage but am now dragging around two carry-on bags as opposed to one.

In the last few days I’ve said goodbye to many colleagues and friends in Mersin. Although I’m tired of living there, I hope I get the chance to visit again not too far into the future.

I have to catch up with many emails, replying to comments and sending photos. This may not occur until after I arrive to Australia. Thank you for writing and apologies to those still waiting a reply…
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My legs are still sore from the soccer game I played 2 nights ago. It was my first ever game wearing the flat-soled soccer boots commonly used in Turkey and my first semi-organised game since Gaziantep in 2001. Stuff the soccer for a moment.

The real football begins tomorrow morning, 07:30 am Turkish time, when underdogs Port Adelaide (my team) takes on the overwhelming favourites Geelong in the 2007 AFL Grand Final.

In 2004 I watched Port Adelaide win their first AFL premiership here in Mersin at a local cafe. Last year I saw the grand final at Peter’s place on Fox Sports Turkey. This year I doubt I will have the opportunity to view the game and will have to make do with listening to it over the internet.

According to the AFL official website (pdf warning), Eurosport (a channel available in Turkey through Digiturk) will show the grand final on delay. It is not on tomorrow’s schedule so I don’t know when the game will be shown. Hopefully, it will be worth watching wherever you are with Port getting up in a classic encounter… I will also accept Port winning in a less than classic game 🙂

UPDATE (2007-09-29): Tonight’s Galatasaray-Besiktas match looks interesting doesn’t it? Did I ever tell you how much I loved soccer? 😉

Thank goodness I couldn’t watch the AFL final. The song title that comes to mind is Pure Massacre by Silverchair. Geelong beat Port by a grand final record 119 points (1 point less than 20 goals). At least I can ignore aftermath until I return to Australia in two weeks.

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Thank you to my friends and family for all your comments, emails, messages and calls. I am eventually getting around to following them up. In the meantime, I am packing and preparing to leave Mersin, saying goodbye to local friends and eating as much local food (tantuni, kokorec, kunefe, fistikli kadayif, etcetera) as I can handle. Adding to the expectancy of leaving, I paid for my flight today.

In one week I will be on the Mersin VIF overnight bus to Istanbul’s main Esenler bus station from where I will take the metro direct to the Ataturk International Airport.

Prior to departure I hope to post several blog entries recalling my time in both Mersin and Turkey in general.

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Several days ago I did start writing about the AIESEC International Congress Opening Ceremony (see below). I was also going to write about and upload pictures from the Alumni Congress; the inspirational people I heard and met; the parties; interacting with the current AIESECers from almost 100 countries around the world as well as other adventures in Istanbul. However, I have a cold and don’t feel like it. I will write, though, that I am very much looking forward to celebrating AIESEC’s 60th anniversary at the Alumni International Congress in Brazil, August 2008.

The holy Muslim month of Ramazan (Ramadan) started this evening (12 September) in Turkey. I knew it was coming up and didn’t think much of it. Yes, some people would refrain from smoking, eating and drinking during the day and totally refrain from alcohol in the month, some restaurants would be closed and so-forth. However, it was not until this afternoon that I remembered the drummers would be in full force come the early morning–DAMN. Unfortunately, I doubt the proposed ban was enforced. In approximately 2 hours I will find out!

For more Ramazan/Ramadan stories check out nomadlife’s Ramadan blog.

Very soon I will post a major update on life so stay tuned!

As promised, following is my incomplete AIESEC International Congress Opening Ceremony story:

International Congress (IC) is AIESEC’s main international meeting, held in a different AIESEC member country each year. This year the 59th IC was in Istanbul, Turkey. The main congress location was Yeditepe University’s main campus on Kayisdagi, Asian Istanbul with certain events held elsewhere. The congress was opened on Tuesday 21 August at the Lutfi Kirdar Congress Centre in Nisantasi, near Taksim, European Istanbul.

Speeches were given by Congress Committee President Ajda Mustafova, AIESEC Turkey Member Committee President Candost Bayraktar, AIESEC International President Gabriela Albescu, Hewlett Packard Executive Kathy Jackson, AIESEC Turkey’s Board of Advisers Honorary President Nihat Gokyigit and Istanbul Greater City Mayor Nihat Gokyigit, along with 2 performances by Anadolu Atesi (‘Fire of Anatolia’) and Semazen (‘Whirling Dervishes’).

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In Istanbul I met with many friends I had not seen for a long time. For my first few days here I stayed with Taner and Medine teyze in Uydukent (Pendik), near both Sabiha Gokcen Airport and Istanbul Park, the Grand Prix race track. Medine teyze and I have a special link as she was a wonderful neighbour for a couple of years and I donated blood for her when she required it to have an operation.

After Uydukent I moved to the inspiring Fati and Matt’s place in Icerenkoy, not far from a massive Carrefour shopping centre and a large fruit and vegetable distribution centre (‘hal’ in Turkish). I first came into contact with Fati several years ago when she was working at the University of California Santa Barbara Extension. Coincidentally she is also an AIESEC alumnus.

One afternoon I met Bea for the first time. Bea is an American expat who fell in love with Turkey and many years ago and has been based in Istanbul for the past 8 years. She has a very interesting background reflected in her great writing. We chatted for 5 hours on just about every issue from Chinese food in New York to making a living via the internet. Check out her fascinating stories about Turkey on her blog as well as her Remarkable Solutions website.

In Istanbul I have also met old friends Chris, Tugba, Ebru and Kubilay, Kerem, Ela, Ajda and Mustafa again and look forward to meeting a few more before I leave. Besides the old friends I also met many, many new people at the AIESEC congress which I will blog about soon.
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Continuing on with my journey from Mersin to Istanbul on the 17th and 18th of August.

From Yenice I caught the 14:35 “Icanadolu Mavi” (‘Central Anatolian Blue’) for the approximately 18 hour journey to Pendik, an outer suburb of Istanbul. This train starts from Adana and terminates at Haydarpasa, Asian Istanbul.

The intercity train was air conditioned and modern with 3 seats facing forward on every row–1 on the left hand side and 2 on the right. Thankfully smoking was not allowed in the carriages except for the dining car. From front to rear, the train consisted of the following: an engine car, several cars with pullman seats, a dining room and then a carriage with single and twin-bedded private rooms for passengers who paid extra for a decent night’s sleep.

The passengers looked conservative and displayed an abundance of headscarves. I believe this is mainly due to the train’s route via the traditional towns and cities through the Taurus Mountains’ Cilician Gates and along the Central Anatolian Plateau. These towns included Karaisalibucagi, Pozanti, Ciftehan, Ulukisla, Eregli, Ayranci, Karaman, Cumra, Konya, Afyon, Kutahya, Eskisehir and Izmit.

Train is Turkey’s cheapest scheduled form of intercity travel, making it attractive to poorer people. Many families with young children also took advantage of the greater freedom of movement train travel offers when compared to bus travel.

The Central Anatolian Plateau was very dry, reflecting the drought-like conditions almost all of the country is experiencing.

In the evening I ate dinner in the dining car. Despite what their menu stated, they only had two types of chicken meals available. Although the meal was reasonably cheap (6 YTL), it was nouveau cuisine-like in its size.

By 9 am (slightly later than scheduled) Saturday morning I had arrived to Pendik, Istanbul and my longest ever single train trip was over.

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The 12:45 PM, 17 August 2007, train east from Mersin to Yenice was the first leg of my journey to Istanbul. In between Tarsus and Adana, Yenice is less than an hour from Mersin. Although I had passed through the station in the vicinity of 100 times, I had never stopped there and admired its lovely Middle-Eastern architecture.

Yenice factoid: on 30 January 1943 Turkey’s then president Ismet Inonu and Britain’s prime minister Winston Churchill met at Yenice train station to discuss Turkey’s possible participation in World War II. Yenice train station has a large photo commemorating the two leaders meeting on its wall. After taking photos of the this and of the beautiful station building a train station official came up to me and asked (in Turkish) if I had permission to take photos. To take photos of Yenice train station (and, I imagine, any Turkish train station) one requires official authorisation. Needless to say, I didn’t have permission and so my photography was stopped in my tracks.

It was a hot day and eventually the “Icanadolu Mavi” (‘Central Anatolian Blue’) train arrived from Adana.

UPDATE: I don’t know if the official’s sensitivity about taking photos was in anyway related to the following interesting titbit from January 2003:

In a surprise development, 20 members of the 150-strong U.S. inspection team did ‘field work’ at the strategically – positioned Yenice train station in Mersin’s Tarsus county. They obtained information and took pictures and films at the station and the container storage facilities.
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The U.S. military experts’ visit comes at a time the USA is trying to persuade Turkey to take part in a potential Iraq war. U.S. experts examined the station with a view to using it for shipments from Mersin to Baghdad in the course of an operation against Iraq. The USA intends to make use of the Mersin seaport and the railway to meet the needs of the troops it will be sending to the region. If Turkey takes part in the operation the Yenice train station will see a lot of action.

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Subheading: On The Train Again

Later today I will endure the 20 hour train journey north through the Taurus Mountains and west over the Anatolian Plain to Istanbul. I’m heading to Istanbul primarily for the 2007 International AIESEC Alumni Congress but also to catch up with friends and enjoy Istanbul. My stay will last approximately 12 days–the longest I will have ever been there. Every previous visit was always rushed.

For years I have wanted to travel long distance by train in Turkey. Train travel contains a certain romance that one does not receive on the buses. In Turkey trains run slower and far less regularly than the inter-city buses and I never previously had the time to catch the train to Istanbul, Ankara or elsewhere. For example: from Mersin I have to take the 12:45 pm train to Yenice and then the 14:35 train to Istanbul. In total: approximately 20 hours. If I miss this journey my next opportunity to take the train is 24 hours later. In comparison, 6 bus companies (Ulusoy, Varan, Mersin VIF, Koksallar, Mersin Koc and Mersin Seyahat) each offer faster (about 13 hours in duration) multiple, daily Mersin-Istanbul services in modern luxury buses. At 36 YTL versus 45-65 YTL the train is cheaper though.

The 2003 South Australian Leadership Development Seminar was the last AIESEC congress I attended so I’m really looking forward to the upcoming congress. This is particularly true since it is focused on alumni and many inspiring people will attend. Partying and interacting with the 600 main congress attendants will also be huge.

I can’t wait to see Taner, Medine teyze & family, Fati and Matt, Kerem, Burcu, Ajda, Ozge, Emre, Chris, Ela, Bea, Tugba, Yogesh and other friends (apologies for omissions.

Bring it on Istanbul!
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