WHY I LOVE TURKEY

I need to write this down now. Those of you who are following along may have noticed that I do not plan very far in advance and people just appear in my life to help me. Today was the trifecta.

Last night I told the night clerk, Cemal Basun, about my tooth, and he took me to his dentist’s office. It was not open yet, so he left me and went home because he had been at work for 13 hours. And about 9 a.m. the receptionist showed up. But it turned out that the dentist was taking another day of vacation. So I asked for another referral. The receptionist spoke very little English and took me over to another office.

I now have a Turkish dentist.  Dr. Gokce Aydin took me right away. She replaced a filling that I think had lost a bit, but told me that if the pain did not go away I need a root canal. So she patched me up and I feel pretty good. I will see what the future brings.



Dr.  Aydin with highly numb aging foreign patient

Anyway, it was noon by the time I got out of town. So I headed east and eventually ended up 110 Km down the road in Kastamonu where I stopped to look at the map and get a bite to eat. The service station attendant came up and started speaking German. He had been born in Germany. So I asked about the route I had planned and available hotels. He told me to either stay where I was or go to Sinop on the Black Sea. There was no lodging for 5 hours on my route. This was not in my plans. I wanted to head east, not north.

By now it was 3 pm. I always start looking for a hotel about 4 p.m. A 4 p.m. search  was not possible if I went to Sinop. But I pushed on and made it to town about 5:30 through some really amazing scenery.

This is where it gets great. The Bulgarians had warned me about Turkish police, and to be wary. Well I ignore advice on a regular basis. So I was hunting for a hotel when I came upon 3 motorcycle policemen. I stopped and said I was American and was looking for a hotel. Five minutes later they had found a “boutique hotel” with safe parking. Then they gave me a police escort through the middle of town to the place, which I would have never found on my own.

Officer Aslan with happy Fritz

So I thought it was over. Nope. Officer Ertugrul Aslan and I had a coffee at the hotel. Then we visited with the owners of the Andac Otel, Ali Andas and his son. I checked in and figured I would hunt up some dinner. But then the other police guys appeared again and said “grab your helmet and get on the bike”. So off I went on the back of the police motorcycle to who knows where. I just left all my stuff and went. I figured just let the experience happen as it happens, and do not worry. That is very un-Fritz like.

Well, I end up high on the cliffs over the Black Sea at another friend of the policemen who speaks some English. And I figure he will translate for us a bit; then they will return me to my hotel. Wrong.

Escort Service to Andac Otel

Officer Aslan and friend cooking my dinner - notice the peppers! Yum

The next thing I know the English speaking friend is putting goat on the barbeque and other police are showing up. They had put together a little barbeque for me. About an hour later I am back on the police motorcycle and being returned to my hotel.

So what have I learned? I am lucky. I have terrific experiences just jump out at me. All that I have to do is be open to the possibilities and go along, even if it seems a bit scary at the time.  That is why I took the trip.

Turkey is an amazing place. The people are great. All my stereotypes and preconceived notions have been smashed. I never imagined I would have such good experiences, even if it involves a root canal.