Lost *ACROSS* Turkey #5

Back in Istanbul after 8 days of traveling from the Syrian border to the Aegean Coast. All in all, a pretty amazing experience, seeing deserts, mountains, and oceans, and plenty of entertaining signs, ads, clothing, and random men drinking beer on highway shoulders.

A recap of the events would not be time-efficient. So a series of photos and lists will have to do.

PICKUP LINES USED ON GIRLS IN OUR GROUP BY TURKISH MEN:
1. "Excuse me, you just broke my heart."
2. "Why....are you....so beautiful?"
3. "Yes baby!" (uttered by a 10 year-old boy washing his feet outside a mosque)
4. "I have been waiting for you....all my life."
5. "I have been waiting all day for you to sell you things you don't need."
--With the exception of the 10 year-old, all these lines were uttered by merchants at street markets.

ADS, SIGNS, SLOGANS:

No trumpets allowed.


This team wants to keep you healthy.


This is a sign for a gas station, but, well...


In Ephesus, this sign was outside the pay toilet. The googly eye is the detail that really ties it all together. Also, "magic" in Turkish translates into "smells like piss".


Turtles humpin' on a postcard.


A bag of Turkish potato chips.


Detail of bag. So, feel the FREEDOM.


Bag worn by Turkish woman in a museum.

TOURISTS:

This guy really didn't want to be in the sweltering Ephesus heat.


Detail of unhappy man. I think Waylon Jennings is being represented on his hat. And those shades....they give away his American South roots.


I tried to zoom in on this woman's chain so you can make out the thickness of that shit. It's like a padlock chain. I couldn't tell what it was made out of, but this panther got it goin' ON regardless.


This man in the green shirt is holding a small white hand towel that he was using to mop his stache.


When visiting the holy site of the Virgin Mary's house (where she apparently lived after Jesus died), it's always a good idea to bring your dog. And since it's over 95 degrees, the dog, whose body is covered in fur, probably needs a t-shirt as well.


I shadowed this man for 15 minutes at the House of the Virgin Mary. So stereotypically Russian: the posture, the man capris, the shopping bag always in hand, the shoes.




Here he is waiting in line to fill a bottle up with "holy water" from the spring outside Mary's house. This is not me mocking him, mind you--he's just kind of enthralling.

That's all for now. More soon. Time is running out (only one week left)....