We
could only get tickets to Turkey’s capital, Ankara. The bus dropped us in front
of a beautiful hotel, the name of which escapes me now, so we decided to go in
for tea and get the scoop on Ankara, where we should stay, etc. We sat down and
ordered tea in the elegant dining room and were soon joined by a young man who
was finally able to get it across to us that he was a reporter and wanted to
take our picture in the carriage just outside. We didn't know it then, but we
had arrived during the Turkish Film Festival, which was being held in that very
hotel. This little bit of information was painstakingly received through sign
language and guessing, as there seemed to be no one around who spoke any
English at all. So the carriage was there for something to do with the festival,
and we agreed to a photo. Well, after an otherwise uneventful stay in Ankara
overnight, and not being familiar with any Turkish film stars, we once more
boarded the bus and began our trip through Turkey. We would have to go to
Istanbul to make our connection with the East-bound bus. As we bounced along on
the hard wooden seats of the bus, we suddenly noticed that we seemed to be the
center of everyone's attention, but attributed it to the fact that we were
foreigners. Soon, however, a man passed a newspaper to us and there was our
picture in the carriage, and the article below was of course in Turkish, but we managed to
figure out that we were "hippelers" (hippies) attending the film
festival. Hippies were still a curiosity in Turkey, and indeed, in 1970 Turkey
was no hippie haven!
Henceforth,
due to our enhanced status on the bus, when we stopped for meals we were
ushered into the men’s eating area. This was unusual since women and men
always have segregated meals in that
part of the world.
Our
bus driver through the western half of Turkey was an unusual young man. During
the stops he would come over and talk with us in his broken English, and with
much signing and so on we came to understand that he was a journalist/bus
driver who would have loved to leave Turkey and go to North America, but that
was a distant dream for him. At the end of the first day’s travel he said he
would take us to a cheap room where we could spend the night safely. Several
twisty streets later we were ushered into a room with 4 cots, a dresser and
little else, but it was clean and we began to settle in. We asked him where he
would stay and he said no, he would be driving another bus all night and would
then be our bus driver in the morning! We wondered how he stayed awake, and he
then produced some of the finest Turkish hashish you could imagine, saying it
kept him awake just fine. He then left, and we began to smoke the sample he had
left us. Suddenly there was that feeling of being watched again, and looking up
to the transom over the door, we were greeted by 3 large and somewhat guilty
grins from the men enjoying their observations. We shooed them away in no
uncertain terms, tightly shut the transom and put the dresser in front of the
door, but they still sang (love songs?) outside our room all night.
Another
memorable experience from the bus in Turkey was when a man across the aisle
from us began a sexual act on himself while reading aloud from the Red Book
(Communist Bible). We were shocked and quickly hid behind our head scarves!
The
border crossing between Turkey and Iran served as a rest stop as well as the
office for document checking. We began to leave the bus to get food but were
mobbed by “hungry” men who began grabbing our breasts and our crotches, and we
were driven back into the safety of the bus. Several hippie guys started
beating the men off with sticks, only to be dealt blows that also sent them
staggering back to the relative safety of the bus. It was scary and surreal. We
were outraged! Somehow the bus driver managed to calm the mob and we were able
to disembark, find some food and use the restroom facilities. And by facilities
I mean 2 footprints and a hole. So there I am squatting there, when suddenly I
feel like someone is watching me; I glance up to see maybe a dozen men ogling
me through the opening running around the top of the walls, I guess for much
needed ventilation. I began shouting and swearing at them and quickly got out
of there and back on the bus! These men seemed totally ignorant and bereft of
any social graces, and obviously had no respect for women.
We
were once more realizing how blessed we are to live in a country that has been
striving for equal opportunity for women all of my life, and before that.
