Amasya

Finally I am traveling. Again I'm lucky. Orhan, the pension manager of Ufuk, gave me a ride to Kaysiri an hour and a half away. He had to pick up some tourists at the airport so I saved bus fare. I was told in Goreme that the bus from Kaysiri only leaves at 3:30 pm and takes 8 hours from there to get to Amasya. If that was the case I would only go half way because I didn't want to arrive in the middle of the night. But in Kaysiri there was a bus that left at 1 pm. Orhan had dropped me off at 12:15 so this was perfect timing. And the bus took 7 hours. I was the only tourist. At one bus stop a student who spoke a little English asked me why I was going to Amasya. Why not?

Yes, why not? It's beautiful with the Ottoman homes lined along the river. The food is much cheaper here. Elsewhere entrees are over 15 trl. Here I got a huge platter of grilled lamb, with grilled abergine, tomatos, peppers, and garlic. I couldn't even make a dent.

It's an university town. I sat with some students along the river. A couple of them played guitars and a few others sang. Unlike the rest of Turkey so far not many spoke English and not very good. My Turkish is getting better. Well they say it is. Like the Spanish and unlike the French if you say a little they compliment you.

And I was lucky to observe a holiday today. As you can see from my pictures the young people were decked out in their costumes and dancing in a circle.

Last night I stumbled upon a Tom Jones Las Vegas type act with this guy in the tightest, glitterest outfit singing from table to table. The Turks were going wild. The men especially. I never seen such enthusiatic dancers.