Turkey (part 5)

[mistress_elaine]

Yep, you've guessed it -- more Turkey Superlatives. This is the part where it gets exciting!

Nastiest beastie we came across: A live scorpion we were shown by a little boy in Mardin, who proudly announced it hailed from Nusaybin, a nearby town. This didn't mean much to me until I read Tim Mackintosh-Smith's ferociously entertaining Travels with a

Comments

[cosmiccircus]

Your scary moments are REALLY scary! It's sad that the world is like that these days, especially for women... But I'm glad you got out okay...!

[mistress_elaine]

So am I. I got pretty nervous there for a few minutes. :-)

[mistress_elaine]

It was totally horror-film-like, especially when the men began to flash light signals. That was the point K and I got really scared. It could have been the harbinger of something truly dreadful... Luckily, all's well that ends well, and this ended about as well as it could have, I think. It didn't ruin our holiday one bit. It did raise a lot of questions, though, not least whether to tell our parents or not. In the end we did. Needless to say, they were rather relieved to see us back in one piece a few weeks later.

[mortsleam]

That's just insane. It's times like that when you need a trusty flaming whip close at hand.

Are you sure the half naked Turks weren't as startled by you as you were by them?

[mistress_elaine]

I really missed my flaming whip whilst in Turkey. Stupid new customs rules!

I'm pretty certain the half-naked Turks weren't as startled by me as I was by them. After all, half-naked Turks aren't spiders. They are fearless, terrible and very awe-inspiring. Well, so are spiders, I believe, but I think half-naked Turks might just be a little worse.

[nancyy]

I lovvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvve that picture with the cat!!!!

[mistress_elaine]

Thank you! I'm rather fond of that one myself. Unfortunately, it was badly out of focus, so I had to resort to some pretty drastic (and ugly, in my opinion) sharpening to get it to look decent. I'm glad that didn't mar the picture for you...

[taotianone]

i'm loving the account of your travels, and the photos as well. in the picture of the lake, what is the white band extending from lower right to upper left? i thought at first it was a road or path of some sort, then began to think it looked more natural than man-made, perhaps a dike [geologic, i mean.]

[mistress_elaine]

Whatever it is, it's definitely natural rather than man-made. I don't remember this particular white band, but I do remember a similarly white cliff a bit farther down the road which was 100 per cent natural. It looked rather like a salt lake, only vertical. I have no idea what it was, but I liked the way it looked!

Thanks for the kind words, as always. :-)

[taotianone]

i think these things are "dikes" ... or at least the photo looks like one. a cooler harder part of the crust cracks, or is ripped latterally by a shifting fault, and hotter still molten material from beneath flows upward filling the crack. later erosion exposes the surface of the dike and the difference in color or crystalization between the two types of materials is often striking. the dikes are much taller than wide, but since most of the material is below, they appear on the surface as long ribbons of color differentiated rock.

i really enjoy your travel narratives and the photos. please keep posting.

[mistress_elaine]

I'm afraid I know very little about geology, but what you say sounds very plausible. So let's just assume the white band is indeed a dike.

I've run out of travel stories for the time being, but I have some nice black and white photos coming up, so stay tuned. There'll be more travel stories eventually, once I resume posting Turkey photos.