January 2017
January 2017 | 89
Stage11
my friend A and his genital preoccupations . ' It has nothing mind altering ,' M tells me . ' You don ' t need it . It ' s just your perfect place , forever .'
I get my own brief taste of Heaven during my second Cappadocia activity : a hot air balloon ride . This is P ' s Christmas present to me , and is truly spectacular . We drift up , up , up , high above the clouds in the early morning mist , where fluorescent streaks of pink and blue electrify the sky . It ' s magical , mesmerising – and only slightly ruined at the end by the unforgivably mis-sold ' Champagne ', which transpires to be a distressing mix of Red Bull and apple juice .
Before I leave Cappadocia , I visit a Kiwi friend-ofa-friend , R , a who owns a carpet shop . She arrived here 25 years ago , when there were donkeys and chickens everywhere , and no tourists . Now the place is barely recognisable , she tells me ruefully , and ' anyone with money ' is permitted to build a hotel .
There are no rules here , yet lots of rules , R says . ' You just need to know them .' She enjoys the licentiousness of Turkey after the officiousness of New Zealand . Here she can do business in cash , no questions asked – although the counterfeit notes in circulation can get frustrating , she admits .
How is it for women here , I ask ? ' It ' s getting better , but domestic violence and honour killings remain serious problems ,' she says . However , women are usually the dominant force inside the house , apparently – and are often not as innocent as they seem . Recently , a group of her friends decided to dress up as men and perform an erotic dance with a broom . ' Everyone thought it was hilarious . But I thought it was deeply pornographic and shocking !'
It ' s also possible to use being a woman to your advantage here , R points out . You can get two seats on the bus by refusing to sit next to a man , and ' for every crotch-grabber , there are four men who come to your aid '. I know exactly what she means . People often forget that with chauvinism comes chivalry : the other side of the patriarchal coin . Sometimes , as I ' m struggling with a heavy suitcase or buying my own pint , I do wonder if we feminist sorts have pushed this equality thing too far .
It ' s just -5 ° C outside by the time I leave Cappadocia . Dressed like the Michelin Man in almost all my clothes , I spend the first 30km crawling up a succession of steep hills through a dense ice fog . I feel leaden and sluggish , but am spurred on by the knowledge that stopping would mean instantly freezing to death or being devoured by one of the many neurotic mutts on my tail .
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