When the workers saw me , they approached and I , of course and as I always do , shout : “ MARADONA …! ARGENTINA …!” This yell has taken me out of countless situations of tension when they hear the word " MARADONA " and " ARGENTINA " automatically everybody smiles . They did the same and it was my surprise when they asked me to park the bike and drink tea with them . It was wonderful .
On the road again , I remembered something from the time when I was in elementary school and studied Mesopotamia . I could not believe that I had crossed on my motorcycle the two rivers that made it up : the Euphrates and the Tigris . I was moved to tears .
Arriving at my destination extremely late and in the middle of chaotic traffic and was lost until an occasional biker guided me to the hotel where I had booked my room . The desk clerk , Mr . Lami Sen , in a wonderful gesture , insisted that I store the bike in the hotel lobby , next to the guest waiting chairs . Wonderful .
I enjoyed the city for two days walking the streets , and in downtown I met young people who , curious , approached me to ask where I was from . I told them about my trip on the motorcycle and they were amazed by short anecdotes that I offered them . They insisted on taking photos and having them taken . The attitude of the people of Urfa was wonderful , everyone friendly , the children following me and asking questions . I was one of only a few foreigners and that caused curiosity . I had Urfa Kebab , one of the best of Turkey .
The Syrian border beckoned early the following morning to visit a small and picturesque town , Harran , made up of conical houses built out of mud that look like ants ' nests . Really amazing . The most impressive thing for me was to find myself less than twenty kilometres from where a bloody war has been raging for years .
From Harran heading towards Antakya passing through Gaziantep to stay in a nice hotel that has a fabulous " hatay " restaurant next to it , where I dined as I had never eaten before during this whole trip .
Impressed by the variety and richness of the food in this region of Turkey , bordering Syria and Jordan , you ’ d think I was here for the culinary delights , but it was more a message from God .
For almost all my life , I had doubts about the existence of God , but I met him in the cathedral of Torun , Poland .
I ’ d received a " sign ", something incomprehensible but that I certainly felt . Perhaps something to be related at another time , it certainly had an impact on me and from that moment I was “ open ” to the possibility of the existence of a superior being .
It led me to decide that I must visit the oldest Catholic church on the planet , said to be where Saint Peter gave his first mass , and which is in Antakya .
There I was , inside the extremely small Saint Peter ’ s Church , infinite peace came as I meditated amongst the confines .
The following morning took to me the Hatay Archaeology Museum that contains one of the world ’ s finest collections of Roman and Byzantine mosaics , dating from the 1st to 5th centuries AD .
The road from Antakya took along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea , passing through Adana , Mersin and Gazipasa where I slept in a hostel for the night . An opportunity presented to meet a Moroccan character who today is my friend and lives in Dubai . The old lady owner of the hostel cooked me Gözlene y Lahmacun , a spectacular dinner .
My friends , Arthur , Emre , and Memht were eagerly waiting for me with a fantastic dinner in Kas , after I passed through Antalya . They were eager to hear about my adventures in their country . I told them that Anatolia was spectacular , that the landscapes were wonderful , and the people were amazing . I ’ d lived in Kas many months years before , and this was my first visit for quite some time .
After enjoying the company of my friends for two days , I hit the road to Çakmakli , near Izmir .
Of all the experiences during my journey in Anatolya , I will never forget the two sisters dressed in traditional costumes that I ’ d met on a deserted road in the middle of cotton fields . The smiles of these two young women were the most beautiful expression of pure soul transparency I have seen from two human beings in a long time … and they were Turkish . GM
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