Welcome again to the story about when I travelled overland to India with a band, funding all our expenses with music. A journey that took 1 year and 8 months, through 32 countries!
I think there are so many posts in this series now that there is not much point anymore to link to all the previous, so here is just the link to the last episode - Meeting the Rural Villages and Nomads in the Hills of East Turkey
Part 10 ~ On The Road With The Girls (and Pete)
June 2011
This episode is actually less about the actual band, since this will be about when I left the guys in the band to go on a roadtrip with the Spanish girls!
We met Blanca, Cristina and Gemma, aka "The Spanish Girls" already in Athens months earlier, and we lived with them in the caves in Crete for two months. They were also on their way over land to India, so we bumped into them many times along the road, and this time I decided to go with the girls (and Pete) for once, to meet up with the guys later!
We started again in Diyarbakir, back in the Art Studio and saying goodbye to them again for the third time! What blessed souls to keep welcoming us!
goodbye picture poses!
thank you again and again
So we were the 3 Spanish girls, me and Pete, all hitchhiking together, direction North, towards Erzerum. And no, hitching 5 people together in East Turkey is no problem! We got this awesome ride on the roof of a lorry! Wuhuu, that was so much fun sitting at the top of the world and driving along!!
Unfortunately it is very hard taking selfies while riding on the top of a truck, especially with the truck and yourself in it, so this is all the photos I got. You can choose to believe it or not that we are actually sitting on the roof of a huge truck!
the view from up there
We got dropped off right in front of this little school on the plateau in a very rural part. And of course they invited us in!
We were juggling and playing music and having a lot of fun with the children in spite of language barriers. Or actually, Blanca, Gemma and Cris had all learned a loot of Turkish in their time in Turkey, and could say quite a lot to the kids. After being there almost 3 months at this point, my skills were not as developed, though I was familiar with some words and could have very simple comversations
all the kids were so excited to try our instruments!
Then we got to Erzerum and Blanca and Cris were planning to go to Iran, so they were working to make their visas and get photos made with headscarves, since those are obligatory in Iran.
Blanca and Cris, ready for Iran!
And then we went recycling in a nearby market - why not keep the headscarf on for the occasion!
Erzerum:
beans on the market
We found a couch surfer to stay with in Erzerum
me at the couchsurfer's house, with the obligatory tavla!
Our host had just graduated and we had a lot of fun dressing up in his graduation clothes!
Cris
Blanca
Pete
Gemma and our host
me
chilling with our hosts, super nice people
Walking around Erzerum
This was a really crazy relief! Very bloody with swords through babies! It was supposed to show the Armenians tyrannising the Turks - Note: Everybody in Turkey hates Armenians.. if nothing else, that's something that binds them together..!
this is a horrible photo, but it was a super cool looking very old Hammam, and we really wanted to go, but it was a Men Only place :(
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The crazy bakery that had everything..!
making super looong breads
kids playing in front of a beautiful ancient mosque
love the look of these old wooden structures
Time to leave Erzerum. On our way to meet the boys at a waterfall.
We hitchhiked a bus - and got a free ride..!
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Pete tired after the looong (free) busride!
That was it for this time.. I am sorry the quality didn't feel as high as the other posts, but I must be a bit tired today.. I promise that the next part about the sweeeet house we found at the waterfall will be great! Just stay tuned! LOVE
And THANK you so much for staying with me this far!
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