Southern Turkey city of Bodrum and Cradle of Ancient Civilization, Egypt - Essay Example

Combining two previously written essays through theme and writing a new Essay Traveling and expedition always provide one with myriads of experienceswhereby he/she comes to understand a lot of things, which have been unknown to him or her hitherto. A good tourist always comes back as a changed, rejuvenated person – transformed with the wisdom and variety of experiences gained from the places of visit. My experiences of the two trips I had - to the Southern Turkey city of Bodrum and to the cradle of ancient civilization, Egypt - were no exception from this. The effects and the mental impressions these two trips created in me were entirely different just as the two places were different from each other. Bodrum was much more than a tourist spot for me – it was where I spent most of my childhood, a place that reminds me of many nostalgic experiences, feelings and emotions. Egypt, even after my visit, didn’t create much lasting impression in me, as it was an alien land with monotonous desert; but I could see a common strain of traditional Islamic culture in both countries. It was a wonderful, thrilling experience to sail down to the city of Bodrum, as we used to visit there by car, bus or plane before. The other two were Berk, my best friend and Erdem, another good friend of mine. Besides, we were childhood friends who knew each other for quite a long period. Our destination was not the Marina of the Bodrum but the bay where our houses were. We decided so because we wanted to go to our favorite restaurant there and eat the traditional Turkish food ‘Manli’. The restaurant meant a lot to us, as the delicious taste of the ‘Manli’ always fascinated us. It was really refreshing to sail through the Aegean Sea that looked endless blue. The soothing cold breeze, the murmuring sound of the water movement and the mild sound of the engine all provided us something to cherish for our future. Both of them were good at sailing and operating boats whereas I did not have any experience of sailing even though I had a certificate of yachting. The Boat we traveled belonged to Beck’s family and it had three cabins, a kitchen and a sitting place. We scheduled our voyage in an early May. After summer, the weather got colder and we had to resort to our sweaters for protection. Whenever there were light winds, we turned our engine down which helped us to see the happy curious dolphins come near by. At night, we reached at the small bay side city called Ayvalik and for dinner, we cooked fish that we brought with us from Istanbul. It was an ever-memorable dinner I had- a rare combination of fresh Aegean fish with some cheese and other appetizers and the traditional Turkish liquor called ‘Raki’, taken in the company of my dearest friends in the lap of nature. We prayed that the weather would be better next day and went to bed. The next day we had a quick breakfast because we were so much enthusiastic and didn’t want to waste any time. We started heading down to south; now there was only 10-12 hours of sailing to reach our destination. The weather, unlike the previous day, was very warm. The strong warm wind made me a bit dizzy and I felt so adventurous. I imagined my self to be the captain of the ship, giving instruction to the subordinates and controlling each and every movement of the ship something that I have seen only in movies. Later my mind slipped back to my childhood and many nostalgic thoughts and reminiscences of the past haunted my mind. The site of Berk and Erdem was no longer apparent to me; instead I could find myself playing on the sand at the seashore with my father and mother. I was only 6 years old and my family was in the Bodrum for summer vacation. It was noontime. My parents were swimming whereas I was in world of emperors and castle, building castles and houses on the seashore with sand. Suddenly I could find a huge wave shattering my castle and dreams, and before I could understand anything, the wave embraced me with its deadly hands. Before I lost my consciousness I could find two hands coming out in to water and pulling me out by holding my arms. When I regained my senses, I found myself in the lap of my mom who showered me with kisses. The anxiety and the love in her eyes still remain as a vivid picture in my mind. I can never share the feelings of safety, security and confidence I experienced at that moment. My thoughts came to an abrupt end at this moment by a strong wind. As I looked around, I could find Berk operating the Boat and Erdem fishing for a late lunch. The Boat was moving with the wind and it was easy to fish as the bait looked alive with the engine off and the baits easily attracted the hunter fish. We took our lunch and there was only 6 hours of sailing to go. We headed to the bay, where our homes were. At last, after two long days of exhausting trip we reached our destination point. We enjoyed the delicious manli from the open-air restaurant. The voyage made me to think about my life – the importance of Bodrum in my life. The thoughts that passed through my mind from the boat continued to haunt me and I could breathe a connection between the journey of my life and the voyage through the Aegean Sea. It made realize the importance of many things which I neglected as unimportant hitherto – the actual beauty of the Turkish landscape, the soothing nature of the sea, the love of my mother and trust of my friends. Above all, I came to the realization that Bodrum is not just a vacation place for me, but it exists in my memories as a source of molding my personality and my life. This close intimacy with Bodrum was reinforced after my trip to Egypt. We were so much thrilled and influenced by our Bodrum trip that Berk and Erdem and I decided to continue our traveling experience by exploring a new culture , a new country or anew horizon . For this, we selected the Egyptian civilization of which we had heard a lot but did not have any practical experience. By this time, our friendship had strengthened a lot and we knew we were able to do a lot of things together. As we had never been to the place before and we didn’t know the language there, we reserved our seats in travel agency. The date was fixed on a fine summer day, our aero plane headed towards Egypt and we sat together with a lot of expectation – the thrill of exploring a new land was very high in our minds. As our expectation was very high, we are actually a bit disappointed to see the dry areas from the airplane, as compared to the beautiful scenery on the boat in our trip to Bodrum. But after we landed the great nation, each experience on the first day was marvelous- the confusion at the airport as our guides didn’t turn up on time, having the typical Arabian food, hiring the hotel cab to go around the city, visiting the night club street called Cleopatra, and visiting the glorious pyramid Sphinx (which captivated us by its architectural designs and dark underground passages). Thus as suggested by John Hunter, “The pyramids were remarkable even with the high expectations I held for them.” (John Hunter, 1996-2006). The next day we visited the city of Alexandria, one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in my life. We could get the view of the sea as well as the view of the endless desert from there. On the fifth and last day we visited the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities that holds over 25,0000 objects of art dating as far as 5000 years. The most intriguing site we visited was the Old Khan El Khalili Market established around 1400, because we understood how we were tricked by the Egyptian merchants on the first day, as we could buy the same things at a much cheaper rate with the help of guides. After the trip I felt that something was lacking in Egypt- namely natural landscape. The whole place looked lifeless without the elements of nature. The trip reinforced in me the belief that Bodrum was much more important to me as it has become part of my life. I knew that it was Bodrum which I longed even when I was in Egypt and Egypt was no Bodrum .I felt as if I can never go away from the alluring, fascinating charm of Bodrum and I look forward to view my life and experiences in Bodrum with feelings of nostalgia sometime in the future when I am away for a long period. Thus, I feel that Bodrum is a place where I can come to and reflect whenever I am unhappy, sad and frustrated and I am sure that no other place in the world can provide me such happiness, peace of mind and solace. Works Cited Hunter, John. Egypt Photo Essay. Curious cat Travels. 1996-2006. 8 Apr. 2007 . Read More