To cover the distance from Athens to Kesan, the first larger city in Turkey beyond the Greek border, the refreshed travelers required two days, including a night’s rest close to the road, their first night alone in the mobile home. Using the luxury of a gas stove, the morning began with brewed filter coffee, fried eggs, and Hungarian meat. The fresh white flatbread came from a local bakery.
They covered the two hundred kilometers to Istanbul in a full day and crossed the Bosporus into Asia on an early evening in the middle of June. After crisscrossing town for some time, they found a place to stay between the Haghia Sophia, a marketplace, the Blue Mosque, and a hotel. During the day, they visited museums, mosques, and a Turkish bath, ate gyros for lunch and kebab for dinner. Walter enjoyed sweet coffee with grounds in small glasses or cups, while Hilde preferred strong black tea.
Before they left Frankfurt, Walter had purchased a stereo cassette recorder and player and brought along a substantial number of cassettes with his favorite music. He also installed a couple of speakers in the mobile home, which enabled the travelers to listen to music whenever they wanted.
Driving 550 kilometers from Istanbul to Izmir on major roads did not present an issue except learning how to avoid, bypass, outwit, or circumvent the truck and bus traffic. Most of Turkey’s goods and people seemed be transported on the road at all times. Immediately, it became clear that the “law of the more powerful” ruled the roads in Turkey and that to survive, one needed to use passive driving at all times.
The yellow camper made it to Izmir, a large metropolis in western Anatolia and a popular tourist spot for foreigners as well as Turks. To avoid the summer activities of the crowds, Hilde and Walter decided to continue south toward Antalya, a city on the Mediterranean’s southwestern coast that was known as Attalia in 150 BC.
After a night’s rest, they continued farther south and stopped for lunch. Opposite the little restaurant, they noticed a gravel road turning off the highway. When they asked the restaurant staff about the road, which occasionally a truck or mule cart turned into, they were told to avoid this road because of its condition but that it would lead eventually to the ocean. The partners considered the situation for a while, and then decided to try it and find out what a side trip on this stretch would offer.
Stocking up on a few supplies, including fresh vegetables, water, and milk products, they turned off the main road and moved slowly onto the dirt road. Meanwhile, the temperature rose higher than 104 degrees. After a couple of hours, they studied the left, seaward side more closely to find a place to park. It was abundantly covered with pine trees and all kinds of bushes, but they noticed a small space where they could turn off the dusty road and drive onto the land next to it.
Walter navigated slowly between vegetation and rocks, at the same time making sure they could return. An area opened up next to what appeared to be ancient ruins, deep inside the trees’ shadows. The shade suppressed the heat, but the hot air between the trees did not stir. No breeze at all moved through the space. It forced the new arrivals to sit down, drink water, and rest. They could hear the ocean behind, through foliage and ruins. Some relief came from cool water with fresh limejuice and later hot black tea.
As they sat on a blanket in front of the camper, sometimes lying down inside with all doors and windows open, they caught peripheral movement in the distance between the trees. Scanning the play of light and shadows more thoroughly, Walter thought he saw a man moving slowly through the trees, sometimes bending down and picking something up. The sun moved slowly across the sky, the shadows changed, and suddenly leaves began to rustle and a light wind fanned the area. The breeze gave them enough energy to walk around and familiarize themselves with the immediate area.
The couple found out that the seawater splashed against rocks and that no sandy beaches were in sight. The ruins looked as if there had been a building a very long time ago; they faced the ocean, and only the remains of one thick wall had persisted during the ages.
Hilde whipped up a delicious dinner of fresh vegetables and rice with flatbread. Then the breeze subsided, and the mosquitoes arrived to have their dinner. The couple quickly gathered all items from outside the bus and retreated inside. They closed the sliding door but left the back door and rooftop open, which had attached mosquito nets. Sleep did not come easily that night because of the heat and the sound of cracking, dry tree branches, as if someone were walking around.