what happens when the track disappears amongst a disgusting haze of
logged forest? Logged Forest that you expected to be Luscious Pine?
why, you hitch a ride down off the mountain in the back of a Lorry, of
course!
a boring 5 hour walk is transformed into one hour of hilarity as we
find ourselves in the back of a once-bright red lorry, just like the
one your neighbour's crazy grandfather owns. you know the one. with
the curry stain.
our Newfriends seem to have partaken in the age-old tradition of
"after work beers" before piling into the lorry for the rumble down
the mountain homeward. The One With The Pink Hat sits lazily atop a
44 gallon drum. its pretence at being securely tied to the truck
doesn't fool anyone as both drum and man bobble in unison, barely
touching each other or the truck; they are a snapshot taken straight
from a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon. Faruk Superstar is constantly
elbowed in the ribs by The One With The Crooked Hat. they battle and
fight like new tiger cubs. their smiles are blinding. Mr Crazy Smile
laughs insanely at everything and everyone, all the time. we think he
might have had a hand in instigating the after-work tradition this
rattling day. The Quiet One pulls occassional wry grins at the
calamity, all the while waiting his turn... The truck rumbles on, and
Bumpy Rides all over the world go green with envy at how our perfectly
executed jostle takes in every ditch, pothole, bump, rock, and slight
depression on the "road" down. the back of the once-bright red Lorry
is a perfect mixing pot of grins.
the faint odour of petroluem, that comforting fragrance that let's you
know you really are travelling Locally, grows into a suspiciously
combustible affair. a brief rumble-side stop has our merry band of
pranksters up-turning the drum, and stuffing the hole with all manner
of organic matter in attempting to plug a slow burble of petrol. a
dollop of superglue is added, and deemed sufficient -obviously the
kind that will not be dissolved by the petroleum, i ponder. off we
slope again, and The One With The Pink Hat takes a new position atop
the canopy, above his beloved drum. then he does the obvious. he
lights a cigarette. and leans closer to his drum. curioser and
curioser. we opt against interjecting, it seems he has done this
before, and continue to enjoy the bumps, grins, broken English, and
broken Turkish to arrive safely and not too sorely somewhere to camp.
an episode where we couldn't see the forest for the logging, turned to
not seeing the forest for the laughing.
hugs and love from Turkey. gobble gobble.
j
