TRAVELS AND TREASURES 4

The year after Greece and my return to Sweden

I had letters coming my way keeping my connected, 

flowers and gifts sent to me every week - month,

so the next Summer when I found myself

having a few weeks to myself I decided to go for an adventure

and see if I would be able to get all the way down to visit my friends.

I did not have money for air fairs or train or busses,

so I decided to put my thumb up in the air and just go.

Decided as I was walking on the plaza downtown Umea.

Biked home with the speed of lightning and packed my back pack,

took the bus to the high way and started my adventure.

In a few minutes some friends from Turkey showed up in their car,

and they told me they were on their way home 

to their homeland Turkey to visit.

They asked me if I wanted to join,

and, said and done, 

I jumped into their car and we were on the way.

Like all Mediterranean people they had a lot of people

they needed to visit on their way down through Europe, 

so our first stop was Amsterdam after driving down through

Sweden and Denmark and Germany.

We crashed in the car until we arrived in Holland,

and the big extended families of cousins and uncles and aunts etc

I found myself Sleeping on the floor with at least 20 - 30 

Turkish people, after a fantastic experience 
of food, music, dancing

and during the night to early morning

 exploring the most "extreme" bar experiences 

I had ever had before.

My natural and organic way during my travels has 

always been to stay away from any intoxicating offers so

that I could stay aware of any potential dangers during 

my adventures and not end up in trouble;

when you travel as a single woman, there are definitely efforts to 

get you confused and less aware to make you more available for …

After Amsterdam we drove down through Belgium 

to northern France and then into Germany again,

where the next crowd of family and friends lived.

The two guys and I had a fantastic and fabulous time together

playful and fun, sharing a lot of stories.

As we ended up in Munich we ended up repeating 

our Amsterdam experience of floor sleep …

Mediterranean's tend to be magnets for 
crowds of people gathering,

the jungle drums start pounding their messages that

family is gathering and they just show up 
in big crowds from everywhere.

They don't even have to like each other, but when there is 

a gathering of family they all show up, for better for worse.

After Munich and the adventures with all

 the new extended families and friends,

we continued our trip South towards Greece and Turkey. 

We drove through Austria, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria having some 

adventures with our old beat up car up in the mountains.

Intensely steep mountain sides in the dark, 
with extremely narrow roads;

at one point we ended up nose to nose in the pitch dark 

with an elderly couple.

They were sitting in the middle of the road frozen from fear 

from having one side of the road go straight up and 

the other one straight down while they were right in front of a bend. 

The wife was screaming and the husband could not move.

My guys drove their big low rider to a beer bar we just passed and 

I took them by hand and walked them to the bar and the parking lot.

They decided to sleep there till morning so they would have more light.

I still hope they did good because the people that visited the bar were

not of the more conscious tribe of people and 

fully hydrated by the 12 % beer they were served.

I realized as we got closer to the fork in the road 
for me to take a turn to Greece

that I did not have enough time (or money) to travel south 
to visit my friends …

I had to be back at work in Sweden in a couple of weeks and 

god knows how I would get there in time, 

because my wallet had become very thin

by the time we got closer to Turkey.

I decided to join my friends to Istanbul, 

where one of the guys had his family,

while the other guy were on his way to the Southern parts of Turkey.

The lines at the border - customs were beyond long,

the Turkish people travel with luggage like nobody else, 
gifts for everyone.

I decided to leave the car and saw a female militant custom guard,

that was waiving at me … I got nervous that something was not right.

She called me to her and looked at me up and down.

I was wearing a minimal top because of the heat (100 -110)

and I had been an athlete most of my life so the muscles were visible.

She asked me if I was married, I said no, and 

she started telling me that she had a son 

that I would be the perfect wife for …

She gave me her phone number and her sons phone number

and gave me a free pass through customs.

I was through in 15 minutes and 

then I had to wait for my friends for 10 hours.

Sometimes life is really humorous and funny, the way it shows up.

I was planning on sleeping wherever I could find a spot, but 

my friends said that sleeping on the beach in Istanbul, not so good!

I ended up in the home of my friend's wealthy grand parents.

I was treated like a queen,

served Turkish tea in golden tea cups on the bed every morning …

fed and dressed like a female princess from Turkey …

Both his mother and sisters and cousins and grand mothers

decided I needed a make over to be part of their family ...

another Heavenly experience on Earth.

They took me to the big market of Istanbul and 

showed me local food places and dance places … 

My time in Istanbul ended way too fast …

I had about 5 days before I had to be back at work in Sweden …

"Reality" hit me again … I had no money to travel for. 

Before I knew it Somebody had bought me a train ticket home,

I still don't know who?!

I ended up traveling with strangers, a turkish family 

on their way back to Munich.

They begged me to stay with them because of a Bulgarian guy

who wanted to get into their private compartment.

I was bribed with food and drinks, and very nice company.

Easy choice even if the hostile guy was standing 
outside "our" compartment 

threatening me and fixating his eyes on me.

Eventually I had to go to the rest room so I left my space,

 bringing a machete with me that I always travelled with.

Found my "enemy" watching me from the end of the carriage 

so I decided to stop and wait and see what he was up to.

I thanked my life for having trained me in karate for many years.

He came closer and closer and in a rapid moment 

he had past me and ran into the rest room.

The train had a stop in Sofia in Bulgaria and the guy jumped out

and started running away from the train station.

At the same time the people at the end of the carriage 
came out screaming…

they had been robbed in their sleep from everything … 

passports, jewelry, visas, money …

The Bulgarian Police came running and I knew right away 

that the guy that I saw had taken all their valuables.

I had watched him run away so I showed the police where and they

found the guy and he screamed a deadly curse of hatred at me,
 as they booked him … the police thanked me for my courage.

The families got all of their valuable stuff back … 

I told them to look for the rest in the restroom and all was there.

I felt good and all the people were in such gratitude …

Returning all the gifts of gifting hospitality …

I arrived at the train station in my home town in Sweden 
at 7 am and I had to be at work at 8 am.

No time to freshen up, with my backpack on my back

I went to work to start my ordinary life.

My co-workers had no idea about my resent adventures so 

they asked if I was going somewhere after work … 

I just said no, I just came from Istanbul and I had no time 

to go home in between.

An adventure without plans,

and hardly any money,

that was divinely organized by following my highest inspiration!

to be continued …

with Love and Peace in Joy,

Morayah

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