We are all lucky to be here in Gazipasa. To have the opportunity to come to such a beautiful part of the world and to be able to do the kinds of things that we’re doing is truly something special. However, despite everything we do here, despite the amazing site, amazing finds, and amazing view to round it all off, the age old rule of weekends still holds true.
In the words of our magical friend, Anders, Turkey is a magical place. Filled with endless possibilities for fun times. In our own experiences we have ourselves gone on a day long coastal tour with the one and only captain Owow. (I know what I said) Going down the coast of the Mediterranean, seeing all that there was to see. Which included several fantastic drop off points where we were able to go swimming and diving off the boat, the middle of the sea where the bottom was an unknown hundreds of feet down, and a huge cave which was chock full of bats and urchins. So clearly the only viable and reasonable option for finishing off this day was to be dragged behind our boat by a rope, with our very own captain Owow jumping onto the end of said rope in nothing but his birthday suit.
Or in the case of our most recent weekend, we had a couple special occasions on our hands. These being Liza’s 21st birthday, and later on the military going away party for one of our site workers, Hassan. For Liza, being the geology geek she is, we went to a special little mountainside cafe which is attached to a very large cave system. We started off the experience with an amazing breakfast with a view that couldn’t be beat. After which we proceeded into a very large cave system that required much ducking, squatting, climbing, and swearing to get through, but which was ultimately completely worth it. Finishing it all off with a cake and large sparklers at the end of the tour for the birthday girl!
Now in Turkey, every male must serve a stint in the military for a certain period of time, with few exceptions being allowed. Recently, one of our site workers and friends, Hassan’s, number was called. And because Hassan was such a beloved man around Guney and Gazipasa, he had a massive going away party thrown for him, which we were graciously invited to. Having dubbed it Hassanapalooza we arrived in full force, only to be greeted in kind… by a crowd numbering somewhere around 200-300. We were fed a full meal, then escorted to a field where we danced, were teased about our dancing by the locals, and then danced some more. Culminating in what can only be described as, ”The largest party Guney has seen since the circumcision of 2014.”