Turkey - our guide Nurdan

I will blog several times about Turkey and my first one has to be about our guide, Nurdan.  If anyone is traveling to Turkey, I would suggest Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) and I would suggest you find a tour that Nurdan is leading.  I am sure another OAT guide would have been OK but Nurdan was so far superior to anyone that could ever imagine.  She brought her whole self to us for 2 weeks, and she has such a broad knowledge of Turkey, the culture, the people, the history and human nature.

So what did she do that was so terrific? She primarily role modeled for us, how to be in the world.  She made it so comfortable for us to get to know real Turkish people and to be travelers, not just tourists.  From the very first evening in Istanbul, when we walked to a restaurant, she pointed out things along the way.  Primarily, she was talking about Syrian refugees, since we walked right past a park, where they congregate, and wait with their bags packed to be picked up and driven to another country in Europe.  Little children, waiting with family and all of their worldly possessions with them in 4 stuffed bags.  She knows the difference in language and physic, and can pick that up easily in the Syrians, something that was very hard for us to do.  She pointed out a bar which had a life jacket outside on the sign signifying that many refugees came by boat and probably without a life jacket.  The lift jacket represented a Syrian friendly place.

The apple Farmer in Capadocia

On a hike in Capadocia, Nurdan ran back to the bus to get plastic trash bags, and we filled 2 of them that hike with trash left behind.  Twice, she stopped our group and brought a bag up a flight of stone stairs for older people, and in the airport when we were leaving she spent the entire time talking to a woman about her travels, and yes, she carried her bag onto the airplane.  Tom said at that point "Nurdan is a den mother for all of Turkey".

The Sugar Beet farmers posting a group photo on Face book

Role modeled collecting trash

OAT has a philosophy of getting to know the people so on most trips there is a "Day in the Life of".  We visited a family on the way to Ephesus, and spent the better part of the day with them.  The mother and daughter had made us lunch from vegetables they had grown on their farm, and the father grows gourds, that he makes into musical instruments.  We then continued to a little village and we saw most of the villagers, and the children peeked around houses, or ran up to us and followed us.  We saw their school, watched a woman making cheeses, helped a woman sort figs, sat in the coffee shop displacing some men to the one across the street, and Tom got a haircut from the local barber.  This was all facilitated by Nurdan, and her introduction to the family, and then the Mayor of the town and his son and nephew.  Some of us gave a donation to the school to rebuild their toilets.

Nurdan told he to get out of our comfort zone, which is the only reason I tried nagile/hooka in Istanbul.  Because she is constantly pushing herself out of her comfort zone, it was easier for us to do the same.

She had to sign a petition in Taksim square around freedom of speech

Befriending a little boy in Greek ghost village

Nurdan is also the most empathetic, caring and gentle person.  Each of us told her our life story privately or publicly, and she told us hers.  She is a feminist in Turkey with an adopted son, and is hopefully allowing other Turkish women to find their voice.  Meanwhile, she is guiding groups of tourists around her beloved country, and imparting her knowledge.  What she does not know she googles and then brings us the answer.