Yesterday was a bad day; the first of the trip.
It’s no coincidence that it was the day that Sarah returned home. A day that had been on the horizon throughout was now upon us. It was so special that we got to share some of this trip, the entirety of which is going to be markedly richer for her part in it. I’m going to miss travelling with her. I’m going to miss her. So as I set off from the hotel the irony wasn’t lost on me when, not 45 minutes later, I missed the first train of the trip. Yup, that just happened.
Together, we’d made it stick for 4180 km, only for me to now be racing by cab across Istanbul to try and catch a bus to Ankara.
Now, I have an utterly justified reputation for being somewhat loose when it comes to my own travel affairs, however this was setting a new low bar.
I made the crossing to Asia by the Marmaray under sea rail before arriving at Istanbul’s Sogutlucesme Station, I sensed trouble – the place was rammed and a lot of people were looking very stressed. Things were not right. The thought then came crashing down on me that whilst I’d pre-booked the following day’s train to Kayseri, and the one a few days later to the far east of Turkiye, I’d done nothing about this small hop. And, it was a holiday weekend. Of course it was. The next train available was Wednesday; today was Saturday.
We live in exceedingly connected times and so it didn’t take me long to figure out an alternative plan, fortunately getting the last seat on a bus that was leaving from the far side of Istanbul, thus me charging across the city.
Two hours later, I was pulling out of a bus station and starting the journey of catching up with my mythical, train riding self.
So solution found, problem solved, journey underway. However I was personally sinking. I was letting things get on top of me and felt lower now than when I’d left Sarah a few hours earlier. As I stared out of the bus window (A ******* bus!!), I saw nothing but congested traffic, and I was allowing thoughts of failure to worm their way in. As is so often the case, things soon became self-perpetuating. Throughout the afternoon – and then night – I let little things get on top of me, allowing the overall picture in my mind to get worse and worse. Small matters, that in isolation would have easily been brushed off and quickly forgotten, took on a life and scale of their own.
The guy sitting next to me was unwell, the stench and heat of the engine that we were both sat on top of (it was the last ticket after all) undoubtedly contributing. I struggled to work out what was happening at a stop we made. Later, pulling into Ankara Coach Station after dark, I couldn’t find the metro. By now, I knew that all I needed was to close a hotel room door on the day, that things would be better tomorrow. However I still needed to fit in a stand-off with a taxi driver, each of us raising our voices in a language we knew the other didn’t understand. There were no food outlets open and – of course – this was the first shonky hotel selection of the trip so far.
Lights out, try and sleep through the noise of the busy street outside my broken window.
Today, I got up and went for a run through Ankara. This is not a pretty city by any metric (even its own mother would be pushed to disagree), however, as I skipped left and right into patches of sunshine, I started to feel lifted. I recognised yesterday for what it was: just circumstance, and that, in reality, I got myself out of a hole and kept the trip on track.
And now, I’m sitting on a TCDD Express en route to Kayseri, soaking up an entirely new landscape and can’t-look-away panoramas. Arid mountains, primitive looking villages, harsh but utterly captivating terrain. The guy in the restaurant carriage speaks a little English and has just served me a delicious chicken shish and some sort of Turkish kola. It’s back on.
So whilst writing this has is undoubtedly helped me process and file away a bad day, perhaps the greater point is to serve as a reminder that travel – real travel – is not all-upside. It’s not a sanitised, word perfect product. It ebbs and flows and we have to move with it and accept the direction of the current. We need to experience the troughs to enjoy its peaks.
It’s important to remember that when flights get cancelled, a place doesn’t live up to expectations or we miss a train. Basically, when things don’t go our way or quite as scripted. As travellers, we can do well to recognise that it’s those same imperfections and unexpected moments that, when they do go our way, are so often the spark of serendipitous fortune, or an unexpected highlight of the day. Sarah and I had a number of fortuitous breaks on this trip, yesterday simply went the other way, That’s life, that’s travel.
The disappointments of yesterday gave me a chance to reflect on how special the previous two weeks had been and to not allow myself to start taking any of this journey for granted. To take care of the big things and don’t sweat the small stuff. To keep my eyes open and scanning for every bit of beauty on the horizon. It most certainly jerked me back into recognising how special these train journeys are.
So now, a new chapter is underway. Not just that I’m travelling solo, but also now beyond Europe (I’m back in Asia!) and into some of the more challenging parts of the trip. The terrain gets harsher, the train schedule less predictable. Hotels tend to be, let’s say, more ‘interesting’, the food more challenging (but hey, that’s part of the fun right?!). It feels much less familiar. It all becomes a lot less predictable from here and the script is far thinner.
And, of course, there is the continued escalation of Middle Eastern tensions. The nature of this fast changing situation means I’m relying on trusted voices on the ground to steer me. For now the plan remains fully on.
Tomorrow I’ll be awakening in Cappadocia, where I have a few days to explore by bike and time to look ahead at what is to come. Today is a good day 🙂
Day: 15 / Distance: 5005km