Knowing the language opens doors !

We arrived to big harbour city Mersin together with the sunset. Looking for a place to sleep for the coming night seemed little bit difficult, but not impossibe - few abandoned houses and construction buildings cought our eyes. Our intention however was to find the way to te beach and nice quite place in the million star hotel.

As walking on the street, we were stopped by a group of people, drinking tea in front of a little shop. The conversation with our limited vocabulary developed into another ritual of drinking tea, which then continued with backgammon match. We lost it and we were happy!

Happy to get the invitation from Murat to sleep in his house.

Murat lived in his humble flat together with his mother, sister and two most lovely children - 9-year-old Gorkan and 7-year-old Elif.

Turkish hospitality is sometimes extreme. When grown up in western culture, it is sometimes difficult to deal with the situation and see it exactly the way it is - very simple and pure.

A person from the street, offering his home and bread to total strangers, and wanting nothing in return, seams to be a person from fairy-tales....

In this matter, Turkey is the country, that can NOT be experienced by lying on the beaches of Antalya or partiying in Istanbul....

People are those who make up the country.

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So we spent the evening and the next morning with Murat and his family and they left such a positive and emotional feeling into our hearts.

The activities of the following days consisted of swimming in Mediterainian Sea, hitch-hiking marathon back to Ankara, washing off the Mediterainian salt in Asli's place and receiving the Indian multiple-entry visa for 6 months.