40°N 27°E Hurma - Çanakkale

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1.3 km (0.8 miles) NNE of Hurma, ÇANAKKALE

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[penguen]

Ynt: 40°N 27°E Hurma - Çanakkale

On the way returning from Çanakkale to Istanbul I choose the way that goes via Çan and then to Bandırma where the ferries leave for the former capital of Turkey. It took almost 2 hours to approach the expedition area. Coming closer to the point, as indicated by the GPS, I asked the driver to stop (in Turkish: Dur!). He could not believe that we wanted to step off the bus right there, but finally he stopped in the middle of nowhere. Victoria and I got out of the bus, closely observed by the Turkish travellers.

We walked with our backpacks next to the road for 500 meters, crossed the road under a bridge and walked into northern direction until we got to a meadow with 5 young bulls running und jumping around. The GPS showed 350 m in the direction of the bulls. Victoria decided not to go any further. So we named out the present position "base camp" and placed our luggage right there. Victoria did not want to leave the backpack all alone; she rather preferred to protect the equipment against bulls and wild Turkish men. So I took the GPS and moved parallel to the meadow in eastern direction and up a hill.

After about 100 m I saw a track in the field, which led in the direction of the confluence point. Luckily, I did not have to cross the bulls' playground. After 200 m, at the end of the path, I had to climb a hill covered with undergrowth. Off the hill, there was a fence made of thorn-hedge branches. The GPS showed 50 m remaining. To get over the fence I had to leave the direct way to the point for more than 180 m by walking along the barrier. After having crossed the fence twice (there was another one), I was in this light wood, which can be seen on the photos.

Then I had that great feeling when you are coming closer to a confluence point… And then 2 times 00.000! I got my first double five 0! Silence for minutes. After taking the pictures, I returned rapidly back to the "base camp". Fortunately, no attacks by wild creatures had occurred during my absence. Back on the road, we had to wait just 60 sec. until the next bus passed to Çan. Getting to the point took only 1 hour.

At the bus terminal in Çan, the bus driver of the first bus was very surprised to see us so soon again. Having 1 kg of mud on each shoe, and smiling at him with "der Ruhe des Rechtgläubigen" (Don Juan de Tenerife), I told him "ipse tamam", and indicated that we got very nice pictures!

Roman Winkler
16-May-2004