The day of laughing Childs

I start a little earlier today to escape the heat of the day. In this part of Turkey it's now usually over 27°C and even if the heat isn't so bad due to the wind, it's more fun to get a bit of fresh air.

My route takes me through a small canyon. ⛰️⛰️
While the landscape above is rather steppe-like, a river has created a small and peaceful paradise. A great spot for camping!

I did not have a flat tire for weeks and changing it only takes 20 minutes. The nearby water sprinklers regularly spray me with water, which makes the heat more pleasant.

During my lunch break, a couple of kids come up to me and we have a really nice chat that ends in test rides on my bike. One of the boys even does better than me on my first few meters. Maybe I've convinced the next offspring to cycle today 🤭

The children leave and are replaced by a group of young people. They also want to know a lot and then pose for a photo. They want me to do a wolf salute. Knowing what it means, I leave out the greeting.
They want to invite me for a cup of tea and I accept. Then they take me to the party headquarters of the MHP, an extreme right-wing and arch-conservative party. 😓
Portraits of Atatürk and the party's founders hang on the walls. Behind the large desk sits a man my age, perhaps the local chairman. Half the kids are around 13, the rest around 17.
We have Çay and baklava. I can easily avoid the questions that revolve around politics. I don't think there's any point in having a discussion here, the opinions are too different for that.
I think it's a shame that I'm once again being presented with the typical (memorized?) opinion that there are only terrorists in eastern Turkey. What a nonsense.
The meeting leaves me perplexed and somewhat hopeless because I can already see the next generation of children growing up with hate images in their heads.Les mer