[379] 2019-08-01 Kayseri

By liferoad.org on August 5, 2019 • ( 0 )

I mentioned Mr. Berker Ekmekci in yesterday’s diary. He is from Trabzon and he is a friend of Ms. You.

He is working in India as designer. He sent me a letter describing the sufferings he and his family underwent.

He was born in Trabzon which is located at Northern coast of Turkey.

He and his family were influenced by Black Sea which was contaminated by radiation from Chernobyl Disaster.

He has been fighting with cancer during all his life. His story is introduced at the cafe address below.

http://m.cafe.daum.net/earthlifesilkroad/hmob/162?svc=cafeapp

1. We got on the train at Erzincan. We moved to Kayseri which leads to Ankara.

Kayseri is a large city which has 1 million population. The famous tourist attraction, Cappadocia, is located nearby.

2. I would like to introduce an episode of yesterday. The train was running once a day, and the tickets were sold out.

We had to postpone our schedule by one day. Somebody encouraged me to ride a private bus in good English.

To make it worse, I could not cancel the hotel which I made a reservation in advance. It was a time of crisis.

However, I have a secret wisdom which I have acquired during long travelling.

I bought four ticket going to Sivas which was located in the middle of the course. Then I asked the crew in the train if it is possible to extend our tickets to Kayseri. The answer was “Yes!” There is an English proverb, “Want makes wit.”

3. Since we arrived at the hotel at two o’clock in the morning, we got up late. We started late.

4. We had late breakfast at a Turkish restaurant on the way to downtown. The dishes were plentiful.

There were garlic and fresh pepper.

5. I took a selfie with the owner of the restaurant.

6. On the way, I found two people playing Turkish dice.

7. Kayseri is a well-designed city having a population of 1 million.

I investigated and found out that Turkey’s per capita GNP was about 10,000 $.

However, the agricultural produce were low in price and overall price for living was stable.

In terms of purchasing power, the GNP per capita would go over 20,000 $. The statistics is misleading sometimes.

Moreover, three were good reports of oil filed in Black Sea, and development of shale gas.

http://overseas.mofa.go.kr/tr-istanbul-ko/brd/m_8827/view.do?seq=923296&srchFr=&srchTo=&srchWord=&srchTp=&multi_itm_seq=0&itm_seq_1=0&itm_seq_2=0&company_cd=&company_nm=

8. An old academy in downtown. It is like Hyangyo or Seowon in Korea.

I found that Turkish tradition values education while I travelled in Erzurum.

I found that tradition again in Kayseri.

9. Inside the academy, there were many traditional stores. I stopped by one of the places.

The place was designed to show traditional dance during religious ritual.

10. Inside the space

11. There was a coffin of celebrity.

12. This gentleman bought us cool drinks.

13. Walls of old castle. Inside of the wall is going to be transformed into a museum.

14. Using this toy, various patterns can be drawn. It was wonderful.

I and Prof. Lee bought two toys for present each.

15. Hand-made ham

16.

17.

18. While I walked downtown, I saw twice a man who raises his thumb up saying “Korea!”

I have seen this kind of welcoming in several countries such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and India.

Korea is in the rising mode these days. On surface, it may be explained by K-pop or IT strength.

In my opinion, however, the reason of Korean popularity is based on candle-light revolution.

It was three years ago that millions of Korean people with candle-light gathered together on streets every weekend nights for almost four months. And finally the corrupt government stepped down and new government came to power in peace.

This candle-light revolution has moved people of all countries in the world.