An experience not to be forgotten quickly.

I really debated about writting about this for reasons that will become clear later in the story. But what is the point in having a story if you never tell anyone about it? Kinda like owning a car and never driving it!

So the other night I met up with an Aussie guy called Brent in the Big Apple hostel. I had met him in Belgrade previously while he was halfway through a drinking game. I should have been able to see what was coming from a mile away! We had a couple of beers at the hostel and then headed into town for some food (2 lire for a donar! Bargin) and then debated the advantages and disadvantages of trying to sneak some cheap beer into the hostel. We decided the cost/risk ratio was worth it and so gave it a try and obviously we got caught and kicked out.

We headed down to a park outside the blue mosque to drink our beers before heading back to the hostel. That was weird enough, sitting drinking beer outside a mosque. While we were there 3 turkish guys came over and started talking to us. Nothing unusual but we were in a dark corner of a dark park a little drunk and breaking the law so alarm bells were quietly ringing in my head. Within 10 minutes everyone had got friendly. Only one of the turks spoke english and it was funny watching him translate everything while getting really animated. Then one of the non english speakers asked me if I liked Mary Anne. Mary Anne? was he trying to sell me his sister or something? Finally realised he was trying to say Mary Jane and I figured why not, it would be rude to say no and they were really happy when we said yes but again alarm bells were getting louder. Strange city, strange park, strange turks and strange drugs.... So this joint starts getting passed round and then it comes to my turn. Literally as I put my lips to the roach and started to toke I see something move in the corner of my eye and then these two other turkish guys turn up and started talking to the other guys. One of them then holds out his hand for the joint, takes it, has a big long puff and then stubs it out.

It is right then that the alarm bells hit full pitch. Something wasn't right and my heart knew it. We were sitting in a corner with nowhere to go and no-one within yelling distance. Then I see the gun and realise the one guy is yelling at me in Turkish getting really angry. and then the guys we were with are telling me he wants my passport which I didnt have, didnt have any ID at all. Things were getting way out of hand way too quickly. I had at this point just about worked out they were the police and I did not want to spend a night in a Turkish cell.

Eventually the yelling stopped realising he wasnt going to get anywhere with us, he just stared at us for a bit and then finally he kind of whispered "go" and pointed to the road. We both of us started walking very carefully not too fast, not too slow towards the road. I just wanted to run at that point. We rounded the corner and burst into laughter. We could still hear the argument going on in the park and I realised that being british probably saved me either a fat bribe or a cold damp night slightly stoned in a turkish cell.

The moral of the story? It's ok to break the law as long as you dont speak turkish!