Ankara
It really didn't look like what I thought Turkey should look like
On the other hand, I really didn't have any preconceptions about Turkey
So any way that it looked
Would have been a surprise
On final approach I pressed my face against the upper deck side window
Watching green hills slide underneath us
Winding dirt roads going here and there
Now and again leading to a small whitewashed village
Once even to a larger town with a tall tower in the center of town
It obviously used to be a church
Though now I suppose it was used as a mosque
Still a place of worship though
So that's nice
We touched down in our empty Boeing 747
Empty because we had to deadhead to Ankara
Pick up a full load of Muslim pilgrims
We called them Haji's
Because in Arabic the pilgrimage was pronounced as Hajj
Pilgrims went on pilgrimages
Haji's went on Hajj
After loading up with those three hundred fifty plus people
We'd fly them all to Medina
One of the Holy Cities located in Saudi Arabia
There to let them off
So they could do their pilgrimage
Throw stones at the devil
Pray and march around the mysterious black box in Mecca
I don't pretend to really know what that box is all about
Rolling up to the passenger gate
We find that it is really just a parking spot next to the terminal
The ground handlers roll up a nice covered air stair
I take advantage of it and head on down
It really didn't look like what I thought Turkey should look like
On the other hand, I really didn't have any preconceptions about Turkey
So any way that it looked
Would have been a surprise
On final approach I pressed my face against the upper deck side window
Watching green hills slide underneath us
Winding dirt roads going here and there
Now and again leading to a small whitewashed village
Once even to a larger town with a tall tower in the center of town
It obviously used to be a church
Though now I suppose it was used as a mosque
Still a place of worship though
So that's nice
We touched down in our empty Boeing 747
Empty because we had to deadhead to Ankara
Pick up a full load of Muslim pilgrims
We called them Haji's
Because in Arabic the pilgrimage was pronounced as Hajj
Pilgrims went on pilgrimages
Haji's went on Hajj
After loading up with those three hundred fifty plus people
We'd fly them all to Medina
One of the Holy Cities located in Saudi Arabia
There to let them off
So they could do their pilgrimage
Throw stones at the devil
Pray and march around the mysterious black box in Mecca
I don't pretend to really know what that box is all about
Rolling up to the passenger gate
We find that it is really just a parking spot next to the terminal
The ground handlers roll up a nice covered air stair
I take advantage of it and head on down
I almost made a wrench trip for the Hajj myself, backed out at the last second after finding out that the organizer was a bit untrustworthy when it came to payment!
ReplyDeleteGreat one, Fred! It took me through an experience that I'd wished I could have done! I'll bet that there's more to that story than was written!!
Peace! George...