Experiencing a Dolmuş

This is a Dolmuş:

The word Dolmuş (pronounced dole-moosh) actually comes from a common Turkish word. Dolma is a family of stuffed vegetable dishes in the Cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire and surrounding regions.

They are yummy.

The word "stuffed" is the appropriate similarity here.

A dolmuş is stuffed. A dolma is stuffed. Stuffed full of meats and rices (in the case of a dolma) and stuffed full of people (in the case of a dolmuş.)

Every other Saturday, there is a volunteer on Base who teaches a group of newcomers how to ride these packed buses to Adana and back. It costs $1.40(TL). The best way to compare TL and USD is to take off one-third. Thus, $1.40 in TL is approximately $1.00 in US money. If a kid is not taking up a seat, they do not pay. You only pay if you are taking up room on the dolmuş.

JB and I held both of the boys and thus paid about $2USD for a thirty minute ride to Adana. Whether this is better than driving will remain to be seen. Parking is hard to come by in the city. And while I don't think I would drive to Adana, I would take one of these stuffed vehicles.

So we hopped on a dolmuş right outside the Incirlik gates and headed to Adana. We learned where two of the major stops are and that we get on one saying "Incirlik" if we want to go downtown or if we want to get back to Base. It is a tad bit confusing since the signs on the vehicles do not actually say where they are going but what their route is. Either way, if I stick to one that says Incirlik, I will be okay.

Once on the dolmuş I learned how to pass money to the passenger in the front seat and then pass the change back to whoever it originated from. Change is made by the driver while he is driving. Quite a scary phenomena.

Once in Adana, our tour guide John, took us around the busy streets. Holy cow is stuff cheap here. An example? A woman's sundress would run you about $5-10 USD. Kids' clothes are all well under $5. Everything is very inexpensive and much more inexpensive than the Alley which surrounds Base and exists for the Americans who live on Base. We also stopped and had Turkish ice cream (Isaac and Elijah both got seconds due to the fact that they were very popular with everyone who worked there.) We also stopped at a candy store where free samples set out for the taking, and where we even got to try Turkish Delight (from the Chronicles of Narnia!) We also got to visit a spice store (JB was in heaven.)

Some things were difficult. We can't fit a stroller on the dolmuş, and even if we could, the city streets are not stroller friendly with steps and holes and narrow turns. The boys did very well though, transitioning from shoulders to arms to walking without many issues.

It was also incredibly hot. It reminds me of the heat in Rome when we visited there many summers ago. South Florida is hot, but this seems to be at a whole new level. This is so hot that within mere moments, JB has sweat just pouring down his forehead. Unfortunately, you can't really avoid the hottest part of the day if you want to shop since most stores do not open until 10am and while they stay open late (8 or 9 pm) we don't want to be out that late with the boys or just out that late period.

Going though the meat market? Not my favorite thing. I had no idea they used those parts of the meat! Stomachs and intestines galore. Oh, and it was in the meat market that JB was asked whether he had any marijuana interest. (He answered in the negative.)

The jury is still out as to whether we will opt to drive our own vehicle down or not. We'll see. Either way, it was incredibly educational and definitely opened us up even more to the world outside the Incirlik walls.