Honeymoon With The Third Wheel

Before I went to Turkey and while the bride was planning her honeymoon, I told her about my paragliding trip as well.  She sent me her itinerary. It happened that the time they planned to go to Oludeniz was the same as the time I was supposed to meet up with my paragliding coach and classmates there so she decided to take me there. That meant I would spend a few days with them during their honeymoon. ‘Is it really ok for you?’ I asked. I felt a bit uneasy being the third wheel.  She said it was ok so I joined them.

The day after the wedding day, we had breakfast at a nearby restaurant together and checked out the hotel. We went back to the ‘headquarters’ and said goodbye to their relatives. The couple received so many wedding gifts that the trunk of the car was full and the back seat was half full as well. I was literally sitting beside their new plates, a clock and some other things that they may need for their new house in Europe and my own backpack.

We then headed to Konya. It was a 1.5-hour drive. We first went to Rumi’s tomb. Rumi was a very famous poet and his thinking was quite inclusive – Jewish, Muslim and Christianity etc. But the audio guide was very poor. My friend and I both agreed that it wasn’t informative at all. I could learn more about him on the internet than through the audio guide. 😓

After our visit, we went to another museum. On our way, I saw a hawker selling some necklaces and some other accessories. My friend had been telling me about the ‘blue eye’ which is used for getting rid of the devils who intentionally or unintentionally harm you. Sounds familiar, right? Yeah, it sounds like those old women under the bridge in Causeway Bay in Hong Kong beating and cursing the paper men, i.e. the devils. 😀  Considering the devils that I encountered at work recently, I bought a blue eye necklace from the vendor, who was an old man, without any hesitation. It was 1 lira only. Who cared about negotiating the price? It was not costly at all. Actually, I should have bought more from him for family and friends. That way, I could help that old man out even more. But I totally forgot about it. I was so obsessed with the thought of driving out the demons / devils around me at work. 😀  The old man was very happy when I bought the necklace from him even though I only bought one piece. 

That’s happiness. You don’t need to be ultrarich to be happy. If you are easily satisfied, happiness will be with you always. Unfortunately, most people are not. Worse, humans like to fight with each other and most of the time it is because of some selfish reasons.

We went to the museum which displayed the lives in Turkey during World War I. My friend’s husband told me Turkey wasn’t involved in WWII. It was neutral back then.

My friend’s husband got a call from his cousin so we went to a mall to wait for him. This nice couple took us to the peak in Konya and treated us dinner there.

At dinner, I asked the beautiful wife how they met. She was so funny and sweet. She told me she looked at him in a work meeting and he immediately got it. It wasn’t common for a Turkish girl to look at a guy into their eyes so it was a very strong signal. It probably wouldn’t work in other countries. 😀 Too bad. I couldn’t learn anything from her experience. 😂

Our original plan was to drive to Pamukkale (Cotton Castle) that evening. But the sweet couple suggested we stay in Konya that night instead. I had to agree because when we finished dinner, it was already 8pm and it would take 5 hours to drive to Pamukkale. My friend’s husband would be very tired. (I had that experience before when I was travelling in Norway with my friend and her husband and with other backpackers in Iceland. I will write about all these later.)  Also, the hotel my friend’s husband booked was a thermal bath hotel so there’s no point for us to arrive there after midnight and check out the hotel the next morning without taking much rest and enjoying the facilities there.  Once we all agreed to stay in Konya that night, my friend’s husband changed the booking and I changed my booking in Oludeniz too because we worked out another itinerary and now we would arrive there one day early.  We then discussed where to stay in Konya but the cousin in-law invited us to stay with them for the night. It was so kind of them. 😊

After we took a few photos at the peak, the sweet couple suggested we visit their parents so I followed them. (I could only follow. I needed to remember that I was the third wheel) and then we headed to the cousin-in-law’s parents’ place.

It was a big house with a nice garden where they grew peaches, plums, figs and some other fruits. After we toured around their big garden, we went into their big house and had a gathering. We were given so many desserts and fresh fruits from the trees in their garden.

I was so full after the dinner we had at the peak that I couldn’t eat anymore so I only ate the fruits. That family was so friendly, nice and kind. Tell you what, fresh figs were very very delicious!

The youngest son (probably 12 years old?) in the family was so handsome that I couldn’t help myself from asking him to sit next to me. But I liked to play pranks on him. 😂 I would pat on him and touch his face with my wet hands after I washed them. 🤣. Hey, I couldn’t find a towel. 😜😜 (by now, you should have known that I like playing pranks on kids 🤣. Check out this post if you don’t. 🤣) I said I’d adopt him. 😂😂 But he was so shy. 😄 

We stayed until 11pm and then headed to the cousin in law’s home. He was so excited about it. He showed us around and told us the design of his house. The salon of his house was where he proposed to his wife. Oh, that was so sweet! 😊

I stayed in their spare room.

I was actually writing all these in that spare room. 😊

Sweet dreams. 😊

11 August 2018