A nice spot at Van Lake and searching for latex-free condoms in eastern Turkey (June 2023)

After the crater, we went down to Van Lake and found an awesome spot next to the water.

The water was very rich in minerals and after swimming in it we felt super soft. And after washing clothes in it, it was the same. We even took some of it with us when we left a couple of days later.

But now we were facing a challenge: having sex every day made us running out of latex-free condoms. Cindy had a latex-allergy and so the ordinary latex-condoms were no option. So we started rationing our condoms and started searching for the latex-free ones in dozens of super markets and pharmacies. Not an easy mission in eastern Turkey. Most of the ordinary condom boxes had pretty decent layers of dust on them and nobody understood what latex-free meant. But giving up or getting children was not an option and so we continued our mission.

Although the people we met could not help us, they were all so lovely. This Turkish hospitality is just unmatched. Everybody is interested, friendly and helpful. This made our mission much easier although we had no success.

And then we met the first woman working in a pharmacy. She could speak very good English, knew what latex-free means, and was able to order some latex-condoms for us. We ordered three boxes and were relieved. But only a bit because in the end we only got one box. So the mission continued…

In the Nemrut Crater with the “Bengel” (May 2023)

Because we had such a good time together, Cindy and I decided to travel together for some time and our next stop was the Nemrut Crater. It was a beautiful place!

We did some hiking on the edge of the crater in the rain, played with Yolo (the stray dog, Cindy had saved a couple of weeks ago), helped an elderly couple and their friend going up a small off-road track with their “off-road Sprinter van” we recovered together, and Cindy met a bear while peeing.

I started to call Cindy “Bengel”, a German word for “brat” but more nice and a bit funny and not so serious. But she did not like it because it was a word for a boy. But it just described her so well! She was always up to do something (sometimes silly), fearless, lovely and strong.