A plane from Van to Ankara, lunch in Ankara and a quick visit to Ataturk’s mausoleum, then another plane to Sanliurfa. Some photos of the changing of the guard at Ataturk’s tomb. Our guides say that no other group has attempted to this level of travel complexity and dexterity. A truck takes our luggage so we sail through the airports with just carry-ons. I find it quite easy and relaxing myself. Just sitting on planes and buses instead of running around taking photos. More time to go through my shots and sleep.
I’m relieved to be out of Van. All the sites we visited—the island monastery and the hilltop fortress —were inspiring and full of Light, and the archaeological dig with our friend Mehmet Kuşman was a visit with a living desert sage, as if we were talking to a live Essene in Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found…but I felt the vibe of the region as a whole was rather dense. Not much going on, limited mind horizons, and empty, barren landscape with prefab housing and stores. Could have been rural Nevada or Texas but poorer, without the wild individualism and sense of personal agency that makes those places fun. Ataturk’s mausoleum was kinda over-the-top Soviet with some Egyptian pretensions.
But none of it matters because we have a higher purpose of planting the Light, and that makes everything fun and easy. Whatever is missing we add ourselves. We joke on the bus and Keka makes fake AI renderings of our guides with huge second families and wives that look like our staff people. Jsu Garcia keeps everybody laughing. I’d be willing to bet we’re changing the karma of the region but I can’t prove any of it, and we’re probably better off not knowing or we’d mess it up.
