Ch 36, Day 15: A City Erased





18
kms, April 8, 2011,






In
this Chapter, the Traveler will finally end his 17 Chapter Journey
through West Asia... and hopefully piece things together and draw
some conclusions on all that he has seen and experienced in this
often misunderstood part of the world.








Just 10 kilometers after
exiting Istanbul city/province, the Traveler reaches another city:
Corlu, a city that has nearly tripled in size in the last 25
years. With some 300 factories around it, Corlu is an industrial
boomtown, drawing folks from the less developed parts of Turkey by
the tens of thousands—as well as Muslims and Roma fleeing
persecution in Bulgaria and Kosovo.






The Traveler is still
able to see the final remnants of the city that once was: the last
quaint, farm-style whitewashed houses surrounded by mass built
apartment buildings. Sometimes there will be just one old house left
standing... a family putting up one last resistance to having their
house bulldozed and replaced with a 15 story building.






The Traveler feels a
tinge of sadness, knowing that these houses show personality and
individuality. Something that is lost when people are herded into
high rise buildings. In these houses people still have a bit more
control over their own destinies. They can choose to keep their
house in good shape, or let it deteriorate. When living in an
apartment building you are at the mercy of the engineers who built it
(who may or may not have made it earthquake proof). You are also at
the mercy or your neighbors and the maintenance guy who may or may
not keep your elevator running...






At the same time, the
Traveler realizes, if you want to have an efficient industrialized
country, it's just not realistic for folks to live in single family
houses—otherwise the city will sprawl endlessly, eating up valuable
farmland. Apartment building keep a city dense and walkable...






But there still is a
feeling of loss here in Corlu. While all the new jobs being created
here may offer poor folks from the villages better opportunities than
they had back at home... something is being lost here as well.






The Traveler decides to
take a mini-bus to explore some other industrial towns around, riding
through the lush, green hills around Corlu. The fertile farmland is
disrupted by one factory after another, with weary looking folks
waiting for their transportation to and from work






Cerkezkoy
has a dense urban core on top
of a ridge, around it are rolling hills with a scattering of houses,
but surely the spaces are going to get filled in soon.






From
here the Traveler walks through some wheatfields to the next town,
Kizilpinar. The
Traveler wonders how long it will be before these wheatfields are
replaced with factories or houses. Turkey doesn't really have a
whole lot of really good farmland, as much of the country is
mountainous and/or dry. You'd think that here in the well watered
Northwest, farming should take precedence...






Kizilpinar
is a town just being born it seems. Construction is going on all
around, and there's an open air market where folks who have already
moved here can do their shopping. Here the Traveler hops on another
mini-bus to Velikoy. Here
there is a park area with a couple of gazebos, where the Traveler
sits down to think for a bit... and pull out his guitar.






Soon he has company. A
nearby shopkeeper, and several of his friends come and join the
Traveler. They seem like a decent, respectable bunch, and the
Traveler enjoys their company, especially in this busy,
mind-you-own-business part of Turkey.






The other fellows all
work at textile mills, and from what the Traveler can gather
communicating by gestures, they seem fairly content with their jobs
and the pay they receive. They are eager to hear some music "Elvis
Presley!" one of them claims... so the Traveler does his best
Elvis style voice.






They order tea to share
with the Traveler... and finally he continues on his way. It's a
heartwarming experience right here in Turkey's industrial heartland.







Location: Çorlu, Tekirdağ, Turkey

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