Koycegiz… rumble in the jungle

Choice moment: when we ordered some vodka/sprite at a bar. The first difficulty was actually explaining to the barman that we wanted “vodka” and “sprite”, something I thought were universal concepts. Then, after successfully managing to relay our drink order, the barman ran across the road to the convenience store and purchased a bottle of vodka and a bottle sprite. Clearly, he was a businessman and even in Turkey they do understand the concept of arbitrage – naturally, at our expense. Note, the very same bar had bottles of Johhny Walker on display, but did not serve any.

Nonetheless it was a hilarious evening, with a live Turkish band playing some traditional music, with some western classics like “Sweet Dreams” mixed in. The lead singer was a dead ringer for Gillespie and was, in fact, wearing his cricket whites.

Koycegiz was also the location for the first caged matches on tour. Things kicked off with Mearle v Baxter bed brawl and a Baxter v Baxter silent treatment death match the following day. But there were no winners in this cruel game of duelling friends and siblings – only collateral damage, an unpleasant gash under my eye. On the bright side, it gave me a change to sport the latest in fashion accessories according to Vogue – a Nelly-esque band-aid (provided by Elastoplast).