Turkey: The Paradise on Earth

This is an entry in the We Said Go Travel Writing Contest written by Shodiyakhon Toshkhujaeva from Uzbekistan. Thanks for your entry Shodiyakhon!

I was a bit frightened when the plane took off: I shut my eyes. Plane was shaking bringing warm excitement and at the same time, fear of unexpected and unknown surprises to my little heart.  However, all these feelings vanished, when astonishment covered my mind: looking through the window of the plane I saw one view that has forever fixed on my mind. The air was divided into two parts with slight noticeable line. The one half of it was dusty,while other one was crystal clean. My grandmother, seeing my and my elder sister’s eyes full of questions, explained that seas absorb dust from the air that is above their territories and also added that we were flying above one of them: Caspian Sea.

Being lost in these feelings, I did not even notice how we got to our destination. Turkey…  Beautiful and fascinating country, for which my heart will always strive. Though I was 10 years old in that time, my reminiscence about it is still fresh on my mind…

We stayed at the hotel which was located in the seaside resort town called Kemer, Antalya. Our hotel was surrounded with mountains, forest and with some part of the Mediterranean Sea. I loved to spend most of my time looking at the sea, which seemed borderless and bottomless; enjoy different colors that it turned depending on the part of the day and feel the strokes of the waves on my body while swimming or just walking on the coast. In addition, every morning I woke up breathing fresh and clean air of that place. With each breathe I was feeling how strength and zeal were filling my whole body.

 

Although my own country, Uzbekistan, also has very charming nature, I have never seen that bright, solid and inexplicable kind of green color on the plants that I saw in Turkey. Once when we had a long walk in the vicinity, we saw small tangerines on the trees. It was awesome! I had never imagined tangerines growing on trees.Not believing to my eyes, I went and picked one from the tree and ate; its juicy taste has remained in my mouth and has not been substituted by that of other tangerine yet. I was amazed by the sight of the tree which had two bright green and orange colors combining in harmony…I had never thought that once just colors would have this kind of effect on me! Yes, Kemer has forever charmed me with its natural beauty.

Warm hospitality of Turkish people made our days there pleasant to remember. Whenever we entered any shop, we, as well as other visitors, were treated with their traditional barack tea. It is worth going to Turkey and trying their national cousine which includes small breads, sweets saturated with honey because these meals would never have that peculiar taste even if found in other place and cooked by other people. In addition, in Kemer almost everywhere national Turkish artifacts, fabrics and jewelries were available to purchase. These items not only made all tourists familiar with beautiful traditions of Turkey, but also let them take one piece of this marvelous part of the world to their own home countries, along with warm and unforgettable reminiscence… Having visited Antalya myself and still possessing attraction toward it in my heart, I get assured that Antalya is considered an existing paradise on Earth not in vain…

About the Author: Shodiyakhon Toshkhujaeva: I was born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. I am 16 years old. I am finishing high school this year.