Ransom

As a continuation from last week, which was a continuation from the week prior, I have another story of lost and found for you… This week, in the Lost Property Bin, was my friend’s iPhone. I think that pretty much makes it a complete set that he has lost over the course his time overseas. So congratulations are in order.

Church in Cappadocia

It was one of those ominous days from the start, because he was woken up half an hour earlier than normal (at 04:35 am) by the call to prayer. This put him in a phenomenally bad mood. 

Wishing Tree in Cappadocia

Next, his phone fell out of his pocket in a taxi to the airport.

He realized this just as the taxi disappeared into the sunrise

The plane was boarded.

Homeless man in Istanbul

He arrived in Istanbul with no cash.

He also had no money on his credit card to get cash out.

~ I paid for his bus ticket to Taksim Square ~

~ Saint Steph saved the day ~

New Mosque, Istanbul

There he found some Wifi to use his laptop.

Which was unable to transfer money to his credit card, because he needed his phone.  

~ I leant him my phone to do this ~

~ Saint Steph saved the day ~

Turkish delight and baklava heaven

He was able to get some money out.

Our Turkish friend then rang the hotel to enquire about the phone.

Delicious spices in the Spice Bazaar

The taxi driver proceeded to hold the phone ransom for 100 TRY.

Blue Mosque, Istanbul

Which was finally retrieved, 2 days later, at the agreed ransom price.

Unfortunately, there were no exciting taxi-hold ups nor were there any exciting ransom videos where the phone was tied to a chair and the taxi driver (with a balaclava, of course) explained the terms of the deal to us. 

ANZAC Cove, Gallipoli

However, things are slowly getting more exciting (given that there was a ransom bargain involved…). 

Beach Cemetery, Gallipoli

Stay tuned for the next episode of Stupid Stuff My Friend Does While Travelling.

To Blame

As a continuation from last week, to add to the items lost, my friend’s camera power cable was added. To resolve this, he bought another. But then his SD card has also broken, so he is limited to the 25 photo capacity of his camera. Such is life travelling with an Australian...

Travertines at Pammukkale

In our travelling duo, I always take the blame for everything – that was established early on, when I was blamed for the losing of the bag, the losing of the shorts, the heat, the tiredness, the laptop being insufficient, and of course, his getting sick.

View over Pammukkale

But it’s ok that he got sick, because I had drugs (imported from NZ and everything).

I gave my friend some pills and told him to get better.

Castle at Selçuk

He didn’t improve nearly as well as expected.

Library of Celsus, Ephesus

Then I was talking to the parents about the drugs. They kindly informed me that there were two lots of drugs that they had given me. One for skin infections, and the other for gastroenteritis.

Details at Ephesus

Unfortunately, to me, pills are pills and drugs are drugs. Turns out, that despite my 50/50 chance of choosing the correct ones, I had in fact chosen wrong.

I am still deciding if this was a pure accident, or if perhaps it was horribly passive aggressive.

World's cutest kitten

Either way, he’s still sick, I still have the drugs, I am still getting the blame for everything and nothing has really changed.

Cappadocia houses

However, if he had even tried to contract a skin infection, he would have failed miserably on this front, due to my forward thinking and preventative measures.

Hot air balloons over Cappadocia

So, you see, I’m actually the hero in this story.