Friends hanging out under a boat, Sinop, Turkey.

BEST IN BIG!

Travelling by yourself in a country where not many people speak English and where the local language is, for me, impenetrable, tends to lead to rather strange things.

Enveloped by the bustling chatter of Turkish around the town you feel very much excluded and exposed. I find myself weighing up whether I really should sit down for a coffee, simply because the questions that follow my gestured order; khave, are tiring and embarrassing. I tend to nod through all the options given to me, grinning inanely, until the guy goes away.

What happens, then, is that you walk around a lot and spend a lot of time in your own head, sort of chatting to your brain as you take in your surroundings (is that the first sign of madness?!). Apart from a casual yet limited chat with the guesthouse owner at breakfast, the only English I saw today was a great big thank you sprawled across a woman's t-shirt.

I was pretty tempted to announce nae b'oer, pal, eh!, just to break my involuntary vow of silence.

The market place allowed for a slight respite. Even though I still couldn't converse with anyone, politely saying merhaba; hello, was enough to draw an appreciative grin from even the sternest looking aubergine slinger. I eventually attracted a curious gaze as I ponced about the stalls with my camera swinging from my shoulder and soon people were inviting me over to get a snap of their market chums.

But still, to their follow up questions, I could but offer a glaikit smile and incessant nods while repeating tesekkur ederim , thank you...

…and for some portraits from today