One Year Old!

Over the last week, I realized that my blog had quietly passed its first anniversary without anyone noticing. But the truth is, my attempts to record my adventures date back to far older times. Before blogs, me, my brother and our friend Necdet would take pictures and paste them in "adventure folders" complete with swashbuckling annotation.

What better way, then, to celebrate the overdue anniversary of Snapshots from Nemo Ramjet with one such "adventure folder" I dug up from our basement?

This specific "adventure folder" belongs to a recent trip to Buyukada, or Prinkipo. Dating back to the first months of 1999, it is gloriously titled "The Buyukada Expedition Journal by Interpid (sic) Adventurers Memo and Neco and Photography Assistant Kaan." (These are all mega-sized pictures so you can click on the images for a zoom-in.) One of the most striking aspects of such "adventure folders" is their invariably boisterous language and contrived poses, which, years later, leave me wondering whether I should laugh or cry. Also note the "blood samples" on the cover, another sign of juvenile self-aggrandizement.

"The challenging wilderness looms ahead."
"Our heroes charge boldly into the anarchy of nature!"
The "anarchy of nature", of course, is only a public forest that is visited by thousands of people every week.

"Our heroes conquered a steep slope at first sight. Kaan fell and almost broke his legs."
"While admiring the scenery, explorer Neco almost fell down."
Ooh, the excitement.

After a bit of fooling around in the trees, we arrived at a park that we dubbed "the park of horrors" because it was "...rudely built inside the forest."

Soon after entering the park, we encountered a pile of rubbish that offended us greatly as self-appointed protectors of "nature." The second photograph purportedly shows a smoldering fire, but now I have to confess that the "smoke" is nothing else but an over-exposed shot. We did clean the rubbish, though.

"Disturbed by this mess, our heroes were commanded by expedition leader Memo Kosemen (back) into the forest."
"Back in the wilderness, the Great Expedition progressed swiftly."
Humility wasn't among our greatest virtues back then.

"In the untamed wilderness, our heroes went boldly where no man had ever gone before, and discovered strange artifacts such as a footprint and a bird's nest."
In the fine tradition of amateur journalism, pointing fingers and confusion-reducing circles are everywhere in these photos.

This was among the stranger episodes of the "expedition." We found some random bones, possibly belonging to sheep or other BBQ leftovers. We put them together to resemble a dinosaur leg and photographed it, pretending it was a "strange fossil." As you can see, it's probably the most bogus dinosaur fossil ever forged.

"The photographer then noticed an unusual and possible abandoned old building nearby."
This "unusual" building is the famous Greek Orphanage, one of the largest wooden structures in the world. It is indeed abandoned today, but plans are underway to restore it as a five-star hotel.

"Upon arrival, our heroes were confronted by an ancient stone wall. They quickly scaled it and sneaked inside. The disturbing sight of a dog house discouraged them, however, and our heroes were forced to retreat."
I have to confess that everything in this page is a lie. We never came close to the Great Orphanage, and the dog house and the wall were photographed at completely unrelated locations.

This photo, however, is true. We did climb to the top of one of the peaks and snapped this fascinating vista. Here is what this view looks like from the sky.

And here is the Epilogue: "After their unforgettable avdenture, the tremendous trio spent the rest of their time playing computer games."
Sure it is cheesy and loaded with megalomania as any 15 year old's dreams can get, but I really love these old "adventure folders" for the memories they preserved. This particular adventure dated back to the beginning of 1999, what I like to think of as our last innocent years.

Later that year a great earthquake shattered our lives and we began to grow up for good. The quake also created a lot of panic about a fault line lying just off the Buyukada coast and the house we stayed in during that particular "expedition" was sold off by its owners. I wouldn't return to Prinkipo/Buyukada for almost nine years afterwards.