Extracts from a diary. The adventures of Phil Bridge.

    Phil has been a regular rider with the club for several years or more now and a past trophy winner.  His most notable achievement with the club must be the gruelling 260 mile ride in 2004 tracing the route of the River Severn from Worcester and into Wales.  Phil, at only 17, pulled that one off without a lot of miles under his belt and was mentally stronger than other, older and fitter riders out that day (and night).

    At the beginning of this year, Phil went to live in Turkey as part of his university course.  The following extracts from emails are taken from corespondance with his family.  I have edited some of the content and I did start to insert a few capitals into the text and amend some of the errors.  However, I soon realised I was begining to spoil a genuinely infectious read and the context in which it was originally written.  I hope you get as much pleasure from reading the follwing snipets as I did.   CR.

Extracts from Phil Bridge’s emails home – Feb-May 2007

2nd Feb

first chance ive had to use email.  been in my house since thursday now but our internet hasnt been put in even though it was meant to be working today.  should be in soon though so will be easy to talk once thats in.  we sorted the house easily.  we moved in before christie! found a really helpful guy who runs a house letting company so everythings going well so far.  seems like ive been here forever!

15th Feb

istanbuls amazing.  heading out to the princes island this weekend so should see what the some of the countrys like. 

the house is fine.  we have a broken toilet at the mo but thats the case with most the plumbing round here!  still having problems with internet as well.

the unis good.  very different but probably good different. aside from the fact that i seem to be enrolled on a few turkish courses! oops.  just sort of read the body language and hope i havent missed anything vital!  its all fun.

not bought a bike. youd have to be nuts to ride round here.  will be getting a bike for round the princes islands though.  i do however no where the bike shops are.  they only sell mtbs wh?ch makes sense given the roads.

there the 3 main teams here Besiktas (sa?s beshiktash)  is my local club. theu uni over looks the ground.

16th Feb 

although Besiktas is my local club i think im more likely to see Galatasary as a guy ive got to no will take me.  hes somewhat mad for man u as well! so may have to organise a return trip some time.

the language is interesting.  theres no chance of ever learning it.  was speaking to an english guy whose been here 5 years and he still only knows the basics.  its a really hard language to speak.  we tend to get buy in shops and places through vague English Turkish gestures and pointing.  unless you head for the touristy areas where they speak perfect English in a choice of English American Scottish or Irish accent!  actually the best English speakers are the people who work on the streets polishing shoes and selling random stuff. no idea where they learn it

in uni they just sort of muddle through in a mixture of languages.  its very odd.  some of the classes are more English than others as well.  probably the easiest is my programing class as the teacher is Turkish American so speaks both perfectly.  he simply runs 2 lectures simultaneously!

theres definitely a different emphasis on the course out here.  its much more varied and im doing alot of stuff id never do at home.  there is still some physical modeling but im not entirely sure how much.  will find out in due course.  its not exactly more academic.  some of its more arty. some more theoretical. some just completely confusing like programing.  its actually down as bacholar of science rather than arts so its deffinitely got a slightly different emphasis. 

the food is good.  theres lots of fish in the right areas but where i am its mainly beef and chicken kebab type stuff or general variations of that.  always meat veg and bread anyway.  its good and very simple and cheap.

if you do go for fish there is some really amazing fresh fish thats great but you pay alot more for it.  its nothing compared to home though.

its slightly hard to describe the area.  where i live is very different to the touristy bit.  all id say is that whatever you think turkery is.  that is almost certainly what it is not.

i think i could find loz a job.  theres jobs in everything out here.  there are so many people who just sift through rubbish looking for stuff with recycling value.  nothing goes to waste.  to be honest though id say that the fishermen have a good job and eat fresh fish every night.  looks pretty easy and relaxing.  ill send a picture of them later and you can see what he thinks.  oh i think hed fit in with the police as well.  there somewhat aggresive, carry large guns and on some occasions drive tanks! 

not sure hed get on with the drivers out here though.  makes the a6 look like a stroll in the park!

26th Feb

didnt get to the princes islands this week. i wasnt feeling to well and the weather wasnt great so i'll go another time. probably the week after next.  weve been a few different places.  we get time at weekends etc to do stuff and were going to drop one course cos we currently do more than we need.  that will give us a complete day off to do other stuff and get the rest of our work done.  i know im here for uni but i kind of want to have enough time to see the country to so im not that bothered about dropping one course when ive already got loads of different things that im doing.
were going to be trained to do scuba diving soon to so ill get an international diving liscence and then were going on a trip somewhere off the coast where well do a propper dive.  should be good. far more interesting than uni!  and if i fail uni while im hare at least ill have one qualification!

we also get loads of time to do stuff at nights which will get better as the summer gets closer.  half of turkish culture happens at night anyway mainly oriontated around food.

i found some turkish lads who i get on with well so theyll show us round lots of places.  its far easier with someone who speaks the language and understands how stuff works.

11th March

had an interesting weekend this week.  i was just sat at home at 10 on friday night when my friend arrived at the door telling us to get our coats, cos were going skiing!  we were like oh right.  got our coats and headed out accross town via taxi and metro.  met some random people that somebody vaguely new on the way who led us to some unrecognisable  part of far out istanbul where a coach was waiting.  turns out were about the last to arrive as its 1 in the morning by now and the coach is almost full.  when i got on i found out we had basically just joined some koran bashing cult thing on one of there outings.  we paid 10 lira (about 3.50) for the entire trip and we were on our way.  we travelled through the night.  went on ferries and stopped in unknown towns at stupid o'clock in the morning so they could clean their feet and go and pray.  was bizarre.  then at about 8 after waiting hours for them to re appear from the mosque we went for an all inclusive traditional breakfast at some posh place that was greatly lacking in bacon!   now at this point we expected to head for the mountains but these religious folk were more interested in driving round the city looking in mosques and museums and walls that the the tourist information centre pretended were old.  god they wasted some time.  we eventually got going again about 1 and were presented with a light lunch on the coach.  all inclusive of course. 

thank god (or allah) we eventually arrived at the top of the mountain.  there was lots of snow and not a place to pray in sight.  naturally we leapt off to find some skis while the others searched for somewhere to wash their feet before kneeling in the snow. 

had to pay about 5lira for ski hire ang managed about 2 hours skiing before we had to make a swift retreat down the mountain in time for the evening prayer call!  these guys really need to get there priorities sorted!

still on the upside we were presented with some kofte (meat balls) bread and toamato for tea.  not bad for 10 lira.  the journey back was quicker because it didnt include so many stops.  i was also entertained by the brainwashing settion at the front of the bus and the religious singing that took place.  all very odd.  and then, just when i thought my 10 lira had run out a large bag or mixed nuts and glass of colaturka arrived just incase i was getting hungry!  i thought we were home and dry but naturally there was one last stop to make.  whod have thought that petrol stations had there very own praying area for those people on route from one mosque to another?  well they do so naturally they had to stop!

we eventually got back exactly 24 hours after we left and without any sleep.  was a good cheap trip though and i got to ski,  get out into the country and get further into asia than ive ever been.  all in all a good day.

6th May

yeah the weathers good here. got warm enough today to create a big thunderstorm this evening.  having said that, i barely left the house.  until the thunderstorm arrived of course! 

 we got an email saying uni was cancelled due to the may day political demonstrations.  it didn't mean much to us but we were like, woo lets go do something.  then we were told on line that we shouldn't go out today cos it was dangerous.  obviously been ignorant english men we quite fancied going out to see what was happening and take some pictures.  that was until around lunch time when we heard gunshots far to close for comfort and crowds of people running the other way!  i figured it was best to stay in!  i did brave the outdoors briefly when i headed to the shops for some rations and to be honest was curious as to what was happening.  not much it has to be said.  there was a big group of men plotting something but no trigger happy policemen in sight!  i soon retreated to the safety of my house to watch the action from the tv rather than the front line though.  some good footage available on bbc news website.

so once the evening arrived and the trouble died down i headed out for the first theoretical class of my scuba diving course.  to keep it short, well just say that it was boring as hell! like been in a school physics lesson all over again but with only two pupils and a teacher that only pretended to speak English!  anyway at 9 o'clock we finally finished after a three hour stint.  we ended up walking round deserted dark corridors in a locked uni, followed by an even darker more deserted car park, searching for an open exit.  it wouldnt have been so bad but for the wild dogs that were stalking us and the gentle rumble of thunder and flashing or lightning in the background!  there were deffinitelly some paradies with was craven movies!  all in all an interesting day.  not exactly a run of the mill one anyway.

May 21st

should you read this before leaving for france you can spread the word that my name now comes with one star written after it!  im now officially an internationally certified 1 star diver capable of diving to a limit of 18 metres in open water.  it has to be said that it ended up costing me rather alot to get my qualification (about 250pounds) but i think it was worth it.  plus i now have some good quality flippers, dive shoes, mask and snorkle which i actually paid very little for.  just have to work out how to get them home!  anyway the diving was good.  the overall process took a while.  i spent about 7 hours doing the theory in the middle of the night after uni with an instructor who didnt exactly speak English!  made it interesting.  especially when he was trying to teach maths physics and biology to two guys who havent done any of them in years!  anyway, the result was that we ended up muddling our way through an exam a week later.  it has to be said that i could easily pass it now as it all becomes incredibly obvious once youve experienced it in the water.  i think that the education system could be revalutionised by throwing people into the sea and letting them work out the key principals of physics and biology for themselves! 

once the exams were over and the liability papers signed, we were set for a weekend away to ayvuluk.  we turned up at the bus late on friday, to travel through the night.  it was a bit different than we had imagined.  seems that the trip was made up of university tutors rather than students as wed expected!  felt a bit like going on holiday with your parents friends!  still be got on with it and arrived in ayvuluk early saturday where we had breakfast before heading for the boat.  the area we were in was nice.  there were islands all around and we headed out to sea for about an hour.  it was an interesting trip.  eventually it was finally time to dive.  it was really quite a nerve racking experience.  firstly theres the long and surprisingly damanding process of getting kitted up.  then you have to overcome the unatural entry into the sea where you have to step off the edge into the great abyss!  rather than jumping which is all you really want to do.  once in the water its all a bit of a blur.  trying to sink the first time is a challenge and involves adding stupid amounts of weight.  eventually i did sink and  finally got to experience scuba. 

i think it would be fair to say that the first dive is by far the worst youll ever do, but also the one where you learn the most.  i can honestly say i didnt see a thing on that first dive and it only lasted about 15 minutes.  its amazing what you learn though. 

by the second dive i was good enough to decend to 12 metres where i sat on the bottom and was filmed doing mask cleaning for a demonstration video which will be available on youtube.  fame at last!  mask cleaning involves filling your mask with water and then emptying it again while under water.  its remarkably simple when you know how.  slightly more difficult was taking the entire mask off for the first time then trying to get it back on and clean it.  that one was an interesting video where i temporerily lost the ability to breath!  i was sat on the sea bed with my mask off and my nose and mouth totally filled with water and no idea of exactly how to get it out.  needless to say i did and eventually got my mask back on and breathing regulated without having to go up.  deffinitely taught me that no matter what you do underwater, dont panic! 

after a few more dives and lots more stupid things that you really dont want to do underwater i became quite good and confident.  i could do all the thing and control my boyancy well etc.  my instructor even made me dive right up until my air ran out and then go up to the surface sharing air.  was all in all an interestind experience.

on the down side, i think there might be a long christmas list this year!  and it doesnt seem to be the cheapest of sports!  i quite fance getting myself a boat as well!  actually there isnt that much id buy if i want to carry on and get my second star.  i already have the basic equipment and the only thing weve been recomened to get if we continue is a wet suit.

i think ill leave scuba there.   

actually a final bit about scuba....there were lots of underwater camera cases for various digital cameras out there.  thought they were interesting but not neceserily good.  i thought that my camera would be an ideal design to design a small simple enclosure for underwater use.  small and simple is something decidedly lacking from the current designs!  anyway ive formulated a really simple design in my head that really limits the size and minimizes the size of the seal required.  the only bit im having some trouble with is some of the buttons.  ill see what you think when i get back.

as for the rest of turkey all is fine.  in the last couple of weeks now!  the weather is good but unfortunitely i seem to have lots of work that gets in the way of it!  i even have an exam tomorrow! 

i saw the results from the race published online. i only just realised how late in the year it is.  hadnt really considered that racing was in full swing!

not sure ill comit to the bala ride just yet.  have to see how quickly the legs come back.  i feel they may not be in best cycling shape when i arrive home.  its been a long time!

have had time to further conceptualise my 2 speed fixed/free mtb that has now become a mtb/road bike do anything and it will still never die bike.  even worked out half of the spec that would make it possible on a small budget.  more of that when i get home also.

finally the trip home is essentially planned.  we will pass through 13 countries and have flying visits to lots of places.  theres somewhat of a balance between the practical nature that this is our journey home rather than a holiday but still allowing us to see lots of place both from the train and on foot.  these are the countries we look to visit. turkey, greece, macedonia, serbia, bosnia, croatia, hungary, slovakia, czech, poland(its a slight detour!), germany, holland and finally England.  naturally the hardest bit is getting accross England!  absolute nightmare.  the only bit we havent worked out yet!

think i best leave it there.  have fun in france.  say hi to everyone.  i wish i could be there.  

21st May

the interail tickets arrived today.  thanks.  were pretty much sorted now. 

why is it that everyone seems to email jenny on a regular basis but im like the forgotten child whose been away so long you dont even think about anymore.  and how come i never get told any interesting news from home.  im slowly hearing stuff from reading the messages and replies between jen, you and dad!  its very odd.  half the time i feel like im listening to one side of a conversation! 

9th June

hi im fine. in sarajevo at the moment will be here until monday.  its an amazing place.  lots of really historic stuff and loads of war damage that has been preserved.  bosnia looks like an amazing country too.  spent yesterday travelling through it along with croatia and serbia.  will be heading back to croatia next week for a longer stay.  spent the first part of the week in greece and serbia and travelled extensively around belgrade which is unbeleivably different to sarajevo.  not got time to say much so ill let you no how its going next time i get a chance.

Phil Bridge.