Amasra: Rockstars and Flaming Hair Cuts

After 3 nights in Istanbul we headed to Amasra (population 7,000) on the Black Sea coast.

We knew we were in for an adventure when we told one of the hotel staff at our pension in Istanbul where we were going and she said "Amasra? Why? (long pause)... No tourists go there."

What I think she meant to say was no English tourists go there, because when we rolled into town it was chock full of Turkish tourists.

We arrived on the last day of a festival. There was a Ferris wheel set up and a band was playing on a giant stage (complete with video screen and dry ice). Everyone in the crowd was singing along to the music and waving giant black and white posters of a young man.

What we managed to piece together after a few hours of walking around is that the man on the posters was Baris Akarsu, a famous Turkish rockstar/actor who grew up in Amasra. Sadly, Baris died of complications from a car crash when he was only 28.

Every year Amasra holds a music festival in his honour.

Along the harbour there is a giant statue of him and his beloved motorbike is encased in glass along with portraits of him. Night and day, tourists flock to this shrine to have their photo taken.



While in Amasra we hired a boat to take us out to some of the local beaches outside of town. This was a fabulous idea. While the guidebook warned about the cold ocean temperature of the Black Sea, I am happy to report that they meant "Turkey-in-July-cold" not "Vancouver-in-December-cold."

Shane takes a plunge.









Before we left for our trip I made sure to get my hair cut. I figure only the truly adventurous would try and get their haircut in a country where they don't speak the language. Women I know seem to have a hard enough time getting a haircut they like when both parties speak the same language, so why complicate it further when all you have to work with is phrasebook Turkish?

However, my husband, being much more adventurous than I, decided it was time to have his locks chopped. After a brief exchange of gesturing (on the barber's part) and poorly pronounced Turkish (on Shane's part) the young man started cutting Shane's hair. Shane got all relaxed and started to fall asleep.

When the haircut was complete, the barber started working on Shane's "other" hair. Apparently, Turkish haircuts include cutting all the hair above your neck (read: nose and ear hair trim with electric clippers). I found this portion of the procedure interesting enough, but it wasn't until the barber dipped an oversized q-tip in a pink liquid and lit it on fire that things really got interesting.

I started to laugh nervously and Shane sprung into a fully alert state as the barber started wafting the giant flame in and out of Shane's ears! A complimentary ear-hair singe! Vancouver salons better be steppin' it up!

Pretty, pretty Amasra.




Lunch from the market.


Ataturk sculpture competes with Shane's bulging biceps.