When I bicycled through Edirne, Turkey (border town with Bulgaria) last November 2012, I met up with an old friend, Durukan, whom I and the first Fueled By Rice group met on the first bicycle expedition in 2008. The 50km before and after Edirne (along with in-city biking in Istanbul and Bangkok) was the only exact same road stretch that I repeated on this second trip from the first. Moreover, on the first Fueled By Rice tour we had an amazing week-long spontaneous homestay in Edirne with Volkan Kahya and family (a friend whom Durukan introduced us to after we played a set at bar) while waiting for a stubborn Bulgarian visa to come through for Nakia – read a great blog summary of that experience HERE). So, I naturally wanted to re-connect with Durukan and Volkan when we passed through. Volkan and his family had moved to southern Turkey, but I was able to meet up with Durukan.
It turns out, Durukan has gone ahead pursuing one of his dreams of being a musician and produced one of his first music videos last year. Not bad at all. Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fnh-KjXvfLQ –
See his other videos linked through his Youtube profile.
Keep on following your heart, Durukan! Thanks for the hospitality!