WATCH: Turkish Yard Games

Sometimes adventure presents itself where you’d least expect it.

On a recent trip to Turkey, a small group of us arrived to the sleepy mountain town of Ayder, deep in the eastern mountains near the Georgia border. Aside from a lazy smoke stack up the road and one or two people in the street, there was nothing but nature in this gorgeous alpine village, or so we thought.

There seemed to be a commotion coming from the hillside, where a group of about 30 guys appeared to be very out of place. Unsure of exactly what was going on, (perhaps they were fighting?) we approached them only to discover that they weren’t fighting at all, they were playing games. Yard games, like ten-year-olds. We marched right up to them and asked to take a picture, “Yes” said the ring leader, “but we need to finish this game first!” (in some sort of universal body language).

We stood aside and watched as they (and these guys are about 30 years old) placed spoons in their mouths, put eggs on the spoons, and lined up, waiting for the start. In a chaotic mass, they rushed passed us, trying to balance the eggs on the spoons as they made it to an imaginary line and back to the start, the winner triumphant as if he’d won a gold medal.

Before we could take a picture, they also had to play tug of war. This time they invited the guys in our group to join, which of course they were ecstatic about. After a round of tug of war and a few rounds of the most impressive male jump-roping I’ve ever seen…

…we finally got our group selfie* (see footnote) with these new friends. More than a photo, we walked away with a new highlight of the trip and a memory we’ll never forget. We may not have spoken each other’s language, but in the mountains of Turkey, connecting through fun and games and a lot of laughter, that didn’t matter.

Even in a sleepy town, the spontaneous hilarity and adventure we found in connecting with these local guys was the perfect welcome to what ended up being my favorite place of the trip.

Keep an open mind when you travel, you never know what you’ll discover in the far corners of the world.

*This selfie is part of a movement we started on this very trip called Citizen Selfies. To take your own, hand a local your phone and say SELFIE? They take the image, you keep the memory. It’s a beautiful thing. Check out the Facebook page and use the hashtag to share your citizen selfies on Instagram.

Watch the video!