Pray five times a day, give alms to the poor, fast during the day in the holy month of Ramadan, believe in Allah and at least once in your life make a pilgrimage to Mecca - these are apparently the five pillars of Islam. Christians, just to be safe, have twice as many commandments. What comes to mind immediately though is the well-known quotation of Reinhold Messner: "All rules are suspicious to me, except for the ones I have made myself.", And while the cabin announcement informs us that we are landing in Istanbul within twenty minutes, I put down the book I am reading, "Islam Between East and West".



    "That Czech Republic is a very beautiful country", I am told by the Turkish married couple sitting next to me who are just returning from a vacation in Prague. "You have beautiful green grass. It's just a shame the sun doesn't shine there.", and yes, it's true that somehow we've become used to the chilly autumn and the muddy winters beneath a continuous canopy of cloud and stopped noticing the grass.

    Istanbul - population ten million. The entire Czech Republic packed into one city. Chaos and a traffic jammed highway. As one plane brakes on the runway at the international airport, another is already landing at its heels, on the same runway. An unbelievable jam of planes waiting in the lineup for take off. We move inch by inch, just like Prague traffic after the flooding.

    "Teşekkür ederim," I politely refuse the proffered cigarette as the taxi speeds wildly away from the airport, heading toward the seaside resort of Ölüdeniz. The Turkish driver turns up the car radio and begins to sing along to a strange tune, which calls to mind images of an undulating Sheherazade with black eyes and a bare belly. Turkish Karel Gott.

    A storm. Lightning flashes and thunder roars along with a cloudburst of rain. This is something I've never experienced in Ölüdeniz. A part of the Czechs that have decided to stay at Quiet Lagoon Camp begin floating away with their tents. Even the central pedestrian zone is soon flooded. They just aren't prepared for so much water here.



    The marketplace in the neighboring town of Fethiye is an anthill of people and a chaotic blend of colors and all kinds of smells. The prices, for a central European, are moderate and patient bargaining often yields shocking results. A big flat cake of Gözleme tastes excellent and the mix of vegetables with spicy seasoning is sharp as a knife. Twenty meters behind a Turkish girl runs after with the change which I forgot to take after I paid with a larger banknote. When she sees my spice-contorted features, I get a free cup of apple tea to wash it all down.

    This year's third annual festival in Ölüdeniz is kicking off almost a week later than last year's 2nd Annual Festival. This time last year the festival had already ended and some of the 11 Czech pilots were already on their way home. Even though the registration from this evening will finish up tomorrow morning, it is already apparent that currently there are almost 500 pilots in Ölüdeniz. And added to that number must be non-flying girlfriends, wives and mistresses and companions, etc… Among the Czechs and Slovaks alone there 100 people. The opportunity of flying in the thermals in the second half of October is very attractive for a central European.






    Today already several impatient pilots have practiced landing in the sea, including one unnamed Czech speaker. Otherwise, flying is somewhat compromised by the cloudiness, which has begun forming in the afternoon around the mountains at altitudes of about 1000 meters above sea level. That means that take off is above the cloud cover in the afternoon. According to the weather report, similar conditions can be expected over the next few days. But let's not get ahead of events, we'll wait and see ...