Hard not to guess who is the hero of this story.. When I first saw him clumsily making his way through the mountain paths at the very beginning of the Lycian way, I thought : “ Oh My God. We are never gonna make it. This man treks the same way as he plays football”.
Literally taking down whatever he finds in his way. (The famous concept of P&P applies –Power and Persistance – coined by his football maestro Leo Borlini).
Shrubs, rocks, travel companions were all equally wiped out by the sheer impetus (and the total lack of coordination…) of this fellow. He gives it all and suffers in silence. Only exhaustion can stop him.
Needless to say, his style is ugly – on the verge of crashing down or falling from a cliff at every step- but effective. Indeed, such unforeseen clumsiness was instrumental in convincing his too impressionable travel companions to carry some share of his load.
Awkward and irregular movements are his trademark. No step is equal to the next one. Two overloaded backpacks, one of which completely ridiculous, resembling a beach-bag filled with apples brought from the UK, would often put into peril both himself and his seasoned companions. Our peculiar fellow is indeed in search of the most extreme experiences (not only for himself, but for his mates): he regards near-death situations as the real essence of travelling and consistently takes unnecessary risks at every step. He is very fond of jumping two-footedly into shrubs or throwing his body into a narrow passage, landing as if he was a sack of potatoes and risking disfiguration by the hand of some thorny Lycian plants (virtually every example of vegetable life we met there was so stingy that it could have stopped an elephant).
“Oh what a simple fellow! Such a straightforward and brave heart, like a warrior of old times!” I hear the ladies screaming. But, alas, his character -as we shall see- is not exempt of contradictions. As paradoxical as it may seem, even if this man seeks physically dangerous contexts as much as a tiger wants fresh human blood, he adores detailed planning in an almost equal way, with the aim of systematically wiping out any organizational uncertainty. Afterall, not all risks are created equal. (..to be continued..)
Footnote to part 1: As we later found out, the impulsiveness and greedy P&P style of this man became even more evident when he started playing backgammon. He was by far the most aggressive and voluble player I ever witnessed. A player with virtually no strategy and the sole purpose of hitting your playing pieces out of the game at the earliest occasion...