Wow! I never thought that it absolutely needed lots of courage to decide, “Should I jump, or should I wait until someone pushes me or even to tell me NO REFUND AT ALL!”
At the same time, a couple of Turks whose fetish was exactly bungee-jumping shouted at me and made loud noises. I didn’t pay any attention. Perhaps there were some encouraging words, but not wanting to wait and take turns, all I could hear was the voice from the instructor standing behind me saying, “Relax. Breathe deeply. Look at those beautiful mountains in the distance… Once I say ‘NOW BRAVE’ you should say ‘FOREVER BRAVE’ and then Jump!”
Ironically, his sentence didn’t work for anyone because we were all still standing right there, right on the small platform located on the top of the jumping site.
It all began with a fascination of bungee jumping, the most extremely exciting entertainment in the world. Tourists know Akdeniz, especially Saklikent, is famous for this thrilling activity, even thought there are other things worth seeing and fun to do there. But only bungee jumping appeals to me.
Once I arrived there, I called my mum and told her that I’m about to do bungee jumping, even though she couldn’t figure out exactly how it’d look like. Just imagine a typical African mother who has seen bungee jumping before and hears that her son is about to do the same thing. I was very proud to show her eventually that I dared to jump. Well as soon as I stepped on the tiny walkway leading to the platform, all my heroic bravery was gone and seemed to be left at the registry counter when I paid the money.
Looking downwards along my heavy path, I realized, “Maan, it’s amazingly high from the ground, maybe I should just leave quickly before I die and simply waste the money in order to save my life! But, after saying ‘FOREVER BRAVE’, I simply closed my eyes and then jumped.
Oh, I could not believe I jumped! So confused, yet enjoying the speed of free fall or the feeling of reaching death at the same time, like I was committing suicide, jumping from a building.
I started screaming louder and louder and louder, then the screaming turned into laughing my a*** off. I had already been very embarrassed to linger there at the edge the moment before, and thus I had to be a bit cool through the whole process of jumping to save face. Honestly, I was so so terrified!
Being up side down, hanging in the sky was not fun at all. I lost all my appetite afterward for a while until I could get back to Fethiye. The most memorable second was the time before and right after I jumped. That’s my best conclusion from the bittersweet experience of bungee jumping. Strangely, I felt my body was not steady enough to stand or walk properly but had had a very good sleep that night.
Would I try to go bungee jumping again? I would say, “Yeeees!” again in the future if someone asked me to. Why? Because it’s safe and thrilling!
#MakeItCount