Clancy Kees, a 2006 Wingham High graduate, is back at home this week after the harrowing ordeal which saw him detained in a “revolting” Turkish prison for four days.

Clancy first left Australia in August 2008. His trip started swimmingly as he embarked on a working holiday in the UK and Ireland.

He started the European leg of his tour this year stopping over at the Greek Islands and Turkey.

He had planned to meet up with a mate from Wingham in Israel via Syria and Jordan when his trip hit a snag.

Syria, a predominantly Muslim country, does not allow Jews safe passage through to the Jewish nation.

Clancy was stamped out of Turkey on his passport but was stopped at the border by guards on his way into Syria. The guards suspected he was on his way to Israel.

Under intense questioning, Clancy admitted he was planning to travel to Israel and it was at that point that the guards took his fingerprints and he was told he was forbidden from entering Syria.

As a consequence, he went back to the Turkish border and explained to the guard that he had been refused entry.

The Turkish guard looked at his passport and, with a gesture, allowed him back into Turkey.

Little did Clancy know at the time that this would prove to be a colossal mistake.

“I didn’t think twice,” Clancy said. I was devastated that I didn’t get into Syria and didn’t realise till later how important that moment was – I didn’t realise that it would be my downfall.”

Clancy spent a further three days in Turkey re-organising his plans to make it to Israel.

He bought air tickets to go to Jordan, after which he would make his way to Israel.

He was about to fly out when he was pulled up at the passport check.

He was led into a room and interrogated.

After some initial confusion, it dawned on Clancy that he had not been stamped back into Turkey after being refused entry to Syria. He had spent the past three days in Turkey as an illegal immigrant.

He was arrested and an English-speaking representative told him he was to be detained.

Clancy reacted aggressively, but the man explained that “the passport tells the story – you’re not in Turkey”.

He was taken to a detention centre on the outskirts of the airport and placed in a jail cell.

“That’s when I knew I was in trouble and this was serious,” Clancy said.

“I didn’t know how long I was going to be in there for; I didn’t know if my family or the embassy knew I was here.”

He was placed in a dingy, overcrowded cell.

There were wooden benches as beds, the lights blared constantly – even at night – and the only water supplied was ‘local’ water, which not even the locals drink.

Clancy started to get sick with a bout of diarrhoea – the discomfort of which was exacerbated by the fact that he could only use the toilet at designated times.

He was fed only two meals in the four days he was detained – a cold rice dish with chicken strips, a yoghurt drink and some bread which had dirt in it.

Clancy grew increasingly anxious as the hours and days wore on.

He was the only white person in the cells and the youngest by far. He knew a little of the language but not enough to communicate with the guards.

An Iranian cellmate saw Clancy was growing scared so he allowed him to use his phone card.

On the second night, Clancy put a call through to his parents, Alex and Kim Kees of Khatabundah Road.

It was 2am our time so Clancy was forced to leave a message.

His parents contacted the Australian Embassy the next morning and it wasn’t long before the wheels were in motion to bring Clancy home.

As he woke to his third day in detention, Clancy was reaching breaking point.

The night before he had watched as Afghani detainees ready to be deported were refused exit from their cell.

“We just watched as their plane left,” Clancy said.

Clancy had received word from the embassy that he would be deported the next day but as the time of his flight grew closer he became worried that he too would not be allowed to leave.

“I was going stir crazy,” he said. “It was a very bored sensation of being scared because you had nothing to do, nowhere to release this anguish and anger you had.

“On the third night I lost my mind a little bit.”

He was such a ball of emotion – nervous, scared, angry – that he began lashing out towards the camera in his cell, yelling at it and spitting on the walls.

The day of his deportation came and still he waited.

Just half an hour before his plane was scheduled to fly out, he was he whisked away from his cell to the airport.

When safely on the plane he ordered a gin and tonic – surely one of the sweetest drinks he had ever tasted.

He touched down in Sydney to see his family waiting.

Although he was happy to see his family and have the ordeal over he couldn’t shake a feeling of disappointment.

The night he touched down in Australia was to be the day he would catch up with a friend from Wingham; later that week he was to run with the bulls in Spain.

“The emotions were weird,” Clancy said.

“I was happy to see my parents but at the same time I didn’t want to be there (back in Australia).”

“It was a mixture of euphoria, disbelief and anger. My trip wasn’t finished.”

Despite the ordeal, he feels he has learnt a valuable lesson – one other travellers should take heed of.

“The passport is your only form of identification – it defines whether or not you’re in a country.”

He encourages other tourists to always keep a close eye on their passports and to make sure they are up to date.

He is not deterred from travelling and he wants to get back overseas as soon as he can.

“It definitely taught me a lesson – not to be ignorant.”

Now safely back home, Clancy is philosophical about the experience.

For him, travelling is all about accumulating stories and he’s been left with one he will never forget.