Camel Wrestling... "we gotta see this"

  

      Mating season for camels is mid-winter and to celebrate this event Turkey hosts camel wrestling festivals. We heard of one near Selçuk and decided it was a must. We rented our first Turkish car, packed the picnic basket, grabbed some friends and headed south along the Aegean.  Now we had  of the same thoughts....What is camel wrestling - our first question..."is it like a cock fight", "do the camels get hurt, "is this dangerous"? These are all good questions, but most importantly, our biggest concern on the drive down... "Do they wrestle if it's raining." Answer is No! Mostly the two bulls half-heartedly butt each other and lean on the other until one of them gives in and runs away and so to the victor goes the she-camel. Apparently the fun part is the losing camel runs off, usually through the crowd and everyone must scatter.  We will have to tell you about it another time because they do not wrestle in the rain.

It was Sunday  and we were driving along the coast on a road similar to US101 when we heard the camel news-"cancelled due to rain". Well, we had a car and all of Turkey. We stopped into Ephesus and headed towards the caves of the Seven Sleepers. Legend has it seven persecuted christians took refuge in these caves outside of Ephesus and the emperor sealed the cave. 150-200 years latter the caves were opened by an earthquake and the sleepers awoke to find crosses on building and there coins from Decius worthless.

Anywho, it was raining when we stopped to see the caves. We gave a quick look at the dwelling cave houses and sat in the huts nearby for tea and gozleme. Gozleme is a flat bread, hand rolled with wood dowels, stuffed with cheese, spinach, or anything you'd like. It's cooked on metal pan over open fire and is delicious!!







Then we decided to head towards Tire (tear-A). Tire is known for its hand made production of felt. It is one of the few places in Turkey that is still producing felted products. Decorative pads, slippers, handbags, and a few local  modern artists are taking the traditional techniques to create large scale landscape and abstracts. We drove around and found the felting quarter and had a look around.

In an antique shop while drinking tea we were told of an artist that lived in the owners storage house for a few months. He showed us a stack of Fatih Urunç paintings. Fantastic modern art. Amazing! The shop owner insisted we go with him to see his storage spaces that were packed to the rafters with all sorts of cool stuff- I mean everywhere you looked... something crazy! Talk about pack rat, but with an eye for intrigue. Below is a stack of trunks too high to fit in the frame and each one incredible and outside a yard full of fabulous pots.

 After this he insisted on taking us to his favorite place in Tire. He drove us to the original part of Tire. A short drive away and the girls put me in his car.  I heard Rena whisper she loves me(just in case!) as we drove off to this renovated wooden tea house. It sits in on a park with terraced pools and its original flour mill waterwheel. A nice place to stroll, enjoy tea and if you'd like, you can be served your breakfast at any park bench!     

 

We caped it all off with a drive to Yalı for a great fish dinner by the sea. 

Let me tell ya- Turkey is great!     

                

Hiking the Cihanbegendi Tepesi

You may remember from an earlier blog where we went hiking to Nazarcoy with Fahriye. Well, lucky us, she also runs the high school hiking club at our school. She invited us to join the hiking club on their latest adventure. We met the students at school early Saturday morning. There were only 12 students in attendance, normally a group of 30. There was testing the following week so many students stayed home to study. We drove 30 minutes outside of Izmir proper and jumped off the bus onto a quaint city square. Here we drank tea and rested before the long hike. When it was time to go we walked out of town down a street that produced less and less houses until we were in the woods. In Turkey, there really are not hiking paths and you end up following goat/shepherd trails or hunting paths.

This hike was a combination of both. It took us 2 and half hours to reach the top of Cihanbegendi Tepesi. To see the top of Cihanbegendi Tepesi, see the picture to the right. A couple of times we had to blow a whistle to warn both hunters and the wild boars that we were coming. Once we reached the peak we rested and enjoyed our sack lunches. The view from the top was great. we could almost see all of Izmir and could hear the tinkering of goat bells far below in the valley.  The students were great! They were talkative, playful and interested in their surroundings. After lunch we began our two hour decent back to town. Once in town we enjoyed more tea and snacks and headed back to school. It was a great day. Its hard to believe how much hiking we have done here compared to Seattle, were there is so much hiking  (and with clearly marked paths). The next hiking trip with the club is to a place called Goat Castle in February. check back for details. Thanks for reading our blog and looking at the pictures.

Karaburun New Years-WOW!

 

We have always enjoyed getting out of the city for New Years and 2010 boast our furthest destination. 6220 miles from Seattle -as the crow flies. There were four of us in tow- Gary, Rena, Sarah M. (you've may remember from such trips as Cappidocia) and a new friend Laurie (whom we met on the bus one day). A fine traveling tribe.

We took a dolmuş, or minibus or literal translated-stuffed. Stuffed is probably the most correct. Don't get me wrong it's a comfortable ride and, to some places in Turkey, it's the only option.  We rode until the end of the line- Karaburun which translates as' black nose". It is a beautiful seaside village located on a peninsula about a 2 hour west of Izmir. 

We stayed on a hillside house with a lookout view of the Aegean Sea. The weather was sunny and warm, 15-20˚C but Eurus was blowing his fierce east winds.  Each evening was lit by the light of the moon including a slight eclipse on New Years eve. As the evening cooled we gathered around the hearth.                                                  

We realized we could not bbq on the grill with such evil winds, so here you can see our solution. A couple roof tiles to prop up the grill and problem yok, lamb chop grilled slow to perfection!

We spent new years eve, like most folks, eating, drinking, and playing games. When the clock stuck 12 we were on the balcony ringing in the new year with pots and pans!! Somethings never change.

On New Years day we had to do some relaxing. We strolled around the village's marina and sat on the dock. We meandered along the shore to picked up some rocks, some for keepsake and others to just to enjoy before making a splash. By afternoon it was again happy hour again. We were invited  to another friends home for cocktails in the village of Saip.  Now, if we had known we could have taken an ancient Roman road straight to their backyard! (R photo) They have built a beautiful home and this is there backyard. Can you see the ruins? (L photo)

Saturday the 2nd we headed back to that jaw-dropping mountain. We had a few of Laurie's Turkish colleges visiting for the day hike. This could be the best hike we have ever been on. Words can not describe.....so here are some shots of day hike -çok güzel!  Enjoy!

"When you find the sycamore tree near the artesian spring follow the goat trail up."
                           - words of advice from the shepherd.

 

What more can be said in 2010 but.....

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

OR

MUTLU YILLAR!