Tea Totalling in Turkey

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TEA TOTALLING IN TURKEY Andrew McLellan usback downt tot ther main Konya- Silifke road. Some stiff climbing back up over the Taurus Range, a short unsolicited truck ride, monastery ruins, several "chays", and we find ourselves being escortedout ofthet town ofk Karaman by a cop concerned for our safety. A curious next few days spent as guests at a Police Hotel, complete with inhouse disco, apetrol station restaurant, ANZAR KOU andalandsurveyoruniversity facultyin thesmalltownoffGuneysinir allhappily LA - C 5 73 coinciding with abysmal weather. Small town rural life in Turkey is characterised by many men sitting in "chay elis" (tea houses) smoking, playing backgammon or "Okey" (like "Happy Family" card game), watching Gallipoli National Park Jo McKenzie the world gol by, and of course drinking copious amounts of tea. Times are tough, withthe economy in tatters (30% Ankara airport, 2 degrees Celsius, grey The next 4 or 5 days are spent visiting infiationpermonth), asteadily devaluing skies, coldwind, and30kminto thecity. Eregli, aHititerockinscription, andthen "lira", folding banks, closed factories, Not a promising start for the "Far East" slogging our wayl back over the Taurus and generally little work - "tespih leg of "Pooh Tours". After a two day Mountains to reach the coast. Off the tanesi" (worry beads) have never been acclimatisationstayinthecapital, itwas tourist track, and slowly picking up the in such high demand. But the time to head: south quickly ie. abust to language, we soon encounter "full-on" remarkablethingthroughoutourTurkish Cappadocia. Admittedly a heavily Turk hospitality. Numerous sit-downs travels, is that these people are never touristed area, but rightly so with its for "chay", lunch, hot bread from a reluctant to share what little they have unearthly land formations, trygolite generous baker, and a night spent as with complete strangers. dwellings, Byzantine church frescoes, guests ofakhurdistan family Needless underground cities for early Christians to say, the generosity of the people is The small town encounters continue seeking refuge from Byzantine matched only by the quality of food countlessglassesoftea, hotp pide (pizza) persecution, and stunning river gorges particularly fresh, steamingbread at 20 straight from the oven, Q& A sessions, for good measure. I could make centsaloaf, anysortof driedfruit, lokum a drunkard lawyer (international comparisons with the Putangirua (Turkish delight), Tel kadayif (shredded affliction), endless sunshine, lively Pinnacles, but won't! To get a feel for wheat in sweetsyrupandnutsi, baklava, marketswheretahineorpelemezigrape the area, we. spend a couple of nights nuts, whitecheeses. Beingonbikes, we molasses) is available ontap. Az zigzag testingoutt the ambience of some man- never need an excuse to sample throughSeydisehirbeforeheadingsouth made caves. something usually sweet. again over an unexpected 1800m pass to follow river valleys out to the coast. ampant tourism and national Eventually it's downhill to the coast and - Muslim holiday behind US, we the busy city of Tarsus, where to We have little to recommend about the headi for the Anatolian heartlandi dforan complete my assimilation into Turk coast between/Manavgat and Antalya, experience of normal day Turkish life. society, I pick up some "Pooh Pants" especially during peak Easter break. From Aksaray, it's south towards the (shelva) the baggy, low-flying crutch The cities and ancient sites are full of Taurus Range, cloakedinghealthycoat trou' worn by many in the East. Again package tour holidaymakers; we miss of white, and a coldl headwindreminds we'rel befriended, and treated to a very the: serenityofancient: sitesandunspoift US that it's only just spring here. Our large family meal. villages. Tomaket thingslessappedling. misery is cut short by a friendly truck astrongwindblowsupfromthes Sahara driver, Mehmet, who insists on taking Our address booki is filling up quickly as as we passthrough.Antalya, coatingus US over the Taurus Range to Adana for we head west along a coast suffering liberally in dirt. a night, sharing his music, tea (chay), from "apartment blockitis", andfevered worldfamous Adanakebab, andback- last minutel local politicking. We decide Things are less hectic along the coast of-truck campsitel beforet taking US back to escape from all this, heading inland west of Antalya with atypical up to the plateau the next day. A at Silifke to find quiet villages, lonely Mediterranean coastal waters, a memorablee experience, ourlast chance Roman sarcophagi, deserted summer national park, rivermouth ruins of to test out our floundering Turkish. villages, andbreathtaking gorgestaking Olympus, and the eternal flames at TRAMPING & MOUNTAINEERING

Chimaera. Fertile alluvial plains choked We're in the Turkish grape belt damn thundering trucks. A stunning city with with greenhouses full of eggplants, it if we ain't early for the season. But its enormous mosques, bustling peppers, andtomatoes make a change where there's grape vines, there's waterways, gardens, old wooden from the surrounding craggy hills. tractors, just slow enough to jump on buildings, and a great view ofit all from behindandget dragged along, or as an our rooftop dining spot. Although Next stop is Finike for a couple of days alternative, unsolicited truck rides just expensivecomparedto therestofTurkey, as guests in an unfinished hotel - a when the headwind starts to pick up. it's still the cheapest youth hostel, chancetos scrubup, shrugoff colds, and We pass through the historic town of probably in the world. A chance to pick forget thel bikes. Bergama rejoining the coast. up mail, see a few movies (the bush scenes in "Thel Piano"bringa Asthecoastturnsnorthwards tear to the eye), and even an into the Aegean Sea, towns in-house belly dancer for become more touristy, with Friday night entertainment. opulent yachts berthed in large restaurant-lined We didn't want to leave marinas. Places like Kas, Turkey, so as a compromise Bodrum, Gokova, Kusadasi, we wanted to leave with a and Fethiye all suffer from taste of the Turkey we knew cloned resort buildings, and best - small town Turkey. As havel long beenplaygrounds we head towards Edirne (on fort therich, evers sinceRoman thel border ofTurkey, Greece, days. Butt thel beauty of cycle and Bulgaria) we're taken in touring is the small by a very generous family for discoveries in between such 3 days -I played waiter in a places undeveloped birakathessi/lokanta (bar/ stretches of coastline, restaurant) while Jo beat/ roadside stops for chats and scrubbedrugs, whitewashed oranges with farmers, thel house, and went out into honeycomb sold by the the fields for a day. I can frame, a tahine and "helva" leave it up to you to guess (tahine and sugar treat) who was more tired at the factory, roadside fig sellers, endofadayswork- although small town market days, Ifound the late night pirate hilltop campsites. The town blue videos very tiresome. ofBodrum has somethingto offer in its remains of one of And in Edirne too, less than the ancient seven wonders 10km from Greece, we have ofthev world, theMausoleum our arm twisted to spend ofkingMausolus, andnearby The Domed Church Andrew McLellan another night in Turkey the hideout place of Brutus another memorable and Cassius after they had experience, dining in the done the dirty on JC. The coast just south of Troy/Canakkale gardens of one of Turkey's most is surprisingly underdeveloped with the impressive camii (mosque) in the cool Selcukistobeourlast" "ancientsite: stop" stunning hilltop ruins of ancient Assos, night air. as we're suffering from YABA (Yet and small quiet villages where once Another Bloody Amphitheatrel. It ist the againwe'ret treated to more hospitality. We can't generalise about the whole of mosttouristyplaceyetencounteredwith We spend a night with a chap who Turkey as it is a very diverse country, the colossal ruins of Ephesus nearby. keeps the family gold under the fridge, from the off-limits east where terrorist Many of the locals speak English with and a "Hi de Hi" type thermal spring killings are a regular event, to the very an Australian accent, and vegemite is camp where we feel right at home with laidback and Westernised Aegean on offer on the breakfast menus. Time oursorel backs and swellingkneejoints. coast. Butforus, themostoverwheiming toleavethe coast again- -aslight detour thing about Turkey is the sheer east of 200km to Pamukkale. More Yep, we did the ANZAC thing, visiting generosity and good-naturedness of weekly markets, sweets given by the Gelibolu/Gallipoli Peninsulaaweek the people we met. One of the most schoolboys, tea/lunch with some aftert the ANZAC day celebrations. Very usefulphrasesweleamtwas"cokguzel" Khurdistan chaps, an evening raki (like tranquil and a fitting tribute to the (very beautiful/good) - an appropriate ouzO) session with some farmers, and sacrifices made; some great tviewsfrom description for the people and their yet another night as family guests. atop Chunuk Bair. country. Pamukkale is famous for its white terraces and thermal waters, an Istanbulhappensquickerthanexpected, Just for the record, though neither of US impressive sight but not enough water thanks to another truck ride right into are tea drinkers, we received over 240 to bathe in uncleansed, we head the centre of town where we run the cups of tea during our stay in Turkeynorthwest for more backroads. gauntlet with careening dolmus and never paying for one! TRAMPING & MOUNTAINEERING