October 17,2011

We awoke to the braying of the donkey in the valley below our hotel in Sirince. The light was muted through the curtains so we knew it was still overcast. It was also very cold but no frost. We went up to the main kitchen area. A couple of other people were sitting outside in the patio but it was a little too cold for us so we choose to eat in the kitchen. It was warm and cozy. The breakfast was filling with its variety of small dishes, egg and a fried crepe along with nice hot coffee.

We had read that Ephesus was very busy in the mornings with busloads of tourists from the cruise ships that had docked in Kuşadası. There are also three smaller ruins in the area; Priene, Miletus and Didyma. We looked at a map and Priene was not too far away. We decided to go to it first and then visit Ephesus in the afternoon.

It took about an hour to drive from Sirince to Priene which is located just beyond the major town of Soke. The road just outside of Soke was lined with outlet stores. We recognized a couple of the brands but we were not interested in shopping.

Tunnel on the Otoroad between Selcuk and Soke

We turned off and headed towards Güllübahce where Priene is located. One side of the road was the silt filled bay of the Meanders River and the other side was the foothills of Mount Mycale. It was easy to find following the brown signs which are used to signify tourist sites.
There were a couple of buses already in the parking lot. The attendant showed us where to park and we paid the parking fee and went into the small building to pay the entrance. We were excited. It was our first ruins.

Priene is very interesting. The city was built up the hillside which was originally along the bayshore. It is laid out in a grid pattern. The city was part of the Greek Ionian League of cities in the 8th century BC. It was captured and held by the Persians until Alexander the Great conquered the Persian at which time Prience was rebuild. Alexander the Great dedicated the lovely temple of Athena in 334 BC.

Column ruins of the Temple of Athena in Priene

It is a lovely setting. The vistas look over the valley below to the distant sea. Above the ruins are the hillsides of Mount Mycale. It is quiet with the wind gently rustling through the pines. I really liked the theater and the stately column ruins of the temple of Athena. Walking along the streets and through the agora (market), you could feel what it was like to live there.

Town of Güllübahce in the distance

Walls of the city

The Agora or market area

Stairs leading up to the center of the ruins

Cool bulb that was in bloom among the ruins - Drimia maritima

We saw these tortoises at all the ruins

I loved the brilliant green trees

Columns at the ruins of the temple of Athena

Details of the top of the columns

Theater - They had the coolest chairs

Here are some more pictures of Şirince. These show the unique architecture that is being restored in the village. Farming is also an important part of the community and the farmers brought both their equipment and their animals to their homes.

October 16, 2011

Şirince was our second destination in Turkey. We wanted to spend part of our Turkey vacation along the Aegean area of Western Turkey. The ancient Greek and Roman ruins, primarily Ephesus, were the primary draw to the region. We looked at the different places to stay in the region. Kuşadası was one possibility. It is a cruise ship stop and also a destination resort so it did not sound like our style. Selçuk which is about 10km from Ephesus sounded interesting but it was the small village of Şirince located in the hills above Selçuk that caught our eye and fancy. The idea of staying in a smaller Turkish village and up in the hills sounded really interesting.

Şirince was originally called Cirkince which means ugly. Stories say that the ancient settlers moved inland and uphill from Ephesus for security and called the village 'ugly' as part of their protection from outsiders. Up until the Turkish Independence in 1922, the village was inhabited by Byzantine Greeks. Most of the villagers migrated to Greece at Turkey became a republic. The village was later re-habited by Turks from different regions and the village was renamed Şirince which means charming.

We flew into Izmir, the 2nd largest city in Turkey and rented a car. It was an easy quick hour drive on the toll road to Selçuk. We knew from the instructions on the Turkey Travel planner to watch for a sign. We thought it might be a small sign; the turn was clearly marked by a large brown sign just as you entered the town. We turned and drove a few blocks along the outskirts of Selçuk before entering the groves of mandarin tangerines and figs. The road passes small roadside stands selling fruit or home cooked lunches. Most were closed already for the season. The road narrowed and started switch backing and climbing nearly 1,000 ft to the village through the hillsides covered in Mediterranean chaparral.

I had read that the village was being overrun more and more by busloads of day tripping tourists. We drove cautiously not wanting to meet a large bus on one of the curves. Fortunately, you could see the road farther up the hill and could see what traffic was coming down or going up. It was Sunday and we discovered it was a very popular day to visit Şirince.

We reached the outskirts of the village looking for signs to our hotel which was located above the village. The directions had us looking for a 'totem' which would point to the dirt covered road which would take us up around the village to the hotel located above. The hotel had told us not to enter the village because it is so small. We were met with a traffic jam of several buses and cars before we even reached the village. The buses and cars were waiting to turn into the main parking lot at the edge of the village. Once they had turned, we were able to locate the signs and proceeded up to our hotel. We noticed several over flow parking lots along the beginning of the road - a clear indicator that the village was popular.

We had a couple of hours before sundown and dinner so we decided to walk down from the hotel to the village. The village climbs up the hills and our hotel was located just above the village. The path started down over stone path and stairs to several houses that are part of the hotel. From there it was a little confusing. The streets crisscrossed between the houses, often seeming no more than a driveway. We continued down following a few others tourists until we reached the main intersection of the town.

Yes, it was crowded. The main portion consists of several streets radiating from a main intersection. The streets were lined with several stores selling the main products of the town, fruit wine and olive oil. Also lining the main street were village women selling a wide variety of home made goods from jam, pekmezi (grape molasses), needlework, jewelry, herbs, dried vegetables, flowers and soap. Each one was hocking and trying to get the tourists to stop and buy their goods. The village men were in tea houses talking and watching TV.

The village itself is very pretty. The houses were built in the 1800's and framed in dark wood. Many of the houses are two stories with the lower story made of stone and the roof covered with red clay tiles. We enjoyed climbing up the curving stone streets and looking up at the beauty of several of the restored houses.

We decided to sample the fruit wine. Most of it was pretty bad but we bought a bottle of the mulberry which was not too bad. It was similar to blackberry but a bit more interesting. Both black and white mulberry is grown in Turkey as part of the manufacture of silk. We had mulberry jam also one morning as part of the Turkish breakfast.

We stopped in the village again on Monday after touring Ephesus and found it much quieter. We had a good early dinner in one of the restaurants. It had turned very cold and we choose one of the restaurants that were heated. Several of the restaurants were located on open terraces and patios which would have been great in warmer weather but with the temperatures in the 40's we wanted it warm.

Would I stay in Şirince again or recommend it? It is tough to say. The large influx of tourists day tripping after or before Ephesus is good for the village business but looses the appeal for me. But after the day trippers went home, it was a very beautiful place. I can see how the charm would grow on you.

For more on this village, here is a good link from our hotel Nisanyan. Here are some scenes of the shops in the village.

Path from our hotel to the village

Jams for sale

Local bazaar selling clothing

Herbs and dried vegetables

Wooden toys, jams and soap

Fruit wine for sale

Mobile vendor selling eggs and other fresh goods - check out the scale in the van.

Local women buying at the vegetable stands

Pomegranates were in season - you could get one juiced for 1 euro.

Grapes were also being harvested

Local vendors

Village women with their wares

The real reason not to drive into the village

The village houses over the hillside - our hotel was the last white house at the top of the village
]]> tag:www.slowtrav.com,2011:/blog/marta//2.14092 2011-11-07T03:15:39Z 2011-11-05T03:33:04Z

Postcards from the Trail]]> October 20, 2011 After hiking about 2 hours, we reached the ruins of Yediler also known as the Monastery of the Seven Brothers. The walls are all that is left of the monastery. You can find the small stone...

Marta www.slowtrav.com Postcards from the Trail]]>

October 20, 2011

After hiking about 2 hours, we reached the ruins of Yediler also known as the Monastery of the Seven Brothers. The walls are all that is left of the monastery. You can find the small stone alcoves where they slept. They were very small but did have a window with a view of the lake. The ruins are spread between two areas which look somewhat like the living quarters and the chapel. What an austere life it must have been.

We also were trying to find the frescoes which they painted on the underside of a large rock. A group of French hikers arrived and I asked them if they had seen them. Oui. Ou? They pointed just down below. Off we went to try to find the rock. We circled around the area a couple of times and almost gave up before we noticed some cairns and followed them. The rock had a hollowed out overhang which they had plastered over and painted pictures of the story of Christ. It was amazing to see these frescoes that were centuries old outside on the hillside. The overhang had protected them surprisingly through the years although people had vandalized many of the faces. But still very amazing.

October 20, 2011

The next morning we awoke to the braying of the donkey in the yard behind the pension and the call to prayer by the local muezzin. There are 5 calls to prayer and we got so we could tell what time it was by the call. All the mosques have an external speaker system so you can’t avoid hearing the call. Surprising often we were able to sleep through the sunrise call.

Breakfast was the usual Turkish country breakfast consisting of a myriad of small dishes; tomato, cucumber, olives, jam, yogurt, spicy red pepper paste. Along with these small dishes, we also had bread, an egg, and a rolled up savory fried crepe. The Turks usually have tea in small tulip shaped glasses with breakfast but we opted for coffee.

We asked the host for information on doing a hike. We pointed on a map and asked if we could do a hike up to the ruins of Heraclea. No – that takes 6 hours. He suggested the hike/walk to Yediler the 7th century ruins of a Byzantine monetary. I had done some web research on hiking options the previous night. I found a helpful photo blog from a Seattle couple who had visited the area in 2000. The Seattle couple had also done this hike so I had a good visual idea of the trail.

The trail starts at Golyaka 4 km from Kapikiri. We drove to the village – delayed again by a cow roadblock. We were uncertain where exactly to find the trail. It was no problem. Next to a restaurant, there was a large sign that said trail to Monastery along with information on how to hire a guide and ‘free’ parking. We pulled in and quickly got out to avoid being approached for a guide.

We started up the ‘street’ next to the restaurant. It was mostly cement but pretty broken up and batched with asphalt in places. Village houses were on both sides along with the villagers animals. The houses were usually two stories with the first story being partially open to house the family animals. We saw donkeys, cows, sheep and chickens all housed around the houses. None of them had big yards. You could definitely tell it was a farm village by the smell, hay and droppings.

After a couple of wrong turns, we arrived at the top of village. We looked around for the trail knowing it would follow along a stone wall fence. The fence was pretty easy to find and after a bit we located the footpath. It wasn’t marked with paint as we seen on trails in France and Italy but it was easy to follow by watching the boot tracks. The hills were brilliant green, the sky clear blue and the trees were mostly olive or shrubby oak. We were pleasantly surprised to find fields of the daffodils below the olive and oak trees. The views down to the lake and villages below were stunning.

Soon we could see the ruins in the distance. We climbed up some more following between two stone fences and through a couple of gates which we finally figured out you open by untying and retying the plastic rope.

The ruins were just beyond...

October 19, 2011

We wanted to spend our last days in Turkey away from the crush of tourists. We also were looking for someplace where we might have a chance to do a hike and do some wildflower hunting. The Eastern Mediterranean area is known for the fall blooming bulbs such as crocus, daffodils and cyclamen. After the rain we had during our week in Istanbul, there was a chance we might spot some wildflowers.

We choose the Lake Bafa area. This area was originally a gulf along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The silt from the Meanders River eventually built up to close off the gulf and created the lake. This also moved the famous ruins Ephesus from being along the seaside to several miles inland. Today it is located along the road between Izmir and Bodrum.

The Beşparmak Mountains run along the north shore of Lake Bafa. The highest point is about 4,000 ft. It isn’t a single mountain but a range of different rocky fingers spread out over an area. The slopes are covered with large boulders and caves reminding me much of Pinnacles National Monument.

The area has continuously been settled since the Bronze Ages. Rock paintings have been found in the area around Latmos on the slopes of the mountain. Endymion was sacred to the early people in the area. They built shrines and the myth has him and Selene residing at Latmos. The Greeks moved into the Ionian area of Western Turkey around 4th century BC. They built a city and dedicated it to Heracles thus the name of Heracleia by Latmos. The area changed hands through the years falling to the Persians and later to the Romans. In the 7th century, Christian monks from the Sinai region moved to the area to escape from the Muslims. They built several Byzantine monasteries and castles which are now in ruins along the lake and hillside.

Kapikiri is a small village of about 300 people located on the north shores of Lake Bafa. It is built up within the Greek ruins of a temple to Athena. There are several pensions or pansiyon in Turkish located in the village which cater to hikers and tourists that want to get away. The villagers mainly tend to their animals which are housed next to or under their houses. The village women also sell handmade necklace, scarves and other items to the hikers and other tourists that venture to the end of the road.

We arrived at Kapikiri in the afternoon, just as they were bringing in the cows. Cows blocked our way along the road several times as they were moved between the villages. We had reservations at the Agora Pension. I had found it listed in several areas on the web including the Small Hotels of Turkey . It was also mentioned in an article in the UK Conde Nast. It was very clean and comfortable. We had half board (breakfast and dinner) included in our cost. The host spoke just a little English. He had understood that G did not eat meat but ate fish. Somehow he thought I was vegetarian. I tried to explain I did eat meat but I finally figured out they planned their meals around me being vegetarian. No problem. The meals each night were wonderful. G had a large fish freshly caught from the lake and I had a couple of extra vegetarian mezes. Perfect. We usually also had a soup and a shepherd salad which was usually cucumbers, tomatoes, onions and spicy greens (arugula, lettuce, parsley).

We walked around the village and down to the lake shore where we were able to see the ruins of several Byzantine castles and monasteries along the lake side and just off shore. They day was sunny, crisp and clear. It would be a perfect place to end our trip.

Moving the cows along the road to Kipikiri - just outside the village of Golyaka.

Farm woman bringing the cows home

Kapikiri

Kapikiri

Golyaka village

Lake Bafa

Ruins at Lake Bafa

Ruins at Kapikiri

Shoreside at Lake Bafa

Agora Pension

Our room at the Agora Pension

Outside our room

Dining room at Agora Pension

Efes beer at dinner