Merhaba,
I think I could be a permanent vagabond. Or maybe not. Going to new places and seeing unique old architecture, strange and vast new geologic formations and sampling new foods broadens every horizon you have. Finding hotels, transport, schedules etc..not so fun on a permanent basis. I absolutely love letting someone else do the cooking and dish washing. We arrived back in Marmaris about 7 pm last night and today went back to our regular schedule; laundry, listen to the morning NET, go to the Thursday market.
I am glad that we had this chance to visit Cappadocia. I can’t imagine coming here to Turkey and missing it though we will miss lots of other spectacular areas especially in the eastern part of the country. In a few weeks we’ll set off again to Ankara and surrounding areas where everything will be new to us. This trip we revisited places from our motorbike trip but in doing so saw things we’d missed. I loved the wildness of Sagalssos even in the blustery winds. Cappadocia was a modern Fantasia designed by Georgia O’Keefe. Lake Eḡirdir will always be a favorite memory.
So here’s the story starting with Day 1 from Marmaris to Lake Eḡirdir
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Cappadocia Day 1
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We boarded the bus at 6:30 am with only a mild gray drizzle rather than the forecasted heavy rain and our weather luck held the whole trip. Our first stop a few hours later was the West Café & Bistro in Gocek. It was our second breakfast of the day so I went easy; Randal went for it all. |
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You can get a full American breakfast with bacon and eggs…or grilled cheese toast. It’s a favorite café in a favorite cruisers’ bay. Our pal Eve especially liked Gocek when she was cruising in Turkey. |
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Our overnight stop, Lake Eḡirdir was a day’s drive which was broken up by breakfast, a light lunch and several “comfort stops and a visit to Sagalassos and Isparta. |
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Marta Evi translates to the House of Mushrooms…. Our second stop of the day. Finding spots that can feed 26 people quickly with good and also interesting food, means short stops between eating or sometimes long stops between eating. Our first day had short stops so no one was overly hungry when we arrive here about noon after the stop in Gocek. That, of course, did not stop us from eating. |
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Mushroom soup with mushroom bread! Soup and bread were delicious. The soup was garnished with a lovely sprig of rosemary. |
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Natural mushroom bread..we would call it “homemade” mushroom bread which is bread with bits of mushroom in it |
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So now that we’d eaten our way along it was time to stop and work it off. And what an amazing place to do that, Sagalassos. “The archaeological site of Sagalassos is located in southwest Turkey, near the present town of Ağlasun (Burdur province); roughly 110 km to the north of the well-known port and holiday resort of Antalya. The ancient city was founded on the south facing slopes of the Taurus mountain range and was the metropolis of the Roman province of Pisidia. Next to its mountainous landscape, a series of lakes form another typical feature of the regional geography. Today this region is known as the Lake District.” http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5409/ http://www.sagalassos.be/ also has lots of info too. Both Internet sites can answer all of your questions about Sagalssos. I just enjoyed walking around in the beautiful mountain setting. It was cold, overcast, windy and just perfect! The views of the valley and snow-capped mountains were breath taking in their starkness. I love the wild open spaces, scrub, stone and dessert. The only thing missing were sheep, goats and donkeys. |
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We made a very quick stop in Isparta for folks to purchase products made from roses. http://www.mydoramac.com/wordpress/?p=7352 tells the story of our first visit to Isparta and how an Isparta government official Bulent Akbas arranged with his friend the Mayor of Guneykent, Fahretdin Gozgun, a tour of the rose fields for us guided by a wonderful young man named Emre Yalcinkaya and an equally helpful Guneykent employee to drive us through the hills. I totally recommend a visit to Guneykent for anyone interested in the rose industry in the Isparta area. |
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Taṣ and his friend who owns Kebapçı Kadir just near the clock tower in Isparta. http://www.kebapcikadir.com.tr/ which according to their web page has been in existence since 1851. It was getting cold and damp so Randal and I skipped the shopping area for some tea. In Lake Eḡirdir I was hoping to buy more of the cheapo rose cream I’d bought last time so skipped the rose shops in Isparta.
As we were leaving Isparta this lady came aboard to sell dried rose petals. The bag of of dried rose petals was only 5 TL so Randal and I bought one. We like to buy local products when we can. I had no clue what we’d do with the petals but that’s not always the point. We just wanted to be supportive of this lady. (Actually they are now sitting in the corner of our front head which should be a good thing.) |
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Our final stop Day 1 was Lake Eḡirdir, a favorite place from our 2011 motorbike trip. http://www.mydoramac.com/wordpress/?p=7322 tells that story. |
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Dinner at a Big Fish Restaurant on the tip of the island where we ate locally caught perch. |
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A final photo before heading back to the hotel and a good night sleep as I planned to get up (and did) go for a 6 am walk through Eḡirdir the next morning. That story next. |
