Lost in thought and lost in time

I was not really dressed for a LONG walk in the snow...

23.10.2011 Selcuk

I don’t quite know how to start off this time. It’s been a week with so many different experiences, and to tell you about everything would take forever. Still I think to pick out highlight wouldn’t make it justice either. I guess it’ll be something in between.

Wombosi handled the snow well

After Iznik (where I posted last time), I had bad weather for another two days, and stayed mainly in my car. I went up to Mt. UluDag NP on the last day of bad weather, and stopped at a broken down trailer. I borrowed them my tools, and after 45 minutes in the wind and the snow we had figures the problem, and found out what part they needed.

Morning-view from the UluDag

I took one of the fellows with me up to Oteller (the town in the NP), and we went to the military building, and had tea and Turkish delight. One of the soldiers spoke English, so I got quite a bit of useful information on what I could do (and couldn’t do). The next day when I headed in the direction of the summit I got the number of the private, so that I could call if I encountered any problems or bears. I didn’t get to the summit, not even close, but still had a nice day in the snow. The night with minus 8-10 degrees was on the limit.

Since then the weather has been cold and clear, with around 0 degrees in the night, and 15-18 during the day - good weather for taking pictures. The Phrygian valley was a pleasant backdrop with no tourists at all.

Lake Emre

Yesterday was a turbo-day, where I did Pamukkale (and Hierapolis) in the morning and Aphrodisias in the evening. The travertine in Pamukkale is indeed impressive, but the beautiful (and quiet) ruins at Aphrodisias were the definitive highlight.

Akropolis - Phrygian "church"

I don’t really know what to write. You know, it’s not the sites that make my trip. It’s all about the lifestyle. I have this enormous freedom of doing whatever I want to, but also perfect limitations. To live on bread and water, and not to have internet and electricity might sound like a bad choice for some of you, but it really makes you think. 

No post without a sun-picture...

It just changes the things that matter so drastically from what we in the western society are used to. I’m also very bound to nature and the weather. It’s all down to basics. All kinds of celebrities or new movies or even floods in Bangkok and earthquakes in (eastern) Turkey don’t matter at all. What matters is what I do, and what nature and people do to me. What good does it do if Obama says some wise words, if I am cruel to the people I meet? Do I stop the flood by watching news 5 times a day, or can I actually make a difference where I am in some real person’s life?

I feel that I get a little carried away now. The other day I had a hitchhiker. When our ways split he tried to explain something for a long time. In the end I figured that he was hungry. I gave him half a bread and a banana, and think I made him happy. That I didn’t have any food that evening myself except two bananas didn’t really matter. What shapes my mood here is encounters like this; the peace within myself.

Yet another stunning morning

I hope this post made some sense. For all the wise people out there, I have a question. What can I read out of the moon? Can I find direction, if I know the time, or the other way around? Is there anything else the night-sky tells me? 

Pamukkale

Afrodisias