We continued driving up into the mountains, all eleven of us together with the goat, on the way to Grandad’s House in the remote village of Karatut. The weather was getting colder and the snow deeper, as we carried on up the steep dirt track roads, buildings were fewer and other traffic almost none existent. However, the scenery was breath-taking and the stuff that movies are made of. I was enchanted by the wild grey foxes who startled by the engine noise, ran alongside the edge of the tracks .
Fortunately, I was unable to see the sheer drop from the road down the side of the mountain, or I am sure I would have been holding my breath for the remainder of the journey. We eventually drove into the village which was a scattering of basic structures; although despite the village’s remoteness there were still satellite dishes dotted along the tops of the buildings. This was Turkey at it’s most traditional and a lifetime away from resort life and foreign visitors.
Most of the villagers were intrigued by the new arrivals and stopped and peered in the car windows, some of whom were known to the family. I was particularly alarmed by a smiling elderly woman who sat outside her house holding a rifle across her lap but fortuitously for us still managed to wave a greeting with her empty hand.
We carried on driving through the village and came to a halt at the top of a dirt track with no visible houses. Man, women, child and goat alighted from the vehicle carrying various bags, pots and pans and then started climbing down a steep incline which led to a wooden house complete with a wraparound balcony nestling along the side of the cliff and amongst the trees like something from a Grimm fairy-tale.
Having removed our shoes, as is the custom whenever you enter a Turkish home, I was surprised when we walked into an immaculately clean small hallway leading onto a salon where again a soba oven kept the room toasty. There was a basic kitchen in one corner and in another primitive showering facilities. Tapestry floor cushions were scattered around the homely room. All the family greeted their grandfather in the Turkish respectful fashion of kissing his right hand and then touching it with their foreheads.
Grandad was a wizened old soul with a particular fondness for moonshine Raki and a twinkle in his eye, who was equally entranced by my mobile phone pictures of home as I was by the loveliness of his. Despite his advanced years he had lived in this village his whole life and now entirely alone since his wife had passed several years earlier.
As I looked around the salon, I couldn’t help but wonder how this large family managed any bathroom privacy. One of Ahmed’s brothers sensing my unease jokingly told me that the entire family showered together whilst soaping each other’s hard to reach places and then translated for the rest of the family which made them all laugh uproariously. As we continued to sit there laughing and joking whilst drinking çay , I couldn’t help but think that many of us had lost some of this family harmony and tradition and I hoped that I would be taking home, along with the usual holiday souvenirs, something a little more enduring which would remind me of these truly golden days.
That man is rich whose pleasures are the cheapest.
Henry David Thoreau
You are truly lucky to have experienced this cultural excursion, Dallas. And the view from Granddad’s house is amazing!
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I didn’t quite understand when we set out exactly where I would be going or the experiences which I was going to be having but I will never ever forget the people or the places.
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It’s always exciting when we get to be apart of something very different 🙂
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As always Maggie you are are right – it was an unexpected blessing
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You are so lucky! Although sometimes the accommodations are not what we are used to, the culture and family time sounds sublime (I guess a person might get used to it, and depending on their disposition and background, either enjoy it or find it mundane and claustrophobic). Those photos are great! Glad you had a good time.
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When Ahmed said we were going to see his Grandad, nothing prepared me for this little fairytale setting, however, during grim weather I’m sure it would be less enchanting
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And doing it day in and day out probably gets mundane.
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What an incredibly glorious location for a house. Bleak in winter no doubt. The isolation must make Grandpa’s life harder but bulldoze a road up there and bang, that’s the end of that. Special times.
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What a fabulous view! I rather like the idea of family communal showering. 😀 What magical memories you have, Dallas. Thanks for sharing. Your writing is wonderful.
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What a perfect hide-away, D!!! Love the balcony 🙂 And the old lady with the rifle….did Ahmed tell you what the rifle was for? Varmints no doubt…2 or 4 legged?
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Joe, how spooky I’m just listening to your music!!! Ahmed said it was to keep the gypsies away but when they have a wedding they all go crazy firing guns into the air – I’d rather have confetti myself
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Lmao I get pinged on my phone when someone comments or ‘likes’ something. It pinged me to when you hit like on the music. Then I saw the reader and your new post 😉 technology girl-wonder 😉
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Oh thats sooooooooo me! Didn’t get on to the laptop yesterday, my Dad had me shovelling snow for England for all the old folk in our neighbourhood. I’ve never been force-fed so many cups of tea in my life!
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ahh scoring on those brownie points!! Good! Loved the post D….I really, really like the sound of this place…it’s so outta the way. Ideal!!! the old gal with rifle and the gypsies sounds right.
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can give you her number if you ever need a bodyguard!
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lmao good…i may just take you up on that one 🙂
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Wowee – what a spectacular view. Just breathtaking!
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It was rather special and not what I expected to see in Turkey
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Stunning. Reminds me of the Canadian Rockies, where we were having the conservation vs. development tussle. Guess which side is winning?
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Sad that stunning vistas like these will be lost – fortunately, in Turkey much of it is still untouched
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They sound like lovely people! Thanks for sharing the adventure with us.
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I find most of the Turkish people I have met some of the best hosts in the world
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I would have to agree, I was there a tourist and yet I managed to make friends with a couple, they invited us over their place for a birthday party, never felt like a stranger.
That place looks like a paradise.
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I love that about Turkish weddings too, everyone gets invited even passing strangers and its not about the outfit you wear, people often rock up wearing their work clothes, the most important thing is celebrating a special event
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Amazing!!
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It was magical
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With a view like that, why would you ever want to leave? Beautiful post, Dallas, and I am reminded of a similar adventure I took, over 30 years ago, in the mountains up near Nice, France. I was visiting a new friend’s grandmother, who lived in a log house, and we drove up from Nice. We stopped at a bakery and bought a boule on the way up the narrow, winding road.Her bedroom window opened onto a stunning view of the Alps. She was about four feet tall, like everyone in the village. She made us Salade Nicoise and onion tarte, which was the best I ever ate. The men in the village were playing boules. It was an experience I’ll never forget. Thanks for triggering the memory! – Kaye – http://www.youtube.com/user/kittrellkaye
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Sounds beautiful and it’s amazing how several years later you still remember the smallest detail about your adventure and I’m sure that’s how it’ll be for me with my Turkish travels.
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Amazing D! Thanks for taking my along on this adventure.
Wonder if the old lady was a good shot? 🙂
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Apparently Phil, most of the elders own guns in the village but I think more as a deterrent than anything else because they have lived through real conflict, however, apparently its quite common at family celebrations that guns are fired into the air at random!!!!
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Firing guns in the air at random, I wonder where those chickens come home to roost?
Somebody two miles away might get a real surprise. 😯
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You are so right: the stuff movies are made of.
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It was an amazing experience and one I will never forget
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“Please be a traveler, not a tourist. Try new things, meet new people, and look beyond what’s right in front of you. Those are the keys to understanding this amazing world we live in.”
― Andrew Zimmern, Andrew Zimmern’s Bizarre World of Food: Brains, Bugs, and Blood Sausage
Congratulations on being a traveler! Great blog.
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What a great mantra and wouldn’t be a better world if everyone subscribed to the same theme
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I whole-heartedly agree.
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Sometimes it’s memories like these that keep you warm.
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Wow those are some amazing mountains. Reminds me of something you’d see in Canada or Yellowstone or Yosemite National Park in the US. Sounds like this was such a great cultural experience–it’s always amazing to see how other cultures celebrate the holidays. When it comes down to it though, the basic ingredients are the same: love, good food and drink, and happiness.
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You are so right, it doesn’t really matter where you are, it’s the people you’re with that make the moment
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What an adventure. It looks & sounds like the stuff from fairy tales – wild grey foxes, beautiful forests & a isolated old man living simply.
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It does sound like something from a Hans Christian Anderson book
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We see the our lives differently when we have seen the world from a mountaintop.
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How true, lots of things seem very insignificant now
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What a beautiful view!! Just sitting on that balcony and over looking these mountains with a cup of turkish coffee is priceless.
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It is stunning but very cold, so you’d have to wrap up warm
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Amazing view !
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Imagine waking up to that every morning! Would set you up for the day
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Oh what a beautiful spot – a fabulous experience, but as you know I love Turkey. It is so great getting out into the countryside. The house is particularly interesting.
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Terri, you’d have loved it so different from the Turkey on the usual tourist trail
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What an awesome view Grandad has. Thanks for sharing this fascinating adventure, I really enjoyed reading this post.
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As you know I am no photographer and felt that the photo opportunity was wasted a bit on me as I couldn’t really do it justice but I am a truly better person for having this adventure
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…and did the entire family shower together whilst soaping each other’s hard to reach places – or is it a family secret? 😉
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I hoped that they were joking but it does bring a whole new meaning to the phrase ” a family that bathes together, stays together”!
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I love the sense of humour and the joy of family that is in your writing and oh that amazing view.
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Aren’t you blessed to have gained this perspective of perfection as you travel? And to hold the ability to see the humour in situations is an even more elevated state.
Shakti
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What a truly beautiful thing to say and I am honoured that you read and liked it
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What fabulous experiences. I think the communal shower, well that one maybe not so much. The views though gad to wake to that would cause you to want to live forever. Dallas, I think I would never want to leave this family, their joy is infectious and your ability to share it in your writing is marvelous.
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I wasn’t loving the idea of the communal shower experience and thought as they told me “never gonna happen” but I was humbled by their generosity and this will remain a favourite memory of mine forever
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So beautiful!
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I knew you’d like all the natural wood!
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What a breathtaking view! Were you tempted to sing, “The hills are alive, with the sound of music”? 😉 I know, wrong country, but I would want to sing into that view. … I’m so envious of your experiences with this culture and Ahmed’s family. How wonderful for you, Dallas. 🙂
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Bloggers have commented that it reminds them of Alaska too! To be fair it was so cold, singing was the last thing on my mind and I’m sure that old lady may have come along and shot me if she’d heard my tone deaf version of “Maria”!
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Seems like much more than ‘a little bit’ Dallas, with your wonderful narration, and that glorious view! Thank you 🙂
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Funnily enough when I was uploading my grainy pics I thought that as a photo opportunity it was completely wasted on me and what a damn fine job you would have done!
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But you don’t need any images to prop up your story Dallas 🙂
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Wow! Such a beautiful view, and so interesting!
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Thank you very much – I was a lucky girl!
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amazing adventure, this is the kind of travelling each one of us, travellers, would love to experience!
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I know how lucky I was and I hope I get the chance to do it again as these opportunities are rare
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The picture is beautiful!! I can just imagine the rest of his house – fantastic!
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What a lovely post – it’s so touching to see the young perform that little hand kissing ceremony and seems to convey true respect for their elders. I saw it a few times in Turkey and wondered about it.
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a beautiful post
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Thank you, I was the lucky one on that day!
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Yes a lovely post and brings back all the vived memories of my 2 years in Turkey, memories which I hold close in my heart as it is the most amazing place with the most hospitable people. I enjoy following your stories! Thank you
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Turkey has a magical quality which you can never forget and keeps drawing you back – thank you for reading!
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The view is beautiful !!
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It was absolutely glorious, however, I think you’d be pretty isolated during a hard winter
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You are so lucky to have been able to experience this!
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I realise how blessed I was & these memories will be stored in my book of golden days forever
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