Egirdir April 2-7

2006-04-14T12:49:00.000-07:00

We arrive at 7.30pm at the small fishing town of Egirdir, on Lake Egirdir. We find a lovely room with lake views and sleep after the 5 hour bus ride here. We buy yoghurt and fruit and have breakfast on the edge of the lake. Beck does a chakra crystal energy healing on me after which I sleep for 2 hours like a log. That night we go out for a bit of a Turkish feast. We spend most of the next day relaxing - reading, sitting in the rooftop restaurant, walking the lake. The guide bookm says the best thing you can get in Egirdir is relaxation and they are right.

The next day I go for a day trip to the nearest big town - Isparta. I have heard that on Wednesdays the villages around Isparta bring their carpets into the carpet bazaar and show and sell them to the local dealers and that sounds like a great thing to get to see. I get there early so walk around town for a while. On returning, it is as busiy as it is likely to get - 20 or so sellers with about 50 carpets and the same number of dealers of various ages all shaking hands and heads, chain smoking cigarretes and chain drinking tea. They all know each other and their business. They can tell the quality and value oif a carpet by turning it over and walking on it. A few approach me to start a conversation but we cant. After an hour an English speaking dealer chats with me, educates me on the different kinds of carpets, how they are made and priced and made ready for sale, which is exactly what I was hoping to learn by coming here. He invites me to his shop to look at some carpets ready for sale - after purchase from the villagers, they have to be washed, dried, rubbed and shrunk befrore hey can be sold. He has a large range in hist store and walks me through it over a cup of tea, of course gently trying to sell me one, but not too forcefully which is fine.

I stop at the markets which are also populated by the villagers who have come into town to sell their fresh produce and homewares which makes a fascinating walk. I buy some graceries that are unavailable in Egirdir and head back. Beck has been relaxing in the room and we spend the afternoon having a picnic on the lake harbour wall and discover that the 4 cup elecric kettle |I bought in Cambodia can be used to cook and we use an element Beck bought in India to make hot drinks. This discovery completely changes how we travel. Most days we have at least 1 hot meal that we can cook ourselves in our room instead of having to go out to eat or living on salads and tuna. The next day, inspired by our discovery, Beck decides she misses cooking and wants to cook a proper meal over an open fire. I collect kindling and wood and make a fire by the river. We buy fish at the fish market, and vegetables and Beck cooks us a feast on the coals - roast whole garlic cloves; trout stuffed with dill, lemon and garlic; cauliflower in veg stock and tomatoes; snow peas, mushrooms and zuccini and tomato and garlic. It is the best meal we have had in Turkey and at the time of writing, close to the end of our time in Turkey, still is. That night we skype with my sister and her husband and stop for Turkish sweets and tea n the way home - a perfect day.

Our time in Egirdir was wonderful and comes to an end. We pack, check out and catch our bus to Denizli from where we catch a local bus to Pammukale.

Turkey index

The Waynes World Home page

PHOTOS

For REAL adventure, try a RedBalloon Day