Skiing in Turkey

Today it is 40C in Ankara...this is far too hot for me...

Coming from Canada, winter is one of my favorite seasons.  And when the weather is this hot, I like to think about the cold and snow...and with snow, my favorite sports...

Especially, I love skiing! 

Many of my friends wondered what I would do when I moved to Turkey in order to replace my beloved sport.  Oil wrestling (the national sport)?  Camel racing?  Football?  Well, friends, the answer is this – I didn’t have to give up my favorite sport!  It turns out that there are many people here who love to ski and there are many places for us to practice our wonderful hobby!

I want to introduce you to another unknown gem off the beaten track in Turkey – Sarıkamış. 

Sarıkamış is in the Eastern Anatolian region of Turkey.  It is rather easy to travel there because of cheap cost of transportation – a return flight was the equivalent of $90CAD.  The flight is about an hour and half.  You can drive there as well – but, it takes about 12 hours through the mountains.

 Sarıkamış was part of the Russian empire for most of its history, but is now within Turkey’s borders.  The architecture reflects the Russian influence.  Its claim to fame is a hunting lodge that used to belong to Czar Nicholas and a sprawling yellow pine forest (from which the town takes its name) that was planted in honor of Catherine the Great.  Sarıkamış is also historically significant in military terms – during the Battle of Caucasus in World War I, between 60 to 80 000 Ottoman soldiers froze to death in its forests.   This was the biggest loss ever suffered by the Ottoman army.

Despite this somewhat grisly history, the forests of Sarıkamış are vast and proud.  They provide the perfect backdrop for one of Turkey’s premier ski areas – now, you West Coast ski aficionados, think East Coast premier, not Rocky Mountain premier!  Sarıkamış does however have snow that rivals anything I’ve skied in Western Canada – champagne powder as we call it back home!  And it is also the home to one of Turkey’s longest pistes, measuring in at 7 kms.  The best part of skiing here was that most Turkish people prefer skiing on-piste so the snow in the trees was deep and untracked!  Blissful!

Some 80 kms from Sarıkamış, at the end of the last highway in Turkey (literally, the highway comes to a dead end here), on the Turkish-Armenian border, sit the ruins of the medieval city of Ani – another fascinating historical area not often visited (even by the Turks!).

 Ani had a very colored and storied history.  In its heyday, it rivaled Istanbul and Baghdad as the centre of Middle East.  It was sacked and conquered time and again.  It started as an Armenian stronghold, and then it was surrendered to the Byzantines.  After a time, the Seljuk Turks conquered the city and sold it to a Kurdish dynasty.  The Kurds lost it to some Georgians who gave it back and forth to the Kurds for a few years.  The Armenians won it back but then lost it to the Mongols.  Eventually, the Ottoman Turks won control of the city, and it stayed that way for several hundred years.  In the 18^th century, the city was abandoned completely for reasons not quite known.  The city started to decay and nearby villagers started to pillage stones and other materials to use for their own farms and buildings.  The army used the ruins for target practice and several earthquakes further devastated the area.  Because of its proximity to the Armenian border, up until 2004, photography of this area was strictly forbidden and you needed governmental permission to visit the area – you could say that tourism was not really encouraged.  Now, the Turkish government in collaboration with UNESCO is doing its best to rehabilitate the ruins and rebuild tourism in the region.  In fact, some of the money collected for admission is used towards restoration and conservation.  I recommend visiting Ani if you are interested in medieval churches and Gothic architecture.  Some of the best examples I have ever seen exist in this region.

So for you skiers out there who have a hankering for some history with your sports fix, check out this hidden gem in Eastern Anatolia – you will not be disappointed with the snow or the scenery!

Canada - We Help You In Your Time of Need! Or not....

So, today I went with U (my bf) to the Canadian Embassy here in Ankara to ask a few questions about his visa application...

First let me preface this with saying that if you are a Turkish citizen you pretty much can't leave the country - ever - without permission so it makes spontaneous travel next to impossible...In a country of 78 million people with an unemployment rate of 10% (this is the number the government shows us, but I think it's much higher based on what I've seen) every country out there wants to make sure these nice Turkish people are only visiting and not planning on staying long term!

Anyways, I am planning a trip home in September for a month and I really want U to come and meet my friends and family and see what Canada is all about.  No problem, I thought!  Let's look online and find a nice cheap ticket home!  Not so U tells me...I need a visa first!  The visa application to visit Canada is very intensive.  You have to fill in all kinds of personal information, family information, provide proof of a job and income, show proof that your employer knows you are leaving and coming back, show that you are in good health, and basically show that you are a good upstanding citizen that will come back to your country when your trip is over...All of this is really complicated and comes in several forms and appendices.  I tried calling the 800# on the website where I downloaded all these forms and information packages and quidelines for the application from but it is an endless loop of "press 1 for this, etc"...there is no way to speak to a live person.  So we decided to see if we could get some questions answered at the Embassy and have some clarification.  In Ottawa, I know that you can pretty much walk up to any Embassy and ask for help at the gate and they will direct you to a real live person...I've done it with the Turkish and Italian embassies...However, it's apparently quite different in a foreign country.

The nice security guard at the gate (who spoke surprisingly good english) very nicely told us that no one can go inside.  Ever  They don't even take appointments.  I asked what how we can find answers to our questions.  Then I asked what to do when the application is finally completed.  And finally, I asked what I could do if I had an emergency situation and needed the help of my country.  His response to all these questions:

"Check the website" as he pointed to a typed out memo taped to his glass cage...

Freakin' awesome.  It's so comforting to know that I have the help and support of my country as I live here in Turkey...don't worry family!  I'm sure nothing bad will happen...

Now...to figure out how to fill in these forms...yippee...

Off the Beaten Track

For lack of anything else interesting to say at the moment I have copy and pasted a little essay about Turkey that I sent to the fine folks at the TEFL Institute in an attempt to make Turkey a more popular teaching destination...As I've mentioned before, most people think only of Istanbul when they think about Turkey - here are a few snippets about places that I've visited since coming here that are far more interesting than Istanbul in my opinion:

"You’re moving where???"

That was the common refrain when I informed my friends and family about my decision to teach in a foreign country.

“Yes.  Turkey.  I’m moving to Ankara, the capital city” was my response. 

The next most common refrain was, “Wait a minute, isn’t Istanbul the capital city??”

And so, the last few weeks preparing for my big adventure included not only fitting the entire contents of my life into 23kg of allowable weight but also telling people a little bit about this wonderful country and its people.

Alright – so here are some basic facts:  the actual name of the country is the Republic of Turkey.  The spoken language is Turkish.  It’s a fairly young country; founded in 1923 by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, but it has a rich history going back many thousands of years.  The main religion is Islam.  It’s a democratic and secular country (well, kind of) with a population of approximately 74 million.  It is the 37^th largest country in the world in terms of land size (when you compare this to Canada which is the 2^nd largest country in the world with a population of only 34 million it’s a little bit mind boggling!!).

To the left is the Turkish flag - it bears the cresent moon and star which comes from the Ottoman Empire.  It was adopted in 1844.  During the Ottoman times, there were many flags with several variations of the moon and star combo - green flags symbolized religious institutions and red ones secular institutions.   

So now that the boring stuff is out of the way, let me tell you about places that are NOT Istanbul.  Don’t get me wrong, Istanbul is an amazing and wonderful city, but everyone goes there!  I want to tell you about a few places in Turkey that are off the beaten track.

One of the most interesting places I’ve visited so far is Şanlıurfa (or Urfa for short) in the southeastern part of Turkey.   The history of this intriguing city goes back to about the 4^th century BC – however, there have been archeological discoveries dating back to 9000BC!  This city is reportedly the birth place of the Prophet Abraham and also Job.  Balıklıgöl, or Lake of Fish, is a serene and beautiful place of worship built in the 1100s AD.  Legend says that when Abraham was being persecuted, his arch nemesis Nimrod threw him to his death into a pool of fire.  Only, the flames turned into water and the wood into fish and Abraham survived.   The mosque and pool are built on the site where this event supposedly happened and the fish that live inthis pool today are considered to be ancestors of these original fish.  Local legend also says that eating these fish will cause blindness.

Close by to Urfa is a small village called Harran.  This is the only place on Earth where you can still see original ‘bee hive’ style houses.  Although not really used for daily life they still dominate the landscape.  They are designed to keep the warmth in during the cold desert nights and to keep cool during the hot, dry, desert days (although, when I visited in December, and slept in one of these bee hives, there was a distinct lack of heat...).  Harran is also the site of Islam’s first university.  Built in the 8th or 9th century, it was a centre for translation, astronomy (the astronomy tower still stands today), and medicine.  One of the pivotal battles during the Crusades was also fought in Harran.

Traditional Eastern Turkish dinner

University's Astronomy tower...
unfortunately due to ongoing
excavations of this site we couldn't get any closer...

Traditional Beehive houses - only exist in Harran today

Moving further west, there is a village called Kayaköy near the city of Fethiye, which was completely abandoned after 1923.  The history of this village dates back to the 4th century BC.  It was built on the site of the Lycian city Karmylassos and was populated by Greek Christians.  After 1923, these Christians were forced out of their homes and back to Greece during a “population exchange” (this was a nice way to say deportation of Greek Christians).  The city today is protected by the Turkish Government and UNESCO as a historical site.



Olüdeniz - the most photographed beach in Europe!



By far the most interesting place in Turkey is Kapadokya – the Land of Fairy Chimneys.  This place is so unreal you feel like you are on another planet when you arrive.  After miles of flatness on the drive from Ankara, you start to see some undulating hills and valleys, and then as you turn a final corner, you are greeted by spectacular natural fairy chimneys.  These chimneys are actually a result of volcanic ash covered by basalt.  They are a spectacular natural wonder, however, what makes them even more interesting here in Kapadokya is that they were hollowed out and used as homes and churches.  Göreme National Park is another UNESCO World Heritage Site and is definitely worth exploring!

So, you can see, there is definitely more to this amazing country – especially if you take a walk off the beaten track.

The Land of Apricots and Democracy?

This past weekend I ventured back to Eastern Turkey with my colleague and travel companion, H.  On a previous trip out east, H had wanted to visit Mount Nemrut but we just couldn't seem to fit it into our schedule (it's fairly out of the way) so we made plans to visit the area again.  This time through a different airport - Malatya.  Malatya is in central Eastern Turkey.  It has a hot and dry climate.  And it is the epicenter of the apricot industry in Turkey!  At every corner you can find one apricot related product or another.  And so far, Malatya has had the friendliest people out of every city I've previously visited!  We had such a great weekend that I almost didn't want to come back to Ankara!!

I don't usually do plugs for businesses and such, but the service we experienced during all points of our trip definitely merits a shout out to all those involved!  Also, this part of Turkey is a must to experience!  The people are warm, the landscape is lush and green, and there is history to be found at every turn...

Now for the shout outs!  Firstly, Mustafa and his staff at the Malatya Palace Hotel in central Malatya - THANK YOU!  From our midnight airport shuttle into town to having our own personal guides to the tourist attractions, you can see that customer service is foremost for this hotel!  They are so overwhelmingly helpful that H thought they were too helpful - almost annoyingly so!  But, better that than the opposite I think...

Because of H's inability to plan in advance, we were slightly stuck on how to actually get to Mount Nemrut on the Sunday...luckily Mustafa and his family were breakfasting at the same time as us and he was able to hook us up with a semi-private tour up the mountain with a guide named Ramazan.  For only 100tl (or about $60CAD) we had accomodation, private car up the mountain, supper, breakfast, and a sunset/sunrise excursion up to the Nemrut site!  What a deal!!  A better bargain was meeting David and Cecilia (a married couple from North Carolina) who turned out to be quite a hoot!  Made our adventure even more enjoyable!

The second shout out is to Ramazan - our friendly, knowledgable and bilingual tour guide!  He took us up to Nemrut in his personal vehicle and provided a non-stop commentary for the two hour drive!  The roads up the mountain are twisty and narrow, but we all felt very safe thanks to his driving skills!  He says that since he makes the trip so often, his car knows the way - he doesn't even have to look at the road!  Thankfully, this time he was paying attention because as per the Turkish norm, there are no safety barriers preventing us from plummeting down the side of the mountain in the event of a mis-turn....

About two kilometres from the Nemrut site is a guest house called the Güneş Otel (Sunshine Hotel) - Husseyin and his wonderful staff made our stay here quite comfortable.  Now, this is the only accomodation on this side of the mountain and it is very quaint.  There is hot water, the beds are clean, and the toilets flush.  If you are expecting anything more, don't stay here!  But if you can rough it for the night, Husseyin's tavla ability and jokes make it worth while!  Also, witnessing the sunset and sunrise at the top of this strange and historical place is doubly worth your while!

After our sojourn at the top of the mountain, we came back down to Malatya and the Palace Hotel.  We napped for the afternoon (waking up at 4am does not agree with me...) and made plans to meet up with David and Cecila for dinner.  Before dinner, H and I went to explore Arslanstepe (or Lion's Hill) where some Italian archeologists have been excavating about 5000 years worth of civilizations.  This is an artificial mound as all the civilizations kind of built their towns on top of each other.  This area is also thought to be the heart of the Fertile Cresent (birthplace of civilization and therefore the state and democracy).  The security guard (Eren) spoke some broken English, but between us, we were able to hash out a good idea of the different civilizations and the finds of the archeologists.  The best finds are displayed at the Malatya Museum but with our travellers luck, the museum is closed on Mondays.  Eren made a phone call to another security guard who works there - and although he couldn't get us into the museum for a private tour, he was able to get us a tour of the outside gardens!  After that he recommended we sample a local specialty at the Malatya Mutfaği (Kitchen).  Again - the service was stellar!  We were given so much free food that by the end we were ready to bust!!!  It was wonderful!

So, to everyone who made this weekend as wonderful as it was - THANK YOU again!  And for anyone who wants to experience the warmth and culture of this area - GO!!! 

Here are some photos of our wonderful experience:

My room at the Malatya Palace




 

The long and windy road up to Mt. Nemrut

Sheep Crossing!!!

H, as we climbed on some velco-like rocks near the Güneş Otel

Amazing view from the velco rocks



Two way road?? Up to the peak of Nemrut



This is what Nemrut is all about - some emperor over 2000 years ago built himself a monument consisting of several giant sculptures of the Gods and a huge mound of stones (under which his tomb lies although no one has found it yet)

Going up for sunset

The heads at sunset

Tour guide extraordinaire!  Ramazan!

Me at sunrise...

Meanwhile, back in Malatya, apricots are drying



One of the lions from Arslantepe



The greenery of Malatya - there are over 4 million apricot trees in the area!




 



Kagit Kebap (Paper Kebab) a local specialty where meat (in this case lamb) is baked inside a paper covering = DELICIOUS!!

David had never had traditional Turkish Maras ice cream before - it's rather entertaining so I took a little video!