When I was a kid I was fascinated by wildlife, it’s a passion that has lived on and I’m as curious today as I ever was. As was normal back then I collected anything and everything – from eggs to skulls (including a human one from the grave yard until it was discovered and I [...]
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Whilst J and I were on our Magical Mystical Tour seeking out those beautiful and evocative painted mosques for convenience we based ourselves in the small town of Pamukkale. It’s a good few years since we visited the site of the travertines and, although mildly amazed, we spent the bulk of our time exploring the extensive [...]
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Our last port of call on this ‘mystical’ tour is to the Çarşı or Marketplace Mosque in the village of Yazır Köyü some 14 kms SE of Acıpayam just a few kilometres off the D585 Denizli-Antalya road. There are family links through marriage between Acıpayam and my own village of Okçular. The town lies more [...]
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This post was going to be the one that brought the ‘Mystical Tour’ to a fitting climax, but then a beautiful Spring day, the gorgeous Kösten Dağ, the mountain behind our house, and my dear J with two sets of walking boots in her hands conspired to bring about what, back in the 50′s, the [...]
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Boğaziçi and Kocaköy Finding the village of Boğaziçi from our base in Pamukkale meant a drive of about a hundred kms – first south to Denizli and then east to the junction of the D595 Uşak Yolu. I find this a rather sad stretch of road having covered it several times; rather like driving through [...]
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Akköy and Belenardıç This is supposed to be a ‘mystical’ tour, seeking out village mosques that have their foundations firmly rooted in the tenets and traditions of Sufism. Sufism has had a chequered history of misunderstanding and persecution but its influences on music, poetry, painting, calligraphy and much else have been profound. In making this [...]
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Part 1 – Kızılcabölük Magical? Absolutely! Mystical? Sort of, depending on your ‘inner self’. It was also to prove to be so much more with people adding a delightful and surprising element to the whole trip. Our aim was to visit some of the old, painted village mosques around Denizli that have their foundations firmly [...]
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. . that what you say I cannot hear! A variation on ‘Deeds speak louder than words!’ Here in Turkey I am lucky enough to live in a country that is so enthusiastic about protecting its natural environment that it has probably signed up to more treaties, conventions, agreements and memorandums of understanding than any [...]
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Not something I normally put up on this blog but, with the murderous situations created by Western aggression in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, Libya and now for our neighbours in Syria, this piece by Bill Purkayastha author of ‘Bill the Butcher‘ blog has a special resonance and needs to be out there. In my opinion, Bill [...]
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Brrrr! By Jove, it’s bloody cold in our corner of SW Turkey. The wind is whistling in from ‘Siberia’ and the clear skies mean there was quite a frost last night up our little valley; it is not a day to be out and about. Generally, our winters here are mild and gentle which manifests [...]
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