Last week I was rambling on about wandering over the mountains and getting overly excited about a huge stick of ‘asparagus‘ that I’d discovered. In my sweaty, fevered state I’d convinced myself that it must be the biggest tongue orchid anyone had ever seen and vowed to return this week to check it out once [...]
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J and I had a glorious ramble up and down the mountain that constitutes our ‘back garden’ today. We’ve learned (after 15 years) that the local distribution range of the Armenian Tulip is much larger than the two little pockets we’d previously found. We’ve added yet another species of orchid to Okçular’s tally – it [...]
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It’s at least twelve years since J and I were last in Sagalassos – I remember it well, I was cold and wet and miserable! 1600 metres above sea level up Akdağ in the Toros range it is a city of the clouds. At least it was until bubonic plague, a couple of earthquakes, problems [...]
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Look at this photograph – it was taken just two weeks ago. The track outside our garden was flowing like a river from the torrential rain and hailstones were piled up in various corners. The sky was drab and gray – we were drab and gray and spent much of our time camped around 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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. . 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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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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The Village Institutes - Köy Enstitütleri In the book ‘Okçular Village – a Guide‘ there is a section where our Yaşlı Çınarlar, literally ‘Old Plane Trees’ (a local term of affection for our more senior villagers), tell their stories. As one, Şevket Akgün, related his tale he recalled the following: ‘The local education manager then was [...]
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The Praying Mantis by Ogden Nash ‘From whence arrived the praying mantis? From outer space, or lost Atlantis? Glimpse the grim, green metal mug that masks the pseudo-saintly bug. Orthopterous, carnivorous, And faintly whisper, Lord deliver us!’ ‘Martian’ from BBC’s 1958 Quatermass and the Pit Sphodromantis viridis African or Bush Mantis (the Star and [...]
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