Another four hour bus ride, this time with slightly more varied countryside. I feel queasy if I read on a bus, so instead listened to a great series of podcasts about the history of Istanbul to pass the time.
Egirdir is at the heart of Anatolia’s Lakeland and sits on the shore of Lake Egirdir, Turkey’s second largest lake. A causeway separates the mainland market town from Yesilada, a tiny island in the lake where there are pensions, restaurants and a cluster of houses surrounded by small pebbly beaches. We are staying at the Fulya Pension which is family run and absolutely charming with a great lake view … which will be even better if the rain stops!
We went for a wander to stretch our legs and got some lovely moody photos of the lake …
… then wandered into the town where we saw the crumbling remains of the castle originally built by King Croesus (as rich as …).
There was also Egirdir’s claim to fame, the world’s only walk through minaret …
… and a magnificent stalactite doorway brought from a ruined caravansarai.
It seems lately as though I can’t manage a trip without either a technical hitch with my camera or losing or breaking my specs or sunnies. This time I’ve got a bit of grit in the camera so the lens won’t focus … fortunately my phone has come to the rescue and we’ll see how we get on.
We went next door to Charly’s Pension for a wonderful home cooked dinner with soup, mezze and main courses which left us fit to pop!
Waking it was overcast, but not actually raining … yet. Breakfast was a treat, another buffet, but with homemade yogurt and lots of fresh fruit as well.
We took a chance on the weather – whether to or whether not – and took a taxi for an hour to the ruins of Sagalassos. We were so lucky, it started cloudy but then the sun came out, we only saw a handful of other people and the ruins were remarkably preserved with lots of information.
So Sagalassos was the most important city of ancient Pisidia, which flourished in the C1st during the reign of Augustus, the first Roman Emperor. Later, under Emperor Hadrian it became the centre of the Imperial Cult and was expanded. In the C4-5th it became Christian, then the decline set in with a couple of earthquakes and a plague. Nonetheless, people still lived here till the C13th when they relocated to the valley.
Talk about location, location, this place certainly had a view!
here is the lower agora or gathering area …
… and this is the higher agora with monumental arches dedicated to Emperors one end …
… and an amazing working fountain the other!
There was a monument with a detailed frieze …
… a market area …
… a library with mosaic floor …
… and various bits lying around between the wild flowers.
Finally we reached the theatre set higher on the hill with a view back to the city.
It was surprisingly well preserved, although I hadn’t realised quite how precarious my position was when I slipped behind a barrier to get a better shot!
We passed another snow capped mountain on the way back and fabulous poppies, but then the sun had disappeared again, so we still don’t have a photo of the lake in sunshine … maybe tomorrow!
We awoke to sunshine and took some great shots of the town and lake from the pension roof …
… including the island of Yesilada at the end of the causeway, our destination for today.
Today was market day and the town was heaving with vehicles and people. Stalls were crammed into every spare space selling everything from fresh produce to clothes and household items, ironmongery and tools and even chickens … hopefully for laying rather than straight for the pot!
Chris noticed cheese being sold direct from a goatskin bag …
… vine leaves for stuffing …
… a soft fruit with several kernels we had not seen before this trip called a loquat or Japanese plum …
… and some brown paste which had a poppy on the tub and said hashas on the side which tasted nutty, a bit like peanut butter …
We continued over the causeway, enjoying the sunshine and taking photos.
The sky darkened, but the rain held off, and later the lake turned turquoise as the lightening flashed.
Walking back we passed some very pink shops selling products in very pink packaging! They all smell of roses as Egirdir is in the province of Isparta, known as the rose garden of Turkey, with over half of the world’s rose oil being produced here. If we had visited a week later we could have got up before dawn and helped pick rose petals on a farm and even gone to the annual Rose Festival!
Tonight for dinner we had imam bayildi, meaning the imam fainted, cooked to a family recipe where the aubergine is stuffed and simmered in olive oil. All the food here has been wonderful, and everything is homemade.
Here are Alice and Majd who are working here through Workaway, a company that puts hosts and volunteers together. They help out in the pension for 5hrs a day and in return get food and accommodation and a chance to enjoy the area in their spare time. We’ve enjoyed chatting to them and Majd has introduced a Chris to Instagram so hopefully he’ll master the hashtag soon!
As I said, breakfast is fabulous. Here’s a pic of the inside of the lomquat and also of the poppy seed paste, on bread with some pomegranate molasses drizzled on top … yum!
Anyway time to go … thank you to Ibrahim and all the family … got a bus to catch!
Off Travelling Together 