First Turkish campaign

b>Impressions of the hike in Turkey "Lycian Way" May 16-28, 2010.
Usually tourists (and not the instructor) write about their impressions after a hike, but in this case I decided to break tradition and insert my two cents in a laudatory ode to the Turkish land and domestic tourists. A very important moment - not just the first Turkish, but the first foreign campaign in general.

From the very beginning, the Turkish epic showed its frisky character. Events developed at lightning speed. At the beginning of March, I completely unplannedly find myself in Turkey, and in a rented car I make a reconnaissance raid around the outskirts of Antalya, Lycia and Caria. Impressed by the beauty of nature, upon returning to my homeland, I literally dig the ground and a few weeks later (record time) the hiking route around Turkey is ready. Apparently, the need for such a novelty had long been ripe, because despite my intimidation about the experimental nature of the hike, the group formed very quickly. Tickets have been purchased, cameras have been charged, we are flying to Antalya.

Exotics in barrels (concentrate).

If you look at the Taurus Mountains with the sober gaze of a robot analyzer, then there is nothing special about them. But we are not robots, and sobriety (read sated indifference) does not threaten us yet. So every day we found new opportunities to surprise ourselves. We swam in wetsuits through the canyon, made crazy night hikes, hunted for scorpions and ate watermelons in early May. In short, we had as much fun as we could.

Naturally, the rich nature of Turkey greatly helped us in this. Deep gorges, clear mountain rivers, an alluring azure sea and majestic peaks are all stuffed with flora and fauna that is unusual for us. You understand how much more interesting it is to see an animal not in a zoo or a TV show, but in its natural habitat.

We spent thousands of shots photographing (or trying to photograph) turtles, land crabs, chameleons, octopuses, scorpions, giant lizards, mantises and other creeping and jumping exotics. Even the local grasshoppers seemed a little “alien” to us. The huge bright flowers littering the trees, bushes and even cacti were no less delightful.

Place of feat.

In addition to the joy of surprise, we also learned the joy of overcoming. As befits tourists, we overcame kilometers, altitude, fear, heat and cold. Yes, just imagine, it was also cold (I won’t reveal all my cards, I hope someone on the hike will describe these unforgettable moments). All this struggle resulted in healthy sleep and excellent appetite. We simply heroically dealt with food supplies, which spurred us on to go even faster to the next settlement, where Turkish tomatoes, ice cream, cheese, yogurt and fruit were waiting for us.

Minutes of peace.

It is impossible to continuously “boil” with energy for 10 days in a row. Periods of unbridled physical activity were naturally replaced by relaxation and relaxation. Following the body's requirements, we practiced morning sunbathing, afternoon naps and soothing evening swims in the warm Mediterranean Sea.

Reverse adaptation.

It’s not enough to go on a hike, you also need to return from it correctly. We entered the mountains deliberately abruptly. But we returned to civilization slowly, very smoothly. First there are mountain “villages”, then - beach villages, and only at the very end - a big city. As a result, by the time we left, everyone wanted to go camping again, and at the same time, the idea of ​​going back to their homeland and back to work did not cause sharp rejection. Antalya (more precisely, its old historical part - Kaleici) turned out to be a wonderful place for adapting back to city life.

We.

You may have noticed that when describing the events of the Turkish campaign, I constantly used the pronoun “we”. I don’t know what it is, whether it’s our personal qualities, the bonding effect of a foreign land, or the initial presence of a common goal, but our group very quickly “came together” and rallied. We had not yet met the last participant (Oleg was flying to Turkey via Istanbul and met us right in Goynuk, at the start of the route), and everyone else not only knew his name, but also actively took him into account in planning the future (in Crimean hikes, tourists approach this stage on the second or third day).

What brought us even closer together was the heroic night crossing of the “Alps” - in which the group fully tasted the essence of the experimentality route and showed themselves at their best. After such team building, you can safely go to the mountains, explore, or even to hell with the horns.

Ratsukha.

The previous sections mainly convey my delight. But in addition to emotions, I also collected a number of rationalization ideas. First of all, about the need to lighten the backpack. While we were walking through the high mountain zone, his weight seemed acceptable, but as soon as we plunged into the coastal subtropics, his body rebelled. It refused to carry heavy loads in such a hot climate. Therefore, on my next Turkish trip, I plan to significantly reduce the amount of food I brought “from home” and buy more food in local stores. If it works out, I’ll replace my dear but unacceptably heavy soldier’s stew with freeze-dried meat.

The next stage of “unloading” the backpack is replacing the tent with a poncho tent with a mosquito net. But I’ll take a down sleeping bag - it weighs the same, but if necessary, it warms much better (this time I had a synthetic cocoon weighing 1 kg). One pair of shoes (light sneakers) was quite enough. There's no point in bringing sandals too. In general, in the group there was some “overkill” in terms of sunscreens (you could take one bottle for everyone). I don’t consider the abundance of photographic equipment among tourists to be an “advantage,” because this is a passion that I respect and largely share.

In addition to reviewing the equipment, it would be necessary to learn Turkish (I remember with particular fondness a shop in Adrasan, where the seller had an English-Turkish dictionary). Some glimpses of knowledge are already wandering in my head - I understand when they tell me the price in Turkish. But I would like not only to bargain, but also to communicate with the local population and establish connections. I have already begun to slowly “enter” the history (thanks to Gumilyov and LP) and the traditions of this country, which previously was something very vague for me (the country you will end up in if you are carried away by the current into the Black Sea).

Postscripts.

As I already said, in this article I deliberately use general phrases to allow other participants to talk about our adventures. True, during the 10 days of the campaign (or however many there were), so many events happened that it is unlikely that anyone will be able to tell about them all. Therefore, I think no one will be offended if I give illustrations to some fragments of the Turkish campaign in my blog.

Some more photos can be found in our VKontakte group.

Kirill Yasko. June 2, 2010.