Anne & Monica
Rosemary & Sa'hra
Patricia
Support for Evliya Rides
Iznik, Sept 2010Wednesday, 6 October 2010
Good times on the Evliya Ride 2010 with Akhal-Teke Horse Center
Anne & Monica Rosemary & Sa'hra Patricia Support for Evliya Rides Iznik, Sept 2010
Trekking in Turkey
Here are links to a rich banquet of photos from the Evliya Celebi Way by Kate Clow, who will be publishing the Guidebook (by Caroline Finkel and Donna Landry) in 2011:
Around Usak
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=230040&id=558214984&l=15e2b3788e
And here are some from her prospecting in the Southeast for a possible future Evliya Way 2:
Around Gazientep
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=230083&id=558214984&l=aa077b48fc
Around Urfa
http://facebook.com/album.php?aid=230209&id=558214984&l=855bf7b30d
Kate's website for all your trekking queries:
http://www.trekkinginturkey.com/
Around Usak
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=230040&id=558214984&l=15e2b3788e
And here are some from her prospecting in the Southeast for a possible future Evliya Way 2:
Around Gazientep
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=230083&id=558214984&l=aa077b48fc
Around Urfa
http://facebook.com/album.php?aid=230209&id=558214984&l=855bf7b30d
Kate's website for all your trekking queries:
http://www.trekkinginturkey.com/
Thursday, 23 September 2010
Evliya Celebi Rides, September 2010
Following the route pioneered by Ercihan Dilari and his mare Anadolu during the first Evliya Celebi expedition in 2009, the first commercial Evliya Celebi Ride set out from Hersek on 31st August 2010. Baking heat one day, torrential rain the next: extremes of weather settled after two days into dazzling Turkish sun by day and crisp nights around the campfire.
The destination was Evliya's paternal ancestral town of Kutahya, the midway point as well as ultimate goal of the original expedition last autumn. In 2010, twelve riders came from Turkey, New York, London, California, Scotland, New Zealand, and Canada (British Columbia and Alberta). Four riders had been participants in the original expedition, as had six of the thirteen horses. Some riders joined as a result of the efforts of Bayard Fox of Equitours.com, whose enthusiasm for the experimental and adventurous is legendary.
The Evliya Celebi Way wends along the Yalak River, through the orchards, vineyards, and city walls of Iznik, hill villages perched above the Yenisehir plain, Bursa with its precious monuments dating from its years as an Ottoman capital, the villages of Uludag giving way to those in the Domanic mountains, and finally the grassy plains leading to Kutahya, gateway to ancient Phrygia, nestling on a mountainside. The first 2010 Ride set out during Ramazan, in the heat of early September, and finished after the Seker Bayrami with rahvan (ridden pacing) races at the Atli Spor Kulubu (Horse Sports Club) in Kutahya.
Now a second 2010 Evliya Ride is following Ercihan back from Kutahya to Hersek. What will have happened to George, the beautiful kangal who attached himself to the first Ride at Ortakoy and followed us faithfully all the way to Kutahya? How is Panoramic faring, the unlucky though lovely one, who suffered a kick on the second day and had to be left behind to recuperate, courtesy of the Cilek stud at Sukraniye?
Rules of the road
Pursuing the strange and surprising along roads that never come to an end: this is the dream of committed travellers everywhere. Travelling on horseback, the day properly begins when one mounts up. Nothing is the same as it was for a mere pedestrian.
The view from between one's horse's ears changes things profoundly. The route maps studied at the campsite now unfold topographically in three and even four dimensions, the fourth consisting of a horse's sense of the appropriate pace for tackling each piece of terrain. The going is everything. Surfaces take on new meaning.
The red earth of forest tracks may translate into the desire to fly along twisting paths, or pick one's way daintily, acquiring galoshes of holding, clinging mud with every stride. Some mountainous ascents invite scrambles up ancient patikas, roughly paved stone paths unmoved by generations of farmers, shepherds, traders, and their working animals. Other ascents command more respect from the four-footed kind. They gather themselves, powerful hindquarters revving, to walk lightly uphill without wasting energy.
How often did Anadolu say to Ercihan, as clearly as horse can speak to human, THIS is the way? When he deferred to her, she was always right. Sometimes humans in the landscape can help with directions as well. Two tractor-borne farmers heading for Bahcekaya materialized seconds after we had not taken the sharp left turn uphill that would have been the most direct route. Such occurences happen so often in Turkey it is hard not to become complacent. The rule of the road, however, is that one must never take such magic for granted.
The view from between one's horse's ears changes things profoundly. The route maps studied at the campsite now unfold topographically in three and even four dimensions, the fourth consisting of a horse's sense of the appropriate pace for tackling each piece of terrain. The going is everything. Surfaces take on new meaning.
The red earth of forest tracks may translate into the desire to fly along twisting paths, or pick one's way daintily, acquiring galoshes of holding, clinging mud with every stride. Some mountainous ascents invite scrambles up ancient patikas, roughly paved stone paths unmoved by generations of farmers, shepherds, traders, and their working animals. Other ascents command more respect from the four-footed kind. They gather themselves, powerful hindquarters revving, to walk lightly uphill without wasting energy.
How often did Anadolu say to Ercihan, as clearly as horse can speak to human, THIS is the way? When he deferred to her, she was always right. Sometimes humans in the landscape can help with directions as well. Two tractor-borne farmers heading for Bahcekaya materialized seconds after we had not taken the sharp left turn uphill that would have been the most direct route. Such occurences happen so often in Turkey it is hard not to become complacent. The rule of the road, however, is that one must never take such magic for granted.
Tuesday, 13 July 2010
Long time no post. We are working away on various fronts: preparing for the first riding tours to ride the Evliya Çelebi Way 1 this September; arranging a press trip on the route, also in September; raising sponsorship for and organising the EÇRide 2, next spring, between Gaziantep, Aleppo and Urfa; attending various meetings and conferences where Evliya is the topic; and much more. Donna and Caroline, and Kate (Clow: www.lycianway.com) and Caroline, recently walked early sections of the EÇW1, thus beginning the task of establishing a walking and biking route alongside the riding route—Kate's Upcountry (Turkey) Ltd will publish the guidebook to the EÇW1 for riders, walkers and bikers, adding a new long distance cultural route to the growing number in Turkey.
Above is a photo of the tomb of the holy man Tatlı Dede, just W of the village of Şehitler, between Bursa and İnegöl. Visiting the tombs of holy men was one of Evliya's main interests; we are equally curious about these reminders of life in past times that still hold meaning for many people today.
Friday, 16 April 2010
The Evliya Çelebi Way advertised
A piece by Caroline in the Guardian newspaper's first ever Turkey travel supplement, 10 April 2010:
Thursday, 8 April 2010
Flas Haberler
Flaş Haberler:
UNESCO 2011 yılını "Evliya Çelebi Yılı" ilan etti!
Evliya Çelebi (1611–1683/84) doğumunun 400. yıl dönümünde yaşamı ve eserleriyle birlikte anılıyor. Bir Evliya Çelebi Yolu -ve aynı zamanda da sürekli kullanılabilecek bir turizm yolu- saptamak üzere yapılmış olan 2009 Evliya Çelebi Gezisinin bu karara katkı sağlamış olmasını umuyoruz.
Şimdi siz de Ercihan ve onun şahane atları ile Eylül 2010'da Evliya Çelebi Yolu'nun bir kısmında seyahat etmek için yer ayırtabilirsiniz! Detaylı bilgi için www.akhal-tekehorsecenter.com adresini ziyaret ediniz, 'Great Anatolian Ride'ı tıklayınız, ve daha sonra aynı sayfanın alt bölümünde yer alan 'itinerary' yi (güzergâh) tıklayınız.
British Council, yürütmekte olduğu Paylaştığımız Avrupa programının temel bir figürü olan Evliya konusunda, Young Foundation'na bağlı Maslaha'nın ortaklığında (www.youngfoundation.org; www.maslaha.org) bizimle çalışmayı tercih etti www.oursharedeurope.org.
Şimdi 2011 yılında başlatacağımız başka bir Evliya Çelebi Yolu Gezisi için sponsorlar arıyoruz. Gaziantep'den başlayıp güneyde Halep'e kadar devam edecek olan ve dönüşte Urfa üzerinden geçerek Gaziantep'te son bulacak olan bu gezi, "Evliya Çelebi Türkiye-Suriye Dostluk Gezisi" olarak adlandırılacak ve iki ülke arasındaki sıcak ilişkilere ve sınırların açılmasına işaret eden önemli bir etkinlik olacaktır.
Evliya Çelebi Gezi Yolu Grubu olarak 2011 yılında Evliya'yı anarken gerçekleştirmeyi düşündüğümüz çalışmalar şunlardır:
- biniciler, dağ bisikleti sürücüleri ve yaya gezen seyyahlar için 2009 yılındaki gezi rotasını gösteren bir seyahat rehberi: İngilizce olarak Trekking Book Publisher tarafından basılacaktır. (www.trekkingin turkey.com)
- geziye katılan farklı disiplinlere mensup araştırmacılar (Mac, Caroline, Leyla, Andy ve Dona) tarafından hazırlanmış olan ve bir araştırma metodu olarak yeniden sahnelemenin bize neler öğretebileceğini araştıran,
Kent Üniversitesi'den Donna Landry ve Exeter Üniversitesi'nden Gerald MacLean'in editörlüklerinde hazırlanmakta olan Evliya Çelebi Yolu: Seyahat ve Yeniden Sahneleme adlı resimli kitap.
- 2009 seyahatine dair 26 dakikalık bir film
- geçmişte ve günümüzde günlük hayatlarında atlarla yaşamış ve çalışmış insanların hikâyelerini derleyen, Batı Anadolu'ya has at kültürü üzerine resimli bir sözlü tarih çalışması: bu kitap Sabancı Üniversitesi'nden Leyla Neyzi'nin editörlüğünde hazırlanacaktır.
Şu forumları takip ediniz:
- Donna 2009 yılındaki gezimiz üzerine Uzun Mesafeli Sürücüler Derneği'ne bir rapor hazırladı (www.kent.ac.uk/english/evliya/index.html).
- 2011 Gezisi hakkında Caroline Finkel ile yapılan bir mülakat Hürriyet Gazetesinde yayınlandı (www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=on-the-footsteps-of-evliya-celebi--2010-01-28).
- Ercihan ve Susan 2009 turumuzu takiben İznik'in kuzeyinden Kütahya'ya kadar uzanan 10 günlük bir binicilik turu düzenlediler. Böylelikle ilk turist kafilesi Evliya Çelebi Yolu'nu 2010 Eylül ayında kat edebileceklerdir. Detaylar için 'Great Anatolian Ride'ı ziyaret edip aynı sayfanın alt bölümünde yer alan 'itinerary' yi (güzergâh) tıklayınız www.akhal-tekehorsecenter.com.
- Donna ve Mac Türkiye Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı'nın Londra Ofisi ve Redmint İletişim ile birlikte çalışarak Evliya turlarını tanıtmaya ve medyanın ilgisini bu konuya çekmeye çalışıyorlar.
- Caroline, Donna ve Tricia'nın Cornucopia dergisi için hazırlamış oldukları gezi günlüğü derginin gelecek sayısında yayımlanacak.
- Caroline, Royal Asiatic Society Newsletter'in gelecek sayısı için gezi hakkında bir yazı hazırlıyor.
Caroline, Türkiye'den gelen maddi desteği artırabilmek için çalışmalar yürütmektedir ve bu amaçla Gaziantep'i ziyaret etmiştir. Bütçe gereksinimlerini karşılanabildiği taktirde 2011 yılında yapılacak gezinin anısına bir film ve bir gezi rehberi hazırlanacak ve ayrıca bir turizm rotası ortaya konulacaktır.
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
News flashes!
UNESCO has announced that 2011 will be 'The Year of Evliya Celebi'! Our man lived from 1611-c.1683, and we reiterated in many press interviews during our Evliya Celebi Ride that 2011 should be his year. We hope we might have contributed to the decision to honour Evliya with a 400th anniversary.
You too can now book to ride part of the Evliya Celebi Way with Ercihan and his fantastic horses in September 2010. Go to http://www.akhal-tekehorsecenter.com/, then click on Great Anatolian Ride, and then click again at the bottom of that page for itinerary details.
The British Council have chosen to work with us on Evliya as a key figure for their Our Shared Europe programme, http://www.oursharedeurope.org/, in collaboration with Maslaha and the Young Foundation, http://www.maslaha.org/ and http://www.youngfoundation.org/.
Sponsorship is now being sought for the second Evliya Celebi Ride, a 2011 'Turkey-Syria Friendship Ride' from Gazientep to Aleppo and the environs of Urfa. The expedition will produce a Guidebook to the route and a documentary film as well as scholarly and pedagogical writing.
Further works in progress by the Evliya Celebi Ride and Way group to commemorate Evliya in 2011 and after:
* a guidebook to the 2009 route of our Ride for riders, walkers, and cyclists, the English version to be published by Upcountry (Turkey) Ltd (http://www.trekkinginturkey.com/)
* an illustrated academic book, Evliya Celebi's Way: Expedition and Re-enactment, authored by Mac, Caroline, Leyla, Andy, and Donna, on what re-enactment as a mode of research can teach us from different disciplinary perspectives, edited by Donna Landry, University of Kent, and Gerald MacLean, University of Exeter, UK
* a documentary film about the 2009 expedition and Evliya, introducing the first Evliya Celebi Way trekking route
* an illustrated oral history of horsefolk of Western Anatolia, recording the stories of people who have lived and worked with horses in their everyday lives in the past and continue to do so in the present, edited by Leyla Neyzi, Sabanci University, Istanbul
* obtaining permissions and sponsorship for the 2011 'Turkey-Syria Friendship Ride' to mark the renewal of warm relations between these two countries and the open borders familiar to Ottoman travellers
* a documentary film based on the 2011 Ride
Watch These Spaces!
* a report by Donna to the Long Riders' Guild is online at www.kent.ac.uk/english/evliya/index.html
* an interview with Caroline about plans for the 2011 Ride has appeared in Hurriyet Daily News: www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=on-the-footsteps-of-evliya-celebi--2010-01-28
* Ercihan and Susan have prepared a riding tour on a 10-day stretch of our 2009 route, from north of Iznik to Kutahya; the first tourists may ride the Evliya Way in September 2010; see http://www.akhal-tekehorsecenter.com/ for 'Great Anatolian Ride'
* Mac and Donna are working with the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, London Office, and Redmint Communications on promoting future Evliya Rides and generating media interest
* Caroline, Tricia, and Donna have written a Diary of the 2009 Ride to appear in a forthcoming issue of Cornucopia magazine
* Caroline is preparing a piece on the Ride for the Royal Asiatic Society, to appear in the next issue
* Caroline is endeavouring to raise further Turkish sponsorship, and has already visited Gazientep for this purpose; one-third of the budget for the 2011 Ride has now been promised; we welcome futher contributions from sponsors.
You too can now book to ride part of the Evliya Celebi Way with Ercihan and his fantastic horses in September 2010. Go to http://www.akhal-tekehorsecenter.com/, then click on Great Anatolian Ride, and then click again at the bottom of that page for itinerary details.
The British Council have chosen to work with us on Evliya as a key figure for their Our Shared Europe programme, http://www.oursharedeurope.org/, in collaboration with Maslaha and the Young Foundation, http://www.maslaha.org/ and http://www.youngfoundation.org/.
Sponsorship is now being sought for the second Evliya Celebi Ride, a 2011 'Turkey-Syria Friendship Ride' from Gazientep to Aleppo and the environs of Urfa. The expedition will produce a Guidebook to the route and a documentary film as well as scholarly and pedagogical writing.
Further works in progress by the Evliya Celebi Ride and Way group to commemorate Evliya in 2011 and after:
* a guidebook to the 2009 route of our Ride for riders, walkers, and cyclists, the English version to be published by Upcountry (Turkey) Ltd (http://www.trekkinginturkey.com/)
* an illustrated academic book, Evliya Celebi's Way: Expedition and Re-enactment, authored by Mac, Caroline, Leyla, Andy, and Donna, on what re-enactment as a mode of research can teach us from different disciplinary perspectives, edited by Donna Landry, University of Kent, and Gerald MacLean, University of Exeter, UK
* a documentary film about the 2009 expedition and Evliya, introducing the first Evliya Celebi Way trekking route
* an illustrated oral history of horsefolk of Western Anatolia, recording the stories of people who have lived and worked with horses in their everyday lives in the past and continue to do so in the present, edited by Leyla Neyzi, Sabanci University, Istanbul
* obtaining permissions and sponsorship for the 2011 'Turkey-Syria Friendship Ride' to mark the renewal of warm relations between these two countries and the open borders familiar to Ottoman travellers
* a documentary film based on the 2011 Ride
Watch These Spaces!
* a report by Donna to the Long Riders' Guild is online at www.kent.ac.uk/english/evliya/index.html
* an interview with Caroline about plans for the 2011 Ride has appeared in Hurriyet Daily News: www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=on-the-footsteps-of-evliya-celebi--2010-01-28
* Ercihan and Susan have prepared a riding tour on a 10-day stretch of our 2009 route, from north of Iznik to Kutahya; the first tourists may ride the Evliya Way in September 2010; see http://www.akhal-tekehorsecenter.com/ for 'Great Anatolian Ride'
* Mac and Donna are working with the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, London Office, and Redmint Communications on promoting future Evliya Rides and generating media interest
* Caroline, Tricia, and Donna have written a Diary of the 2009 Ride to appear in a forthcoming issue of Cornucopia magazine
* Caroline is preparing a piece on the Ride for the Royal Asiatic Society, to appear in the next issue
* Caroline is endeavouring to raise further Turkish sponsorship, and has already visited Gazientep for this purpose; one-third of the budget for the 2011 Ride has now been promised; we welcome futher contributions from sponsors.
Friday, 15 January 2010
koyun kaçırmak: Not the Evliya Celebi Way . . .
no wonder some villagers thought we were sheep rustlers as we passed through on the EÇR. this picture, which accompanied an article in a Turkish daily on an actual attempt, shows what can be done:
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