The September ride on the EÇW came and went, and was as fabulous as ever. Ercihan took us by new tracks, paralleling the 'official' route as written up in the guidebook—Evliya Çelebi Ways looks to be a better name than the singular Way. Varying the route when repeating it annually on horseback adds interest for the regulars, though walkers with backpacks would doubtless prefer to keep to the known route; few, I am sure, would want to take detours for the sake of it.
At last, at last, after several months patiently waiting, I am delighted to report that the metropolitan municipality of Bursa is now putting up signposts along the Way. This year we are concentrating on the section of the route in Bursa province, and will hope to continue in Kütahya etc next year. The signposts are not intended to be as frequent as the waypoints that can be downloaded from the www.evliyacelebiway.com website, but indicate to the local people that the route is a reality, and because they are often located where the Way meets main roads, might inspire drivers to leave their cars for a while. The route will not be marked with the red and white flashes on trails such as the Lycian Way, which was established before the era of GPS. Instead, the guidebook, GPS waypoints, and signposts that indicate the distances between villages should be adequate to enable everyone to follow the route.
Once the signposts are up, we intend to visit the villages to try to arrange homestays, so that tents will not have to be carried, and can then produce some programmes for walking trips on the Way which tourism agencies will be able to sell. We will also be going to the big tourism fair in Holland in February 2013. Soon, we hope, some money should begin coming into the villages as travellers stay the night and eat there. Bursa municipality is putting a lot of effort into making the Way well-known to the city folk too. The municipality will run the Turkish website, www.evliyacelebiyolu.com.
Showing posts with label Akhal-Teke Horse Center. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Akhal-Teke Horse Center. Show all posts
Saturday, 17 November 2012
Saturday, 15 September 2012
Riding the Way again
Tomorrow, 16 September, the fourth Great Anatolian Ride on the Evliya Çelebi Way will set out from Hersek köyü on the southern shore of the Gulf of İzmit, and will end in Evliya's ancestral city of Kütahya. Ercihan will take the lead as ever, with Susan close at hand. This is the third Ride organised for equitourists, who will be partnered by Ercihan's fabulous horses from his Akhalteke Horse Center in Avanos.
Come and join us soon. Remember, the Way is for walkers and bikers too, the waypoints can be downloaded from the website, and the guidebook is available in English and Turkish. Check out www.evliyacelebiway.com for details.
Come and join us soon. Remember, the Way is for walkers and bikers too, the waypoints can be downloaded from the website, and the guidebook is available in English and Turkish. Check out www.evliyacelebiway.com for details.
Friday, 20 January 2012
Evliya Çelebi Way in the Press again: Time magazine, History Today and the International Herald Tribune
Here are details of three recent articles on Evliya Çelebi and the Way. Unfortunately the first two cannot be read in full directly from the sites where published, but they will surely show up somewhere on google eventually. Or you may find hard copy of the magazines at the dentist... The third is immediately accessible.
'Back in the Saddle: The Spirit of Turkey's Greatest Adventurer Rides Again', an article by Pelin Turgut on riding the Evliya Çelebi Way, in Time magazine 23 January 2012, written when she accompanied a group of equitourists on the Great Anatolian Ride in September 2011:
'Evliya Çelebi: Traveller's Tales', an article by Caroline Finkel giving background information about Evliya's life and work, in the British popular history magazine, History Today, November 2011:
'Doing it the Evliya Çelebi Way', an article by Andrew Finkel on the Evliya Çelebi Way, in International Herald Tribune Latitude blog, 13 December 2011:
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
Equitourists ride again!
The Great Anatolia Ride 2011, along the first section of the Evliya Çelebi Way from Hersek village to Kütahya, is over. We set out on 2 September, and reached Kütahya on 13 September, with time to sightsee (and shop) in İznik and Bursa en route. Our group was led by Ercihan Dilari (Akhal-Teke Horse Riding Center) on Anadolu as ever, with Susan Wirth on Elis. I was there as historian-in-residence, on Spirit, generously lent by Mehmet who with Serdar looked after us and our wonderful horses.
We had the pleasure of the company of Australian equitourists: Sue K on Zenobia, Margaret Mooney (of Horse Safety Australia) on Sahra, and Rhonda P on Kelebek; and Americans Rich Klauber (master farrier extraordinaire) and Susan Pieper on Leyla and Gül.
The weather was fine all the way!
I was riding the route for the second time, but it was every bit as exciting as the first—the exploratory ride in 2009 that established the Evliya Çelebi Way. We rode rivers and forests, plains and mountains, and marvelled at gorgeous landscapes and dramatic views; we camped in comfort in isolated villages, where we met local people and shared their daily lives; we stopped often for tea, and delighted any children who happened to be there with 'pony rides' around the square; we visited cities and sights that Evliya saw and wrote of, and compared his impressions with ours; we ate utterly scrumptious food; and we left our hoofprints on forest roads, Ottoman paved roads, goatpaths and across open country.
Amazing, even to Australians and Americans, lands where there is plenty of space, is that you can ride all the way from the Gulf of Izmit to Kütahya without having to negotiate a gate or a fence. That is one of the great joys of riding in Turkey, unimaginable elsewhere.
The final highlight was the Balıklı Hamam in Kütahya, where Evliya bathed—on the men's side of course—where we were cleansed of the accumulated grime of our days on the road by the skilful Ayşe Hanım. This, too, we unreservedly recommend, as a fitting conclusion to a journey that began with eager anticipation and ended with a deep glow of contentment.
Such a wonderful trip, in such excellent company. Nostalgia sets in immediately, and next time is too long away...
We have fabulous pics, lots and lots of them, and we will post some once they are sorted—watch this space.
Other news on the Evliya Çelebi Way... the guidebook is at last out. You will soon be able to buy it on our dedicated website. And once you have the book in hand, you can ride, walk or bike the Way. The guidebook is currently being translated into Turkish.
No excuse to stay at home—the Evliya Çelebi Way is open every day of the year, and it is free!
Caroline Finkel
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
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?
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:
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.
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