A Sunday Drive to Yumurtalik
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by Fred Moore - January 2006
It's Sunday morning and it's eleven o'clock; Carol and I have decided to take
a drive. We've not planned anything so we're simply off to lunch, the sun is
well established overhead and the temperature is in the seventies. This is January
but it feels like spring; we want to get out and enjoy the day. This time of
year we should be enduring wet weather but we've had little. I fear we will
be lacking water come summer but the mountains have taken on plenty of snow
so I pray that will make up for our lack of rainfall.
Carol and I collect our things, check the house and get to the car. We still
haven't settled on a lunch place really but it is far too nice a day not to
take a drive. Half way to the gate Carol motions to the side of the street and
says, "there's Pat and Laura"; these are new folks who have come to
Turkey from Minot, ND in snow country, not far from the Canadian border of the
USA.
We immediately decide to engage them in an invitation so I pull into the parking
lot here beside us and shout across the street we've just left, they don't hear
us to begin with as traffic continues between them and us. I tap the horn and
shout once more and there, we have their attention. We suggest we're going out
to lunch and I tell them we're going to the bus/truck stop out on the autobahn.
They readily accept our invitation and make their way across the street to our
car.
I get out of the car and make ready for the three of them; I didn't mention
they have a small child as well. Their 19 month old daughter is Keira, she's
in a backpack-like harness and we put that as well as our coats in the trunk
to make space. We drive to the gate and present our identification to the guards
and leave the base.
I drive out through the alley and turn to the right toward Adana to get the
new entry road to the autobahn. Our guests have NOT been out into the country
yet so this will be their maiden adventure. We had just taken them into Old
Adana yesterday, so they have been down town. We're all making comments about
the beautiful snow-capped mountains; they make a breath-taking backdrop for
today's drive. This entry road makes a number of near right angle turns making
the drive something one must pay attention to, so while the others enjoy the
sights, I mind my driving.
Carol is the tour guide as we turn first this way than that, she points out
those things of interest that can be seen from this highway. The atmosphere
around us is unusually clean and nears crystal clear. It isn't long before we
make the former tollgates (tolls are no longer collected in the city of Adana,
the city is trying to encourage drives to use the autobahn to reduce traffic
congestion in the city) and make our entry onto the autobahn. I'm a little surprised
as I move out into the traffic flow; there are many cars out here today. The
traffic is certainly not heavy by our standards but far heavier than usual here.
As we are consumed by the landscape around us I can't help but notice how beautiful
and green every field appears. My thoughts no more than pass from my mind when
our guests begin commenting on the beauty of the county surrounding us. We find
it very refreshing to be validated in our opinion of this countryside. Pat comments
that the rolling hills look like a golf course. We're cruising now at 65 MPH
and the time slips by effortlessly, before we realize we've gone the distance;
the truck stop is just ahead. I step on the brake to terminate cruise and begin
my deceleration into the right lane for our departure from the autobahn. As
I ease through the parking lot I point out the castle perched atop the hill
just across the autobahn east and south of our location. I explain to our friends
that the castle is Crusader and called, Snake Castle. This is one of the features
close enough to the base that all who come here, at least hear of it, whether
they venture out to it or not. Truth is there are many assigned personnel who
DO NOT venture out, such a shame.
I park the car and we make our way around the building to he main entrance;
the side door is closed off this time of year, probably to maintain what little
heat there is in the facility. We take Pat and Laura directly to the serving
line and introduce them to the dishes that are available today. Carol primarily
does the introductions of the hot line and the staff waves us to the cooler
for a view of the meat dishes that can be prepared if you wish. As I've discussed
it in the past, this is cafeteria style and the food is similarly available.
I make my selections known to the wait staff and move off to a table in the
family section of the dining room. Carol continues the exchange with the wait
staff and our friends as they order their lunch.
On the way to the table I've chosen; Laura collects a high chair for Keira and
pushes it to the table. As we all settle in our places the wait staff bring
over clean plates and flatware; my waiter doesn't like the look of my spoon
and directs one of the others to get a clean one. The waiter opens and places
a paper napkin under each plate as he sets each place before us. Another young
man brings my clean spoon and a liter of bottled water. On his heels is another
young lad with several plates, one with quartered 'sour' oranges (these are
used primarily for flavoring your food, just squeeze it over your lunch like
you would a lemon), one with tiny 'hot' peppers and lemon wedges, one with chunks
of radishes (think large fries) and shredded carrots (topped with pomegranate
juice), and lastly one with baby romaine lettuce also topped with pomegranate
juice. The pomegranate juice adds a very lovely favor to our salads and the
chunks of radishes.
Each of us has ordered soup; the ladies get the wedding soup while Pat and I
get red lentil. Both our guests make positive comments about the soup and vow
to enjoy more another time. As one waiter is setting our soup before us another
has set down a very large fresh green salad (chopped romaine on the bottom,
shredded carrots and cabbage on each end, diced tomatoes, chopped parsley and
to top it off, pomegranate juice. He too sets a tin of pita bread on the table
between us. We enjoy light conversation, great food and enthusiastic new friends.
Our view from this dining room is wonderful too; it's akin to sitting in an
aquarium, glass all around us. There are mountains very close by and make a
lovely backdrop for our lunch.
While in conversation, Carol suggests we might want to drive to the coast. Pat
and Laura readily accept the idea and our plans for the afternoon have simply
bloomed more fully to make our day. We top off lunch with Turkish Tea, as is
the custom and depart. We take our friends into the little quick stop like place
to show them what's typically available at these stops and we talk about things
generally. As we're walking about in the store, the young lady clerk comes over
to greet and play with Keira. The clerk jesters toward Keira to come to her
and picks her up in her arms. She turns to the shelving in front of her; there
on top is a stuffed toy (a squirrel with a nut in its paw), she reaches out
for it and squeezes its paw; the thing begins to sing in English, 'Celebrate'
and taps its foot to the tune. I pick up a couple different kinds of cookies
for our continued trip and we depart. Outside, I offer everyone a cookie and
explain how they're my very favorite brand, Ulker. I also comment on our lunch;
Pat and Laura both agree our lunch was great.
We get back into the car and ease our way back onto the autobahn. We're going
east on the highway and Carol points out the view of the castle from our new
vantage points, as we tend to drive around the hillside it's perched atop. As
clear as it is today it's very easy to see the full splendor of this magnificent
edifice a top the hill. I'm a little surprised as we approach the tollgates;
I expect to pick-up a ticket but no one is stopping for one. Carol and I come
to the conclusion there are no tickets or tolls today because of the Turkish
holidays. We continue down the highway for about thirty minutes to the exit
we need to get off on, we're going south to Yumurtalik.
I ease off the autobahn and down the exit ramp to the tollbooths and slowly
drive through passing several pedestrians who appear to be waiting on rides
somewhere. A short drive beyond the tollgates and I turn left to cut over to
the two-lane road going to the little fishing village we set as our goal. We
are again consumed by many fields of grain; it's quite amazing to see all this
green with as little rain as we've had. Carol is commenting once more about
the clean and clear skies, I tell her it must be the fields that make it so.
The last few months have been accompanied by massive amounts of field burning
(grain stubble is burnt off every field here) but now with all the crops in
place and the fields so green, we have beautiful clear skies.
We're in constant conversation as we ride through this countryside, talking
all the time about what we're seeing and how we so enjoy the richness of it
all. We encounter many people going about their daily lives as we drive through
small villages and note migrant labor camps on our tour. I point to our left
now and say, "there it is, the Mediterranean", as we get just a tiny
glimpse of it through the valley between two rolling hills. "We're minutes
away now", I tell them. We begin an ascent up a small curving portion of
the road and just as we crest the hill we see the water fully stretched across
the horizon just ahead of us. A short distance after we crest the hill we're
greeted by the overhead sign declaring our arrival in Yumurtalik. The road has
now become a divided street and the median is curbed with alternating red and
white curbstones. The colored curbstones are typical in these small communities.
This is a small fishing village and before we drive very far we are descending
onto the beachfront property making up the commercial district. Laura turns
our attention to the bay, "what's that out there", she asks. She's
pointing to a small island, we explain it's part of an old ruin, a castle that
we have found little information on; we explain the literature is meager on
the subject. I drive us past the small shopping kiosks and the hotel we use
when we stay here and onto the tiny harbor. I park the car and we walk out on
the breakwater that forms the outer-most side of the harbor. There are a good
number of fishermen out and about, mending fishnets and gathering their lines.
There are several small boats coming and going but it's fairly quiet today.
The harbor is lined with small 14 to 20 foot fishing boats gunnel to gunnel
bobbing in the water. Most of these boats are one man rigs. Off to one side
we see a couple of young lads playing with their own homemade boats, probably
sons of great fishermen here.
The air has a bit of nip in it but the water is cobalt blue and the rocks are
coal black. It's a beautiful day to walking on the beach! Pat and Laura with
Keira in the backpack DO go walking on the beach. Carol and I opt to look on
from a bench just above the sand. After a short interlude here at the harbor
we get back to the car and make our way to the hotel; we want to inquire as
to the room rate and IF possible show our friends a room. We're greeted warmly
by the hotel staff and discover the rates haven't changed. The suite still costs
60 Lira or about $45 and a small standard room is $30; the suites are the front
of the hotel overlooking the beach. There are two rooms available for our viewing
and we ascend the stairs so Pat and Laura can see how they are arranged. We
thank the staff very much for the kindness and leave the hotel. We walk across
the street and down to the beach, which is probably one hundred feet across;
we all walk to the water's edge. The beach is brown sand and this is the public
area, down the way from here some of this beach is private. Immediately in front
of us, maybe a hundred yards or so is the island with the castle ruin on it.
This isn't castle by the sea but 'ruin in the sea', HaHaHa. We're all taking
about how wonderful this place is to escape our work and simply relax. Even
our short visit today transports us to another place and time as we stand and
listen to the waves wash over the sand and watch some boys play soccer just
here in front of us.
As we stand in this beautiful microcosm of our planet, our work and homes seem
miles away. The tranquility one feels standing in this place is difficult to
describe in simple words. As we stand here a little longer to take it all in,
an older couple who have walked from down the beach at the waters edge overtakes
us and then a policeman passes by a short time later in their same footsteps,
all out to enjoy a wonderful January day on this beautiful beach. It's getting
late and none of us truly wish to break the spell we're under but we must get
going, we reluctantly ascend to the street and get into the car for the drive
back.