If I had to nominate just one contestant for Turkey Top Chef, it would have to be the amazing woman at the Aspendos Restaurant in Patara. Yes, we probably spent a little bit more there than we should have over our time in Patara. but how she deserved it! nothing can describe the relief of coming back from a long day of hiking and knowing you have the Aspendos woman already working hard on your dinner. Below, David drinking her homemade ayran (5 stars) out of an Efes glass.
Patara (or Gelemiş, as it is known today) was a cute little village, a bit more touristy than our outdated guidebook suggested and probably swarming by now with Australians and Brits (we heard many shopkeepers in the village speak English with colloquial British accents they'd no doubt picked up in the busy summers). As a base for hiking, however, you really couldn't ask for more, and in late April it was still peaceful and even genuine. One day I went to post a letter from the Post Office but didn't have the right change. The postman slapped a stamp on it, tossed it in the box and told me to come back tomorrow to pay. Walking down the main street I dropped my hat without noticing and lamented its loss all day. Sitting at Aspendos that evening, a man we had chatted with earlier came up and set the hat on the table. "Bu şapka sizin değil miydi?" he asked me with a smile and a touch of reprimand.
Oh! Forgot to mention that Patara is also an ancient Lycian city with some pretty sweet ruins, but what city around here isn't?
Even the stray dogs were friendly, and like the residents, had learned how to make the most out of the neverending cycle of tourists. Our first day this little dog followed us around everywhere, even napping next to us on the beach, a 30 minute walk from town. He followed us to Aspendos, but when we didn't get him any food, we immediately started following the Turkish man and Russian woman who had just arrived in town.
It was a long day. A very long day. The hike was only 13k, but we had a little bit of trouble...finding the trail head. We did find this Turkish evil eye pinned on the front of a truck grill:
After walking around 3 hours in the sun,
we finally found the trail ("no thanks to you, Kate Clow!" we sandwiched in between empty threats and curses). We probably would have just turned around and called it a day, but we had told the Aspendos woman we were going to walk to Kalkan, and goddammit we were going to earn that dinner! She would have been disappointed in us. Of course after we found our way, we felt bad about all the horrible things we sad about Kate Clow, as there wouldn't even be such a trail for us to get lost on if it weren't for her. The nice views cheered us up as well.
We weren't able to make it all the way to Kalkan, but instead called it quits a few kilometers before the end when we saw a main road with CARS. Great invention, the car.
Do you see this mushroom soup? It was the most delicious, mushroomy soup I have ever eaten. The Aspendos woman kept telling us she made it from scratch. "Fabrıkadan değil, ben yaptım!" God have mercy on the poor soul that blames this amazing cook of making this soup out of a powder. Tastes even better after walking around half the day lost.
This was the beach at sunset. It is very religious-inspired greeting card, don't you think?
1 comment:
It was a treat to read your entry on this 13th of June, a special day.
Your voice was so personal when you described the being lost, the tag-a-long dog, the kind human spirit, the gift of a good view, and the spirituality felt in a sunset. I felt like I was there with you.
Such a treasure to savor the moments and look forward to savoring excellent food.
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