Follow the river [still no internet]

Holidays without internet - but who cares in such a setting  

The Akkopru Ottoman bridge 
Photo by https://branding.goturkiye.com/adana

Still on holiday at Pozanti we explore the valley northwards to see the restored Roman / Ottoman bridge at Akköprü. Right by this bridge is the excellent Sekerpinar Restoran. At a table under the trees, with the River Chakit running swiftly by, it's an ideal spot for a leisurely meal [although no siesta here]. 

Belemedik holiday Park
Photo by Samba Turizm

On another day we explore southwards from Pozanti to Belemedik, a well hidden holiday village. To get there we follow the only way into the valley, on a narrow road by the fast flowing Chakit River. There is a single track railway line close to the road. 

You can enjoy lazing in the park, exploring the wild countryside in the valley by the river, or a walk along the single track line to the picturesque old railway station. 

A little further south is the Varda viaduct, built by German engineers at the beginning of the 20th century. That's where they shot the train fight scene from the James Bond film: Skyfall.

Varda Viaduct
Photo  courtesy of Wikipedia

The Taurus Mountains are a formidable barrier across the south-eastern part of Turkey.  With peaks rising to over three thousand metres, the main pass through them since ancient times has been the Cilician Gates. This was a mule track not even wide enough for wheeled vehicles. To cross between north and south, it was the only route; taken by Hittites, Greeks, Alexander the Great, Saint Paul of Tarsus, Hadrian, Byzantines, Crusaders, Mongols, and Ottomans under Selim the Grim.

To improve communications, German engineers dug, blasted tunnels and built viaducts to create a railway line at the beginning of the 20th century. 

In order to improve transport for the modern era a huge programme of road building was carried out. Now a motorway runs along this route, the E90 Tarsus-Adana Highway. The area of the Cilician Gates is called the Gullek Pass. An engineering feat as impressive as the mighty peaks all round. 

In summer

and in winter
photos by Eski Said

And the old road through the Pass

Ramsay, W. M. “Cilicia, Tarsus, and the Great Taurus Pass.” 1903, pp. 395.

 The River Chakit at Belemedik Nature Village [before it is harnessed into a hydro-electric plant further downstream]

Internet [and lack of] and holidays in the mountains

 

The Awe-inspiring Taurus Mountains [Toros Dağları] of Turkey 

Photo by Zeynel Cebeci

Three weeks without internet starts off as a challenge in this day and age.
Then you relax and simply enjoy the holiday. Especially when staying in a rather remote corner of the Taurus Mountains, where there is so much to explore.

One day we travelled for an hour along a mountain road, through villages clinging precariously to the hillsides, to reach a Trout Restaurant. The trout are in tanks fed by a spring. Downhill, on a level patch of land is the open air restaurant, well shaded by plane trees and bounded by a river.

The meal of freshly grilled trout, chips and various salads, 

tastes delicious in the fresh air.

We sit on long benches, with cushions - [or else there are hammocks] -as the diners take a siesta after the meal. The sound of the river burbling past is a lullaby, and there are butterflies dancing in the branches that wave gently overhead. 

Kirkpinar Trout Restaurant, Alihoca Koy, Pozanti.

After the siesta, the restaurant owner brings tea and a plate of fruit from his garden.

Who cares about internet, anyway.