New Year should be with snow! So we left sunny Kemer in search of snow to the middle of Turkey. As I already wrote, after Cappadocia we went to visit our friend.
We took the risk of going to a cold part of the country, where the temperature at night is below zero. To be honest, we were afraid, because it has been three years since we spend our winters in Kemer, where the temperature at night is always + 10. And here we had to take hats and buy uggi )))
In the region of the city of Sivas there is a village Hasancelebi, where strict Turkish customs are preserved, which surprise us Europeans! For example, a man and a woman cannot stay in the same room in a hotel if they do not have a marriage certificate. Or, for example, only men can come to a cafe. And women live at home. As a very freedom-loving woman, these customs would stress me. I believe that these traditions only worsen the situation in society, provoking people's secret lives. In Ukraine, there were also such strict rules in the days of my parents' youth. And what old traditions in relationships have been preserved in your country?
We stayed in this village for only one day, but we had a great time exploring the mountainous terrain, which is somewhat different from the cliffs of Antalya. The mountains here are spacious and wide, which give a feeling of vast space and flight! The pictures of the mountains against the background of snow and blue sky are especially beautiful. We drove our car along dirt roads, passing small villages where people live a simple life, working on the land.
Interestingly, the ancient houses were destroyed by the earthquake, and only the foundations on which the houses were rebuilt remained.
The bright gray clouds above the mountains make a fantastic contrast with the orange dry grass in the bright sun.
The snow remained only in the depths, and it was truly a very beautiful natural landscape!
But our @darine.darine did find more snow, and we played snowballs and made a little snowman!
You can see the excitement on our faces when we saw snow for the first time 😄
While Darinka was building her snowman, I walked among the exotic stones I took some fantastic pictures where the multi-colored moss on the stones creates strange, unique patterns. Once upon a time, I saw such patterns on stones in Crimea in the Kazantip reserve.
Later we came to a mountain lake, which was covered with a crust of ice. We left our car here, and then we walked to the valley, where many rose hips grew. I ate a lot of them from the bush. The berries were frozen and therefore they lost their tartness and were very tasty. We also collected a lot of berries to brew tea. Our Turkish friend brewed a very delicious tea, infusing it for many hours on a hot stove. This way it was a rich red color.
We descended to a rapid river that snaked between exotic green rocks.
There was a lot of snow here and we saw traces of large bear paws!
We were filled with the beauty of this wild nature, the incredibly fresh mountain air. It is impossible to describe how great my pleasure was from seeing beautiful new natural places!
Returning to the village, we saw lonely village houses and a tractor amidst the vast mountain landscapes. It seems that the people who live here are filled with the energy of the mountains and free from the stress of big city life...
I hope my story and photos were able to convey to you my excitement about being in these unique mountains near the village of Hasancelebi. I thank our friend @dewamke44 for the wonderful walk he arranged for us!
In March it will be three years since we left Ukraine and started our #TheLongestTrip
I hope to be able to get back to writing about our adventures since the beginning of the journey soon and I will be happy to share with you all my wonderful finds and discoveries! Thanks for reading and your likes 💕