Tag: mountains

The magical rocks of Köprülü Kanyon Milli Parkı and wonderful people (January 2023)

After encountering the fire cats, I traveled to Antalya where I was able to provide Rosiante with some much-needed maintenance. She received fresh oil for her engine, a new oil filter, lubrication for her prop shaft, and a new air filter. These improvements greatly benefited Rosiante, but it was swapping the air conditioning filter that had the most noticeable effect for me. Previously, I had been perplexed as to why I couldn’t get the driver’s cabin to smell fresh. However, after replacing the air conditioning filter, the improvement was remarkable – the cabin now smells like a dream.

I discovered a magnificent beach east of Antalya, where I stayed for a few days. During my stay, I had the pleasure of meeting a very friendly shepherd and his flock of sheep. After that beach, I continued my journey by heading north towards the Köprülü Kanyon Milli Parkı, a truly magical place. It instantly reminded me of the magical mountains of Bulgaria. I embarked on a fantastic hike with a little bit of climbing, and was completely captivated by the unique rock formations. They looked as though they belonged to a different planet, a magical realm inhabited by fairy-like creatures who exist in another dimension, invisible to human eyes…

After completing my 25 km hike/ trail run, I found myself feeling both tired and hungry. I began searching for a suitable place to rest for the night, relax. I drove around, stopped at three different places, and while they were pleasant, they just didn’t feel quite right. So, I decided to keep searching. I examined the satellite images on Google Maps and stumbled upon a spot that looked absolutely incredible. In fact, I was so impressed by it that I thought to myself, “If I had to choose a place to build a house in this area, I would choose there.”

After crossing a small river and navigating through some muddy, tight, and rocky paths, I finally arrived at the spot I had discovered on Google Maps. It was even more stunning in person, but to my disappointment, it turned out to be a dead end, with a fenced private property blocking my way. Just as I was about to turn around, I heard a man calling out to me. We met and talked, and I felt an immediate connection with him.

He had been on Rainbow gatherings and since I learned about these gatherings I was feeling that these gatherings could be something special, something that deeply resonates with me. Although I didn’t make it to the big gathering in Turkey in October, I’m still looking forward to be part of one.

The nice guy in the magical stone land had already started building a special place on his property, with plans to create a camping site next to the gorgeous river, some small natural huts, and establish the surrounding woods as a food forest. He had plenty more ideas and I couldn’t help but feel excited about the idea of participating in something like this myself someday. If you want to learn more or contact him directly, be sure to visit his website. And there is a drone video on Youtube were you can get an impression of that beautiful spot.

He then introduced me to his friend, Seher, who was absolutely lovely and stunning. After my tiring hike, I was quite famished, and they graciously invited me to dinner. Their warmth and kindness revitalized me, and we spent a delightful evening together. If I hadn’t needed to leave Turkey, I would have happily stayed longer. However, the next day I needed to make my way to the port to catch the ferry to Cyprus. Seher wanted to visit her family, so she accompanied me and Rosinante until we reached the bus station in the nearest large city.

A magnificent view, hammock paradise and a storm (January 2023)

After taking the ferry, I drove up a hill and from there I was treated to one of the most stunning views I’ve ever seen! It was truly marvelous and as the sun began to set, the colors changed by the minute. From the hill, I could see the Turtle Beach, the vast river delta with its reeds and lake-like waters, the rolling hills, and the large lake and mountains in the distance. It was a breathtaking sight!

When I arrived at my new home on that hill, I was pleased to see Isa and Arne were there too. We parked our vehicles next to each other, and the following day another couple of travelers joined us. They were traveling in their UAZ Buchanka, named Olga. I have a fondness for these charming Russian off-road vans. When I had been researching and comparing vehicles to live in, I came across the Buchankas and thought they would be a good option due to their reasonable price tag. However, after learning about the maintenance and repair demands, I gained a great deal of respect for these cute vehicles. It seemed that the internet was correct about their demanding nature. Especially Martin had an strong relationship with Olga and had become her designated mechanic. Although they had bought Olga as a new car, I got the impression that they had already gone through the process of fixing every part of her at least once.

The others eventually left and I spent another day taking in the beautiful view. One day, an elderly local man came by. He couldn’t speak English or German and communicating through Google Translate was not very effective, so we communicated through gestures and facial expressions. It was fun. I figured out that his old-fashioned phone needed to be charged, so I plugged it into Rosinante. We chatted and had tea and nuts. It turned out that the man had accidentally turned on the airplane mode of his phone and didn’t know how to turn it off. It was like a puzzle game. I used Google Translate’s photo mode to translate the phone’s interface and after getting lost in its complicated menu structure for a couple of times, his phone was back online and he got about 50 new sms.

I then went on a beautiful hike at Butterfly Valley. After that, I visited a remote and secluded cove. The place was stunning during sunsets, truly magical. With the presence of trees and many rocks and stones, it was the perfect spot for relaxing in my beloved hammock.

A few days later, I continued on my journey towards Cyprus and stumbled upon a vast sandy beach that stretched for kilometers. During a leisurely walk, I met Danny and his gorgeous dog. The following day, we had a long and in-depth conversation about love, humanity, life and the universe. It was enjoyable, intriguing, and a little crazy. I noticed that conversations tend to become a bit crazy when delving into topics like universal energies and the indescribable.

Danny added me to a Telegram group where people gathered to exchange information about traveling from Turkey to India. I found it fascinating that some of this information seemed impossible to find through a simple Google search. The further east I would come, the more uncertain things like border crossings and visa regulations would be. These things seemed to depend on constantly changing factors like political situations, making up-to-date individual experiences increasingly important.

Rosinante was parked at a beautiful spot on that vast sandy beach, slightly elevated with a good view of the wide, wide beach. One day, with the arrival of a massive thunderstorm everything changed. It brought wind gusts of 80 km/h, rain, hail, and a rough sea to the beach, more and more reducing the once wide beach. Living in Rosinante during the storm felt like being on a spaceship in the midst of a solar storm once again.