We take you to the little-known parts of Turkey and we want to give you all the information you might be interested in. We know reading about a place doesn’t compare to being there and immersing yourself in it, but we hope this story will give you an insight into the culture of the Eastern Black Sea people.
In the dreaming phase of Hidden Wonders, I was bouncing off some ideas with my family, and my husband asked what would happen to people if they trespassed onto the villagers’ land. He was a bit concerned based on his experiences in other parts of the world where there could be serious consequences for trespassing.
Instead of giving him an answer, I smiled and asked him what he remembers about our visit together with his parents to the region. We then started to laugh, recalling one of the mornings when my in-laws woke up earlier than the rest of us and decided to take a walk in the village. We did not know where they were or when they left until they came back.
They said they decided to take a stroll and were offered tea and food at one of the houses they walked past, and they accepted the offer. They can’t speak Turkish, and people in the village can’t speak English, but the smiles and laughter my in-laws returned with gave us all the impression they had a heart-warming experience. So, even though your tour guide will be there to show you the way, if you happen to wander into private property get ready to be force fed some local food and drink a few cups of tea before they let you go.
Another point you will notice about the people of this region is that they are very hard working, especially women of the region. In the villages, they wake up early to tend to their animals, veggie patch, children or go to the land to harvest or plant. They work all day then come home and look after the household including cooking. Unless you are visiting in winter or when it is snowing, you will notice people working in their tea gardens or hazelnut orchards.
The crops are usually not very close to their house unlike the farmlands in Australia that we are used to seeing. This means that they need to travel to their lands to do their work, which used to be mostly on foot a few years ago. They take their lunch with them for their short break, but they don’t need to take any water as there are fresh water ‘taps’ all around the mountain.
Social life is key here, similar to the rest of Turkey. The houses are located not far from each other and neighbours get to chat to each other when they walk just outside of their house. In the midst of all this hard work, they manage to find time to chat with their friends and neighbours to catch up on all the gossip, attend weddings, make their own cheese, yoghurt, bread and more.
Locals liken themselves to the sea itself they live next to: full of energy and ready for action at any point. They don’t drink much alcohol in general, but they can ‘party’ until the late hours of the night. Sometimes, these parties involve ‘horon’, the local dance, and songs with ‘tulum’, local bagpipe music. Sometimes it involves games of backgammon or cards, chatting about the daily news, copious amounts of tea and, of course, copious amounts of food to go with it.
If you want to meet the welcoming, hard working and fun loving people of Eastern Black Sea and experience their culture, you are at the right place. Hidden Wonders Private Tours specializes in guided small group tours in Eastern Black Sea of Turkey.
Check out our website for the upcoming tour dates and availability. We look forward to taking you to hidden spots of the region.
For more information visit our website: www.hiddenwonders.com.au or call 1300 514 949.
