A Not Very Exciting Weekend
Trip Start
Feb 08, 2008
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Trip End
Sep 11, 2009
Bursa, Turkey
Saturday, August 2, 2008
The day started out as usual: reading while breakfasting.
I had seen a poster announcing some weekly event at 2 pm (make that 14:00) at the Karagöz Museum. Karagöz are Turkish shadow pupets. To be honest, I had not been particularly attracted to this cultural aspect of Turkey (by way of Java). But, there was the promise of a show of some sort, and just the broadening of my own horizons.
I arrived at the Museum/Playhouse about 45 minutes before 14:00 so as to familiarize myself with the background that the museum offered
Me at Breakfast
. There are two rooms to the museum. The first explains the background to the shadow puppets of Turkey. Explanations are provided in English, and there is a pamphlet provided, also in English.Between rooms I was invited to sit and have tea with a Turkish family also visiting--the tea compliments of the museum. It was during this chat that a young fellow on the staff explained to me in English that there would be no show this day. The announcements I had seen were for last month. I'd come one weekend too late.
So I looked around the second room: some musical instruments and samples of the shadow figures and props--translucent painted camel skin, I believe.
Well, since that was a "busted play," as we used to say in football, I decided I still had time for a short hike, which I had put off because of the expected Saturday performance.
And, since it was already into the mid-afternoon I decided to just go up into the woods directly up from my place, to check out a ridge that I had wanted to investigate.
Karagöz Museum
One just walks up through the streets until the houses run out. Some of the higher houses may be "gece condos"--night condos, just built where someone wants to stake out a place. I'm not sure of that in the case of Bursa, or at least in the case of these close environs. Some of the houses do have a sort of folksy charm in the way they have been piled up. The streets, however, in the aggregate are usually not very charming. The Turks are, sadly, shameless litterers.
In any case, I crossed the last road and started up a series of threaded paths at the outset presided over by a pack (actually, that's too flattering) of not threatening dogs. One was barking. Don't you know, the smallest one. Think of Mickey Rooney.
Well, there's not much to say of the hike up itself. More of what I'd done before elsewhere: follow trails that appeared and more or less disappeared; reconnect and go on. I encountered one fellow coming down. He was shirtless, and stopped to chat. His teeth were quite encrusted. Don't you know, it's always the less educated that persist in talking to me even though I keep saying "Anlamiyorum, (I don't understand) and giving them helpless looks and shrugs. But, nice of them to try.
The Room with All the Information
An expression of friendship.When I got to as far as I wanted I was sitting for a spell before turning back, when I thought I heard a voice in the woods ahead. After a bit I saw some animals, then a fellow. They came near and were passing to my side. I figured there must be a better trail down than I had coming up, so I went through the brush and found myself at the back end of a bunch of sheep! Well, they looked like sheep from the back. Sort of.
You know, I didn't think much about it at the time. But later . . . . ? Their torsos were sheep-like in that they were white and woolly. But the head, neck and legs were of goats.
I followed them down a very well-worn track. After a while they came to a more open area and the herder (shepherd or goatherd) let them graze on the bushes. I caught up and made a small video. It's not very exciting, but it's about what there was. Not all of life is exciting or exotic.
At the bottom of the track the fellow sent the herd across a paved road and into I guess his private property. He directed me down the road. At about 30 yards I saw where I had entered the woods on the way up.
Comments
Quixotic sheep! :)
The sheep video was cute. Yes they are rather odd looking creatures - not like Aussie sheep. I thought they had a tail like a dog.