Avanos, Turkey

We are based in Avanos for our riding in the area and staying at the lovely Kirkit Pension, where there is great food, live entertainment and a charming courtyard.

Every Friday in Avanos, there is a large market where everything from fruits and vegetables to carpets to spices to household items are sold, so we took a break from the saddle to check it out. Ahmet took us fruit shopping. Now, this is a small town and the market was amazing and huge. The produce was beautiful.

Ahmet introduced me to a woman from a surrounding village who was at the market to sell her produce. She is Alevis, a people whose faith is related to Islam as well as other traditions. There are millions of Alevi in Turkey. Ahmet could recognize her religion and the village where she lives by her dress. I do not know much about the Alevi, so was interested to hear about them and their beliefs.

After the market, we ventured to meet an Avanos’ potter, who specializes in making musical instruments from clay, including the Udu drum. His shop and work center was really neat. He even performed for us, with an impromtu jam session.
Avanos is a big pottery making center in Turkey. By the banks of the longest river in Turkey, which runs through Avanos, potters get red clay that they use to make their pottery. They have done this for a long time.

Chavusin Village, Turkey

Today, Ahmet and I went riding in Chavusin Village, not too far from Avanos. Before we even began the ride, I was able to experience more of the generosity of people in Turkey. Everywhere that we have traveled, people are always inviting us over for tea or Ayran, a yogurt drink that is very popular here. We have witnessed the Turkish people being very generous to each other as well. Granted, we are not traveling on the main tourist routes. We are seeing villages and natural setting where we are the only tourists. It is pretty neat.

Chavusin’s old rock homes and churches are carved into a large high, cliff. They are situated in what looks almost like a castle. We were able to ride up on top of these dwellings, stopping below the St. John the Baptist Church from the 7th century. Above us there were also these cubbyholes carved into the rocks. These are what the locals call pigeon houses. They paint the rocks around these indentations red to attract pigeons to these spaces. The locals collect the pigeon droppings and use them for fertilizer.

We took a break after riding to have some tasty Turkish tea and I did a little shopping. I purchased two really neat necklaces and had my first trial in the sport of bargaining. I am pretty sure that I paid way too much. I have heard that in the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, they raise the prices for tourists by two and a half! I unfortunately was in a time crunch and didn’t feel like haggling too much, but will be sure to be a bit tougher on my next purchases.

Kiliclar Valley, Cappadocia

The scenery changed on our ride through Kiliclar Valley on our way to the Red and Rose Valleys (Gulludere and Kizilcukur) in Cappadocia, Turkey. Here there are white ice cream cone formations and narrow passageways between the white domed rocks. Our horses took the sometimes challenging rocky terrain with stride, much more surefooted than I would have been on these trails.

The lookout point over the Red and Rose Valleys wowed me, and Ahmet said it was one of his favorite spots as well. It was late afternoon, so the sun was at a perfect point in the sky to illuminate the soft, pastel colors of the valley. The colors and rock formations reminded me a bit of some of the more spectacular areas of the American West, except that we were in Turkey and below us a woman was driving a horse cart, which she used to haul produce from her farm to her house. For many people in Turkey, the term horsepower still holds true.

We headed down a path into the Rose Valley, where we were able to canter along a flat straight trail through a series of rock covered passageways. In this valley, there are a myriad of hidden churches. It was exhilarating for us, and the horses were glad to pick up the pace as well. I would certainly sleep well tonight and look forward to exploring again tomorrow.

Baglidere Fairy Chimneys, Turkey

We continued our trek through with Ahmet through Baglidere Valley in Cappadocia, where there are skyscraper tall fairy chimneys. We gave our horses a break here to have lunch in the shade of a tree. There aren’t a ton of trees in this part of Cappadocia and the sun can be intense in the summer. I was happy to have cold water and lots of Turkish food for our picnic lunch on the trails. We munched on juicy melon, homemade bread stuffed with cheese- a type of Turkish pizza- thin bread topped with cooked lamb, tomatoes and various spices and of course, Turkish tea.

People are so friendly and generous in this part of Turkey. A man who owns a nearby vineyard offered our horses water on the trails. After our horses drank, we rode over to an apricot tree, where we picked sweet apricots from the branches, before continuing our trek.

Big Island Paniolo Celebrations

Anyone who has traveled to Hawaii's Big Island knows that there is a strong paniolo, or Hawaiian cowboy, culture. Amid the palm trees and tropical setting, lucky cows graze on verdant hillsides and cowboys ride the open range. Hawaiian cowboys have their own distinctive clothes, music, and culture, that is different from cowboys on the mainland.

On my trip to Hawaii's Big Island, I was able to ride with cowgirls at Parker Ranch (see photos from Hawaii's Big Island here) and hear stories of the rigors that wannabe cowboys were put through in order to become Parker Ranch Cowboys. Parker Ranch is an institution on the Big Island. This large cattle ranch, has been in existence for over 160 years. This year, 2008, is the year of the Hawaiian Cowboy, the Paniolo. During the next couple of weeks on the Big Island and at Parker Ranch, many events are in full swing, from Old Hawaii pagents and bands to BBQ's, trail rides and rodeos.

Stay tuned for an upcoming interview with Michael "Corky" Bryan, a Parker Ranch cowboy, and 2007 inductee into the Paniolo Hall of Fame. He'll shed further light on paniolo culture on the Big Island and what makes paniolo style so distinctive. For now, you can learn more about paniolos and upcoming events that you can attend on Hawaii's Big Island through the Paniolo Preservation Society .

Cappadocia's Dereyamanli Valley, Turkey

Today, we had a wonderful time riding to various spots amid the bizarre rock formations of Cappadocia, Turkey. I rode a horse name Incion, a 9 year old white Arabian, who was a joy to ride and much calmer than I had thought that an Arabian might be. Ahmet of Kirkit Voyage rode a eleven-year-old mostly Arabian horse named Avanos, named after the area town, and Hasan rode a five-year-old palomino Barb Arabian mix named Aeysuna. We rode on saddles that Ahmet got in Kyrgyzstan. The saddles have comfortable sheepskin seats, which I really appreciated after being in the saddle all day. Ahmet runs 7, 9, 15 and custom riding tours of Cappadocia and sometimes the lesser visited Black Sea area of Turkey. On those tours, you really want a comfortable saddle.

Our first stop was Dereyamanli Valley, where fairy chimneys abound, with a visit to Yamanli Church, a 6th century Christian church. The church was interesting inside. Like many of the churches and homes in Cappadocia, it is carved out of a rock.
Centuries ago in Turkey, when early Christians were being persecuted, they hid their churches and themselves inside these rock establishments, concealing doors or putting entryways in hard to discover places. There are underground cities built by the Christians throughout Cappadocia and many hidden churches. Cappadocia’s unique geological formations allowed the Christians to live and hide this way. Inside the church, Ahmet pointed out a Byzantine cross carved into the wall. The church is unique as it is the only Christian church in the area with services every Sunday that are open to the public.

Riding through Dereyamanli Valley, I noticed a lot of small vineyards. In Cappadocia, a lot of people have their own little vineyard. The soil is fertile from the area volcanic activity, making it a good place to grow grapes. We met an old woman working her vineyard as we rode amid the rocks. Her vineyard was like a secret enclave, hidden amid the rocks and definitely, like many places in Cappadocia, best reached on horseback.

Cappadocia, Turkey

Today we traveled over 24 hours from Washington, DC to Cappadocia to begin our horseback riding odyssey in Turkey, a country which seems so exotic to me. Startling Europe and Asia, Turkey has a fascinating history and Cappadocia in particular has a fascinating history with horses. The word Cappadocia is said to stem from the Persian word, “katpatuka,” which roughly translates to “land of beautiful horses.”

In Cappadocia, we will be riding with Ahmet Diler of Kirkit Voyage, who organizes horseback riding and other adventure activities in Cappadocia. He grew up in Avanos, where we will base ourselves for the first part of the trip. Ahmet is a horse lover, whose takes great care of his Arabian horses. Many are a mix of Arabian and Barb and many are full Arabians.

Ahmet picked us up from the airport and we drove to Avanos to visit the stables and scout for the upcoming days. We’re staying in Kirkit Pension, one of his hotels. The pension was the former home of a wealthy resident in Avanos, a pottery and weaving center in Turkey. We ate in the courtyard, where local gypsies play live music each night. After a long day of traveling and scouting, everything from the tomato salad to the lentil soup to the ripe peaches tasted really good. I am going to sleep very well and hope to be on Turkish time in the morning in preparation for our first ride.

New Equitrekking Photos

We just posted more photos from our recent equestrian travels in Belize, Costa Rica, the Big Island, Quebec and Texas. Check out our horseback riding adventure travel photos on Equitrekking.com's photo page.

Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska

The best way to see the Kenai Fjords National Park and view wildlife is on a boat tour, as much of its rugged terrain and glaciers are inaccessible in any other way. Eric, the captain of the boat we took with Renown Tours took us out for a day at sea, where we saw some truly amazing wildlife.

Most of the boat tours take the good part of a day, so you want to be prepared just in case the seas get rough. I took motion sickness medication just in case, since I do spend most of my life on land. The tour took us through Resurrection Bay and to the Pacific. The waters can be rough, but we lucked out with relatively smooth seas.
We cruised to the massive Holgate Glacier. It calved twice while we sat in the waters nearby. Calving is when giant chunks of ice fall off of the edge of the glacier. This glacier moves pretty quickly each day, in glacier terms. It sounded like Fourth of July fireworks when part of it feel into the water.

I talked to Eric on the boat, as well as a national park ranger, who briefed us on the geology of the area. We saw humpback whales, orcas (killer whales), tons of puffin, stellar sea lions, eagles, black legged kitty weights and porpoises. The porpoises had a baby with them that Captain Eric said was only hours old. The other porpoises in the pod were helping lift the porpoise to the surface to help it learn to rise and take a breath. It was truly amazing as it was right beside our boat. The park ranger said that not a lot of people get to see this. It was something that he had never seen before.

The whales were right beside the boat too, blowing water and showing their tails once in a while. I would definitely recommend hopping on a boat while on the Kenai. It was nothing like I have ever seen before. Definitely once in a lifetime.

Seward, Alaska

Today I went out with Bree Bardarson of Bardy’s Trail Rides. Bree was born and raised in Alaska and will take you through the beautiful natural areas surrounding the town of Seward on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula, as well as the areas of devastation caused by the 1964 earthquake. On our ride, we also rode on the beach. Who would have thought about beach riding in Alaska! Be prepared to take in a variety of wildlife on this ride and be on the lookout for bears.

I rode a five-year-old Tobiano Paint horse named Orca, who was wonderful. Bree rode Max, a big, black 16-year-old Percheron Quarter horse mix. We rode by Resurrection River on our way to the beach. Bree took me through a marshy area and we had a short canter on one beach before heading to a farther beach to see the hundreds of Arctic Tern. The Arctic Tern is a bird that flies all the way from Antarctica to Alaska, approximately 25,000 miles, to lay their eggs, have their babies and then fly back. That’s a long trip! These birds aggressively protect their eggs by dive-bombing any potential predators. They did this when Bree’s dog and Greg, our cameraman, got too close. Greg almost lost his hat.
From the beach, we could see the small harbor town of Seward, where we would spend the next few days, in the distance. We headed back to the woods, riding through lupin, these bright purplish blue flowers and other wildflowers in bloom. The wildflowers make Alaska so pretty in the summer, especially when juxtaposed with snow capped mountains. Stay tuned for more adventures in the wilds of Alaska!