one of the best parts of living in a village are our wonderful neighbors. it’s such an excellent experience to wander among the villagers and get pampered (that’s what turkish culture does to visitors), getting your cheeks squeezed and offerings of fresh chai (turkish tea).  many of our farm activities involve the wisdom, expertise and love of some of our great neighbors. ferit and ayfer, next door, help with making pide, liquors and jams. ayfer started to produce felt shoes this year.  ferit avcı is a children’s book illustrator and the two are a wonderful couple.  gülperi (which means “rose fairy”)  is an old village woman who helps with the tarhana soup, her youthful spirit shining through her wrinkled face and white hair. mahmut, who worked with us several years back, makes the best tomato paste in anatolia, in our humble opinion.  he left us the recipe when he left the house. cemil, up the hill, loves nature and takes our guests on beautiful forest walks.  fatih pınar, a photographer from Istanbul, is our next door neighbor, a whiz on the grill, and you’re in for a treat if you have a chance to see his photographs and speak with him. new neighbors nurdan and erkan set up their leather workshop in their house and they call it workshop ilham. several hours you spend in this workshop will carry you into the world of creativity and imagination. these are just a few, but just a walk down the village streets and you’ll discover amazing vistas and true turkish hospitality. in yakabağ village, a stranger is a guest of honor.

just a short walk through the forest is the ancient lycian city of pinara, one of the most important cities of the lycian civilization.  you can walk through the forest to explore the ruins, possibly crossing paths with the old woman who tends sheep.  you can continue beyond pinara to a neighboring traditional village, minare, where you’ll find coffee shops, serving up medicinal oregano and sage teas. you can also take a walk to the flowing river of eşen, the beautiful flowing river that feeds this valley and runs into the mediterranean. if you want to see true traditional life here in the region, you can walk to two different parts of the village accessible only by foot. the villages have no roads and no electricity, so you have an opportunity to see the true turkey.

if you’re tired of walking, saddle up the horse and go for a ride. or, you can attach the horse cart and ride to the next garden, the gas station, or a joy ride.  in june and july, we can take a melon field trip, going to the local fields to see the harvest (or help if you like!), load up the melons, take them to the road and see them sold and loaded on trucks heading to the towns and cities.  we also have bicycles available to guests use. in winter, it’s possible to join the villagers in their traditional wild boar hunts (december to february).

it’s wonderful to explore the village people, landscapes, and architecture, and truly get off the beaten track.