OUR VILLAGE COMPETITION !
This weekend I went down to Gokkaya to visit Serher and Ibrahim and below are photos of them receiving the balance of the money raised in our fundraiser effort. Altogether they received a total of 25,000 TL which is a great start to the rebuilding of their home. They asked me to send on their love and thanks to all those who took part. The winner was Sue Price from Melbourne with ticket no. 75!
While in the village I had a chance to see something that is quite unique to Turkey – camel wrestling and some photos are attached. (Note the only thing that gets hurt during the wrestling is the camels male pride!)
It was great to see so many of our guests and friends at The Dog on 5 February – former guests who met in the hotel had a chance to catch up again, and others to get together and talk about their travels!
Turkey, as I am sure you are aware, is going through tough times at the moment (as is the rest of the world!) dealing with a huge influx of refugees (and generously assisting them) and the recent terrorist attacks in Ankara and Istanbul. These have taken their toll on tourism and in turn affecting the lives of many people. However in reality Turkey is still a great place to visit, the people are warm and welcoming and these days of turmoil as safe as anywhere else in Europe.
So please share your experiences with people who are still keen on visiting this amazing country!
Love to you all and sincere thanks from myself and our family
Gaye Reeves
Ayasofya Hotel/Turkey Travel Guide
The new roof started
Serher & Ibrahim with Sues photo and receiving funds from our raffle!
Hava, Serhars Mother! She is nearly 80 but is the matriarch of the family!
Serhar s son Gokhan, with his cousins Hasan, Mehmet Zuyal and Hava!
In the ring and ready to wrestle!
A Champion!
Camel Sausage anyone!!!
Camel Wrestling is a part of the culture of the Aegean Western part of Turkey! Villages hold their competitions during February and March. The camel who wrestles is competitors neck and shoulders to the ground is the winner.! There is lots of snorting and dribbling – both by the camels and the onlooker! Musicians with their drums and pipes move through the crowd and there is a cocophany of noise and colour! At the end of the day all the camels walk through the streets of the village – of course everyone is out to watch them pass by and enjoy the spectacle!
CHANCE TO WIN A TRIP AROUND TURKEY AND HELP OUR VILLAGE FAMILY!
Our vIllage family, Serher and IbrahIm Demir, lost their home and all the familys possessıons in a fire which burnt their home last week ! Serher and Ibrahim have been our hosts for our tours over the last 5 years and have opened up their home and hearts to our visitors.
Although they do receive some assistance from the local council with the re-building the shell of their home they need help to refit and to replace all their furniture. I would like to repay their kindnesses to our guests by organising a draw for a 2 week holiday in Turkey for 2 persons during 2016, This raffle should raise enough money for them to rebuild what they have lost and get back on their feet again.
This offer is being made to our friends and families and to our previous guests who may like to re-visit Turkey again, or to pass the prize on to a member of their own family! Could also be a great idea for a Christmas Voucher for one of your family!
We are offering just 400 tickets at 100AUD each and in return our guests will go into a draw to win a 10 day tour of Turkey to be taken at any time that suits in 2016. *Equivalent in other currencies!
The prize includes:
2 International Return Economy flights to Istanbul from your nominated capıtal cıty in Australia
5 nights Accommodatıon in Sultanahmet Istanbul
A guided walkıng tour of the old City of Istanbul
A Bosphorus Cruıse
A Back Street Bazaar Walk
Guided Small Group tours on a 9-10 day itinerary around – (see example ıtınerary)
Bus travel and transport while on your tour
Internal Air Flıghts withIn Turkey
Basic TURSAB insurance,
So not only can you have the chance to visit this exciting country & at the same time help our village family get their life back to normal.
ITINERARY TWO WEEK TURKEY OF TURKEY FOR 2 PERSONS – 2016
Day 1 Arrival into Istanbul –Transfer to Hotel in Old City of Sultanahmet
Day 2 Private Walking Tour of the Old City
Day 3 Free Day or Hosted Walk of your choice!
Day 4 Depart for Gallipoli Battlefields Tour – Overnight Harbourside Hotel
Day 5 Tour of Troy – Drive to Gokkoya Village – Overnight stay
(Meet our Serhar and Ibrahim and the family)
Day 6 Drive to Ephesus, via Odemis and Sardis – Overnight Selcuk
Day 7 Tour of Ancient Ephesus – Overnight Selcuk Ephesus
Day 8 Tour of Pamukkale – Hieropolis – Overnight Selcuk
Day 9 Flight to Cappadocia – Free time
Day 10 Sunrise Balloon Flight – Tour of Cappadocia
Day 11 Tour of Cappadocia
Day 12 Flight to Istanbul – Free afternoon
Day 13 Free day for shopping and sightseeing
Day 14 Transfer to Airport for Internernational flight
JUST WRITE TO [email protected] FOR YOUR ENTRY FORM.
PRICE OF ENTRY 100 AUD – PAYABLE TO AUD ACCOUNT IN AUSTRALIA OR BY CREDIT CARD
RECEIPT AND TICKET PROVIDED ON PAYMENT
GAYE REEVES WILL BE DRAWING THE TICKET ON FRIDAY 5 FEBRUARY
DANCING DOG CAFE AND GALLERY FOOTSCRAY, MELBOURNE
*FOR THOSE WHO HAVE VISITED TURKEY BEFORE WE CAN ADJUST IT TO INCLUDE OTHER SIGHTS AND ADVENTURES!
ISTANBUL is an exciting city to spend some time ! Come for a week and take time to discover not only the Ottoman and Byzantium sites, but also the up and coming trendy places, such as Karakoy!
Coffee culture is coming to the old city, and in and around Karakoy there are many new funky places opening up. Take time to stroll over the Galatala Bridge to wander through the back streets of this port side suburb. Street art abounds and you can spend an afternoon enjoying a coffee or snack and the ambiance of this up and coming area. Afterwards you can take a ferry to Kadikoy on the Asian side or take the tramcar up to the Beyoglu area, with its art galleries, music shops and of course a visit to Galatala Tower!!
TURKEY TRAVEL GUIDE can organize to take you on a back street walk around Karakoy and Beyoglu during your stay in Istanbul.
ISTANBUL 14TH BIENNIALE FESTIVAL
5 SEPTEMBER – 1 NOVEMBER
A city-wide exhibition for everyone: 14th Istanbul Biennial
The 14th Istanbul Biennial, the tHeme of which is “SALTWATER: A Theory of Thought Forms,” opened to the public starting Sept. 5 in 30 venues around Istanbul. From
While creating the framework of the biennial, festival “draftsperson” Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev focused on the thought and the concept of “saltwater,” the Bosphorus and its currents going in opposite directions. Christov-Bakargiev also focused on the history of Istanbul and Bosphorus and how the Bosphorus was made.
The Bosphorus is a passage – and even means “cow passage” in Greek – Christov-Bakargiev said in an earlier interview with Irene Gludowacz in Parnass and CI Mag. The Bosphorus is a passage where things can crank, move or crack, she added. In the same interview, she said she wanted to refer to all these currents under the surface of modern Turkey when choosing the works and selecting the venues.
Christov-Bakargiev first choice of venue was Leon Trotsky’s house on Büyükada, one of Istanbul’s Prince Islands. “[Turkish Nobel Laureate] Orhan Pamuk told me that Trotsky’s house was on Büyükada. I did not know.”
The same meticulous effort can be seen regarding the works of the biennial. The 30 venues have not been chosen coincidentally. Each venue has been chosen attentively for the wthat they present.
The biennial will last until Nov. 1 in over 30 venues on the European and Asian sides of the Bosphorus, from the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara, from Beyoğlu to Büyükada, from Rumelifeneri to the old city and from Şişli to Kadıköy.
Christov-Bakargiev said the exhibition centers on a material – saltwater – and the contrasting images of “knots and waves.” According to Christov-Bakargiev, the exhibition looks where to draw the line, withdraw, draw upon and draw out.
The international exhibition would present new works by over 50 visual artists and other practitioners, including oceanographers and neuroscientists, in a citywide project on the Bosphorus that considers different frequencies and patterns of waves, the currents and densities of water, both visible and invisible, that poetically and politically shape and transform the world.
“With and through art, we mourn, commemorate, denounce, try to heal, and commit ourselves to the possibility of joy and vitality, leaping from form to flourishing life,” she said.
Works at the biennial
The exhibition presents over 1,500 artworks, including commissions by artists as well as other materials from the history of oceanography, environmental studies, marine archaeology, Art Nouveau, neuroscience, physics, mathematics and theosophy, and some crystals that Christov-Bakargiev gathered with a friend at Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty on Great Salt Lake in early 2015. Works at the biennial range historically from an 1870 painting of waves by Santiago Ramon y Cajal, who received a Nobel prize in 1906 for discovering the neuron, to the ground-breaking abstract Thought Forms of Annie Besant and Charles Leadbeater (1901-1905), a new work by Füsun Onur where a poem is heard on a moving boat, up to a cultural meeting point between Chicago and Istanbul by Theater Gates.
Exhibition venues for the biennial
Venues for the 14th Istanbul Biennial in the Galata-Tophane-Beyoğlu area include SALT Galata, Vault Karaköy, The House Hotel, Kasa Galeri, Galata Greek Primary School, Istanbul Modern, a floating boat on the Bosphorus, DEPO, two garages on Boğazkesen Street and Çukurcuma Street, a store on Boğazkesen Street, the Museum of Innocence, the Italian High School, The House Hotel Galatasaray, a house on Bostanbaşı Street, the Cezayir building, ARTER, the former Anatolian Passage –– the Pera Museum, a room in the Adahan Hotel and the Adahan Cistern.
The Kabataş-Kadıköy-Büyükada area includes Tunca Subaşı & Çağrı Saray studio in Yeldeğirmeni, the Kaptan Paşa Seabus, the Büyükada Public Library, Splendid Palas, Rizzo Palace, Mizzi Mansion, Çankaya 57, the Trotsky House on Büyükada, as well as the island of Sivriada.
The venues in the Şişli-Old City-Northern Bosphorus area feature the Hrant Dink Foundation and Agos, the Küçük Mustafa Paşa Hammam and Rumeli Feneri.
At the same time, three venues, the former French Orphanage and Casa Garibaldi in Beyoğlu, as well as Riva Beach in Beykoz, have been declared venues even though formal access to them is denied due to various reasons.
