Mutlu Yillar (Happy New Year) !

1 January 2022, Steppe FM, Mutlu Yillar (Happy New Year) !

We take the opportunity of this newsletter to wish you all a happy holiday season! Happy new year, good health (inch'allah the Covid leaves), in short all the best, journeys and discoveries for the next year!

And also, many thanks to all of you! To all those we met along the way, those who support us and helped us before we left and to those who follow us.

On our side, we are still in Cappadocia. After several weeks of fighting with bureaucrats, endless corridors, endless visits to the notary to get our Ikamet (residence permit), we finally received it. And fortunately, because we got it two days before the expiration of our visa, that is, two days before being illegal in Turkey.

And as a good news rarely arrives alone, we have just learned that our parcel containing our tarpaulin material has just arrived on the Turkish territory. In other words, we are soon ready to head south again, to buy a horse and to ride on the Mediterranean coast where we hope it will be a bit warmer.

Because at the moment in Cappadocia it is really cold! So yes, it is nice, there is the volcanic rock, the frozen puddles, the horses in the snow, the cats who play with the flakes... But at night it is a little chilly and we don't have any heating systeme! So in the morning it stings!

Our daily life at Ibo is quite quiet: taking care of the eight horses, the boxes, the dogs, the cats, the two pigeons and managing to find wood in the valley to heat during the day. The rest of our time is spent in the "office", a small room with a table, a couch, a stove and above all a wood stove where we stay quietly in the warmth drinking tea and listening to the stories of the countless people who come to visit. Nevertheless, the best stories are certainly those of our Turkish uncle Ibrahim alias Ibo.

Ibo, we had met him while we were accompanying the horseback ride. He is the Cowboy of Cappadocia. He speaks five languages, is a guide on horseback, kayak, mountain bike, high mountain hiking. He has lived with horses all his life and spends his time being heartbroken over girls. He consoles himself by surrounding himself with animals who are, according to him, far more interesting and beautiful than humans. He has a thousand stories to tell and at least as many tips on dating. In short, Ibo is the allegory of the lonely cowboy. And on top of that, he takes very nice pictures!

On the rare occasions when we leave the "office" and it is to go to the notary, we continue to visit Cappadocia. Last time, with our friends Maris and Akim (with whom we plan to go down to the south) we met two other bicycle travelers, again French, who have been traveling by tandem for two years. The six of us rented a very small car and spent the day visiting the underground city of Derinkuyu: a 13-story underground city that could accommodate up to 20,000 inhabitants during times of siege. And then, as a proof of the maturity of the French cyclovoyageurs, after one hour of wandering in the underground rooms, we found the access to the electric meter and decided by mutual agreement to cut the juice on a section to be able to quietly play hide and seek in the complete darkness! The best moment will remain the head of the tourist illuminating Marie who signals her not to make noise for fear of being discovered.

In the afternoon we went to visit the valley of Ilhara. It is an immense canyon of about fifty meters dug in the lava. In the middle flows a mountain stream. 7 km in an incredible landscape of volcanic gorge, huge scree and fantastic churches dug in the rock...

Finally this end of the year in Cappadocia is great even if we can't wait to go down to the south to continue the adventure with a horse!

Thanks again to all of you and have a HAPPY NEW YEAR !

The Scarlet Day :

The Scarlet Day, 15/12/2021, Steppe FM

Still two weeks quietly installed at the Kapadokya Ranch to make easily its residence permit in Turkey, unless... APATHIC BUREAUCRATE!

The beginning of these two weeks however had started well. The routine on the farm, the sun, the horses, the rides in the surrounding valleys and the plans for future trips with Akim & Marie. We have two options to go riding in the South during the winter: either we buy two horses in Cappadocia and transport them there or we buy them directly on the spot with a little luck. We study the different options, find out about the routes to follow and the costs to take into account.

The Turkish lyre continues its descent into hell: we were at 1€ for 10 TL when we entered the country and we are now at 1€ for 15 TL today, which on the contrary of the Turks tends to give us an advantage. We visit a shop, a few kilometers from where we are staying, for small horses (about 1m40 at the withers). The prices are really interesting, less than 150€ per horse. Thanks to our friends here we found a potential transport at 200€ for the two horses which would allow us to go down all four easily with the three dogs and with all the equipment of voyage and pack. Our project is progressing little by little and we are starting to feel the excitement of going on an adventure.

In parallel to the farm we are not idle. We have to fix the dirt road before the winter and the heavy rains come, patch up some fences, create a new park for the horses... and then there was also a very special day that will remain engraved in our minds (and sorry but there will be no pictures to illustrate it) :

As every day, the six of us meet up (Nico & Helene, the owners of the Ranch; Marie & Akim the newlyweds with whom we plan to leave; Rico and myself) at 8 am in the troglodyte living room for breakfast. As always we fill ourselves with Tahin-Pekmez (a mixture of sesame puree and grape juice concentrate). But today is a special day. Today we are going to help to the castration of two young horses.

At 9 am, we are joined by the vet accompanied by five other people including Ibrahim and Gokhan (our friends from the Antalya trek). The first horse is brought in the round of longe, the veterinary administers an anaesthetic to him, then we try to hinder his four legs to put him down. Despite the fact that there were at least six of us around him, it took us five long minutes and a few scares before we managed to get him down. Three of his feet are tied together by a rope that we hold, his other backside is maintained raised by another rope, his head put on a cushion is pined to the ground by the knee of a 120 kilos Turkish man.

Again, the vet pricks him with a local anesthetic all around the testicles. We wait like that for a few minutes until the liquid diffuses. The horse, stressed by these more than abnormal circumstances, tries several times to free himself. The fists tighten around the ropes, the jaw tightens under the effort, the ties squeak, the horse stretches all his muscles then suddenly he gives up and relaxes again. A few minutes go by. The vet takes out his sanitized scalpel. Everyone holds his rope, everyone looks at him. The blade of the scalpel disappears completely inside the horse, draws a line of about fifteen centimeters. Blood spurts out. The action didn't last two seconds. The horse stiffens again. Everyone stands firm, its head falls back on the cushion. The vet plunges one of his hands dripping with Betadine into the wound from which a continuous stream of scarlet blood escapes. He pulls out his hand which now holds the canal that ends on the two testicles steaming in the morning air. I can't help but, like everyone else around me I guess, grit my teeth at the bloody sight. The vet pinches the canal with a kind of metal pliers. He adds a tourniquet a few centimeters upstream and takes out the scalpel again. With a short blow, he cuts the canal. The testicles roll in the sand. At this sight, my body twitches. He sews up the wound in a few points, leaving a drain. We untie the ropes. The gelding gets up. A stream of blood flows on the ground. The operation is over. It went very well. The horse is led to a tree where he is tied up short so that he cannot move or roll. He is given a drink.

Before moving on to the next operation, the picture is almost comical. Everyone, even the vet, takes five minutes to calm their nerves by smoking a cigarette.

The equipment is sanitized again. The second horse is brought in.

[...]

The operation did not go as well. The incision was not as clean but the veterinarian is serene although he found only one testicle...

Settled on the terrace, everyone drinks a tea before leaving. While getting back in his car, Ibrahim can't help but tell me laughing "this is what will happen to you if you touch my daughter!" before starting the car and laughing out loud.

Well... It's 11:30 am, the castration went globally well. Everyone goes back home and in ten days the two young horses will be able to join the herd. We would have been satisfied to finish the day quietly except that Nico charges us with a new mission: to kill two geese and to prepare them for the party planned the next day...

Akim catches a goose, Rico catches another one. And I catch an axe. The three of us look at each other, not knowing what to do. Finally we settle on a big log. Akim and Rico hold the geese so that they get the longest blow possible. We laugh nervously about a potential hand cut. I raise the axe. TCHAK. In one blow head and body are separated. Blood spurts from the missing head. The bodies, still held by Rico and Akim, are shaken by terrible spasms for more than a minute. Finally, the wings stop beating and the amputated bodies come to rest. All three of us are stained with blood.

This day will be remembered for a long time to come. My memory has associated it with a color: red. The scarlet day.

It was impressive but we are glad we lived it. Seeing and participating in the castration of the two horses also makes us realize that it is for the best. Very soon, they will join the herd and live in semi-liberty. And finally their life is much more enviable than that of a stallion who almost never leaves his paddock and only with a human to constrain him. Because to put a stallion in freedom is to be sure to be confronted with many problems, whether it is the pregnancies of the mares or the wounds following the fights with the geldings.

And then, to know how to kill with the minimum of suffering a bird, then to know how to pluck it, to empty it and to prepare it is a little the base for who would like to travel off the beaten track or to hold one day a farm...

(Cute pictures not illustrating the point at all, on the contrary!)

Well, let's get back to the beginning and our problems with the residence permit. In fact it is normal, it is anoying whatever the country. In Turkey no more than elsewhere. Nevertheless, it remains a thorn. The official website works every other day and even when it works you have to lie on it because not all options are possible. Then, after three or four days of hard work to fill in a form, you have to make an appointment with the right institution, go there with all the necessary papers and a guardian (a local who officially allows you to stay with him). Once there, after an umpteenth coffee break, one of the officials deigns to receive you. We proudly show him our papers and he tells us that there is one missing which obviously was not referenced on their site. From there, it is necessary to go to the notary to obtain this new thing. Except that to make the signature official between the guardian (who speaks perfect French since he is our Turkish uncle Ibrahim) and the notary, we need an interpreter. In short, after about ten days, we finally got all the necessary paperwork in exchange of a nice hole in our budget... And we hope now to be able to finally get the permit in the next days.

And then, as a problem rarely happens alone, Nico, Hélène and Pablo call us on the road after their weekend in Ankara and tell us that the little Pablo is a contact case to Covid. As a result, we have to leave the Ranch for at least 7 days to check if Pablo has contracted the virus or not, because it's just easier for everybody.

Fortunately, Uncle Ibo (Ibrahim) is here. And since yesterday, we are installed at his place. And in fact, it's a good thing because he has horses, a ranch and especially needs help for his new ranch which still lacks a lot of things to be able to work well.

On the lands of southern Anatolia :

1/11/2021, Steppe FM : On the lands of southern Anatolia :

We stayed three nights in Selçuk. And for the second time, thanks to Bekir who had offered it to us (a big thank you by the way!), we slept in a hotel after a hard negotiation for the price and the dog. Three nights and therefore four days that allowed us to discover the pretty little town of Selçuk and its surroundings but especially the ruins of Ephesus, one of the largest Greco-Roman city of Asia Minor.

We wait for Nezahat, another friend of Bekir, to visit the great ruins of Ephesus. During this time we are not left out, the changing weather alternates between rain and storm under which we must visit the city of Selçuk, the archaeological museum of Ephesus and the ruins of the cathedral of Saint John. The church was destroyed by an earthquake and the visit of the ruins allows us to realize the impressive dimensions of the ancient church. The ruins are like a labyrinth, one often finds oneself face to face with enormous pieces of carved rock.

The day when Nezahat comes to look for us, the weather is great. She takes us outside the city to have the Turkish breakfast (breads, green and black olives, cheese, honey... and of course a carafe of tea) before entering the site of Ephesus.

Ephesus was the Roman capital of the province of Asia, its geographical location, its port at the crossroads of major trade routes and the construction of the temple of Artemis (one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world) explain its hegemony.

Today there is nothing left of this marvel except a poor column restored with cement, in the middle of a wasteland, a site that I would have done without going to see, especially when it rains a lot. On the other hand, as far as the ruins of the city itself are concerned, it is magical. All day long we walked in the ancient Roman city: we visited the huge amphitheater, discovered the perfectly restored facade of the library, wandered on the main artery lined with columns between the fountains, the temples and the agora. We get lost in the labyrinth of the ancient Roman villas where we are surprised by the exceptional mosaics or graffiti dating back to 2000 years!

In short, we spend five hours under the sun to imagine how the city was two thousand years ago.

Our last day in Selçuk, we spent it wandering in the small city, drinking tea on the terrace and learning to play Okey, a Turkish domino game similar to rummy.

Luck is now on our side because Nezahat has room in her car and is heading in the right direction for us. With her we drove almost 400 km. Thanks to this, we have only 200 km to do in 4 days. It's easy!

The hitchhiking works well, we are invited to eat by one, to drink tea or a beer by the other and we finally meet at the meeting point in Beysehir one day in advance.

We camp near the lake. After a beautiful sunset, the temperature drops quickly. We light a big fire and think about the hike to come. We are going to cross a part of Anatolia: from the lake Beysehir to Antalya by accompanying a horse riding. We don't know at all what it is going to give but it looks cool!

The next day around 2 pm we met Yusuf and Gokan. Yusuf is in charge of the stewardship and Gokan of the kitchen during the hike. He explains to us that our job consists in helping them and in taking care of the orientation during the trips by car. We imagine ourselves already having a rather quiet week to converse quietly with them!

Half an hour later Nico and Ibrahim arrive, Nico is the organizer of the hike and Ibrahim "the cowboy", also guide, is there to learn the route for the next time.

Finally the truck carrying the horses arrives. We tie the six Arab horses to the stakes and start to set up the camp. The hike begins... !

Wake up 7:30 am, the sun is not yet risen and the temperature is low. We blow on the embers of the day before to revive the fire and to put water to heat for the coffee. We help Gokan to prepare the breakfast then the customers arrive with Nico. Four French women, originally from Paris, who know each other since college. They are funny and nice and seem to be there to spend vacations with friends.

Top departure, Nico and Ibrahim have assigned the horses and have finished saddling everyone. They leave first. We quickly tidy up the camp and I get into the first car with Gokan to take care of the orientation. About thirty kilometers later, still along the lake, we stop to prepare the picnic. Apparently, we don't have the same definition of picnic. I imagined a few sandwiches and we set up a beautiful table with a view on the lake. Then we have to light the fire for the tea, another one to cook the meat on the barbecue and fill the water basins for the horses. The whole thing takes the four of us a good hour of preparation! Well, we have to admit that the result is really hot!

The horse team leaves after eating. We still have to heat water for the dishes which Aymeric and I are in charge of. Then we have to play a game of Tetris to put everything in the trailers before starting again. Again I get into the jeep and take care of the route. One hour later, after a tortuous, stony and splendid road we arrive at the place of the first bivouac: on the other side of a dried river a meadow surrounded by the side of the mountains where conifers grow.

It takes us more than two and a half hours to set up the bivouac. First of all, we have to set up the big tent that serves as a dining room and kitchen, then we have to set up the table, the chairs, a tepee that serves as a room for the guests and two other small tents for the shower and the toilet. We also have to make a fire to cook and heat the water for the shower, we need a lot of wood to burn to do all this. Then we help Gokan to cook, Yusuf to install the stakes of the horses, the basins of water and food for the night. We hardly finish when the customers arrive. We prepare an aperitif the time that they have all the time to shower then we put ourselves at the table. We help to serve the dishes. The discussions around the horse go well and the meal is excellent! We take care to heat some water for the dishes which we take care of then everybody meets around the fire to watch the movie of the day already edited by Nico (the result is amazing, he records the most beautiful passages with the gopro and the drone, and the rendering is crazy!) and conserversing until the hour to go to bed.

The next morning, again. We get up around 7 am, we revive the fire and prepare breakfast...

During the seven days that last the excursion, we keep the same pattern. Contrary to what we imagined, our days are really full. The only time we really have for ourselves is in the evening around the fire, once the dishes are done. We get closer to our two acolytes Gokan and Yusuf. Even if he doesn't speak French or English, the four of us share great moments drinking a beer before the customers arrive or struggling on the almost impassable roads.

The road we follow is fantastic. We get lost in the jagged space of the high mountains, follow green valleys where a stream flows, wind through rocky labyrinths, and drive on the side of a cliff. The bivouacs are also incredible, they often have a breathtaking view on a distant peak or a mountain range, especially if they are in the middle of nowhere.

As we start to get used to sleeping in more than luxurious campsites (at this point it's more comfortable than a hotel!) the hike is coming to an end. We finally arrived at the beach after having covered 250 km and several massifs. We prepare a last snack that marks the end of the week. The clients leave for Antalya. We slept one last night camping on the beach and the next day a truck arrived to transport the horses. We load the cars one last time and take the road behind the truck in the direction of Cappadocia!

Halfway there, one of the cars breaks down and we finish the journey, tight and stiff, to Nico's ranch.

We arrive in the middle of the night, we see nothing of the area and hardly any horses. On the other hand, we entered his house carved in the rock...

All we can say... It is promising!