Beypazari Redux

We had tried to see Beypazari on an earlier trip but ended up seeing more than we thought before we got there and only had time for dinner and a quick walk around the dark town.  We decided to give Beypazari the attention it deserves and make it the only target for our day trip this past Sunday.

We loaded up the car with Mehmet Gulsen and his nine year old son Selim, and also Cevahir Sumer (who has lived in Ankara for many years but never been to Beypazari).  The trip there was pretty quick - about 1 1/2 hours from the city center in Ankara where Mehmet lives.  We first went to the top of the local hill which had a good view of the town and surrounding hills.  There was a tourist bus of people from Kocaeli at this hill summit also.  Beypazari is quite famous as a minor tourist attraction.

Selim and Mehmet at the hill top

View of old Beypazari

Cevahir and Alice

We then found a parking place near the downtown (not an easy accomplishment) and set off.  We sampled their famous cookies at a bakery (a plain and dry cookie but still tasty) and then walked up the main shopping street in the old town.  Beypazari is quite old - maybe at least 1000 years old and is set in the foot hills.  The old streets are stone and uneven.  Aficionados will know that the town is famous for its carrots and its sparkling mineral water.  We ate lunch at the restaurant my department chair Osman recommended.  (Osman hails from Beypazari and provided a handy hand drawn map of the highlights of the town.)  We enjoyed their local noodles, local kebab, sarma and gozleme, a kind of quesadilla.  The restaurant building was very old and had beautiful wood ceilings and we sat on traditional Ottoman benches covered with kilim pillows.  The table itself was very low in the traditional way.

Selim and Mehmet try the famous local spring water from one of the free fountains

A view of the main shopping street

Interesting picture because the dress is very traditional but the lady is using an electric juicer to make carrot juice.  BTW I bought two bunches of carrots - just 1 lira each!

A really big boy pan of baklava - yum!

Mehmet and Selim at our traditional lunch spot

Selim and Alice - if you look carefully you will see he has a carrot juice mustache!

Our restaurant - a little challenging to pronounce for non-Turkish native speakers

After lunch we headed for the museums.  There are three, all small.  The first was the hamam museum (Turkish bath) and was not inspiring.  The second was in a large old house and included history artifacts and dummies dressed in traditional Ottoman gear in the different rooms.  The third was also in an old house and included live demonstrations of some traditional crafts and a wonderful outdoor tea area.  We also visited three mosques, one a lead roofed one, one a wooden Selcuk one and one with a wooden minaret which was located up a flight of stairs (the main part of the mosque, that is).  We shopped a little for carrots, the aforementioned cookies and other local goodies.

The hamam museum

Skylights in the hamam museum - I found it interesting that all are clear except one is blue - this was true in the other rooms also

Hmmm, the toilet in the grand house below - more than basic - luckily I could hold it until I reached something better :-) 

The grand house where the history museum is located

Interior of the wooden Selcuk mosque - plain but inspring

The center section of the women's section (always on the second floor)

The Selcuk mosque - from 1225

Exterior of the mosque

The living museum - also in a traditional home - this time of a wealthy mohair merchant

This is the place

The kitchen of the house - like traditional U.S. historic homes it is separate from the main house to prevent fires

Selim works with a dervish wannabe to make traditional painted paper

Selim's artistic effort - I would say the boy has talent!

A window detail to show the thickness of the walls

Tea in the garden - if only they served beer!

View from the tea garden

Our second mosque - the lead roofed one perhaps designed by the great Ottoman architect Sinan

The lead roof in all of its splendor

Mehmet and I could not resist hitting this mosque too - note the wooden minaret

Inside a lovely wooden ceiling also

The ladies area above and the wood burning stove in front right (I am not kidding, that is the heating for this place)

We decided to drive back to Ankara through a back way that started down a mini-canyon like road and past the famous Beypazari water bottling plant.  BTW, there are many springs in the area and many free fountains where you can get the water.  Mehmet filled up our big water bottle from one such fountain.  This road was very scenic and after an hour of so driving through deep hinterlands we ended up at the last large village and found that the road we intended to take was closed due to snow (it is mountainous in this area).  We either had to turn back or go on to Bolu, quite far to the north and through the mountains.  We opted for the latter and it was an interesting drive through mostly deserted land.  Unfortunately night fell so we passed the pine forests in dark.  We arrived at Bolu and then got on the Istanbul-Ankara expressway and headed home.  We arrived about four later than planned - around 10 PM.  Oh well, it was a memorable and enjoyable day for us all, and Mehmet's son was  trooper.  He did not start asking when we would arrive until about 90 minutes outside of Ankara on our way back.

Abundant snow through the mountains north of Beypazari north to Bolu

Selim had enough and wisely took a long nap in the car on the way back home using Cevahir as a pillow

This picture, for me, sums up the day.  This is an actual street of Beypazari with an actual resident in a totally unstaged photo.  Don't you want to come here??