Kaya Köy - Cultural Connections part 2

When travelling in South West Turkey in April, expectations are not great.  April is the month when the hotelier suddenly wakes up and realises that the tourist season is upon him and starts frantic repairs. The term "tadilat nedeniyle" is used  as an excuse for everything;  favourite restaurants being closed, roads dug up, WiFi not connecting and telephone lines failing - all "because of repairs". So when 3 intrepid Bodrumites set out in search of literary titillation, we were only looking for food and a pillow to rest our heads after the Kayakoy walk, talk and cocktail. But we struck lucky. After a great meal of pit-roasted lamb at Cin Bal, described here by my friends at "Turkey's for Life" blog, we headed back to our pre-booked Doğa Apartment for a very comfortable sleep in a beautiful, well appointed stone building, full of character and style with the modern addition of lashings of piping hot water.

On Sunday morning, after a wander through the pretty gardens and a discussion with Ali, the owner, about the history of the farmstead and his plans for a small vineyard, we set off to find an equally scenic breakfast spot. More by luck than judgement, we ended up at Gemiler Beach and sitting in this tranquil spot enjoying a simple breakfast, I realised that I had last visited this spot 32 years ago. 

We were back in Kaya in time for the midday handicraft market with stalls ranging from ebru, the art of marbling paper, to finely produced British scones. A kind of eastern bazaar meets the Women's Institute.

The highlight of the a day full of delights, was retracing our steps back to Gunay's Garden to listen to Victoria Hislop talk of her love of Greece and how her  third novel "The Thread" set in Thessaloniki, uses the theme of people forced from their homes because of their religion. 

We sadly had to set off back to Bodrum  that evening, missing the rest of the event.  Next year, we'll be booked in for the whole week and hopefully will be meeting up with some of you reading this now.

Kaya Köy - Cultural Connections - Day 1.

If you have read  "Birds Without Wings" you will recall that Ibrahim the Mad could mimic the bleating of his goats; the surprised, the nanny looking for her kid,  the perplexed, hungry or a billy in rut, so had  you stumbled upon the scene of 120 or so assorted foreigners and a few Turks standing on a rocky outcrop trying to imitate a goat that has nothing to say, you would not have been surprised.  As part of the group, I was in seventh heaven. How many times can you walk around the inspiration for a favourite novel with its author.  Louis de Bernieres turned out to be a charming and playful host while showing us around Kayaköy, the deserted village on which Eskibahçe in his wonderful novel set in early 20th century Turkey is loosely based.  As a book club stalwart, this novel has probably been responsible for introducing Ottoman and Turkish history to more people than all the university history departments combined.

The spot where "Birds without Wings"  was conceived

This tour was organised  as part of Cultural Connections Kaya 2013. Advertised as an "Art, Literature, Music and Food Festival", it would have been hard to resist but with the authors Louis de Bernieres, Jeremy Seal, Victoria Hislop and Sofka Zinovieff,  and the TV and music producer Mustafa Oğuz and screen writer and director Çağan Irmak topping the bill, this festival looks like it is going to start nipping at the heals of the likes of Hay, Oxford and Charleston as a literary draw.  Organised by Jane Akatay and Rebecca Keskin who epitomise the saying "if you want something doing ask a busy woman" and using Günay's Garden restaurant  as a base, this year's event runs from 27th April to 3rd May and I suggest you add it to your 2014 diary now as it's bound to get bigger and even better.

Günay's Garden - The beautiful setting for the opening cocktail.  

Louis de Bernieres with William Buttigieg MBE,  who cut the ribbon to open the festival.