Beysehir

Our next destination was Beysehir, situated on the largest freshwater lake in Turkey. We had read that it had an interesting old Mosque which was known for its wooden interior. We had an uneventful drive through the countryside and we noticed how much it changed from the dry Cappadocia area into a fertile hills and valleys. Arriving in Beysihir we made our way to the Esrefoglu Mosque area and expecting a wooden building didn’t see it. Ewout noticed a Dutch camper by the lake and decided to ask them, he pointed to the large building within sight and we were confused. It is actually the wooden interior that is it’s drawcard and after feeling a little foolish we decided to park by the lake and have lunch before doing some exploration.

Outside the mosque were ladies trying to sell handicrafts and after making our way past them we entered the building, covered our heads (ladies) and took off our shoes. Commissioned in the 1200’s it is one of the largest and best examples of the timber columned Mosques. We were impressed by the beautiful tile work and wooden beams covered with engraving and detailed carving. After taking some photos and enjoying the ambience we left and walked around the very old covered market next door. While walking around this we saw the Haman (Turkish bath) and a friendly man invited us in to have a look. This building was also very old, built at the end of the 13 century and we noticed the change of temperature which increased in heat as you moved further in. Outside again we made our way back to the lake side and by this time had come to the decision to stay there for the night. The dutch campers informed us that it was no problem and quite a nice place to park for the night and  we were in no hurry to move on.

After setting ourselves up, a trip to the supermarket was in order and we found the main shopping street quite close by. We passed the cake and ice-cream shop with thoughts of picking up something on our way back and proceeded to one of the small market shops to get some more supplies. We were in need of more vegetables, bread, cheese and other items to supplement our stores. With our main needs resupplied we stopped by the cake shop to purchase something for dessert, we decided on only 2 small cakes, but Clyde and Anna proceeded to buy the shop out (only joking) they love their sweeties and pudding and we waited for them outside. When we all returned to the campers to put away our goodies, Anna discovered her purse was missing, having just gone to the ATM before it was carrying a considerable amount of Turkish Lira as well as Euro’s. After searching everywhere possible, they back- tracked to the cake shop, where she had last used the purse and after trying to explain the predicament they had a look around and the staff  said they didn’t have it. While this was going on we had a visit from a local Turkish man who acted a strangely and this added to our concern as to what had happened to the purse.

When they returned back to camp, Ewout suggested they go the Police station and so he and Clyde set off to find it, heading back to the main street. Stopping by the supermarket they spotted a police car and asked where the Station was, offering a ride to the boys they were brought almost back to the campsite and there proceeded to explain the situation.  An appointment was made for later that evening when they would organise an interpreter so Anna could properly explain the dilemma. Without going into the boring details, I will just say a good outcome was achieved, the Police went to the cake shop where they surprisingly found the wallet, the interpreter was inspired to ask Anna and Clyde to visit his school and interact in English with his students and we had a lovely time parked by the lake for two nights, where we could observe the locals going about their activities.

Oh yes, we were also joined by an Irish couple with their camper, and a young Swiss couple travelling to Azerbaijan on their pushbikes and spent a nice evening chatting with them.

The next day feeling happier about the outcome over the purse and with an appointment with the local High school students Anna and Clyde went off for their school excursion while we spent the morning going for a walk by the lakeside and into town to find the post office where we hoped to send off our postcards to our grandchildren. That achieved we found a small local Kebab shop and had a nice lunch at local’s prices and felt rather pleased with our excursion.

Returning to our camper we set up our chairs and proceeded to enjoy watching the locals socializing in the park and the fishermen and boys dangling their rods into the lake.

Apart from the incident with the purse and the noise of the 3 local mosques echoing over the area we had an enjoyable stay in Beysehir.