goo-moosh is good mush.

As an apology for dedicating an entire excessively long post to chicken, I present you with:

Carrots aka A Beypazari Day

A trip to the town of Beypazari [baypazar-euh] has been in the works for awhile. Finally, on Sunday, Candas [jahn-dahsh] and I got our acts together and finally went. It was beautiful weather--70s, sunny--and a wonderfully relaxing day trip [especially after the intensity of Hattusa].

Getting to Beypazari from Ankara is easy...if you know how. Transportation is such a secret here! People just seem to know how to get everywhere, as if they are born knowing, but oftentimes they still can't tell you how to do it! It doesn't make any sense...and generally means I'm left in the dark.

I knew there was a special bus terminal to get to Beypazari, but I didn't where it was. A few weeks ago I spent way too much time on Google trying to find out, and it was not a rewarding use of time. Then, for some reason, when I tried again on Thursday I found a wealth of information. For those of you who would consider going, it turns out you can get there from two places: Etlik (Eski) Garajlar [buses leave every hour on the hour] or across the street from the Akkopru Metro Stop [long distance dolmuslar come about every half-hour].

This second option is significantly easier and was a godsend for Candas and I. We met at Akkopru and kind of guessed as to where to catch the dolmus, which entailed standing on the wrong side of the road for the first 15 minutes. We didn't really believe it could be so easy, especially because the Lonely Planet made no mention of this option, but another dolmus driver confirmed we were in the right place [phew!].








These long-distance dolmuslar are only 5YTL and in 1.5hours you're in Beypazari. It was a great ride--there's some really outstanding geology to see along the way [I'm talking textbook stratigraphy lessons here]. When we got there, Candas and I didn't really know where to get off...and apparently we don't know what "city centruum" indicates.

note: ok, our idiocy here was somewhat legit. see, we stopped at a stoplight and people got off. in front of the light was a sign for the city centruum. we thought we should get off there, but then someone asked if we would stop at the market center. the answer was yes. then, we drove across the street and the bus stopped. we kind of expected it to be a little farther away than across the street from where we had just stopped!


Luckily, the driver was nice enough to turn around and drop us off back at the city centruum. The elongated ride also gave us the opportunity to see the rest of not-so-scenic Beypazari and pass by the Hipermarket. [i love that name]



Now Beypazari, located just west of Ankara [not South or East as Candas and adamantly believed] is known primarily for...carrots. They are the main distributors of carrots to the rest of the country and manage to make carrot everything--Turkish delight, fruit leather, ice cream, juice. Candas and I bought a bag of carrots near the end of the trip and I munched on one as we waited for the bus. I admit, they were really really good carrots. The carrot lokum, however, left much to be desired...although it was better than the saffron lokum from Safranbolu. The carrot durum [a sweet carrot fruit leather with nuts and coconut], on the other hand, was quite delicious.


Beypazari is not really on the radar of most foreigners but there are insane numbers of Turkish tourists. It's not a very picturesque place and is largely a pazar where you can find all sorts of wheat products, spices, dried fruits and veggies, kuru [their famous "hardtack"], and headscarves. But, on a nice day, it's a good place to just hang around.

As you'll begin to notice, food products are a big deal with Beypazari. They are quite famous for a few dishes, as well--yaprak sarmasi [stuffed grape leaves] that are rolled as thin as my pinky finger, etli guvec [meat stew], and 80 layer baklava [really only has 40 layers]. Candas's uncle suggested a specific restaurant, so we tried it. Luckily, this restaurant didn't have a hostess dressed up in Ottoman costume...for some reason the tourists seem to love the ridiculous kitschy displays of old Turkey. It's like going to the different Epcot countries, but a bit worse.

As for the meal...Oy vey, is all I can say...

We decided to get the veggie guvec, yaprak sarmasi, and baklava.

Results:

1. Veggie Guvec = gross! Okra and peppers and fat with a little lamb. When we ordered the veggie guvec we expected it to be lamb free. We thought they gave us the wrong thing by mistake, but apparently not. All the guvec varieties have meat. When the waiter came to take it away and saw we hadn't eaten it he asked why. Candas's great response? "It was too meaty." Later we caught a glimpse of the regular Beypazari Guvec...looked a lot better.

2. Yaprak Sarmasi = really really good.

3. 80 Kagit Baklava = totally underwhelming. Maybe this just wasn't the place to get it.

4. Maden Suyu [the famous Beypazari mineral water] = same as every other bubbly water...really bubbly.

Bonus result: They gave us a dessert we didn't order--Hosmelin--and it was seriously awesome.

When we were done our meal they would not stop giving us tea and the waiter decided to give us a huge speech on all the things to do in Beypazari, inviting us to stay at his Pensiyon if we'd be spending the night. Alas, we declined.

Our table was also in a nice location, on the upper deck outside, so we managed to do some pretty significant people watching...especially of the women trying on ubersparkly headscarves and marveling at themselves in the mirror. It was hi-larious.

Now, I must tell you, the real reason Candas and I went to Beypazari was to do some shopping...specifically silver shopping [look, Beypazari is famous for pretty much every product in the world]. I really wanted to buy some silverware, but I didn't find any. I didn't really have a problem settling for jewelery, though.

Before lunch we stopped in a few silver stores and eventually decided that our first stop, a nice little shop in the backstreets called Sarimenler Gumus Evi, was the best place to do our money dropping deeds.

Let me tell you, we spent an hour+ in that place. The woman who worked there was incredibly sweet, as was her son who got a kick out of speaking English with us. Some other young fella was working there too and was quite helpful...perhaps a little too helpful--each time we thought we had made a decision he showed us more! If you know me you'll know that that causes nothing but problems for me. Decision making and I are not friends.

Prices of gold and silver items are based on two things. First, there is a cost based on the general weight of the piece. Second, there is a cost for workmanship. Silver, at least Beypazari silver, is very reasonably priced and little haggling is done. The people at this store took a particular liking to us and gave us a nice "student discount." As a general rule, paying with cash rather than credit card also gets you a much better price.

In the end, I bought 4 rings and a pair of earrings for 50YTL [~$30]. I'd say that's a pretty good deal! Added bonus: it was all real Beypazari silver.


Now, Candas's purchase has a bit of a funny side to it. We looked at a lot of stuff, focusing primarily on Beypazari specific silver. She fell in love with two beautiful silver+marcasite rings and a pair of earrings. After getting price checks she finally decided to just get the rings. At the last minute she asked, just to make sure, if they were Beypazari silver...

Answer: "oh no! these are from Thailand! aren't they beautiful?!" heh.

Despite that shocker Candas held her ground and bought the rings. They are beautiful and i'd say a great choice. Plus, it's great that she can say "I went to Beypazari and came back with Thai silver" [smile candas!].

Overall, it was quite a fun [and not so overwhelming] purchasing process. I'm so glad that we didn't choose to go to the Gumus Sarayi [Silver Palace]...that would have killed us. And hey, can you believe I made a decision!? And before Candas! That's gotta be a first for me.

Other than silver, I ended up with a nice rolling stick for 2YTL...great for borek making and people poking.

It was a really wonderful trip and I was glad to have such good company. We laughed a lot, although the gun store kinda freaked us out. Also, this time, we didn't miss our bus back. We were tired by the end, the C had a nice nap on the way back. All in all a great day, I must say.