It’s easy to romanticise the ancient past. Put on rose tinted glasses. Imagine how it was. Think how incredible it would be to time-travel back. Just to see how it actually was. But then always with one eye on the now.
To a much lesser degree, we are all time travellers. No other option. All heading into the future. Whether we like it, or not. Forever creating ‘the good ‘ole days’.
So that’s what 2-Cheeses do. Constantly head into the future. One eye in the rear view mirror. Three looking forward.
Day 24 – Beastie boosts us into and through wide open never-ending landscapes. Snow still visible on some high-top ranges. Fertile valleys and plains overlooked and threatened by rugged rocky crags. Crops, fruit and vines all flourish. A designated mix of large and small. Some obviously under the hammer of twentieth century industry. Tractors rule OK? Yet, others we pass, have one or two bodies crouched, tenderly tending their livelihood, as if their very existence depends on it. Animal presence is minimal. When they do rear their heads, goats seem to be the chosen flavour, with sheep following close behind. Cows occasionally get a look in, yet oddly, not a pig in sight.
Hotel Asikoglu Camping at Boğazkale is our home for tonight. This area, for several hundred years, home of the Hittite Empire.
Day 25 – On leaving, we toy with visiting the nearby ancient site. Decide against it. Leave our friendly Nederlander campers to hike the 10K on our behalf. We head south towards Göreme in Central Anatolia. Famous for its fairy chimneys.
Türkiye is vast. The panoramas huge. The skies massive. It’s road network is good. Far better than expected. The extremely hilly terrain doesn’t always allow us to go from A to B in a straight, or flat line. Many a day so far, Beastie’s bounced well in excess of 300K. Fortunately fuel prices are low at £1.10 per litre.
Another unusual entry awaits us at Camping Panorama, Göreme. Beastie gets piloted in like a big ocean liner coming into port. Then marshalled into his lot, with an unexpected, and fortunate full stop.