Middle East Travel

» Jennifer W. Miner - seven churches III

Hugh, you wrote, "...a Turkish town utterly uncorrupted by tourism."

To me, the utterly uncorrupted by tourism part is one of Akhisar's strong points! There are many, many travelers out there who are attracted to the non-touristy parts of the world. I mean, who really needs a t-shirt that says, "My mom went to Turkey and all I got was this-" -well, you get the idea!

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» hughtaylor - seven churches III

In response to seven churches III posted by JenniferMiner:

Indeed I do.
Whenever I am traveling I just love to get off the beaten track and go to the places tourists never see.
On one visit to Turkey I found myself in a small village. There was a well in the centre and that's where all the women came with pots to collect the water.
An open sewer ran down the middle of the street and outside the butchers shop pieces of animal carcass were hanging suspended from hooks and festooned with flies.
It was not odour free nor was it hygienic by 21st century European standards but it was fascinating.
This is what my village would have looked like a couple of hundred years ago.

-- posted by hughtaylor

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» Mari Nicholson - seven churches III

In response to seven churches III posted by hughtaylor:

Hey, I've got to put a word in here for the tourist who also likes the "touristy" things like clean bedsheets and comfortable, non lice-filled cushions to sit on. There is room for both on a trip. I too like the "uncorrupted by tourism" places but often I find that the people who inhabit these places just long for the tourists to come along and lift them out of their poverty. I well remember an educated man I met in Turkey who took me to his village to meet his father. The father, when we got there, was telling a very tall tale to a serious taker of notes. After the taker-of-notes had gone on his way (hiking, of course, nothing so comfy as a hired car) the old man just smiled at me and said simply, "I told him what he wanted. He wanted a story, not the truth, so I obliged." His son told me that many people in Turkey do this. It's their way of being polite to the visitors!

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» hughtaylor - seven churches III

In response to seven churches III posted by maritravel:

A lot of the Turkish towns uncorrupted by tourism do provide accommodation that has clean sheets and a distinct lack of lice. Many of them are thriving communities based on agriculture and local industry.
They are there all the year round while several of the touristy places shut up shop in the winter.

-- posted by hughtaylor

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