World of Jacky

One of my personal highlights of the trip: the abandoned churches at the foot of volcano Kara Dag. Madensehri used to be named ‘the city of a thousand churches’, it was an important pilgrimage destination during the byzantine era. The ruins where I slept (pic 8) were once a basilica until the 8th century when it was raided by Muslim iconoclasts. It’s quite striking to see the whole village being built with stone blocks that once formed giant arches and decorations of these historical buildings (pic 9-14) Pic 9 shows sarcophagi used as enclosure walls for livestock. Pic 14 is a huge slab of andesite used for drying a sleeping bag! The first pictures depict the ruins of ancient Derbe, which is one of the towns Paul the Apostle had visited. Pic 15 shows a hand of a byzantine religious figure (this stucco is 1500 years old!!!) Pic 16 and 17 a byzantine cross. Now these buildings are protected fortunately. But to be honest, if these would be perfectly restored churches, I wouldn’t have visited them. #madenşehri #byzantinehistory #byzantineart #byzantine

Taşkale, meaning “Stone Castle” is famous for the hundreds of small granaries carved into the high cliff that looms over the town dramatically. There are about 250 granaries in total, each fronted by a little wooden door with a short beam jutting out above used to haul sacks of grain into the cool dry chambers behind. Locals say that grain and chickpeas can keep for 30 – 50 years in these cells thanks to the consistent temperature and low humidity. There is a theory that the town of Taşkale is also the ancestral home of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder and shaper of the Turkish Republic. The Town of Taşkale was previously known as Kızıllar, named for a Turkic Tribe that settled here hundreds of years ago. According to the theory, the Kızıllar were sent to the Balkans by the Ottomans in 1466 and Ataturk, who was born in Thessaloniki, is descended from the Kızıllar on his mother’s side. While portraits and statues of Ataturk are everywhere in Turkey, the painted plaque in the midst of the granary doors commemorates the town’s most beloved son. #taşkale #troglodytes #cave #ataturk

One of the greatest examples of Islamic architecture is located in the city of Beyşehir. The construction of the Eşrefoğlu Mosque was completed in 1299, and when Bey Suleiman (who ordered the building of the mosque) died in 1302, he was buried in a tomb adjacent to the mosque. The wooden roof of the building is supported by 42 wooden columns. The columns are made of cedar wood, and according to local tradition, they were soaked in the waters of Lake Beyşehir for six months before being used in the building. The wooden elements of the mosque, including the capitals of the columns, are decorated with the kalemisi technique, i.e. hand-painted ornaments. It allows giving the wood different colours. The Eşrefoğlu Mosque contains the best-preserved and visually the richest examples of the use of this technology in the world.

Back at the coast? Not really, this is a natural lake at 1100 meters altitude. We camped between countless bird species (actually not countless but 300 different species) and surrounded by really loud frogs. This would be our last night wild camping before we shelter in a hotel for a few nights. 3 days of rain has been forecasted and my wrist is desperate for some time off. Temperatures are night will drop to 0 degrees, so I can finally use those warm clothes I’ve been hauling up all those climbs. There’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad preparation. But rain still sucks haha #biketocamp #camping #wildcamp #biketouringforever #lakesidecamping @biketouringeurope @leventvebisikletleri @bikepacking_turkey @cycletouringorg @cycle.planet @getoutside

‘Am I in Chile again?’ I was asking myself this question each time I gazed at the snow capped peaks obscured by ancient cedar trees. The most extensive and magnificent forests of Cedrus libani in the world are on the Taurus Mountains in Turkey. They cover an area of about 400,000 hectares. Many of them are hundreds of years old with the oldest dating back 2000 years! While the Roman ruins are reduced to rubble, these trees still stand tall and proud, dominating this impressive landscape! #cedar #getoutside #ventureout #oldgrowth #adventurebybike

We soon figured out why we were the only humans in these alpine valleys. After being overly excited about seeing this much snow, reality struck and we had to plow our bikes through thick snow. I say ‘we’ but I should say ‘Niels’, because he pushed my bike as my wrist was too painful to push. Copious amounts of snow, ice and voltaren gel were not really doing any help so far. #bikepackingadventure #cyclingturkey #hikeabike #bikepacking_inspiration #bikepackinglife @leventvebisikletleri @bikepacking_turkey @bikepacking_inspiration @getoutside @bikepack_adventures @worldbycycling

Our first wheel prints in Turkish snow at a lofty 2200m of altitude. The high plains are still largely deserted as the lush alpine grasses await the first cows for grazing. We would soon figure out why nobody was here yet. The road we came from was blocked by rockfall and the other side… Well, that’s for tomorrow :) #taurus #kızıldağ #türkiye #bikepacking #bikelife @leventvebisikletleri @bikepacking_turkey @bikepackingroots @bikepacking_inspiration @getoutside @bikepack_adventures @worldbycycling

Snippets of a village in the Taurus mountains #yakaköy #mosque #mosquesofworld #taurusmountains #turkiye

We braved the rain and climbed 700m to reach the ancient city of Termessos. While the mist obscured the Antalya valley views, it heightened the mystical ambiance. Exploring the site felt like being kids in a giant Lego world, with colossal walls and enigmatic structures around every bend. #termessos #antikkent #archeologylovers #ancientgreek #antalya

After a rainy 700m climb we arrived at the ancient city of Termessos. Normally this place has impressive views of the Antalya valley but we got a drizzle instead. We didn’t mind though, the mist just added to the mysterious atmosphere of this magical place. Every turn revealed another giant wall or incomprehensible structure. We felt like kids in a giant lego world! #termessos #antikkent #archeologylovers #ancientgreek #antalya

During the many late hours of plotting my route through Turkiye I sometimes came across little known POI’s on google maps. Idebessos was one of those, a seemingly forgotten ruined Greek city perched on top of a rocky outcrop in the midst of a vast pine forest. I immediately knew I wanted to camp there. So we did, exploring the ruins and making a firepit of the blocks that once formed temples and tombs! #idebessos #ancientruins #lostplaces #archeology #greekruins

We’ve stumbled upon this amazing Greek city dating back to 2000 B.C because a local family told us about it. We were the only visitors there when we arrived that morning and the entrance fee was free. I couldn’t wrap my head around the striking similarities with the ancient inca sites I’ve seen. The intricate stonework that appears seamless as if the stone blocks were molten together. And also the weird blobs on some of the blocks. These are for manipulating the blocks into place but could be chipped of once the right position has been obtained, yet they leave them. It makes me reconsider if some of Graham Hancock’s ideas might be true even though I dislike many of his outrageous theories. #arykanda #arykandaantikkenti #grahamhancock #turkiye #archeologylovers