SAKLIKENT
I looked out from Giresun Castle on the peninsula.
Enchanted by the sight of the town in the glowing light of the late
afternoon, I scanned the view in every direction. The castle was
filled with people strolling, picnicking, seated in the tea gardens
watching the sea and the town, and children playing. It is thought
that the castle may originally have been built by King Pharnakes
I of Pontus in the 2nd century BC. Although some of its walls are
today in ruins, it is still magnificent. At its highest point is
the monumental tomb of Topal Osman, commander of Atatürk’s
first guard regiment.Giresun Island appears tiny from this high
vantage point. Traces can be seen of the ancient walls which once
ran in a square around the island, and of the Monastery of St Phocas,
Archbishop of Sinop.Saklikent, literally the Hidden City, lies 45
kilometres northeast of Fethiye. One of the world’s narrowest
and best concealed gorges, it impresses all who see it with the
power of water, the element in which life on earth began.
I for one reckon that the secret temples in the
Indiana Jones films have to take second place to the magical beauty
of Saklikent. Here daylight filters down through the narrow fissure
to create delightful plays of light on the sculpted rock, while
the stream running down the gorge bed completes the tableau.
The stream pours so fiercely from the narrow gorge
mouth that the only way to enter is along a walkway pinned to the
west wall above the level of the water. Beyond, the stream calms
down, and the first kilometre or so are negotiable even by children
without difficulty. Then the going becomes tougher, and ropes have
been fixed to the rock walls to assist in climbing the rocky obstacles
on the gorge floor. A few kilometres further on progress becomes
almost impossible, but that is enough to see the extraordinary beauty
of the walls and passages shaped by the flowing water.
At some points it is necessary to wade up to the
waist through the stream, so if you want to explore far into the
gorge there is a price to pay in terms of wet clothes and shoes,
and those who wish to reach even further up the gorge would do well
to come equipped with diving shoes or plastic sandals.Visitors who
enjoy trekking might wish to explore the gorge from the summit rather
than the floor. For this equally adventurous alternative take one
of several paths east of the gorge. The climb to the top takes about
an hour. Walking along the upper edge of the 700 metre high gorge
is a thrilling experience, although the gorge floor is only visible
from two places.he Karaçay river which rushes noisily through
the canyon suddenly bursts out of the cliff onto the flat plain,
where it converges with the Esençay before dividing again
into several streams.
On rafts moored to the banks of these gently flowing
branches of the river are several restaurants nestling amongst greenery.
Here you can enjoy a delicious meal of fresh trout
and the local pastry known as gözleme.
At the mouth of the gorge local villagers have set up market stalls
selling honey, olive oil, thyme, sour pomegranate syrup, carob syrup
and other homemade produce. Altogether the Saklikent Gorge is 13
kilometres in length, and the only people known to have got from
one end to the other are the BÜMAK-ATLAS team and a group from
TPAO led by Besir Erkman. Both teams used professional climbing
and caving equipment to complete their respective expeditions, which
took two and a half days. They commenced at the far end of the gorge
and travelled downstream. The most difficult part of the journey
was apparently descending the 50 kilometre waterfall halfway along
the gorge.The gorge runs along the dividing boundary between the
provinces of Mugla and Antalya, and is so well hidden that it remained
completely unknown until its discovery in 1989 by a shepherd named
Ekrem, who followed some stray goats here.
The gorge was declared a national park, and an asphalt
road was built to its mouth so that visitors could enjoy this spectacular
natural feature. Even in the height of summer when the sun is blazing
hot elsewhere, in Saklikent Gorge the heat does not penetrate and
the mountain stream is cool .
From spring until the end of August conversation
in Giresun centres around the nuts, which have become so much a
part of the local culture that there are riddles, stories and songs
about them. In one local folksong a lover declares, ‘My darling,
not even a hazelnut/Would I eat without you’.
Maize, cabbages, green beans and other vegetables
are grown in everyonles gardens. No meal in Giresun is complete
without cabbage, which is made into soup and numerous other dishes
and served with corn bread.
Nettle stew and pickled beans are among the other
specialities of the local cuisine. Last but not least are anchovies,
which are the most popular fish throughout the Black Sea region
and cooked in a myriad ways. Anchovies are no longer found in their
former abundance, however, and it is to be hoped that they do not
disappear altogether, like Giresun’s enormous horse mackerel.
When I saw these fish in an old photograph I refused to believe
that they were horse mackerel until convinced by the accounts of
some elderly people. These fish, equal in size to bonito, have not
been seen for the past thirty years.
By Ali Ethem KESKIN
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