This post has been greatly delayed, for many reasons, but they aren’t important to list out. I realized while starting this post the last one I did was back in September! We’ve doing lots of things since then, but just haven’t sat down to write about them.
Over the summer our friends, Hilary and Micah, asked if we were interested in a trip to climb and sightsee in Turkey. Turkey hadn’t been on my radar. The much more popular and not far away Greek island of Kalymnos is usually high on climber’s lists. Nevertheless after a little investigation we decided to go to experience the history of Istanbul and climb some wild features in Geyikbayiri.
Istanbul’s old town felt like stepping into a living museum. The grandeur of the mosques, the cool echoes of the Basilica Cistern, and the intricate tile work reminded us of how young our own country is. The charm, though, was occasionally often interrupted by the men in front of shops and restaurants, calling out to us like carnival barkers. Their enthusiasm was palpable, but I couldn’t help but think I’d be more tempted to enter their stores without the hard sell. Nearly every establishment had them, tea stores, restaurants, candy stores, art shops, you name it and it usually had a hawker.
One such encounter turned into an unexpected detour. While waiting in line for the Basilica, a man struck up a friendly conversation, which naturally ended with an invitation to his uncle’s rug shop. Before we knew it, we were sipping tea, admiring intricate carpets, and listening to stories of their travels to the US. Micah deftly extricated us, promising we’d be back the next day. (Spoiler: We weren’t.)
The Hagia Sophia is a grand mosque and former Orthodox Christian church dating back many centuries (~500 CE). We opted for the balcony tickets and were able to wander and see many pieces of art that were installed over the centuries. The Islamic art tends toward tile work, calligraphy, patterns, and geometric carvings. On the other hand the Christian era mosaics, which were covered up after the fall of Constantinople to the Turks 1453, were ornately composed images of rulers and Jesus. While both were wonderful to look at I think the most impressive piece was the mosaic of Jesus, Mary and John the Baptist. It is amazing the emotion the artists were able to express through thousands of tiny cubes of colored glass.
We wandered through the Blue Mosque courtyard, unable to see the namesake interior due to prayers. The call to prayer happens five times a day and is different each day as it is based on the sunrise/set times. The call is quite haunting and beautiful to hear, despite or perhaps because it is played through low quality loudspeakers. No matter where you were in the city you’d hear the call.
Istanbul and Turkey in general is a cat lovers paradise. The city has long supported feline residents. The culture is that the cats in a neighborhood aren’t so much strays, as they are just neighborhood cats. Residents, business owners all chip in a put a bit of food out on the sidewalks for the cats. They also give them places to sleep by putting boxes and other little structures in various nooks and crannies of the street. The cats we met were almost universally friendly, often coming over to rub against your leg in hopes you might offer up a little food. If you want to learn more check out Kedi, a Turkish documentary about it. Kedi is the Turkish word for cat.
In the evening Carly and I visits a hammam, or turkish bath. This particular one, Suleymaniye Hammam, serves couples, which isn’t easy to find. First off is the fact that the bath was built by one of the most famous Turkish architects, Sinan the Architect in 1550! The experience starts by changing into the provided bathing suits, just boxer shorts and bikini top for ladies. They also provide these ridiculous shoes that are made from wood and taper to the front, and are horrible to walk in. After some delicate steps into the main bathing area we laid on a massive slab of marble with the steam surrounding us. While it is quiet, the gentle sounds of water running and the workers sloshing water around the other customers are soothing.
After a 30 minute soak on the slab it was our turn. Carly almost took a digger while walking into the adjoining bathing room. All along the floor near the perimeter of the rooms was a couple inch deep trough to allow water to drain away. The dim light, funky wooden shoes, and lack of any distinguishing contrast between marble with a trough and without one, made her slip. Luckily the worker was quick to catch her to prevent injury.
The actual experience is sort of like a massage, but definitely more of a bath. The workers, one for each of us, first rinsed us alternating between warm and cool water. They then gave us an exfoliating scrub. After that we both laid down on another slab of marble where they soaped us up and gave a gentle massage. The most interesting sensation was from the bubbles. They would capture a pillowcase full of just bubbles from a large vessel and then squeeze out the bubbles onto our backs. As the bubbles slowly oozed away and popped it provided a wonderful sensation. I highly recommend it! Post bath we were robed up and were able to lounge and enjoy some turkish coffee, our only ones of the trip unfortunately.
The next day we focused on exploring Istanbul’s culinary treasures. Monday was a highlight (in good and bad ways) with a food tour—part hands-on cooking, part cultural immersion. We prepared borek, celery root stew, dolmas, and more in a cozy home filled with the antics of kittens playing on the back patio. The smells of the kitchen were divine, but as the food was nearly ready, I felt a wave of nausea and excused myself to cool off outdoors. That brief reprieve wasn’t enough, though, as I barely made it back to the hotel before succumbing to what we later deduced was food poisoning from the breakfast buffet. By early evening, Hilary and Micah had fallen ill too. Carly, inexplicably immune, became my caretaker. We suspect the breakfast buffet at the hotel was the culprit, which is too bad since it was an impressive spread of different sweet and savory dishes and delights.
Tuesday, we delayed our flight to Antalya by a few hours to give me time to recover. The others (except Carly who was 100%) were still out of commission, but Carly and I pushed ahead with the next leg of the trip. Geyikbayiri greeted us with its stunning limestone cliffs, hues of orange, red, and white rising dramatically from the roadside. The tufas and caves were unlike anything back home, a climber’s dreamscape. That first day, Carly took the lead as I conserved energy and mainly followed. The rock quality was fantastic, though the longer, easier routes weren’t worth the effort compared to the routes in the 6a+ range and above.
Since Geyikbayiri is a bit off the radar of most Americans, here’s the lay of the land. Antalya is a major city on the southern coast of Turkey on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. The flight from Istanbul is about 1 hr in the air and there are many flights per day between the cities. Geyikbayiri is all limestone and sits around 1,500′ of elevation. It has a similar rock style as Kalymnos.
Hilary and Micah joined us a day later, still a bit worn from the bug. By then, the weather had turned to drizzle, but the humid air didn’t deter us. I tackled a 7a and nearly sent it. Our base, the Flying Goat, was a haven—private cabins close to the cliffs, with resident cats like Katana lounging on our porch each morning. Katana was our surrogate cat for the trip. Her brother at Flying Goat was also nice, but Junior was a little more difficult to break the ice with. I think we succeeded though since on the last night he stole into our cabin to sleep on our bed to get out of the cold.
The communal vibe at Flying Goat introduced us to climbers from across the globe: Americans, Australians, Europeans, Russians, and even an Iranian adventurer we met at the crag. Conversations ranged from beta-sharing to swapping stories of far-flung climbing meccas in the lounge each evening.
The climbing ramped up as I regained strength. My proudest moment came on a burly 7b route, a mix of power moves and technical sequences that suited my style—I was fortunate Micah had put the draws on it. On our final day, I ticked off a couple 7a’s and a 7a+, marking my most productive day of the trip. Carly, ever steady, kept pushing her own limits while enjoying the unique style of the rock, she only ended up climbing a grade or so lower than me cleanly.
Our rest days were just as rewarding. One morning, we hiked to the ancient city of Trebanna. Perched on a hill, the ruins offered a glimpse into life over two millennia ago. There were no fences, no ticket booths, just an open canvas of history. Scrambling through crumbled walls and enjoying faded engravings, we felt like explorers, especially with the sweeping views of the far off Mediterranean Sea and mountains surrounding us from the hilltop.
Life at Flying Goat is pretty simple, cook, climb, sleep, and get supplies. We didn’t rent a car, which meant a steep 2-mile trek to the store for food. Local roadside stands selling fruits, veggies, and fresh eggs saved us more than once. Just as we missed pomegranate season at Flying Goat, the trees were on the verge of giving way to ripe oranges—another reason to return. We did buy a few pomegranates to squeeze in the juicer that was in the kitchen and it was fantastic.
Before we knew it, our time in Geyikbayiri ended. We shuttled back to Antalya, and from there to Istanbul for a final night near the airport in Arnavutköy. The stark contrast of the industrial town, with its conservative dress and subdued colors, was a fascinating bookend to our trip. Carly and I, clad in vibrant purples and magentas, stood out as the Americans we are. We wandered around the town center occasionally going into a shop or two. The English speakers were far and few betwee. The next morning’s early flight to Paris was smooth, but the extra security checks at Charles de Gaulle solidified my preference for using Amsterdam to get back to SLC.
Turkey left us with incredible memories—the juxtaposition of ancient cities and modern climbing culture, the hospitality of Flying Goat, and the taste of freshly delivered warm sourdough fresh from the oven as well as the simits. While there’s so much more of the world to explore, we’re already talking about a return. Armed with first hand experience we’d be able to better enjoy a trip there and perhaps visit some of the other nearby historical attractions and climb in Olympos, where beautiful walls come up nearly out of the beach.
Istanbul
Geyikbayiri
360 deg photo above Flying Goat Camp
Short drone video from Geyikbayiri