Go back to Turkey.
Adana.
We set off on our two-week trip in mid-August: Portland to Chicago to Istanbul. This was the first time flying for us since the onset of the Covid madness. The last time we had flown it was to Colombia just as the leading edge of the epidemic was giving the world its first playful tickle. The near empty international terminal at O’Hare was pretty depressing. In contrast, the transatlantic flight was packed to the gills but masks were very strictly enforced. We arrived in Istanbul at god knows what hour and went straight to bed in a pre-booked, Star Wars style hotel inside the terminal. In the morning we caught a short domestic flight to Adana in south central Turkey where our road trip would begin.
.
Aladaglar.
We picked up the rental car, did some grocery shopping in the city and then drove 2.5 hours north into the mountains of Aladaglar. There we met Recep Ince, the proprietor of the Aladaglar Camping Bungalow and the author of the local climbing guidebook as well as many of the modern routes in the range. We used the afternoon to scout the driving approaches to the first couple of climbs we wanted to do. One of those little excursions involved some vigorous off-roading which banged up the tire pressure sensor on one of the wheels of the Opel and so we had a warning light illuminating the dashboard for the next two weeks. Not to worry – karma would repay me as I’d end up leaving my phone behind in the said Opel two weeks later. Post-Script: Happily re-united with my phone a month later. Thanks to the kind folks at Antalya Airport’s Avis office!
Photos
International terminal at O’Hare. This was the only open establishment; a ghost town otherwise (August 2020).
Departing Chicago for Istanbul…shoulder to shoulder (August 2020).
A hotel right inside the new Istanbul airport terminal. Tight quarters and that Star Wars-y look but really hit the spot after some 18 or 20 hours of travel time (August 2020).
Colorful agricultural lands somewhere between Istanbul and Adana (August 2020).
Aladaglar range in the distance as we near Adana (August 2020).
Welcome to Adana (August 2020).
Picking up our little off road steed at the airport (August 2020).
Some grocery shopping in Adana before heading into the mountains (August 2020).
A fruit stand (grapes and figs) on the side of a 6-lane freeway (August 2020).
Nearing Aladaglar (August 2020).
Careful! Free-range Bacon!
More roadside fruit shopping (August 2020).
The beautiful Aladaglar Range (August 2020).
At Recep’s Aladaglar Bungalow Camping (August 2020).
Aladaglar Bungalow Camping – our nice little casita and a visitor (August 2020).
Scoping out Cimbar Valley (August 2020).
Well, hello ladies.
An Aladaglar traffic jam (August 2020).
Camardi in the evening (August 2020).
A simple dinner in Camardi – the town closest to Aladaglar Bungalow Camp (August 2020).