I am sure you have heard the story of Kate Clow. Although I only heard it very recently it is so richly ironic it bears repeating. It was Kate, a British expatriate who has lived in Turkey since 1989, who revived The Lycian Way (Likya Yolu). The Likya Yolu was used by the ancient Lycians as a footpath and mule trail. The trail is over 500 km in length and runs from Fethiye to Antalya. With funding from Garanti Bank, Kate oversaw the waymarking of the trail by volunteers. It opened to walkers in 1999.
It is magnificent. I have walked half of it in 50km stretches over the last few years, with a group of Sarıbelen Baz’s friends (No, really he does!) who come out from England for an annual stroll.
So Kate who is 73 (what is that nowadays?) and lives in Antalya, went out walking at midday with a couple of friends. Unfortunately la grande dame got lost. By 9.30, water gone and feeling desperate, she had to phone for help. The Tekirova Jandarma turned out and promptly arrested the party of 3 for breaking the 65+ curfew.
The sum of 9,450 lira changed hands before the party were released to their homes. Poor Kate did not have enough Clowt.
Read the detail here if you can translate, or use Google to translate, the Turkish https://www.gzt.com/jurnalist/kitabini-yazdigi-likya-yolunda-kayboldu-ustune-ceza-yedi-3545118
She has my sympathy
In Kalkan our Jandarma brethren (Blessings Be Upon Them) appear to be foregoing handsome revenue generating opportunities by not going on the offensive. Understandable perhaps given the difficulties of applying the fines to citizens and residents but not tourists. When the holidaymakers depart, what fate then awaits us seniors?
I recently had to translate for my daughter the warnings stencilled on the traffic lights in the Fethiye region (you have observed them I trust!).
“Evde Kal (red) means Stay home” I explained “and Eve Git (green) means Go home”.
We had a chuckle imaging hapless officials going around stencilling all the traffic signals throughout Fethiye. What with that and the Kate Clow episode it suggested a few lines of verse.
(NB Hayat Evde Var is the government Covid-19 strapline meaning “Home is Where Life Is”.)
Jandarma (for it is he)
Winter is near
With it comes Fear
Fear of Contagion, fear of touch
We are not asking much
Just a small favour pal
Evde Kal
It’s for the greater good
So do what you should
Stay safe, don’t roam
Head for home
Don’t like it? Tough shit
Eve Git
Senior Citizen
If you live in Wonderland like Alice
Or a thousand room palace
On a hilltop estate
With a loving mate
You can stay where you are
Hayat Evde Var
But let me to sun kissed Patara
Or wild Connemara
Where the wind blows fair
İn the scented air
Under wandering star
Is where Hayat Var
Here’s to friendship, the kindness of strangers, the call of the wild and all the things that make us human.
May they stay near in the challenging times ahead