Monday, June 26, 2006
Horse Safari
It was an interesting journey from the port through the town and the growing tourist attractions along the shore and up into the hills. I passed two water parks on the way - it definitely seemed as if there was plenty to do in this resort - I'd definitely consider coming back here again.
We arrived at the farm and were seated at a little cafe and served apple tea while we waited for the horses to be saddled up and brought around to us. We wondered if we were in the right place to start with because when we arrived there was a line of quad bikes outside the cafe and we thought we'd all been taken to the wrong place, but it was ok, because the quad bikes left from the same place too. We were given helmets and led around the back to where the horses were. I asked the guy in charge if I could ride on a white one and he did. My horse (I think they were only ponies, they weren't quite big enough to be truly called horses) was called Papetierre. I felt sorry for him with my fat arse stuck on his back because he kept coughing and slipping to the back of the line of horses and I had to keep geeing him up to keep up. Poor thing!
I thought I was going to be quite uncomfortable sitting on the horse, as the last time I had done some horse riding (back in 1999, in Cornwall when Sean and I had come down for the eclipse) I was very sore in the rear end for two days afterwards. But this time I was fine. I think it was because I was relaxed, in fact on the way back I was so relaxed I took to riding just holding on with one hand - go cowgirl go! The scenery that we trekked through was very beautiful, full of hills, trees and fields. There was one very pretty scene as we trekked through a cornfield with poppies in it, I tried taking a picture of this, both on the way there and back, but when I checked the pictures on the camera I'd just shot the sky both times - it's not easy trying to take a steady picture from horseback. I am still very struck by how green and fertile the Turkish countryside is - I imagined it to be very dry and arid, like parts of Spain or Tunisia where I have been before, but it is not like this at all. Despite the intense heat, everything seems to be growing in this Eden-like garden.
As we neared the end of our trek the quad bikes caught us up and overtook us. I thought the horses might get a bit nervous by the engines, but they didn't. The horses were very well behaved, even though we weren't tied together or led, giving us riders the impression that we were actually controlling them ourselves they were so under the control of the horsemasters that it only took a few words of command for them to stop or slip back into line. At one point we even had to walk along the end of a road before we could cross it to reach the beach, the horses didn't flinch at this - I think I was more nervous about crossing the road than my mount. As we approached the beach, the horses seemed to know where they were going because they all speeded up into a trot, like us they were eager to see the sea. We dismounted the horses in the dunes above the beach and went down onto the beach, where one of the horses who had been specially trained was unsaddled and led down into the water.
Our party reached the deserted beach.
We got changed and went into the water with the horse and got on the horse and a guy with a camera took our pictures of us riding the horse in the sea. The horse was trained to rear up and that's when he took his shots, of course that dumped you off into the sea too. The first time I tried to get on the horse (which wasn't the same one that I was riding earlier), with the help of a knee-up from the guy holding the horse I went straight over his back and down into the water on the other side! lol The second attempt worked and the guy with the camera took this amazing picture of me on the horse. If I look like I'm clinging on for dear life - then now you know why!
After drying off on the sand and wishing that I'd brought a towel with me, the quad bikes arrived at the beach and lined up and we all had our picture taken with them too.
After that we got back on our horses for the trek back to the Farm, where a 3-course lunch had been prepared for us. It was soup, followed by a dish of Turkish meatballs, rice, vegetables and chips followed by a bowl of fruit. We knew that the fruit was fresh because we had been picking the same fruit from the overhanging fruit trees as we rode back to the farm. I told you that Turkey is vibrant and growing!
We arrived at the farm and were seated at a little cafe and served apple tea while we waited for the horses to be saddled up and brought around to us. We wondered if we were in the right place to start with because when we arrived there was a line of quad bikes outside the cafe and we thought we'd all been taken to the wrong place, but it was ok, because the quad bikes left from the same place too. We were given helmets and led around the back to where the horses were. I asked the guy in charge if I could ride on a white one and he did. My horse (I think they were only ponies, they weren't quite big enough to be truly called horses) was called Papetierre. I felt sorry for him with my fat arse stuck on his back because he kept coughing and slipping to the back of the line of horses and I had to keep geeing him up to keep up. Poor thing!
I thought I was going to be quite uncomfortable sitting on the horse, as the last time I had done some horse riding (back in 1999, in Cornwall when Sean and I had come down for the eclipse) I was very sore in the rear end for two days afterwards. But this time I was fine. I think it was because I was relaxed, in fact on the way back I was so relaxed I took to riding just holding on with one hand - go cowgirl go! The scenery that we trekked through was very beautiful, full of hills, trees and fields. There was one very pretty scene as we trekked through a cornfield with poppies in it, I tried taking a picture of this, both on the way there and back, but when I checked the pictures on the camera I'd just shot the sky both times - it's not easy trying to take a steady picture from horseback. I am still very struck by how green and fertile the Turkish countryside is - I imagined it to be very dry and arid, like parts of Spain or Tunisia where I have been before, but it is not like this at all. Despite the intense heat, everything seems to be growing in this Eden-like garden.
As we neared the end of our trek the quad bikes caught us up and overtook us. I thought the horses might get a bit nervous by the engines, but they didn't. The horses were very well behaved, even though we weren't tied together or led, giving us riders the impression that we were actually controlling them ourselves they were so under the control of the horsemasters that it only took a few words of command for them to stop or slip back into line. At one point we even had to walk along the end of a road before we could cross it to reach the beach, the horses didn't flinch at this - I think I was more nervous about crossing the road than my mount. As we approached the beach, the horses seemed to know where they were going because they all speeded up into a trot, like us they were eager to see the sea. We dismounted the horses in the dunes above the beach and went down onto the beach, where one of the horses who had been specially trained was unsaddled and led down into the water.
Our party reached the deserted beach.
We got changed and went into the water with the horse and got on the horse and a guy with a camera took our pictures of us riding the horse in the sea. The horse was trained to rear up and that's when he took his shots, of course that dumped you off into the sea too. The first time I tried to get on the horse (which wasn't the same one that I was riding earlier), with the help of a knee-up from the guy holding the horse I went straight over his back and down into the water on the other side! lol The second attempt worked and the guy with the camera took this amazing picture of me on the horse. If I look like I'm clinging on for dear life - then now you know why!
After drying off on the sand and wishing that I'd brought a towel with me, the quad bikes arrived at the beach and lined up and we all had our picture taken with them too.After that we got back on our horses for the trek back to the Farm, where a 3-course lunch had been prepared for us. It was soup, followed by a dish of Turkish meatballs, rice, vegetables and chips followed by a bowl of fruit. We knew that the fruit was fresh because we had been picking the same fruit from the overhanging fruit trees as we rode back to the farm. I told you that Turkey is vibrant and growing!// posted by Vash @ 10:42 AM 
