Evliya Çelebi Way: Turkey's 1st long-distance walking and riding route (2)

“This new cultural route is the result of dedicated research into Ottoman history over many years, coupled with a love of the Turkish countryside,” Finkel remarks. “Commitment to the project was essential, because there were many challenges to overcome when establishing the Way.”

“Old maps show that the Anatolian road network has altered greatly since the coming of motor transport, around 50 years ago,” she explains. “Before motor travel, an extensive and stable pattern of ‘kaldırım' [paved roads] fanned out from towns and linked villages. Walkers, riders, pack animals and carts used routes on higher land rather than today's valley bottom roads. We've tried to use the old roads, where these haven't been destroyed by afforestation or mining, or cut by irrigation channels. Finding the sites of the settlements that Evliya names was often difficult: as roads moved downhill, so did villages. Some people still know the former names of their villages, but between 1940 and 2000 over 12,000 Turkish village names were changed.”

The first “hands-on” exploration of Evliya's 1671 route through northwest Anatolia took place in autumn 2009. An international group of six riders, all specialists in different fields, with seven horses, rode from Hersek to Simav in 40 days. “Our pace, like Evliya's, was leisurely, and a support vehicle carried our feed, food, tack, clothing and tents,” recounts Finkel. “This was the first time an expedition traveling like Evliya, by horse, had followed any of his journeys. The following year we walked the route with full packs, refining it to include more variety of trail surface and scenery, and reviewing the directions.”

The initial stage of the Evliya Çelebi Way project, in 2009, received support from a number of sponsors, particularly from Evliya's ancestral home of Kütahya. The implementation of the Way is supported by the Bursa Metropolitan Municipality, which will also publish the Turkish translation of the guidebook.

Easy-to-follow guidebook

Writing a guidebook from scratch is a challenge, but Finkel's co-author Clow is already a veteran trekking guide writer and has helped make the “Evliya Çelebi Way” an easy-to-follow guide.

“The route is defined by GPS waypoints and will soon also be signposted,” Clow points out. “We think painted waymarks are unnecessary, as in many places the route follows distinct old ‘kaldırım' for many kilometers. The route is split into sections, each a day's journey long, or sometimes more. Each starts with the proposed distance for that day and the generous estimated time needed to cover it allows for photography breaks and short rests. Route descriptions are broken into paragraphs, each with elapsed time and waypoint information. There are also altitude diagrams giving overall distances and a good impression of the terrain.”

“We ourselves find the hilly stretches of the route more interesting than the plains,” says Clow, “so we've provided the information necessary to help walkers get from one side of a plain to the other by public transport. Other sections of the trail have parallel routes for riders and walkers according to their different needs, and bikers can follow a mixture of these routes. Places of interest along the way -- villages, towns, historical sites or natural features -- are described in box inserts and include a short history of the place, a summary of Evliya's account of what he saw there, and notes on what you can see today.”

The Evliya Çelebi Way guidebook contains a detachable plan, showing the full length of the route, and nearby places of interest. The route will soon be supported by a website giving practical information on accommodation, travel, links to tour operators, updates to conditions along the way and GPS points.

*For information on the EÇW and to buy the guidebook, see:

http://www.cultureroutesinturkey.com/c/evliya-celebi-way/

http://www.evliyacelebiway.com/ will be working soon