March 25, 2011 | 2:55 am

Around the world in 2000 days -  Shifra And Benny: Travel Journal #2 Turkey

Posted by Micha Keynan

Map courtesy: http://www.artishok.co.il/

Shifra, 64, and Benny, 66, spend the last five years backpacking around the world, visiting 35 countries.

A siddur and a Chumash were packed in their backpack and they tried to find a Jewish Community wherever they went. They celebrated Shabbat and the Jewish Holidays in many parts of the world, including Iquitos in the jungles of Peru, and Luang Prabang in Laos.

They emailed a weekly “Travel Journal” to their family and friends, and we will publish selected journals.

Tuesday, September 6 - Karagol Lake with Shani and Danie

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Karahan Pension, Barhal. We woke up at 4:00AM.  It was dark.  What am I doing here? Five years? Just the two of us? 
What if I cannot keep up with him, what if I am not able to climb the high mountains?  Carry this heavy backpack? Don’t I look ridiculous carrying my life, my home on my back? 
And Benny said,” Why do you always worry about what other people think?”
I looked at Benny.  I love him so much. I am traveling with my best friend, my soul-mate. Life gave me a second chance.

The famous Kachkar Mountains.  Young Israelis who completed their military service were here to climb the mountains.  We were advised to take a taxi to the start of the trail, a place called Nazara. 
The dirt road was very bumpy as the taxi drove over rocks and running water.
We finally stopped and the driver pointed up the mountain and said ‘Nazara’. We saw a few wooden structures.  Was that Nazara? Where do we go? And the driver pointed up and left. There were no signs. No clear paths. Nobody around.
I was following Benny and Benny was following the marks that the mules left.
That must be the path. Whenever I saw a pile of manure I was excited! We were on the right path.
Magnificent views, jugged mountain picks above, water rushing down.  Purple and yellow flowers, delicious raspberries and blackberries.  The climb was very steep and strenuous.  The ground was muddy and we had to maneuver our way from rock to rock. We noticed some stone-wooden structures that were built into the mountains.  They are called Yaylas.  The yayla is a ‘summer home’ where the villagers
stay for the summer, tend their cows and sheep and grow the crops.
The Yaylas are built from whatever material is available in the mountains: stones, logs, mud. The stairs are made from a tree trunk; the steps were carved into the wood. 

As I am huffing and puffing up the mountains, we were passed by an older woman, a boy and a girl, three cows and six sheep that were going up the mountain. They did not have hiking shoes and they did not seem to mind the rocks or the mud, they just kept walking in a very fast pace. Later we saw them cutting grass to feed their animals. 
Further up the mountains we encountered two women who were watching the cows while knitting. Knitting in the Katchkar Mountains.  What a sight!  An old man with a very large basket on his back went into a Yayla.  We smelled cooking and heard a crying baby.  It is cold and isolated on these mountains. Yet people make their home up here.
The hike was long and difficult. From far we saw Rafi and Shani from Israel, who took the wrong turn. They walked toward us and we continued to the top together. Eating more raspberries. We stopped to catch our breath and marveled at the view. Water falls, snow on top of the mountains. Benny and Rafi were walking fast, Shani and I trailed behind.
Which way was up? Shani said to go straight up, Rafi said to go around. We were the only people on this enormous mountain. We were looking for the road signs that previous travelers left. They are called cairn or Rujum in Hebrew-Arabic? It is a pile of rocks to mark the way. I could barely walk when I heard Benny shouts “its here”. We still had quite a way to go and my legs did not want to go, my fingers froze.

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At the top, we were at 2800 meter, looking at the famous Karagol Lake, surrounded by snow.  Around the lake, jugged picks called “The Six Fingers”. We sat for lunch. Shani and Rafi had a “gazia” and they cooked delicious coffee.
Time to go back, the taxi was coming at 3:30pm to pick us up. Shani and Rafi would walk to Barhal and they stayed behind to make more Rujum to help future travelers. The way back was difficult, I slipped on small rocks as we crossed rivers and mud. My knees were trembling. Where was the path? We lost the path, we were in the middle of turnip field, ‘be careful not to fall into an irrigation ditch’, Benny advised. I wanted to sit and rest but Benny was rushing me because the driver was probably waiting for us. We still had a long way to get down. Benny spotted the taxi down below. Benny put two fingers to his mouth and whistle to the driver. How would I make it all the way down? We were 45 minutes late.

Back at Karahal Pension. Hot tea. We were safe at home.

Shani and Rafi arrived after 7:30, they were very tired and said that walking back from Nazara was too much. At dinner time the place was full of new guests. An organized tour from England, most people were from New Zealand. Stuffed pepper for dinner. Ahmed brought a second serving for everyone. I was retiring to the room, Benny stayed with Rafi, Shani, Debbie, Mendi, Daniel and his girlfriend and enjoyed the conversation with the young crowd.

I will start a journal, send stories home. 
Write in English? English is my second language, and I think and dream in Hebrew.  Wish I could write in Hebrew. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

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March 11, 2011 | 6:21 pm

Around the world in 2000 days -  Shifra And Benny: Travel Journal #1 Turkey

Posted by Micha Keynan

Shifra, 64, and Benny, 66, spend the last five years backpacking around the world, visiting 35 countries. 

They spent time with primitive tribes in Papua Indonesia, the Zulu in Africa and the Hmong in Vietnam and China.  They trekked in many parts of the world such as Nepal, Myanmar and New Zealand.  They camped in the Everest Base Camp and in Patagonia.  They attended the Dali Lama teaching and helped built a school in Ghana. 

A siddur and a Chumash were packed in their backpack and they tried to find a Jewish Community wherever they went. They celebrated Shabbat and the Jewish Holidays in many parts of the world, including Iquitos in the jungles of Peru, and Luang Prabang in Laos.

They emailed a weekly “Travel Journal” to their family and friends, and we will publish selected journals.

Travel Journal #1 September 2005

Benny said, “Let’s take a trip around the world.”

“What do you mean,” I said, “what about the kids, work, family and how could we afford it and what about taking care of our retirement?”

And Benny said, “If there is a will, we will find a way.  The way we travel, it will be cheaper for us to travel than to live in Santa Monica.”

“You mean stop working and have no home? Are we going to become homeless? What are we going to do with all our stuff? And what about the kids and grandkids, who is going to help Karen with babysitting? And I am going to miss Dean’s and Owen’s birthdays and all the family celebrations and the holidays…”

And Benny replied,” I am not going to wait for my knees to fail and my back to hurt, I want to do it while we can.”

Our possessions were reduced to two backpacks. There was a long process of elimination: What do we really need? Two pants, two T-shirts, three underwear, three socks, light jacket, heavy jacket, hiking shoes, hat, swimming suit, sun-glasses, water purifier, “Lonely Planet” for Turkey, books to read, small Humash and Siddur, journal to write, pen, almonds and dry fruit, first-aid kit, electric fork, finjan, 2 stainless steel bowls, 2 forks, one spoon, small knife, flashlight, good camera and charger, tooth-brush, hair brush, razor, scissor, tweezers, Vaseline, toilet paper, address books, credit card and money. Anything else we will get along the way.

Story continues after the jump.

Map courtesy: www.artishok.co.il

We decided to start our journey at the North-East corner of Turkey and enjoy the Kachkar Mountains before it gets too cold.

We flew from Istanbul to Erzurum. 

At Istanbul Airport we stood behind a young couple that was also going to Erzurum.
They look so fit in their hiking shoes, backpacks, and shorts… I felt awkward for a moment, asking myself, “What am I doing here? Don’t I look ridiculous with my oversized backpack? Are not we too old for that?”

But there was no going back. We are going to do it! Five years? We will see…

Our destination was the small village of Barhal, which is located on the Kachkar Mountains.

The road was beautiful, we drove along the river, cliffs, mountains, rice fields, orchards, meadows, small villages along the way, hanging on the mountains.

Two Turkish passengers got off the dolmush (mini-van); they were unloading a washing machine from the roof of the car. I did not see any houses around, where were they going? How were they going to carry it? There was barely a road.

The driver said “Barhal”.  Where is Barhal? Is that it? I saw a few houses??? Where do we go? Then I saw a sign on the road “Karahan Pension Mehmet… 1 KM.”

I told the driver “Mehmet” and he said OK, OK.

He continued driving up, up, up and all we saw was a narrow road and rushing rivers and big trees. The driver started honking and honking. He stopped the car and said “OK.”Backpacks were taken off the van roof and we saw a small sign pointing up the hill: Karahan Pension 50 meter.

“Great”, I thought, “we found the place”. It started to rain and with our heavy backpacks we started climbing. Steep climb, water running down the hill, mud, rocks and we went up and up and did not see anything. “Are we lost?” I was thinking.

Further up we saw a construction. Benny climbed up and knocked on the door. He walked around the building and we waited and waited and waited and nobody came. I could barely balance myself. I was standing on two rocks water was running down the hill.

Suddenly a young boy appeared from nowhere and gestured us to follow him. We climbed up to a higher construction. The boy opened a door and said ‘your room.’

Nice clean room with attached bathroom. We loved our new room. It was rainy outside but it was cozy and warm in our room. When the rain finally stopped we go out and our young host asked: tea?

Yes, of course, and we went up to the balcony to have our tea.

Tomorrow we will climb to Karagol Lake.

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