In this video, titled “Going to Cappadocia” by Kyoto Studio, a filmmaking couple from Krakow, Poland, documented their journey through Turkey as they visited Ölüdeniz, Marmaris, Dilek National Park, Kusadasi, Cesme, Izmir, Efez, Cappadocia, and Istanbul. The video explores an array of Turkey’s features, including ancient ruins, wildlife, landscape, shopping, transportation, street food, and people going about their everyday life, giving you a broad look into the culture of the country. You’ll also get an aerial view of Cappadocia’s unworldly yet beautiful landscape from a hot-air balloon ride. To create the video, the couple used a Canon 5D Mark II as well as various lenses and editing software. The music is “Limbe” by S-tone Inc.
Turkey’s unique national pastime: oil wrestling
While America has baseball, New Zealand has rugby, and Australia has cricket, Turkey has a national pastime that some may find a bit odd– oil wrestling. Also known as “grease wrestling,” the sport involves men clad in black leather pants carrying wicker bags that contain bottles of olive oil, which they must pour over every inch of their flesh. Because it’s so difficult for a participant to get a good grip on their opponent, a common strategy is “hands down pants,” which literally entails fully sticking your hands down another man’s pants. There are five levels of advancement in the sport and children as young as seven begin training to make it to the top.
Since 1362, the city of Edirne in Turkish Thrace has been celebrating oil wrestling by hosting an annual Kirkpinar tournament. The event is the oldest, continuously running, sanctioned, sporting competition in the world, and people from all over travel to watch Pehlivan (wrestlers) compete for the winning gold belt and the title of “Chief Pehlivan.” Sorry ladies, the sport is for men only. But, don’t think that just any guy off the street can enter the contest, as Pehlivans are held in high esteem and are considered role models with honest, humble, moral, and respectful personalities. These men are also expected to adhere to local traditions and are trained as an apprentice by a master of the sport. This year, the event will take place July 2-8, 2012.
For a better idea of this unique pastime, check out the short documentary above.
Turkey gets ready to celebrate its annual Mesir Festival
Every spring for the past 500 years, Turkey has been celebrating the traditional Mesir Festival in the city of Manisa. Not only does the event encompass parades, concerts, and exhibits, but also the throwing of spices.
Mesir, also known as “power gum,” is a blend of 41 different spices made into a thick paste. The story of its origin is that the wife of the Ottoman Sultan Yavuz Sultan Selim and the mother of Süleyman the Magnificient, Hafsa Sultan, became very sick while she was in Manisa. Since there were no known treatments at the time, a concoction of herbs and spices was created, and actually ended up curing the ill woman. After that, mesir became a popular remedy for sick patients.
So how was the Mesir Festival born? Once demand for the cure grew, the mixture was wrapped in paper and thrown from the Sultan Mosque once each year. Now, thousands of people who attend the festival can stand at the bottom of the mosque and catch their own healing mesir paste. Other festival highlights to look forward to include skeet shooting matches, a canine beauty competition, a traditional mesir paste mixing ceremony, live music in the park, a Ukrainian art exhibit, and much more.
The Mesir Festival will take place this year on March 21-25, 2012. If you’d like to practice some traditional Mesir Festival singing to get you in the mood for the celebration, click here to listen to the official Mesir Festival song. For information on the celebration in general, click here.
Discovering the wonders of Turkey through photos
Turkey is a historical country filled with culture, beauty, and natural wonders. In fact, there are many interesting facts that many people may not know that help add to the enchantment and splendor of the country, like the fact that the world’s oldest known human settlement can be found in Turkey, two of the seven Wonders of the Ancient World were located in Turkey, and the seven churches cited in the Book of Revelation all resided in Turkey. With such a unique past, it’s not surprising that the country holds so many spectacular and amazing sites. Wander inside the Blue Mosque, an enormous complex that was built from 1609-1616, trek through the unworldly Cappadocia region, or check out the ruins in Ephesus, where the Temple of Artemis stands, once one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
To explore the wonders of Turkey for yourself through photos, check out the gallery below.
%Gallery-147968%
More Istanbul shopping and dining secrets from Daily Secret
Last week, Gadling included Istanbul in our picks for 2012 luxury travel, and introduced you to Daily Secret, a web-based “guide service” offering insider intel to 12 cities, including Istanbul. We got so many more great Istanbul secrets from editor Laura Wells (many with special discounts and exclusive access), we’re posting them for Gadling readers to add to their itineraries. Happy shopping (and tasting)!
Local designer fashion: To buy designer clothing for men & women from multiple up-and-coming Turkish designers, this is a really cool, brand-new co-op: Fashion Tunnel in Galata
Turkish wine: Turkey has amazing wine, but it’s difficult to export as it’s heavily taxed. To try the best Turkish wines (even local sour cherry wine wine, which is delicious) and get ideas for what to buy at duty free, check out Rouge in Taksim. They have free tasting every Saturday, but you can try anything by the glass in the restaurant above, which also serves amazing rare Turkish cheeses and cure meats.
Waterside dining: For a gourmet, organic meal that few know about with a view of the Bosphorus, head to Fark-et-mez in Sariyer. The chef & sous-chef are both Turkish, and Daily Secret members get 15% off their meal. They also have live jazz on certain nights.Travel magazine: One of the most interesting and beautiful magazines (the kind you save) that I’ve ever seen is ‘Cornucopia‘. Written by world-class authors and journalists, the articles cover the history of the former empires of Central Asia, as well as modern figures trying to preserve national treasures. Our members get 10% off the price and they ship worldwide for free!
Rare books: For rare books about Istanbul and the former empires, this bookshop in Kadikoy on the Asian side has any hard-to-find edition, old or new, or they’ll find it, and they ship worldwide.
Artistic home decor: Grand, hand-painted panels & wallpaper that you see in palaces & hotels all over the world is actually made by a company now based in Istanbul. You can visit their trade-only showroom & atelier if you tell them you’re a Daily Secret member when you make an appointment. They’ll ship worldwide without a problem: Iksel in Bebek.
Turkish rugs: Here is the best Turkish antique rug dealer I’ve ever come across with the best prices in the world (I’m a collector and my cousin is an antiques rug dealer, and she agreed)! He is usually only open to ‘trade’, but welcomes our members. You can either leave with a rug, or he ships worldwide at reasonable rates.
Interior design: For handprinted, hand-loomed fabrics and unique handmade furniture, Philadelphia-transplant & textiles expert Elizabeth Hewitt counts Oscar de la Renta and President Obama’s interior designer among her customers. They have everything from scarves to draperies, bed linens, table cloths, and more; all really gorgeous and uniquely central Asian. Her husband & brother-in-law are rug & suzani dealers, and his shop is on the top floor of this store – best place in terms of selection to get tulu rugs (sheepskin rugs, which are very ‘in’ now) and antique suzanis, at literally the best prices in any emerging country.
Subscribe to Daily Secret for more tips in Istanbul and other cities around the world.