Cukurbag: The Village

The day after our Turkish Wedding we went and visited the village where Ayse was born. I was excited to go and see this place because we have been talking about visiting it for a while and what it was like and what not. I have to say, I have been to villages before in Romania and so I wasn't expecting to be surprised or anything of the such. However, I have never been to a village like this one. It was soooo fascinating. The way that they have been able to survive so primitively. We live in such a modernized day in age and yet, they still choose to live this way. I kind of love that they do. Things are so simple there. Cars cannot pass through the village, you have to get out and walk to it. Instead of vehicles, they still use donkeys to get around. 

The thing I found to be the most interesting is how they used mud, rocks and wood to create their homes. The majority of the pictures I have chosen to post I chose to show the detail of the homes and how they live.  Look closely at the details of the foundations and the doors, windows, stairs... etc... It is very fascinating. I felt like I went back in time visiting this village. 

This is the entrance to the home that Ayse's mom and dad lived in. The photo with John in it.

Oh, you have a hole in your wall? Here, let me put some boards on it and fix that for you...

Details...

Yes, she is riding a donkey.

I think the people really wanted a balcony. I was so concerned for whomever walked on it! But, who am I? Just a city girl who doesn't know anything about how to really live...

We found some cute kitties and I just fell in love with this little kitty...

Just a side view of the city. The roof tops that are in this photo are more current than the original style that they had. What would happen is, some of the members of the families would go and work in Germany or other foreign lands to make money to send home to their families here in the village. When they would return to retire, they would bring back influences of the other cultures and these roof tops were one of them.

This village was surrounded by farms. It was so beautiful and green!

The original roof tops are made of mud and wood. They were so sturdy at one point in time that cars used to drive on top of the roofs and it was good because it would compact it even more to be more sturdy. Over time, and sadly for some families, the roofs would collapse and destroy the homes. There was nothing that could really be done to fix it and so the families would just abandon the home and start over. Here is a good example of this. (Its in front of me)

The flat roof top on the left is an example of what it looks like not collapsed.

Details...

Donkey...

We walked down to the farm area and we picked some of the fresh fruit off of the trees and ate them! It was so delicious and so fresh. We could not stop eating them. Honestly, we picked and picked and ate and ate... it was soo wonderful!

We drove back in to Karaman and stopped to look at a new apartment building that Ayse's family is moving into. We got to make it to the top balcony and I spotted these kids drying fresh fruit! The sun is hot enough here to do this without them going bad!

I also spotted this beauty. This is a home. No joke. A man who killed his wife, got out of jail after 17 years and has decided to squat on this land. He has lived there like this for many years. He doesn't speak to anyone and just goes about his business without bothering anyone. But how can one live like this!? I can't decide if I am impressed by his ability to survive or if I am saddened for him that he lives this way...

I really really enjoyed the village. It was such a neat experience to see how these village people live! Can you believe this is where Ayse was born?? It was fun to walk around with her and have her tell stories. People in the village knew her and remembered her and her family. It was sweet. So glad I got the chance to see it all!