Dear Friends,
I hope this year is beginning well for you.
A great deal has happened at the Akhal-Teke Riding Center in the last year and I thought I would take the opportunity to share some of the exiting news with you.
As many of you know, I am based in Cappadocia, Turkey and offer multi-day rides through this fascinating region. However, in the Fall of 2009 I trucked seven of my most trusty horses to Hersek, just outside of Istanbul where I was joined by a small team of academics who were fulfilling a dream of riding in the hoofprints of the great Ottoman traveller Evliya Celebi (1611-c.1683).
I too have always wanted to explore with horses the traditional caravan routes that crisscross Turkey. These are the traditional routes for trade, for making the pilgrimage to Mecca, and sometimes in Ottoman times for war. The Silk Road (Ipek Yolu) runs from Istanbul to Iznik, Bursa, Kutahya, Afyon, and eventually to Aleppo, Damascus, and Baghdad. This was the route we took, and along it villagers were always talking about the Silk Road and how their villages were important because of it. Most people we met were really pleased that we arrived on horseback. They brought us delicious food and fruit and vegetables from their harvests. The weather was perfect, with hot sunny days and cold nights during which we could gather around the campfire.
Unfortunately we did not have time to go all the way to Baghdad but we did have lunch during our first day on the trail at the beautiful Baghdad Restaurant. The horses were tethered in deep shade under trees by the bank of the shallow Yalakdere river in which we had ridden for the past hour. The sun glanced off the rippling shallow waters of this amazingly clear river, in which the horses splashed happily for miles.
We all munched apples as we rode. Did you know that horses can bob for apples? In Turkey they certainly can.
After climbing mountains, cantering along 'toprak' or earth tracks and across fields for nearly three weeks, we came to the ancient Phrygian (Frig) plain and the old city of Kutahya, nestling above it in craggy mountains. By the expedition's end those mountains would be covered in snow. We were hosted in Kutahya by enthusiasts for 'rahvan' racing, who have built a new hippodrom for this purpose.
'Rahvan' is ridden pacing racing. In other places in the world, pacers and trotters are raced pulling little carts or sulkies. But in Turkey, pacers are ridden. Their fans claim that they can hold a cup of Turkish coffee without spilling it as they fly along, rahvanning like the wind.
Some of us still prefer galloping or running ('dortnal') when we go for a ride, but we were very pleased to make new friends among the rahvancis, who really love their horses.
The expedition received sponsorship from Kutahya Porselen and Gural Porselen, based in Kutahya, and that included thousands of beautiful mugs with a picture of Evliya and his horse on them for us to give away as gifts along the road. If you come to Avanos you may still be able to obtain one, but they are proving very popular!
  After the success of the Evliya Celebi Ride as an expedition, UNESCO announced that 2011 would be the year of Evliya Celebi. We think we should be able to claim credit for this event.
We are now planning two rides in September 2010 along the new Evliya Celebi Way, for which there will be a guidebook next year. You can now be the first to ride the Great Anatolian Ride after we originally did it in autumn 2009. Ride from north of Iznik to Kutahya, or back again from Kutahya to Iznik and beyond. The horses are very fit and well and eager to hit the road again for further adventures.
It is my hope that some of you will join me on one of these extraordinary rides. If you would like further information please go to my website or contact me at akhaltek01@yahoo.com

Best Wishes from Turkey!
Ercihan Dilari