If I had to rate this trip among the ones we've taken over the years, it would be in the top three. Climbing at Geyikbayiri was great. With the exception of three windy days, the weather was sunny, not too warm, perfect for climbing. Our accommodations at the JoSiTo campground were slightly better than basic but we didn't need anything more. The main crag was a laughable 30-second walk from our hut; we walked back for lunch almost every day. The other crags were within 10 minutes' walk, easy.

On rest days we either walked around looking at potential places to climb (such as Trebenna), or hitched a ride to the Sunday market. Sunday market was colorful and chaotic, with cars and pedestrians everywhere. Our second time, we went with Brit couple Pat and John, and we were stopped right in the middle of buying strawberries by a man whose daughter had worked in Las Vegas! Strawberries, oranges, crispy carrots, gigantic cabbages, peppers, onions, tomatoes, and "mountain tea" herbs were sold everywhere. We would indicate how much of something we wanted, and then hold out coins in our palm so that the vendor would take what he charged. We passed vendors selling fresh yogurt ladled into plastic bags, feta in skins, grains, and nuts. It made me think of Nigeria, this bustling market with its friendly vendors...

Lunch was gözleme and hot mint tea, served to us on a large metal tray. It was fun to eat the yummy spinach-filled dough with our hands, with peppers, tomato, and cucumber on the side. I bought some pul biber, which is ground pepper with a bit of salt; I've been looking for a spicy pepper since the German spices are, well, rather bland. It was unfortunate that Geyikbayiri and the campground are so isolated, being in the Taurus mountains. It would have been good, on a rest day, to go into town and chill at a café or walk around. We had to hitch rides both going down and up the mountain, the camp being 8 km from Çakirlar. We were picked up by a giggly family in a VW van, a cherry picker from the local power company, and a villager with a load of plastic bottles in the back of his truck. The challenge was not getting thrown out when we rounded a curve!

( + )

Days were spent lounging around after climbing (Pat and John working seriously hard on their tans projects), or watching other people climb. It's always a treat, always an inspiration, to watch someone who can just float up a 7a+ like a warmup, which for some people it is. It's a nice surprise as well when you discover that the person is warm and friendly, and not a snob at all! Toward the end of our stay more people had started to arrive and at one point every wall behind the camp had a climber on it. Dinner at the bar was always good and full of conversation--mostly we heard German, or Dutch, because quite a bit of the clientele come from German-speaking areas. There was one raucous evening when one of the camp hosts played magic tricks and we spent most of the night trying to figure the book trick out. (I figured it out, but it probably helped that I'm a visual thinker.)

I wish I could say that I onsighted or redpointed more, harder grades, but climbing doesn't work that way. Aside from the fact that we have lives outside of the sport, climbing involves a vast amount of patience and hard work. And mental fortitude. Sometimes Frank's day would be perfect and mine sucked, or vice versa. Sometimes the weather was awful, like when we had those windy days. Sometimes it was coping with our lingering colds, or the cough that would threaten to throw me off my climbs. These little things add up, and the crux is to stay positive. I'm happy to say, however, that I did do some significant climbs, and Frank really outdid himself on what our host/routesetter called one of his favorite climbs. Our Geyikbayiri trip was a success, and we're looking forward to returning sometime in the fall. Some of our most enjoyable moments, climbing and otherwise, came from there, and we're hungry for more of the same.

◊ Climbing in Turkey slideshow, part 2. Here's part 1.