Gölbaşı Nature Park

After leaving Perrhe, we made the first of our two unplanned stops. The first one was to check out the shopping area in Adıyaman Merkez … recommended by the Grand Isias GM. There wasn’t much to see really, but we did end up walking through the area where tobacco is sold … along with filter tips and other paraphernalia. With bags of tobacco lined up on either side of the narrow street, and men sitting behind them ready to sell their products, Mui thought the area might be a small tobacco bourse.

On our way back to the car, we stopped to taste a sweet called Adıyaman Peynir Helvası … made with semolina, milk, lots of butter, and flavored with pistachios. I thought it was very very rich, and could only have a couple of bites of the sample Mui purchased for us to share.

Our next stop was at the half-way point of our 2½-hour drive to Gaziantep … the Gölbaşı Nature Park … in the Province of Kahramanmaraş. We enjoyed the scenery, photographed the waterfowl swimming lazily on the water — when they weren’t vying for food scraps, and grabbed a bite at the café/restaurant overlooking the lake. Mui and I shared a kaşarlı pide (Turkish pizza, if you will, topped with cheese), which had a slight bite to it thanks to the spicy butter that was brushed on after it was baked. Deniz had a stack of lahmacun. Leftovers were shared with the cats and the waterfowl.Read more