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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1970-03-18, Page 161. .01 6.1 • PAVE' SIXTEEN THE hUCKNOW SENTINEL, LUCKNOW,;,.ONTARIQ WEDNESDAY, MARCH.181h, 1970 Jane bserva Parts Prior to Janet Finlayson.leaving on an extended tour to .various foreign countries,, The Sentinel'''"' . —asked Janet -to• -chop us. a-Jine • giving us some of her ob°serva tions; The following letter , concerns her visit to parts of Turkey. Janet is the daughter of Mr,. .and• Mrs . Clark Finlay son of Luknow and Goderic h.' Trabzon, Turkey,., January 29, 1970. Mr. Don Thompson, ;t Editor, _T_he Luckn_ow Seiitinel_ Dear Don, 'I -have been travelling through various parts of Turkey (nine days at time of writing) and have ' decided to make some use of. a full day -stop -over -aa -•-T abzon- to order to gather together some of my impressions about what i•have seen in this country My means of travel is by • 'motor -coach and:is organized by Penn Tours London : 'We:: journey _o_verland 10,600. miles in just_:Over_ :wo months toour destination, KChatmandu. in Nepal. •Even with, . the•. arnouxof time at. our disposal :(we normally travel. only • :.one, two or three days'at :a time, then stop fora full day or more), the result is like driving in' a speeding car through a beautiful landscape;' one has an impression -of-all-the--exciting hills °a.nd valleys, .contours and colours but one is moving too fast. day after day; to •be able to take :a really good look. ,Our trip yesterday followed • c-lose_ty: the -shores -of the _Black Sea o •a most a .0 t e '' m drive, The main road,-' in „fact • theonly road, was reasonably good; however; lanes and farm yards were criss-crossed with muddy. dile es: -Buildings in • generally are brownstone and • �Ir� Visit Turkey shabby but .the fields looked lush and green. we had a sunny day '_Which heightened the effect' .cif the -blue sea -and --without exception every small fishing boats .or row boat drawn .up along the, beaches. is painted in bright colours,: •The Women wear only the most:colourful cotton prints in the .countryside. They, usually cover their heads with scarves and some follow the Moslem tradition More strictly by wearing veils. over part o€,the face. • It is interesting to see ail the • primary school children in little, black smocks' with white collars and whenever we stop .fora tea-. .break, they group.around,:the bus to talk. They learn Gerrnan and .• English along with their own language. ;Some only go•to.. school for half 'the day so we are formally .surrounded :by a crowd `. morning and afternoon. Jt •amazes 'rrre .that despite the .windy 35; 40 degrees'F, , no•one •ever wears an over -coat ! Their homes are not heated and last week -end we hada chance - to --exp a ri ence-the ir-p rimitive heating and plumbing facilities in a smallcountry town. called Urgup in,Ceutra Turkey. This town, off -the -beaten? track: did afford Us With the opportunity of exploring the Goreme Valley / which is a region famous for its curious scenery. Little ;rivers -have carved but narrow valleys, straight and steep. sided (so,neatly.shaped as. to make them look ;almost man-' made). Elsewhere the . erosionhas indented the land into the strangest shapes full of cones, -colu=mns; towers,-pyr-.a-mils-and--. 'needles; some of which are 100 the 'Sth century. T,oJa�• One can still see their painted ,c'hurche s anti crude.cells hollowed In the rock, that -is --if cold dank cave -s • ;lit only by torches do not. pttt • you 'off,. Our group consists • :primarily of. young, people bur. we do have'some. lively persons' in their sev nties. We had a birthday', party for oAte lady celebrating her seventy fifth yea•r the other day' . • Our night life has. .. varied a great deal from, ' sophistica'ted clubs in Instanbul • and Ankara to local folk dancing in small towns:'Upon-arrivaFhh Trabzon.we made' arrangements fo rthe group to visit the U.S. Aix. Force Base in the evening, Which provided a chance to stock up ,on American cigarettes. At. present this base is .closin& operations and the -force has . been' • seduced from some 1600 to less than•100. risen,.. The attitude of the Turkish nationalists in the local community.is anti Ame rican,' consequently.thetimen left at the Base are counting the da-yi-and hours-until.-they-d-epart - from this lonely outpost. While motoring during the day. we notice numerous cafes, ,known as "reading rooms" in. Turkish „which' are •always occupied. .by the men. who spend the time smoking, gossiping or play- ing backgammon. 'Alcoholic drinks are not served butone can alwaysrely on obtaining hot tea (Never served in cups, but rather in small handle -less glasses), Turkishcoffee is today a 'd'istant memory, the drink now served. under this name being:an jrnitation.n_ w-hich_therpropoxtiori_ of -real coffe is .only very small: I' find that the drink is eighty ; percent coffee grains but the thick sweet liquid is,` according to something I read, supposed • feel. high. All this, as you•'can imagine, gives the.landscape. an etherearl: and unearthly 'quality.' It was here that. the 'first Cl fistian hermits lived LL in religious 'communities from. //... Now.,On liscountk. Prices On All UNIROYAL: AND HRESTONETIRES Whatever, your fire Reeds, our .wide selection .of sizes .' V• • r .SIA .... r, and. types will w E� fill STANLEY'S ERTEs LUCKNOV� — PHONE 528-339 to that., quite honestly... Restaurants serve ordinary b'te�tneafs__ Inmost •• �tadea srnall. places we' have rime privilege of walking into the\kitchen and choosing the ,meat' course from- . • one.of the various pots steaming READRS,WRITE... X15 Bay -field -Rd .. Goderich, Ont. • January 15, 1970.. - Dear, Sir , • Enjoy reading all the local and or► the stove.,Along the coast, rural news iny .our paper and -it Wipe. a__ alliatixe for a' h e`r � fi h exc llent : There are pa p pyp • is• very interesting to. read about acid stomach. I_cannot testify v elgetables and. fruits'in abundancc all the friends who liveina -iiot bad for a country which has s distance, ,and have not heard very few. ideally -suited ; , from for sometime, also friends. .agricultural regions, , who are visiting/in the _aka ane!`• far. lands, ' It would'be interesting to have. an Anniversary'Celebr'ation again. even. if It details mountains of . work to organize Best of success `.to your, paper for 1970. • i9• INVITATIONS _.-:4t_A-N•N O U -NC E ME N TS- 'i INFORMALS ACCESSORIES tI • Janet. Finlayson. February 1, 1970.. :Am rather slow getting'this letter mailed and have left it:tc the last place which does not have 'air mail service. _If we_.,..hav:e ever had some • exciting mon-tents it was in the last two days crossing the Eastern part of the Anatolian Plateau. We experienced some difficulty, getting overthe mountain: passes.. Visibility was excellent but the ,small mountain roads were snow oVered`a`n-d shpNery.,. 1'nfortun ately th•e snow chains' should have been 'put on the tires earlier (there is some difficulty • ttThig things to [1te driver who is.Dutch utch and knows only a little.. English) and as a result , we sat for two hours in the darkness literally hanging over. a cliff waitin for the chains to be put on, Atter that, we still 'had to cross another t3,000, ft, ;pass.' Today isgbright a'nd sunny and we are minutes from the" • border irnto'lran; however, ifor .sorne t;►iknciwri reason'the officials have taken the morning off and we•are waiting; for a few hours . . Hope• you find Some of this, narrativ,'e coherent!' ' Janet„ Thank you, (Miss) Myrtle May Johnstone.. -rt Bay, B ; C . ianuarAley6, 1970; Dear. Don '. • Please renew; my Sentinel sdb '.. scription for 197u I still enjoy the hometown paper;, and of coursealways look ' ' for familiar names and faces .Glad to know the arena is func - tionrng again, There is .nothing here in the line of winter sports,. and the: .children: miss so much. Our little gal was s6. delighted yesterday • e-taadu-�£ir-spow fa 11 she rushed' right out to`bttild a snowman. Of course it melted' instantly,'' without eveti turllift4 the ground white, tiieri turned to rain,. We''v'e.had-a'very mild winter; my roses, geraniunms" alyssum:still blooming, when .not drdwned. Nice for'th,e acltilt ' Hest Wisher for,Aru • Sincere regards, Edna (lleid'). Grcba