March 5,
2016
After
much travel in February, we decided to stay in Antalya the first weekend of
March. We had a picnic with our Pakistani friends on Saturday, March 5th
at a nearby park called Orman Park.
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Walking along a highway to Orman Park. |
Getting
to Orman Park was quite an adventure, however. Alex and I were traveling with
Qasid Bhai from Meltem. We took a bus which we thought would drop us off at the
entrance of Orman Park. It did drop us off at an entrance, but this entrance
was under construction and therefore the lower end of the park was not in use.
We walked along the fenced area hoping to find a way in, but based on the
number of bulldozers I saw, I knew this couldn’t be where the others were.
After asking the village locals, we went back to the bus stop. At this point,
Qasid Bhai offered us two options: to walk straight up the road or wait for a
second bus. It was scorching hot and we didn’t think the walk would take that
long, so we set afoot to find the real Orman Park.

I moaned and groaned as we continued walking uphill. Every now and then I would wave at a passing bus or car, hoping a nice person would let us hitchhike with them. This was out of pure fun but I held a breath of hope nonetheless. At about the half-way mark, we stumbled upon the statue of Mr. Atatürk. It was Mount Rushmore-style; his huge face was carved out of stone. We took some photos, rested a bit, and then continued our trek. After another 15 minutes of walking alongside the busy highway, we saw Adnan Bhai standing with his car near the right entrance of Orman Park. We finally made it!
We
apologized to everyone, and helped carried the food supplies to a picnic area.
We found two tables next to each other, and decided to settle there. We used
one table for prep work, and the other was set for lunch. I helped Madiha Bhabi
make Pakistani parathas (flat blood fried
in oil) over a gas stove, and she later fried chapli
chicken kebabs (flat kebabs), the dough of which she had prepared at home. Adnan
Bhai made fresh Pakistani chai, and once the table was set, we all gathered around to eat a
delicious meal.
After a filling meal, we played badminton and ludu, took photos
overseeing all of Antalya, and walked around the park to enjoy the fresh air.
It was a lovely picnic day and spent with great people. I am so grateful for low-key
weekends like these.
Really cannot forget that memorable walk...
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