27 December 2006

A tiring day

There was a notice on the hotel notice board about Tuesday market day at Tire. We mentioned to the man at the hotel that we were thinking of going, and although he spoke good English he gave us a puzzled look.

So we wandered into town and found the bus station and looked for a bus going there. A man approached us to ask where we wanted to go, and we got the same blank look when we said "Tire". Then suddenly it twigged with us. Duh. "We want to go to the market at Tee-ray!" we finally said and light dawned and he pointed to a waiting mini-bus.



The road from Izmir to Selcuk is wide and straight, the journey only takes an hour or so, so we thought that the 40 km to Tire would take maybe half an hour ... but of course the road wound its way through the country towns and villages. I was beginning to wonder if we had made a good choice in getting onto that bus.

When we finally arrived in Tire and saw the market spreading through most of the streets in the centre of town, I was ready to enjoy myself.



The country women nearly all wear the big baggy colourful trousers, with jumpers and cardigans tucked in and headscarfs securely tied. Even the men ride their tractors with a headscarf tied around their heads (in a manly style).



Encouraged by the presence of so many large women, I felt hopeful of finding a coat that would fit me.

My creepy coat

I found a black coat which seemed to be just what I needed. It was made of a furry material - looking like suede on the outside and furry on the inside - and went down to my knees, and it fit me, just what I wanted. The man wanted 85 lira for it, but I persuaded him to take 65 lira - slipped the coat on and wore it around the market. (You can see me in the picture.)

I soon discovered my new coat has its own little foible. The inside fur is laid upwards, and so my shirt under the coat kept riding up but wouldn't readily slide down again. Very soon my shirt was all wadded up under my arms, even the sleeves pulled themselves up to my armpits.


We spent a couple of happy hours wandering around the Tee-ray market, then dropped into the nearby mosque to use their facilities, and headed back to Selcuk on the mini-bus.

No comments: