wonderful trip to Sapanca

Sapanca is a marvellous city not very far from the capital Istanbul, known for having the most wonderful park and offering green landscapes ever as it is characterised by amazing waterfalls coming from the mountains, by its mountains with very natural vegetation that remain one of the most conserved forest, and by its pure and refreshing air , very far from the city pollution or the crowded regions. As we have been accompanied by our Turkish friend, he proposed to us this trip in our fourth day of staying in Turkey and were very happy to accept his invitation to guide us and spend an amazing time together.
We prepared everything from the morning in our pack pack like food, fresh water, and all the necessary things and we met our turkish friend in the taksim square, we thought at first to use means of transportation but he was very kind to propose to us to go by his car this demonstrated how much the turkish people are very welcoming and generous and he really was very kind with us so we were feeling gratitute to his hospitality. As the way was almost ine hour and fourteen minutes from our hotel, he proposed that we try to spend the night in of the inhabitants houses to live the full adventure to the maximum and that he would help us to translate the turkish language and to communicate with people.

This trip for us represented the real immersion in the adventure, we planned our trip as doing a hiking of ten kilometres in the mountain to research the best views and landscapes ever, to search for the places of the water falls, the pure water coming from the mountain, then spend the afternoon after having lunch in using the quad and doing an amazing tour by the most famous and fabulous sites of the region, for the night we choose to spend the night in the inhabitants houses if of course they accepted this, we were so much happy by this new adventure so inside the car we began to sing some Turkish songs the radio was offering to us to hear. Beside the radio, we had a little knowledge of Turkish songs as they were very modern even being in competition with the American market to produce the best qualities they had, so the atmosphere was really festive like we were going to do a party so we sang a lot and we clapped to warm up the atmosphere. Our Turkish friend was also trying to make us learn his language but the funniest part is that he began with the most difficult words to pronounce and as it was impossible for us to repeat them he was laughing a lot and making jokes with us, the mood was really in the highest levels to enjoy this day to the maximum.
Arriving in the city, we discovered the most beautiful view ever, a spacious land as far as the eye can see consisting of green mountains, colourful flowers and very large fields, we prepared ourselves to do our hiking in the mountain with much excitement and pure desire in adventure and discovery.

1- Hiking in the mountain

We first put our backpacks full of necessary things, we traced our route to follow inside the mountain as it was characterised of some high vegetation and we began our walking inside the forest to discover this marvellous world full of treasures, discoveries and much more to see. I had full energy to walk even fourteen kilometres since I have a previous experience in hiking the mountains in Tunisia, and I previously equipped myself with water needed when the body depense much energy and the muscles get more and more warm with movements, we could really smell the most amazing smells of the pure air mixed with the smell of the vegetations the forest offered to us with the ground that was newly wet by some rains. We started our amazing journey by the discovery of different types of trees, that were so much tall and others that were smaller with many flowers and the spacious fields characterised with many herbs with many medical virtues.
As we were walking in the forest we could observe the beauty of the nature with the most pure aspects, we could see some rabbits around trying to have some food but they were in the same time worried by our presence, we gave them some salad and observed them how to feed themselves in the most cute way, we saw squirrels jumping from a tree to another trying to seek for nutrition of searching for some coconuts, some species of birds were also inside the park giving to our ears the most beautiful melody while we were discovering the region while singing happily.

Then we arrived to our first water fall after a long walk of approximatively one hour, we could see between the trees the most beautiful and marvellous landscape ever, the waterfall with pure water full of minerals coming between the rocks to deserve water inside a large lagoon with a so clear water, we run from the mountain to drink and to relax our feet there , I felt the most amazing sensation after so much walk, we could refresh our legs inside the lagoon while hearing the sound of water coming from the mountain in the most astonishing melody ever.

2- Tour in Quad

We decided then to have lunch in this beautiful landscape so we founf while walking around a restaurant offering various and delicious menues so we chose to enjoy the view from this restaurant and we could have the most amazing dishes ever, menues of kabab with rice and fresh salads with fruits and some turkish specilities in making the sauce the rice and especially the sweets that i liked so much from the first day of my arrival to this amazing country. 

After having lunch, we went to do tours by the quard, it was like a small desert car with four wheels and a strong motor,since i did not knew how to drive a car, it was of course impossible for me to drive such a machine so my turkish friend invited himself to take the first seat and i was behind him as he knew very well how to drive the quads from his past experiences in the city, my friends were also helped by guides that were there to drive in case anyone did not know how to drive these impressive machines. the tour began and my friend was going at first slowly allowing us to enjoy very much the beautiful landscape and the beauty of nature, then we began to speed up and it was really the most amazing experience that i would advise to anyone ever, the speed increased so much adrenaline and we felt like flying in the sky so much that tour was amusing, my friend did many jumps exactly like in the deset and we could go inside the forest and see other waterfalls around in side of a deserted part where we could even not reach by walking, we discovered also many houses, many campings also, these poeple were really lucky to choose such an amazing place to live in peace and very far from the stress of the capital, we could see even more far houses that lived in very rural area as there was not commercial centers near by or metro stations, the place was really an authentic natural heaven on earth. We felt so much happier and very excited to see this conserved nature, the river, the colours of green everywhere, it was a beautiful landscape to enjoy especially for us living constantly inside the city.

3- Spending the night in inhabitant's house

Finally, to finish this amazing day in the most beautiful way, we decided to spend the night inside one inhabitant 's home, if of course poeple accept us and have the amability and the generosity, our turkish friend served of a translator to explain that it was very interesting for us to share this adventure with locals thats the essence of this trip, and that it was not because we did not have money to spend a night in a hotel, not at all but because it was a way for us to exchange in terms of cultural aspects and in terms of discovering more the civilizations, and the humanity in all of its detailed and complex characteristics. We went to a first home, we knocked the door many times, but it seemed that no one was inside the house, we walked around a bit and we saw a big house exactly near the waterfall that seemed to be constructed from wood and with a garden all around, when we tried to knock, a dog came to receive us with much excitement, finally there is a family inside, one man came towards us and we explained to him our purposes and how we wanted to exchange with them in terms of experiences so he was very kind and smiling, his eyes really were telling to us with all my pleasure, at that moment we felt amazing feelings, and thanks to his great hospitality we were really received like royal kings, the family was composed on the dad, the mum and one oldest daughter and a younger son that still not knowing how tom walk, a grandma was also there telling stories for her grandsons in the most beautiful way, they offered us dinner and a room to share together were there was all the commodities and good conditions, we had the best times telling them our marvellous experience not only in their country but in the other europen countries where did not put previously the feet, they talked about the traditions, the music, how they used to marry before, it was an explosion of delight and of cultural exchange that made us realize how this world is huge and wonderful, it is so amazing to make the smile enter inside the people 's heart and qualities as generosity, hospitality and kindness are the most strong link that could save humanity from wars and disasters.

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