high taurus trek,day one

The Taurus (in greek the bull) is a vast range of mountains that runs from the south eastern corner of Turkey along the medeterrenian coast and then turns inland to finish near the Caucasus.Locally known with the name of Toros mountains.They are divided in several sections ,Caraman ,Volcar, Aladaglar ,we were to trek the highest the Aladaglar.Between the Taurus mountains and the Pontic mountains (Black Sea range) there is a vast plateau (Anatolian Plateau),ranging from 1000m near Konya to 2000m near Erzurum.After the visit to Eski Gumus monastery the coach took us to a valley on the west side of the mountains for the start of the trek.Before the village of Cucurbag we stopped to look at the mountains,they looked around 30km long with very steep peaks rising off the valley,similar look to the Dolomites in the Italian Alps.The valley was at an altidute of 1700m,well watered but away from the river and the villages bleak and desolate.We moved on to the village of Cucurbag for lunch in a local house.After a simple but good meal members of the group bought local items on offer like headscarfs and woolly socks.The start of the trek was only 2-3km outside the village.The path carried on across small valleys to orchards near a small settlement and a small Greek chaple build over a spring but now in ruin.Passed the settlement and we entered Emli valley,a narrow valley more like a gorge that at the time was full of sheep.After that it widen and our campsite came into sight.The camp consisted of a large grassy area with our tents in the perimeter,a dining tent ,a kitchen tent and further on a shower area and a toilet with no door (to the Canadians dismay).We had dinner watching the mountains above turn red from the sunset.The rest of the evening was spend next to the campfire.The sleep that evening was sweet,i was up that day for 17 hrs,one of the busiest days of the trip.