Beypazari! This was our first attempt to take a solo excursion through the countryside and it was quite the adventure. We purchased a Tom Tom to help with navigation, but it had its limitations. We encountered several construction detours and these were not taken into consideration by our computerized navigator. Despite the fact that we were never far from civilization, it was funny to see how quickly panic set in when we found we were lost in a foreign country. After a few glitches, we righted ourselves and headed for a two hour drive into the Anatolian steppes. The drive was beautiful. The scenery was reminiscent of the hilly areas north of Phoenix, with dry mountains, and minimum vegetation. As we drove further west, we encountered more farm land. The rural outposts are much less westernized and we felt that we were closer to observing the lifestyle of the majority of Upon arrival in Beypazari, we realized that the limited information we had downloaded from the Internet was not Going to be enough to enable us to navigate the town And locate the points of interst. We went on a twenty minute hunt for the tourist office and never found it, but did find a police officer who was extremely helpful...he didn't speak English but eventually located some brochures and a map in English. Armed with these, we headed into the streets of this settlement that boasted one of the best collections of preserved and still functioning Ottoman-style homes in the country. We wandered through the market sampling local fare, and poking our heads into jewelry and craft stores. We had a delicious Turkish lunch on the stone veranda of a restaurant shaded by grape vines in a converted school that was over 500 years old. I have acquired a taste for Turkish coffee which would be the ideal accompaniment for baklava, but in the spirit of reclaiming my health, I have sworn off sweets until I drop twenty pounds. I thought it would be difficult to resist the temptation to indulge in the country's pastries and sweets, but I am enjoying the fresh vegetables and simple grilled meats. So for now, I'm more than satiated and enjoying my Turkish coffee without dessert. After lunch, we strolled through another bazaar and visited a living history museum in an old house that had been repurposed to showcase the lifestyle of the villagers. The upstairs was blanketed with Turkish Carpets which while worn, we're still magnificent. We saw spinners, weavers, dye makers and also saw how they purged evil spirits, by pouring molten led over the head of one obsessed by spirits. I tried to get Nabil to try out the service, but he declined! We also meandered through the city history museum trying to piece together the information describing the displays, which was written soley in Turkish. It is always surprising to see how much can be inferred from just a few hints...a word that seems familiar, a date, a map or a picture or symbol. We puzzled out quite a bit of Beypazari's history. Fortunately, the cost of entry to the museum was only a dollar, so we got more than our money's worth! We headed back to the center of town to view the remains of an ancient cansaveri, a rest spot for camel caravans. Lastly we took the car to the top of Hidrilik Hill, where we enjoyed a spectacular view of the town and the surrounding countryside. We drank tea on the picnic bench and gathered our energy for the ride back to Ankara, feeling proud to have navigated our first venture so successfully. The return to Ankara brought us back to modern Turkey replete with shopping malls and superhighways. We bought a printer at the local mall, enjoyed a grilled fish dinner in the food court ( where you can select your freshly caught fish on display by local fishermen!) and then headed upstairs to see the SAVAGES. Yes, we can still indulge our movie obsession! A full and satisfying day in a country where some people are living on the fast track and others are in a time warp, living as they did 100 years ago.