Dedeağaç it at top right and Izmir bottom right.
Having spent about a week in Dedeağaç and İnöz (Enez), Halim Salim
(HS) sailed off to Izmir, but with a bit off a scare at sea to begin with:
"On the third day after my return from İnöz, I got word that the ferry
'Semiramis' was weighing anchor to set sail for Izmir. Thanks to the
frantic gestures and handkerchief-waving of the rowboat sailors, I was
able to just catch the ferry."
"But after our ferry had gone just a few miles, we noticed agitation
among the crewmembers and were told that the ferry had a problem.
It then stopped suddenly. The captain and the crew worked furiously
with the machines for about an hour. Thanks to the calm seas, the
crew's efforts were made easier and we were able to re-commence
our voyage, but at one-third the speed."
"Nevertheless, we were ecstatic not to be stranded in the water. The
next day at eight in the morning we sighted the city of Izmir, first
noticing the lighthouse and, beyond it, the fearsome redoubt with its
gleaming cannon that strike terror in enemies."
A fierce thunderstorm greeted HS as the 'Semiramis' entered the
Izmir harbor. Soaked to the skin, he was finally able to check into
the 'Hamidiye' hotel. Walks along the 'kordon' (esplanade) followed
after a change of clothes. HS was particularly impressed with the
'Rüsumat' (Customs Administration) building, among the many
modernity-focused achievements of Sultan Abdülhamid II that HS
made a (belabored) point of praising throughout his excursion.
here for the first of a two-part story of
the Izmir Rüsumat (customs) chief's
harrowing experiences as the Greek
occupation force entered Izmir in mid-
May 1919.
Izmir is the starting point at left. Dinar is
on the right directly above Lake Burdur.
After a few days in Izmir, HS bought himself a train ticket to Dinar-
Geyikler. En route, a ten-hour trip to Aydın ended with train troubles,
forcing HS to spend the night there. The next day, though, HS reached
Dinar-Geyikler, spent the night and then rented a carriage to take him
to his ultimate destination - Burdur:
"Since I was to spend a month here, I learned about all its aspects.
Burdur is close to Isparta, six-hours distance away. In history this
area was known as 'Hamideyli' and these days it is 'Hamid' subdivision
of Konya province. In the time of Sultans Osman and Orhan, the
region was linked to Kerman-Kütahya province and after that to
Bursa."
"There are no grasses or trees on the hill slopes and the roofs of the
houses are made of dirt, reminding one of Arabia. Lake Burdur is
quite famous but its water is like seawater, so there are no fish in it."
"There are quite a few orchards and gardens in the city. The people
are engaged in commerce and agriculture. 'Burdur alacası' is a kind
of cloth needlework that is quite famous, made not in factories but
in household workshops here. Even the best quality is very
inexpensive. There are many mosques and Mevlevi lodges and the
famous 'Kalender Dede' is buried here." The main mosque here
has an İstanbul-type double 'şerefe' (minaret gallery) minaret."
"A fine government building and one-each elementary and high
schools are found in Burdur, where the weather is agreeable and
healthy. In the summer, the women flock to a promenade place they
call 'Çarşamba', that resembles the one in Kağıthane, Istanbul, each
Wednesday. There they occupy the orchards and gardens and enjoy
each other's company until one in the morning, before returning home."
In this map of the Ottoman province of Konya, Lake Burdur
is the lake at left-center, almost directly north of Antalya.
END of PART TWO
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