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A unique tour into the heart of ancient Troad
(7 Nights, 8 Days)
(Flora and Fauna, Cooking,
Trekking, Archaeology and the Tahtacı Türkmen tribe)
Our destination is Mount Ida, the
mountain that plays a leading role in countless ancient
myths, the home of the goddess Hera and the peak where
she seduced Zeus, while those she favored were
victorious at Troy. On the mountain's southern edge lies
the Vale of Troy, a rich and fertile valley dotted with
cornfields and orchards. This is the frontier, the
meeting point between the warm Mediterranean and the
colder European climates. Mount Ida stands over the
valley, protecting it from the fierce cold and winds of
the north, her cool pine woods a habitat of wild flowers
we expect to find in northern climates such as the Alps
or Scotland. Mount Ida was also the childhood home of
Paris. Deserted and exposed on Mt. Ida at birth by his
parents, Priam and Hecuba, because of a prophecy that he
would bring destruction to Troy, he was raised by
shepherds and went on to fulfill the awful prophecy. It
was from Mt. Ida's bare summit that Zeus watched the
progress of the war and the ultimate defeat of the
Trojans. Throughout The Iliad, Ida is praised for its
springs: 'fair nurse of fountains and of savage game'.
The base of the mountain is mainly granite, schist,
capped by peaks of limestone, which would account for
the abundant springs and streams that flow south to the
Aegean and north into the Meander. As recently as the
1960s locals also reported seeing jackals, bears and
leopards on the mountain, called Kaz Dagi (Goose
Mountain) by the Turks.
Tour Date:
08 - 15 June 2008 |
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