Söğüt to Eskişehir – 14th September
Distance: 58.7 km – Elevation +820 m -690 m
Weather: Sunny. Temperature: High 26 degrees
Söğüt, where I stayed yesterday, was the birthplace of the Ottoman empire and its very first capital.
“Söğüt was a Seljuk Turkish tribe in western Anatolia that later gave birth to the Ottoman Empire. It was a small tribe that extended from the Kayi branch of the Oghuz Turks who settled Anatolia in the 12th and 13th centuries. The village of Söğüt was surrounded by three greater Turkish tribes: Eskenderum in the north, Eskişehir in the east, Konyali in the south; the Eastern Roman Empire in the west. Legend has it that the bey (chief) of the tribe in the late 13th century, Ertuğrul, bravely kept the enemies at bay so that his son, Osman, could conquer them all during his reign from 1299 to 1326. When Osman’s son, Orhan, came to power after his father’s death, he renamed the tribe Osmanli in honour of his father. The village of Söğüt (formerly Thebasion until 1231) later grew into a town that served the Osmanli tribe as its capital until the capture of the Byzantine city of Bursa in 1326. The capital was moved to Bursa as it was a significant city of the region.
Söğüt was the birthplace of Sultan Osman I. It was conquered by Ertuğrul for the Anatolian Seljuks from the Nicean Empire in 1231.[3] It had a kaza centre in the Ertuğrul Sanjak of Hüdavendigâr Vilayet, the centre of which was Bilecik. The kaza centre included present-day districts of İnhisar, İnönü, Mihalgazi, Sarıcakaya and Yenipazar, central and eastern parts of Bozüyük and some villages of Nallıhan and Tepebaşı before World War I. Söğüt was occupied three times by Greek troops during the Turkish War of Independence: 8-11 January 1921, 24 March-21 April 1921 and 12 July 1921-6 September 1922.”
I knew there was no accommodation between Söğüt and Eskisehir, a distance of 52 kilometres, so my plan was to just keep walking and see how far I could reach and then catch a bus or taxi either back to Söğüt or on to Eskisehir. I left the hotel after breakfast at 8.00 am and found my way through the town. Söğüt is a garrison town and soldiers were heading to the bus station, I guessed they were going on leave. I stopped at the local store to stock up with food for the journey and the young woman at the till asked if she could take a photo of me to show to her friends, I must be the most photographed traveller in Turkey at the moment!.
I passed by the statue of Ertugrul Gaz who was the father of Osman Gazi who became Osman I, the first Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. A little later I came to the Söğüt Kaymakam Çeşmesi (Söğüt District Governor’s Fountain):
“The Neo-Classical fountain, located in the center of Söğüt district and built by the District Governor Sait Bey in 1919, is an important example of the last period of Ottoman architectural art. There are sliced vase shaped troughs in the middle of three sides of the fountain, and gilded motifs on both sides of the troughs. The surfaces and pointed arches are in the form of niches, and the interior and top of the niche is covered with colored tiles. The fountain has four facades and is made of Kütahya tiles and marble.”
Just after passing the fountain I heard a shout and saw a family enjoying breakfast which they kindly invited me to join.
The climb out of town was steep as I left the asphalt roads for tractor roads and I met a group of farmworkers and we chatted for a while with the aid of Google translate. About 4 kilometres out of town I came to a small lake which acts as a reservoir for Söğüt, there were several men with lines and rods out for a day’s fishing and speaking to one of the men he told me he was fishing for trout.
After the reservoir, the road continued to climb reaching the first peak of the day at a height of 3550 feet. Here I found a roadside fountain with an inscription from the Koran “ Allah Kaluna yetmezmi” – Zumer 36, and I was able to rest and cool down from the heat of the morning sun. The road then descended before the second climb to 3500 feet, the views were outstanding and the miles just seemed to disappear as I soaked in the beauty that surrounded me. Around 2.00 pm after I stopped for my lunch of bread and cheese, and sat watching a herdsman and his herd of cows grazing, their colours blended well with the glorious golds and browns of the landscape.
The distance gradually whittled away as time progressed and I felt good so I just kept walking. I reached the Bursa Eskişehir Yolu that would take me all the way to Eskişehir. It was 3.30 pm and I still had 25 kilometres left to walk, so it was heads down as I picked up the pace. There were several places along the road where I was able to take refreshments and at 6.00 pm after 36 kilometres I came to a deserted uncompleted building project where I rested and was tempted to bed down for the night using my bivvy bag, but with just 14 kilometres left to reach Eskişehir, I decided to continue.
It was dark as I entered the town and using Google maps I tracked my way through the town to the Eskisehir Buyuk Hotel. It was Saturday night and the town was alive as I found my way through the crowded streets and finally having walked exactly 50 kilometres and just 200 metres from the hotel I tripped on a protruding flagstone and fell flat on my face. Local people gathered around to help, one called for an ambulance and within minutes medics on a motorbike arrived and checked me over. I didn’t want to go to the hospital but the medics insisted and indicated the treatment was free. The ambulance arrived and whisked me off to the Yunus Emre State Hospital where they stitched the gash over my left eye and treated the graze to my arm. The doctor insisted I had a scan for a skull fracture and other tests, there was absolutely no waiting at the hospital which was caring and ultra-efficient, and I was back in my hotel by 10.30 pm just over an hour from the time of the trip. A good Samaritan stayed with me throughout, looking after my rucksack and he also ran me back to the hotel. I had intended to take a day of ŕest here and will probably extend it. An eventful day!
