CamelWrestling

CAMEL
Wrestling...?

Winter can feel a long and often
bleak season along our Aegean coast,
but every year, on the third Sunday in
January, large beasts adorned in
brightly colored kilims, wool tassels,
and brass bells arrive in Selcuk to
remind us that our region in steeped
in age-old customs...some a little
more peculiar than others.

In the view of this foreign woman,
a tradition like this seems to have
been started just to get bored men
out of the house after a season of
"cabin fever", combining months
of care and training of the camels
with the spectacle of competition
between neighboring Western
Anatolian villages.

But by the end of a festive day, the
huge local crowds, whether intently
watching and wagering which
mammoth animal will best another in
a series of neck-wrangling moves, or
more interested in the grilled food,
cold beer and comraderie of their
friends, all wander home, happy and
satiated with the spectacle of camel
wrestling.

Selcuk, Izmir Turkiye 90.232.892.6508 bazaarbayar@yahoo.com

Bazaar Bayar