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.

Copyright1999-2009                Bazaar Bayar/Gallery Golden State                   All rights reserved  

Copyright1999-2006                Bazaar Bayar/Gallery Golden State                   All rights reserved    
                                Selcuk, Izmir  Turkiye  90.538.783.5709 ccsbayar@gmail.com
Bazaar Bayar

Copyright1999-2006                Bazaar Bayar/Gallery Golden State                   All rights reserved    

Copyright1999-2006                Bazaar Bayar/Gallery Golden State                   All rights reserved    
                         Vintage Turkish and Central Asian Treasures
                        Selcuk, Izmir  Turkiye  90.538.783.5709 ccsbayar@gmail.com
                         Vintage Turkish and Central Asian Treasures
                        Selcuk, Izmir  Turkiye  90.538.783.5709 ccsbayar@gmail.com
                       Vintage Turkish and Central Asian Treasures
                      Selcuk, Izmir  Turkiye  90.538.783.5709 ccsbayar@gmail.com
                         Vintage Turkish & Central Asian Treasures
                      Selcuk, Izmir  Turkiye  90.538.783.5709 ccsbayar@gmail.com