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Nomad Adventure: Turkey in Black Tent

11-day experiential journey in the footsteps of the ancient Anatolian Turks and Lycians, in total immersion in their millennia-old culture that we will find in textiles, cuisine and local history. After discovering the mysteries of Istanbul, the journey will continue in our own way-the nomadic way! This will be our perception of the world for a week in the company of true nomads. The Black Tent will be our home, handwoven on a carpet loom by experienced weavers, and we will migrate from pasture to pasture. We will learn how to process wool, from fleece to rug, understand and implement the basics of textile weaving, and walk through forests and plains to arrive in one of the largest nomadic encampment areas in southwestern Anatolia. We will also learn how to make Anatolian Turkmen cheese and bread, which we will consume with our meals. We will visit the ancient cities of the Lycians, Hellenes, Romans and Byzantines, see their monumental art and crafts in museums, and try to imagine how glorious and rich these ethnic cultures were in ancient times.

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There are currently no scheduled dates for this trip.
Contact us to request information

Details

  • Turkey
  • June to September 2025, ad hoc departures
  • 11 days / 10 nights
  • upon request

The fee includes.

  • 10 overnight stays in boutique hotels and Black Tent
  • Transfers to/from airports by 14-16 seat air-conditioned van
  • 9 breakfasts, 9 lunches, 8 dinners
  • Bottled water during meals, transportation, and at the hotel
  • 2 domestic flights between Istanbul and southeastern Anatolia in economy class
  • Tips at hotels and restaurants
  • Medical-baggage insurance

The fee does NOT include.

  • International flights and airport taxes
  • Personal extras, drinks, phone calls
  • Tipping guides and drivers (suggested: about USD 250 per person)
  • Supplemental insurance (medical and trip cancellation)
  • Anything not specifically listed as included in the fee

Some
more information

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  • We will discover Turkmen culture by visiting museums and markets in Istanbul that guard the ancient art of weaving
  • We will explore the oldest markets for cloth and spices
  • We will cross the Bosphorus to discover its cultural diversity
  • We will walk along the ancient nomadic routes of the Turkmen peoples.
  • We will sleep camped in the Black Tent to test nomadic life
  • We will learn how to weave and dye wool following ancient traditions
  • We will prepare our own supply of cheese and Turkish Anatolian bread to be consumed during the nomadic adventure
  • We will visit 2 nomadic families with whom we will stop for food and conversation
  • We will live in contact with nomadic Anatolian communities to learn about and understand their culture

Day 1
Arrival in Istanbul. Private transfer to hotel. Welcome dinner. Overnight stay.

Meals included: dinner.

Day 2
We begin our journey with a visit to the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, one of the most famous museums in the world, to take a technical look at its unique textiles and collection of ancient Turkish carpets from the Seljuk era to understand the socio-cultural atmosphere in which they were produced. After a short visit to the Spice Market and a visit to the Jewish Quarter, we board the ferry to reach the Kadıköy Market, which boasts 200 years of history; during the journey, we discover the cultural diversity of the Bosphorus and, before dinner, treat ourselves to a short excursion to the market.
Overnight.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner

Day 3
We explore some private collections of carpets collected from Anatolia, some dating back to the 15th century, mostly from the looms of three major production centers-Ushak, Bergama and Konya.
We continue our day of discovery with a visit to the Kilim and Ethnographic Art Museum of Josephine Powell, known as “The American Nomad” among Anatolian Turks. After lunch in the area, we visit the Sadberk Hanim Museum which is one of the great Anatolian museums of textile and ethnographic art in Turkey. The museum contains more than 20,000 artifacts, including great Ottoman textile wonders, costumes, Iznik ceramics and ethnographic art objects.
Free dinner, overnight stay

Meals included: breakfast, lunch

Day 4
After breakfast, transfer to the airport in time for our flight to Dalaman, southwest of the country. Upon arrival, we will have an approximately 3-hour drive to our camp in the center of the western Taurus Mountains, at an altitude of 1,000 meters. Our adventure begins under our large black nomadic tent handwoven by experienced weavers. We take possession of our chuval-a hand-woven nomadic sack-where we carry our belongings during the trek. Our guide tells us how to use the tent, which serves as a living room during the day and transforms into our bedrooms at night. Dinner in the company of a nomadic family from which we begin to understand the authentic lifestyle of the people who inhabit this area. Overnight stay in the tent.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner

Day 5
Today is migration day. We wake up at 07:00 a.m. to have our coffee and snacks made of nuts and molasses, load the animals with our personal bags and venture on foot through the old migratory trails to reach the first stop, after about 2h30′. This ancient Turkmen migration route, a part of the famous Lycian Way, is among the best hiking trails in Turkey. In this area, we treat ourselves to a traditional Turkish breakfast, relax among cedars and junipers, and after lunch, resume our trek to our overnight camp surrounded by a sea of cedars, thyme and flowers at 1800mt altitude. Before our overnight stay in the tent, a delicious typical dinner awaits us.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner

Day 6
Today is grazing day. Waking up at 09:00 a.m. for breakfast, we resume our trek for a visit to a nomadic family living nearby; we stop to chat with them about their lifestyle, discover their wise and generous perception of life, talk about ancient traditions. We return to our tent for lunch and to watch a demonstration on how to comb and spin wool, the beginning of the textile weaving process. We begin dyeing yarn for our small production of a fabric that will take shape in the following days. The experience does not end there: we put our hands in the dough by baking together the Anatolian Turkish bread that we will consume during our meals. Dinner and overnight stay in the black tent.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner

Day 7
We resume our migration. We wake up at 07:00 for our breakfast and to load the animals with our personal bags. We continue walking along the old nomadic migration trails for about 2h30′ until we arrive at the new beautiful stopping point. We visit a nearby village to share local tea and lunch and then resume our trek. During the migration, we gather some herbs that we need for dyeing wool, making cheese and tea, activities to which we devote ourselves as soon as we reach the new night camp at 1700mt altitude. Dinner and overnight stay in the black tent.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner

Day 8
Still migrating. Wake up at 07:00 for our coffee and snacks of nuts and molasses. We resume our walk along the old nomadic migration routes for 3 hours and arrive at our destination mid-morning. Here breathtaking scenery awaits us, with clear skies you can see the entire Elmali Plain and Green Lake with its emerald colors. After lunch near the lake, we move to the famous Subasi Pasture camp at 2070mt altitude. Dinner and overnight stay in our black tent.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner

Day 9
Grazing Day. After morning coffee and a late breakfast, we visit Anatolian Turkic nomads from the Fethiye region in their black tents. Today our walk leads us to the discovery of a snow pit, COMMA, which the nomadic Turkmen use as a refrigerator to store their cheese produced on the pasture. We make a stop to prepare our drink made from natural snow and molasses, as per tradition. We return to camp to prepare a small loom on the ground to weave together the yarns we have dyed. Lunch, dinner and overnight stay in the black tent.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner

Day 10
After breakfast, we bid farewell to the black tent and its crew and depart to Dalaman for our flight back to Istanbul. Transfer to our hotel in the city center, free dinner and overnight stay.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch

Day 11

Free breakfast and time at leisure before transfer to the airport for your flight back to Italy.

Anatolia, Turkey’s peninsular region and the crossroads of ancient civilizations, is a fascinating region that holds centuries of history, culture and traditions. This vast plateau, with its enchanting valleys, mountain ranges and fertile plains, is a mosaic of landscapes that reflect the meeting of East and West. Here, every nook and cranny tells a story thousands of years in the making, from the remains of ancient empires such as the Hittites and Romans, to the underground cities of Cappadocia and monasteries perched in the mountains. One of the most fascinating aspects of Anatolia is its nomadic heritage, still visible today in the Turkmen communities that inhabit the region. Turkmen nomads are the custodians of an ancient tradition, when their tribes traversed these lands with herds and families, living in harmony with nature. Their tents are true symbols of this wandering life: built of natural materials and decorated with traditional motifs, they offer a warm and authentic welcome to anyone wishing to immerse themselves in this culture. In Turkmen camps, nomads live according to the rhythms of nature, practicing ancient crafts such as carpet weaving and making yogurt and cheese using traditional methods. On our trip The Black Tent we immerse ourselves in their culture and share a meal prepared over a fire, enjoying the authentic flavor of Anatolian cuisine and listening to stories passed down from generation to generation.

Entry documents:

  • Passport or valid identity card for expatriation, with remaining validity of at least 5 months
  • round-trip airfare

Vaccinations: None. Travelers from or who have transited through countries with regions affected by endemic polio (particularly Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Tajikistan) are required to show proof of vaccination against the disease.

There are currently no scheduled dates for this trip.
Contact us to request information

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Eventi Nomadi is a sustainable tourism project linked to the Public Adv. of the Lazio Region “Impresa Formativa. Incentives for business creation in favor of young people and women in Lazio” arranged in implementation of the European Social Fund Plus Program 2021-2027, having as its objective Policy 4 A More Social Europe aimed at self-entrepreneurship for women and young people through the granting of non-repayable grants to new businesses operating in the territory of the Lazio Region.