,Journey to Avusor Plateau in the Black Sea Ethnic music - Tulum sound Handmade stone bridge I live in Çamlıhemşin Avusor Plateau. I am 77 years old. I grew up here since I was a kid, and I've been a shepherd here. I know every part of this plateau, and I have been to all the plateaus around this plateau. Behind this mountain is Yusufeli plateau, we call it "xevek." I have stayed there during the summer months and did transhumance in the summers. In the past, we had a lot of cows, sheep, and goats. In the past, there were many horses and mules on this plateau. We used to walk from the village while taking our cargo on mules. There was no road back then. During the first spring, we would come to the plateaus below. We would stay in the plateau below for 1 month. After 1 month, we would migrate to the upper plateau when the grass was fully grown. We used to stay there for 2 months, and during this period, plateau festivals were held. When we arrived, the festival would continue for 2-3 days. We would have fun, accompanied by Tulum Kemençe Horon while walking back to the village as part of the festival. After staying in the upper plateau for 2 months, we would descend to the plateaus below. Around August 20th, according to the Rumi calendar, when it started snowing, we would migrate back to the village in autumn. This is how we used to follow a plateau system. - How were these houses made? In the past, there were no machines, no cars, not even a road. We had skilled stone masters back then. They carved stones with a hammer and a chisel (murc). They used the chisel to split the stone by shoving mule-shoes between them. That's how they built the stone walls. No high walls are built in this region, as avalanches come from the upper part in winter. In the past, there was no sheet metal for the roof, we call "xartuma" made of oak and pine, thinner than wood. we covered the roof with them After the road was built, the plateau layout broke down a little. There is no standardized design; some houses are built with bricks, and some are made of concrete. Some houses have unfinished walls made of bricks, and they remain standing like that. - Where did these stones come from? Since there are plenty of dense stones here, we used them as they were readily available from the ground. There was no need to bring them from anywhere else. I remodeled my house 20 years ago. The house where I live with my father is on the plateau below. That house belonged to my brother, and I rebuilt it manually, following the old system. Primitive water mill This is how we used to grind flour for bread. We cut down the trees of the komar tree and uprooted them with their roots. After letting them dry, we made a big fire. We heated the stones well on an open fire and baked the corn flour bread on them. we call it Gresta in "laz" language, it's made of pileki stone We used to make a big fire We heated the stones well on an open fire and baked the corn flour bread on them. We covered the dough with leaves and put fire on top again. I used to go up that hill, right on the hill, I used to sleep there while the goats were grazing. The sleep of that region is different. One evening while I was there, I thought I'd leave the animals with the dog until I took them downstairs. That night, the dog and the goats stayed together, and the wolves came down and ate a few goats. There used to be a lot of wolves, and they ate many of our animals. - Have you ever come across them? I encountered them many times, including bears and wolves. Sometimes they appeared suddenly. When I met a bear, I fired a bullet from my gun, and it escaped. It's very difficult to shoot a bear or a wolf, so it's better to avoid confrontation. It's not easy to hit a wolf; they are quite agile. I used to wear 'Hedik' on my feet, made of wood. I wore it, and with two friends, we hiked up the hill in the middle of winter. buraya geldik We came to this house, and the door was completely closed due to the snow. I tried to open it with a shovel and managed to enter as much as possible. We sat with a friend, drank tea, and had an adventurous day like in our youth. A person next to us recorded on camera what we experienced that day. In the evening, we walked back down to the village again. - Did your grandfathers first come to this region, or how old is this place? The exact date is not known, but our grandfathers were already here when I was born. This is how we have known the plateau. Most of the houses here were old, and some were newly built. In the past, it was forbidden to build houses outside of this region, and even within this area, houses were not constructed. On the opposite region, tents were set up for the animals, and the barren animals were divided into separate sections. The goats and kids used to stay on the opposite side, while the milked animals would be on this side. It is not possible to come to our highland and not eat muhlama. These are highland products, and we make them all ourselves. We don't buy them from anyone. -Keşke herkesin böyle imkanı olsa Where did you keep them before? In the past, we wouldn't use plastic bins as we do now. We used to make pots of pine wood and store the muhlama in them. Even the old highlanders used to do it better. I had a win inside, and I used to fill it completely. I was making cheese as well. Back then, I was milking 5-6 cows and 30-40 sheep. I was milking 70-80 goats. Where did you get the old boards from? What were you mowing with? We used to cut logs by hand. We built the system this high. Two people were mowing at different speeds, one on the bottom and one on the top. Recently, the engine came out, but it's not as well done as doing it manually. Is there a mill in this plateau? No, there is no mill here. -How did you make the bread? We used to grind it at the mill in the village and bring it here. There used to be cornfields, and we used to make cornbread. At that time, tea was not cultivated in this region; it came later. After tea cultivation started, corn cultivation decreased, and the number of trees also decreased. -Is the plateau below older? (peryatak plateau) Those highlands are older. The house you're staying in is very old, and the area just below it is also very old. -Well, how did you determine the location of that house? If they built houses where the ridges were, avalanches would slide from the right and left. -Have you ever had an avalanche before? My father's house downstairs experienced avalanches five times. It was destroyed, and we rebuilt it. If it didn't get hit one year, the avalanche would hit the next year.
