Michael Pereira travelled through southern Turkey in the spring and summer of 1965. He followed the coast from Marmaris to Mersin and also made a detour through the Taurus Mountains to the old Seljuk capital of Konya, travelling by indigenous transport, bus, dolmus, and donkeynoting that in certain parts of the country "it is wise never to assume the existence of anything smoother than a boulder-strewn track, and even this assumption can sometimes lead to the most interesting situations."
He stayed in third-class hotels (preferred, for their consistent simplicity, to second-class, which ranged "from mediocre to appalling"), where he talked with long-distance lorry-drivers, farmers in for market, and itinerant salesmenhe speaks Turkish fluently.
Pereira writes with a mild dry humor and gentle sensibility that is enhanced by his lively attention to detailhe records the colors and forms, sounds and smells, of this "region of quite exceptional natural beauty," as well as the personalities of its people.
Michael Pereira (b. 1928) is the author of numerous novels and travel books, includingIstanbul: Aspects of a City, East of Trebizond, and Across the Caucasus. He lives in Somerset, England.
