Dear Sufi Trail friend , The year has started and, did we also? You may begin, something you hear from friends and family or whiting after you contemplated. It’s simple, but these little pushes are often the beginning of something big that you can’t predict.
This was the case with our hiking caravan in 2022, after we began, the story unfolds. This winter month we used to redesign the website and get some pictures of our days in Turkey organized.
Hope everybody arrived in the new year safe and sound with whatever life holds for you. Together with our hiking friends in the Netherlands, we hiked literally through rough weather, it was raining cats and dogs, but we didn’t skip a day. Hiking is excellent for everything and can be done every day.
Hope we get a lot more hiking fun with you. If you like to join us, we love to welcome you. Love,
Sedat & Iris Sufi Trail
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Markings Sufi Linda
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Marking with Linda, our beloved artist in Yalova, she is working all seasons. When the hiking and cycling groups went home, Linda stays active on the Sufi Trial, fixing the signposts and hiking with friends. We saw some amazing pictures of the hiking days in Autumn and winter, and the hopeful snowdrop flower is already luring us into the next hiking season. She has her own Sufi now, the little Linda Sufi, with her paint ready to colour the path for hikers and cyclists to come. Website of Linda in Dutch (Nederlandstalig) |
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Spring Hikingcaravan The hiking caravan is not far away, the itinerary and more preparations are making us slide into the next journey. For inspiration, we made a webpage just about the caravans and the people who joined us in 2022. They all shined their light on the road to Konya. We can’t wait to meet the new hikers. If you are thinking of joining us, take a look at the previous year's stories and hike to the light with us this spring. Starting date is soon the 5th of May in Yalova.
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Autumn Cyclingcaravan
For cycling, we split the journey up in two sections. You can join us from Yalova to Konya or carry on further on the Mecca Trail to Antakya. It’s a simple setup with not too many things with us, as most of the things you need are always piping up by surprise. The interest is good for this journey, so we are confident we have our 8 cyclist soon to form a group and get excited together for the adventure. It’s easy for us off course if you know you're joining to get your cycling package, so we can send you your Sufi goodies. Get inspired... We see these cycle rides as a friend's journey, who are all just also building a marked road together for the next cyclist and the next and next. The stickers we place have proven to have quite a long lifetime. Some of them are already 10 years old! Some tips, make sure you are lightly packed, have enough gear to climb a mountain and all else will be solved. The main thing is decision-making, are you coming? |
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Concerning Sufi Trail trips, for hiking and cycling trail friends:
Every hiking & cycling team member is responsible for their own cost and insurances.
The hiking & cycling caravans are based on equal responsibility, and we are all Friends of the Sufi Trail, every companion is co-responsible for the success of the trip. You book your own flights. You co-decide where to sleep, what and where to eat.
Furthermore, you are free to participate in any common activity. You share in the costs of these mutual activities. All of this in good harmony.
You are provided with the Sufi Trail welcome package for self-navigation, and experienced companions will help you to use it. You make sure that you are properly insured.
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World travellers
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Remarkable German lady Madeline Hoffmann, 33, who left Germany on her bicycle to meet her Turkish father, she met her father in Kayseri after a 4.5 month cycling journey. We often see home, or feel it when you arrive somewhere without knowing what our home is, why are we born in the place where we were born. Home is a strong word with an endless amount of meaning. Words can’t describe it. But it must have to do something with the heart. Your heart truly knows the way home. And when you think of someone travelling the world that you admire, aren’t you then not home in each other's hearts for an undefined place in time? We are only shimmering into light. I believe hiking brings you closer to home. As does cycling off course and easier to carry your home with you. But thank you to all the world travellers for leaving their homes, it’s quite a mission… Living outside the comforts of a home, but doing what you love. World travellers are so inspiring, and we do have quite a few. Hikers and Cyclist share their amazing stories and also on Netflix you find the most amazing people who have collected a snapshot of the world in the time there was no mobile phone. The new Netflix documentary about The Man Who Wanted to See It All. Heinz Stücke left Germany in 1962 with a bicycle, a tent and a goal: to see all of the world. Now he is home for the first time in fifty years. The documentary shows you the faraway places in the 100,000 pictures he took with his analogue camera and the slideshows he is now organizing to share in a museum in his home town in Germany, Hövelhof. He had to sacrifice a lot and was in danger for quite a few times. Hit by a truck, mocked, beaten and attacked by bees. His legacy, view on life, is one of a kind. Not going home but arriving still after half a century, his story is now beautifully shared in the documentary by Spanish filmmaker Albert Albacete's in The man who wanted to see it all. A small peek into everything. |
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Heinz's impressions of Istanbul: "Istanbul, a city on two continents where East meets West. It is unforgettable to look from Uskudar on the Asian side over the Bosphorus, when the setting sun silhouettes hundreds of pointed minarets against the sky and the whining sound of the "muhezzin" in the air calling the people to prayer." Yfu can Follow Heinz on facebook |
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Cyclist Davide Travelli
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A cyclist we admire and love, some of our hikers also follow Davide as he really covers the world with so much insight in the extraordinary movies he makes. A cameraman on a bike. We love the postcards, and we have one shining in my eyesight every day. Davide is now past Portugal and Spain, where he made the most beautiful pictures and movies. We can’t wait for Asia, as this might mean we can see Davide on the Sufi Trail to have a lovely Turkish cay together. But I guess world travellers are not the people you often meet, they are just in your heart and a little piece of all the people they have met is travelling with them.
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Hiker Thair Abud
We so often talk about Thair, the hiker that sometimes takes a holiday from his most impressive hike ever. We love to tell the story, and somehow he often pops up in our talks with fellow hikers. It’s so impressive, but also the other day we talked about the stamp collection. When we met Thair in Haarlem he already had a pack of stamps, when they get to bog he sends them to his sister. And all those people that hold a little piece of his diary in the shape of a postcard! You can read all about it, and I will dig into the archive to find the picture of this most impressive stamp collection he once upon a time showed us. We wanted to join Thair in Turkey, but have to settle for dreaming about it and loving his every step and off course telling his story to our friends and here in the newsletter. When I was finally brave enough to search for the answer, I asked myself “what would make me happy?” and the answer was “walking”. Lovely interview with Thair Abud |
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Travel fair in the Netherlands
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Every year in the Netherlands, there is a trade fair for holidays. In Dutch, it’s called the Vakantiebeurs. We joined with one of our Mecca crew members Hester who is such a joy to see tottering around and talking with all the people who are there. It was lovely to see big crowds again and the countries displaying all their beauty. It makes you eager to go and see it all! We watched a beautiful reading about Oman and the Sultanate and, of course are gearing up for the countries that are on the Mecca Trail or the Mecca Trail runs through. We're hoping to have more news on the follow-ups and extend the development of the Mecca Trail through Jordan. I’m expecting a sudden picture of Natalia popping up saying ‘Hello I’m here” and then your jaw opens to her beautiful smile somewhere in the world.
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Sign up for the hiking caravan
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Due to the many positive reactions, we can already confirm that the hiking caravan for 2023 dates are set. The dates are 5th of May till 15th of June 2023! This is only half a year from now, sooner than we think :) Would you also like to take a walk or experience the entire 40-day feeling (or part of the Sufi Trail) along the way? Then sign up. It still seems far away, but before you know it, the seasons will fly by. The date is known, so you can consider whether it fits in your agenda. Check the website for details and last year's experiences. |
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Sufi on Bike
Ready to prepare your cycling journey on the Sufi Trail? We are very happy to offer the cycling package with all the information you need to cycle from Istanbul to Konya, visiting the ever-changing landscape of Anatolian Turkey. Get ready to Cycle to the light |
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Hike & Bike Events
Sufi Trail organizes hiking and cycling events on the Sufi Trail. They are events to promote slow travel and camp outside under the stars in Anatolia, Turkey. If you have questions you can call & app us on: +31 6 440 447 90 |
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Your Sufi Story
We love to hear your Sufi Trail story for the next newsletter. You can also send your Sufi (trail) related message or story. Keep it short. 300 words maximum and send it to sufitrail@gmail.com And yes we love pictures and video's ❤ We hope that you like the work of Sufi Trail. You may also consider making a donation to the Sufi Trail foundation. |
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