Finding a breathtaking paradise five minutes from the highway where you feel like you're far from civilization... isn't that incredible?
We will return to the events of our lives a year ago, when we first settled in the town of Aslan Budjaku, so close to these magical Turkish mountains, where the clouds seem to float above your heads!
And here we are again. Now we have arrived in Turkey in our own car and we can often drive to the canyon, where a rapid stream flows in a gorge between giant mountains... But the weather does not always allow us to drive along serpentines, where stones can fall during rain or wind!
One day circumstances turned out in such a way that they helped us explore a place we had no idea existed! And most importantly, this magical place is located in the city itself, where you can come in any weather without risking your life.
We were walking along the main street of the city, which we often drove by car. We had not noticed many beautiful details before. Such a beautiful mosque with a golden dome, which looks so nice against the blue sky and mountains! When spiritual singing sounds in the mosque and invites to pray, we can truly feel the unique charm of life in real Turkey...
We were walking slowly, enjoing life while looking around :)
There are modern buildings with panoramic windows, and you can also see one-story villas in an exotic style. And sometimes you can see an old-timer's house that reminds us of the life of the past... And here is a small car that I have never seen anywhere before. This is the unique charm of Aslan Budjaku, where people live a calm, unhurried life amidst the luxury of orange and lemon gardens.
We usually don't get up and walk so early :) But this was a Turkish lesson at 10 am. And we were without a car, because we gave it for repair. After the lesson it was so warm and sunny! We saw a green mountain in front of the house. And we wanted to sit in the pine forest, rest. We were sleepless and so tired :) Having entered the path, we saw a large space with giant pine trees in front of us, which was brightly lit by the sun. The path beckoned us to go further up the mountain...
Turkish winter is incredibly beautiful. February is like spring in Ukraine. There were many flowers, over which bees were buzzing. Suddenly I saw a funny picture. My 
First, the bee climbed into a purple flower, funny exposing its butt :) Later, it flew to a white flower. My daughter was in ecstasy, creating more and more unique photos!
I am always amazed by bees' ability to concentrate on their work, regardless of the people watching them :) After enjoying these pictures, we went further up.
There were many other exotic plants around, some with soft, fluffy leaves. Also growing near the stones was "hare cabbage", which we often collected and ate in Ukraine. This plant is sour and pleasant to the taste, and very useful. In Turkey it grows everywhere, very tall.
This day I found a place where I came again and again... My 
Every time my soul longed for solitude with nature, I got into my car and came to this mountain.
The next time I went higher up the mountain, and discovered magical views of the gorge between the mountains, where the distant mountains looked blue!
I was immersed in a magical silence here. Only the sounds of nature and the scents of flowers and pine trees filled the space around me.
And there were also incredibly breathtaking views of the city! It turns out: it is much more bigger than we thought! And from above you can also see Kemer and the Mediterranean Sea.
I especially like this photo: exotic thorny plants, which I also encountered on the island of Chios! Against the backdrop of tall, bizarre mountains that look mystical surrounded by clouds on the peaks...
We came here on the last day before our trip to Europe, where we had to fly by plane, where we had a lot of things waiting for us that we started last year and that needed to be completed. And every time, leaving this pine paradise of our beloved city, we feel a slight sadness of saying goodbye to a dear place - City of happy people!
A blooming fruit tree gave us this beauty that I am sharing with you 😊
March 1st 3 years have passed, since we started our #TheLongestTrip.
I have a good tradition: once a year I write a report post about the whole year. This way you can get acquainted with the first and the second year, where I collected the most beautiful places of our trip. And I will soon write a post about the third year, where we visited 10 countries!
Thank you to everyone, who follows our adventures 💕