This week we have been staying in a town called Olympos on the south coast of Turkey, and the hostels here don't give access to the kitchen, but they cook wonderful meals for you instead. Breakfast and dinner are included in our stay, and for lunch we eat a big bunch of fruit from down the road.
Dinner is made up of mostly vegetarian options in buffet style, and many of those are vegan. The things to watch are that there are a lot of yoghurt dips, and the soup is sometimes make with milk or cream.
There is only ever one meat dish, which I think it more economical for them than putting meat in everything, and works out very nicely for us. The staff have figured out that we ask every night whether things have meat or dairy in them, so now they just let us know as we get our food.
The staff are all very nice, incredibly helpful, and the kitchen staff makes very good food. The only thing not quite up to my personal taste is that they use white rice rather than brown, but I haven't seen any brown rice other than the bag Phil & I brought with us during my entire time in Turkey so far. If that's the worst thing I can say, they must be doing a pretty great job.
They have a choice of two salads, and they are the one part of dinner that is the same every night. One salad is chopped tomato, cucumber and fresh parsley. The other is a green salad with shredded carrots and some other vegetables. Neither one has dressing, and they have 2 small bottles of fruit-based dressings - one is lemon, the other pomegranate.
There is always a hot soup - tonight was tomato, another night was split pea (without ham!!). The other soups have been cream-based, so I'm not sure what they were. Then there is a grain, whether it's rice, barley or bulgur. Beside the grain, there is a cooked vegetable dish with a rich tomato sauce. Tonight was beans instead of vegetables, which was very filling but I prefer the vegetable dishes. This was the only night they made beans.
There is usually a meat/fish/chicken option, which we skip, and bread. We've been watching everyone fill a basket with the bread, take it to their table and then not eat most of it. Frustrating to watch so much waste, but it was truly sad to see a whole plate full of salad get tossed the other day.
Phil has some clips of a 4 hour hike we did to see the Chimera - flames coming out of the rocks on a hill above Olympos. There was a sign posted with the story behind the flames, and we chatted with the guy at the entrance, but we're not sure if it's accurate. If anyone knows, please fill us in!
Since we didn't show you how to cook a meal tonight, we wanted to share some of the tips we've learned on our travels so far.
Tip #1: Bring Multivitamins & Digestive Enzymes
Making sure you have enough vitamins and minerals is especially important on the road, when you might not be getting the same healthy diet as at home and your needs might increase from stress, lack of sleep or more activity than usual. Digestive enzymes help your body as it breaks down the food in your meal, and when you're traveling this can be particularly helpful for foods you aren't used to eating and if you eat in restaurants more often, where the meals can be complex and heavy.
Phil's sources for digestive enzymes are John Barron's site - Baseline Nutritionals, and Vitacost for good value mutivitamins as well as digestive enzymes.
Tip #2: Sore Throat
Keep yourself healthy by paying attention to signs of sickness from your body. I had a sore throat for a couple of days after missing some sleep. I gargled with salt water a few times a day, and it is clearing right up. You can also try gargling with a mix of lemon juice, cayenne and cinnamon. Check out my article with 7 travel health issues that you can solve with healthy vegan foods.
Tip #3: Ask For Help
Ask!! Don't be afraid to ask for help - you can save time, money and meet really nice people. We've found that it's best to ask at least 3 people, and it is really good if you can say 'do you speak english' in their language.
© Heather Nauta . heather@healthyveganrecipes.net
Disclaimer: This website is for educational purposes only, from the research,
education and experience of Heather Nauta. It is not intended as medical advice.
Disclaimer: This website is for educational purposes only, from the research,
education and experience of Heather Nauta. It is not intended as medical advice.
