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Published: April 13th 2006
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Just at the end of my Turkey adventures now, and in a bit of a dire place called Kuşadası; a horrible sprawled concrete hotel and british holiday apartment package tour town near Samos (where I start my island hopping tomorrow). The weather is great though.
Yes I let the weather decide my route for the next month. Looking north it is still a bit grim. Looking west it should be all sun and smiles. So it's Greece then Italy most probably. Anyway, where was I...
Yes Antalya and the Turquoise coast. Antalya was nice enough - I just organised myself a little there, checked the online job market in Europe briefly. Had a nice encounter with some locals on arrival. I asked for directions to my pansiyon which led to a 15 minute adventure with other locals' directions and the polis and then finally to my place. I said farewell with lots of handshakes and appreciative body language.
The next day I realised I'd lost my travel towel which then led to another adventure with a zealous local who took delight in saying 'Really? Crazy!' over and over. Anyway I eventually found a small towel at an odd
shopping mall at the end of town and saw most of Antalya in the process.
I moved south with a lovely German girl, Stephanie, to Çırali (near Olimpos) for a couple of nights. It's a really nice spot near some Hellenic and Byzantine ruins. After the usual routine struggle of finding a good place at the right price we settled for a pretty good meal on the beach, my first beer in ages and a couple of glasses of raki with a local. Ihlsan (I think his name was) said at first he was on the dole and looking for work, then later admitted that he ran a hotel in Antalya and spends several months in Germany every year. Later he drove off in a neat little VW Pasat. Odd chap.
We hiked up Chimaera - that place of ancient legend where natural gas seeps from cracks in the earth, flames flickering along the ground. It was really special, but the gas got to us after a while and we went back to the bungalow. We just relaxed the next day, wandered amongst the overgrown ruins and citrus groves, had an orange juice in the very busy tree-house
village, then lazed at the beach on a posh place's beach chairs with some baclava. I did try a swim but got as far as my knees when my feet froze and I backed out. Shame because the water is really enticing.
Stephanie and I exchanged addresses and parted ways, me to Kaş, her back to Istanbul before heading home at the end of her 4 month overland from Indonesia. Makes my jaunt look pretty tame really.
Kaş was a pretty spot. Again I mostly lazed about, wandered, chatted with folk at the pansiyon and pondered the next stages of my trip.
Along the lovely coastline I moved on (a bit prematurely perhaps) to Fethiye - the future big bloated resort town, but with a special lagoon at Öludeniz. Here I managed a quick swim - the water proved just too magnetic.
Next stop Selçuk and a few great experiences, making it to my highlights reel. A lady (from Homeros pansiyon) came off the street in the old part of town and sat me down in her house with tea and chocolate biscuits, her mother and a friend from the school - a French teacher. Perhaps
Kaş cat
at the amphiteatre a set play for new arrivals, but really pleasant all the same. The teacher rattled on at me in French despite my 'no parles vous's. After a chat and a little bargaining, we couldn't agree on a price, so I made my way to a cheaper room, then back for wine with them and other guests on the rooftop at sunset.
A Brit (Jon) and I went off in search of food, and came across a G'day from (another) carpet shop. A local with a disturbingly thick oz accent, who it turns out, had lived in Melbourne for about 15 years. He pointed us in the direction of a restaurant run by the local council. A stroll to the suburbs, then we stood outside the place which had a regular armed member of the Jandarma (local army) outside. It looked very posh so we figured he'd given us a bum steer. Nevertheless we went in and the place was very shmick, full of locals, and cheaper than any of the bland street joints - eureka! It was the best meal I've had yet in Turkey.
Yesterday I spent most of the day at nearby Ephesus, the Roman capital
Öludeniz
by the lagoon of Asia minor, and outside Pompeii, the best preserved ruins in the Med. It was superb. I had hoped that the terraces would have been ready and open to the public, but no luck just yet. The library, temples, market streets and amphitheatre were magic. Busloads of Germans couldn't even spoil the experience (sorry Stephanie 😊
Today I saw the Efes Museum, which houses the better preserved booty from the excavations (brilliant) and at St. Johns Basilica, baptistry, and tomb. So I suppose that brings you all up to date. I'll be on the ferry to Samos tomorrow morning, then on to Naxos, probably Santorini, Paros or other Cyclades before the Greek mainland, so I may not be online for another while. I hope you are all well and happy. Merry Easter to you, and lots of chocolate Santa eggs to you all!
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kate
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looking forward to greece.
hey andrew, what a great read. i feel as though i could be on holiday with you.i didnt know you were a blog master. it was so much fun to read about your travels.you write with good humour too. the pictures are great,i loved the one of you on the bus squashed up against some huge turkish/arab guy. your face was priceless. im looking forward to reading and hearing about your travels and trials through greece. i hope you are having a wonderful time.take care.