Advertisement
The now familiar bus trip to Antalya from Iskederun was 14 hours long. Along the way, I contacted a hotel that was located within Antalya's old walled city, based on a recommendation from our Lonely Planet guide book. The owner of the Frankfurt Hotel spoke very good English and even agreed to let us check in upon our arrival in Antalya.
The bus finally pulled into the Otogar at 8:30. As we got off to collect our luggage, the sun was shining brightly and stung our eyes, the way it does when you've been at work all night and are heading home on a sunny summer morning. There was a taxi stand nearby and one of the drivers helped us load our bags into his yellow cab. When I pointed at the hotel in the guide book he had a puzzled look on his face, and asked one of the older looking cabbies where the hotel was, then we headed off into the city.
We turned off a wide boulevard onto narrow streets, passing through the old city's gate. The streets in the historic part of Antalya are barely wide enough for 1 car and are lined with restaurants,
shops and inns. I could tell by the driver's face that he did not know where the hotel was. He spotted a taxi stand and asked for directions. Then, after a few more turns, the cab stopped, unable to go any further because of construction blocking the tiny street. He pointed straight ahead saying "hotel". I paid the 18 Lira fare and we loaded ourselves up with our luggage like pack mules. As it turns out the hotel was about 700 yards away.
The owner, Mustafa, met us and helped us up to our room. He must have sensed that we were exhausted as he left all the check in formalities for after we woke up. We both fell asleep immediately and woke up around noon. After handing some of our laundry over to the hotel to be washed, we set out to explore our latest destination. The area was a true resort city. There were tourist around every corner and all the local business people spoke multiple languages. The predominant business language though seemed to be German, a reflection of just how many people visit from that country. We found a quick bite to eat at an outdoor
terrace and then strolled the coastline, scoping out possible activities. We found the marina, where there are dozens of outfits offering boat tours.
We also located a tiny beach, isolated by rocky cliffs on either side and accessible only by a long set of stairs from the side of a restaurant. There was an 8 Lyra admission but we decided that it was well worth it and headed for the hotel to change into our beach attire and apply the mandatory sunscreen. We spend the remainder of the afternoon on the beach doing absolutely nothing other than taking an occasional dip in the Mediterranean Sea to cool off.
Supper was at the restaurant that overlooked the beach. We then walked around a bit and headed back to the hotel for our last night in Turkey.
I had noticed a barber shop neighbouring the hotel. We had been on the road for nearly 5 week and I was beginning to look a little scruffy. My beard was out of control and my hair was starting to look like I had my hand on one of those static electricity spheres. So I summoned my courage and got up
early to get a hair cut. I managed to describe what I wanted to the fellow doing the hair cutting and was quite pleased with the end result. I was also surprised at all the extras that come with the haircut. I was "treated" to a head, neck, shoulder and arm "massage", my fingers were cracked, my ears were cleaned out and the fuzz on them was burned... yes burned. Best I can describe it is a small metal handle with a swab at the end that is dipped in some sort of combustible fluid and set ablaze. It is then very quickly tapped on and off of your ear. Let me tell you, when you don't know what the little Turkish guy with the fire is about to do, there are a few tense moments when you contemplate how you will render him unconscious and flee.
It all worked out though; although it wasn't the most comfortable situation I have ever been in. Erin walked in part way through and must have been having quite the laugh at my discomfort.
We then headed back to the marina for our 2 hour tour. The boat's sound system was
blaring techno dance music as we boarded and waited for other passengers to arrive. I suspect that they were trying to create some kind of party atmosphere that would whip passers-by into such a frenzy that they could not help but buy a ticket and get on the boat... I just found it annoying.
About 10 others joined us on the boat, including the most sunburned man I have ever seen. The wind was cool as we cruised the coast and we didn't really notice the sun's rays beaming down on us. Luckily we had applied the SPF 45 before leaving the hotel. The boat followed along the coast and we got a good look at just how spread out Antalya is and how many hotels and resorts dot the coastline.
After the cruise, we grabbed lunch and headed to the hotel, where Mustafa had allowed us to stay in the room until 4 PM at which time he was driving us to the Airport. It was about 38 degrees at this point so we decided to make use of the hotel's pool. We were actually the only people in the hotel that day and the owners were
on an errand (they gave us the key) so we had the run of the place.
Mustafa dropped us off at the airport where we discovered that the flight was delayed an hour. We also discovered that there was a Burger King in the departures area. Best Whopper ever!
We arrived in Frankfurt and were picked up by my Uncle Karl-Heinz. The following day we visited my Oma and did some shopping. On Saturday, we drove out to Zwingenberg and visited Tanja, who we had met on our trip 4 years earlier. Unfortunately, we had much too little time to visit with her and her boyfriend Siggi. We did go with them to an outdoor music festival in Darmstadt and had supper in an authentic German eatery.
Our flight home left on time and we landed in Saskatoon at 3:30 PM, as scheduled. My mom picked us up at the airport and we were happy to find the pups healthy and glad to see us. I was also eager to get on the new motorcycle that had been sitting in the garage since we left. I really can't thank my mom enough for staying at our place
by herself for 5 weeks. She did have one minor emergency on her hands when Nordic got too friendly with a porcupine and had to be taken to the Vet Hospital...
So in the end, we got exactly what we were looking for: We had the adventure of a lifetime and we discovered new cultures and new friends and learned what we were capable of. We also survived 5 weeks together! Not too bad. So now the planning begins for the adventure that will top this one!
Thank you all for sharing our trip with us, for leaving us messages while we were on the road and for commenting on how much you were enjoying the blogs. As I type these lines, I have been home for just about a week. I have received word that I "had to" finish the blog because people needed closure. So here you are.
Until next time.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.089s; Tpl: 0.022s; cc: 8; qc: 48; dbt: 0.0517s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb