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Published: February 22nd 2013
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Wanting to see more of Turkey we decided to hire a car and head towards Kizkalesi, east of Alanya and approximately 400km away, having done some research we knew that there were loads of Roman ruins and plenty of castles to see and investigate.
Having booked our vehicle on line with a large international car company we gathered together enough to last a night out, collected Woolly from his cosy bed and set off to collect the car. Finding the address given on the net empty we refused to panic and asked for directions finally locating the rental agency a couple of streets away. Puzzled looks greeted our arrival and a lack of Turkish on our part and English on the his side we were given a phone and spoke to a lovely Turkish gentleman who had no clue to our booking but assured us that a car would be there shortly.
Woolly says – There was a lovely car outside, I wanted that one! But a blue one appeared, after Jo tried to get in the wrong side, opened the glove compartment for it to fall off completely, Ian tried to put it into
gear and the knob on the gear stick fell off, I got told off for laughing so much!!! We were given the car that I wanted in the first place – result.
Fuelling up was simple, although expensive 4.20TL a litre (approximately £1.60 GBP!!!), off down the road we went.
Woolly says – We seemed to be driving on the wrong side of the road, not sure it’s a good idea!
At first the roads were good and wide and as we preceded Ian started to get used to the vehicle, then it started to rain and the mountains came speeding towards us.
Woolly says – it got very rainy and then we were going round hairpin bends, Jo and I had sheer drops on our side, she said it was an amazing view but I was too scared to look! It was like being on a REALLY terrifying Roller Coaster ride with no end! The roads went on and on, even Jo looked pale. Ian kept going through switchbacks, getting ever closer to the steep slopes on our side of the car. Just as I thought we
would surely fall to our deaths we were into the clouds, thunder and lightning right over our heads and HUGE hail stones raining down on the car – OK I admit I was hiding under Jo’s jumper by now.
As Woolly couldn’t see what was going on Ian persevered, with cars, lorries and coaches coming towards us, I took to breathing in with the hope the car would scrape past, finally we started to drop back towards sea level, with the roads getting steeper and steeper I was seriously glad to find ourselves on clear wide roads again as we travelled onwards through seaside towns.
Woolly says – it seemed safe to come out again and it was so wonderful to see rural Turkey opening up in front of us, with herds of goats and sheep clambering on the rock faces above us, sea of a glorious aqua blue it was wonderful, but then……. I dived for cover!
We headed back up into the mountains and continued the treacherous drive through mountain passes climbing and climbing before plunging back to sea level again.
Woolly says – Finally we
arrived at our destination, I have never been so glad to exit a car and feel firm earth under my paws, Ian was truly amazing in getting us there safely and the view that greeted us was well – WOW. As the golden sand stretched round the bay we stood gazing in wonder at Kizkalesi Castle.
Kizkalesi means "Maiden's Castle," the romantic name for the crusader castle floating in the blue water 500 meters offshore, originally used by pirates the castle has been fought over for several centuries and now lies dormant and open to tourists in the summer season. Jo ran into a nearby hotel and managed to book us a room for the night, simple and homey with a view straight over the castle I think we were all pleased to have a bed for the night. Deciding it was time for a beer and some food we walked through the back streets, eerily silent with no one around we found the only bar open, it was very strange! Lit with neon purple and green lights it’s not what we expected to find but being an adaptable Mammoth I felt it would do and was happy to tuck
into a plate of pistachios and a couple of Efee’s!
Dragging Woolly by his heals Ian and I decided that food was in order and finding only one Kebab place open we gratefully sank onto seats with a hearty meal upper most in our minds.
Woolly says – a MEAL….. It could have fed a whole herd of Mammoths! Ian ordered bacon and eggs and Jo and I agreed to share a veggie kebab, so good so far, two HUGE plates of salad arrived at the table, now I like a bit of salad but this was ridiculous, closely following behind came a grilled pitta (rather scrummy) and Ian’s very odd looking plate of salami omelette!!! It didn’t smell the best and Ian manfully managed three mouthfuls before giving up. A mountain of bread arrived and Jo and looked eagerly around for our meal. Having eaten enough salad to keep me healthy for a year we continued to wait, and wait and wait. At last the young waiter headed our way with a plate teetering with aubergines!!!!! So glad I ate my salad and felt pretty full with the grilled pita. Jo tried her
best but gave up quite quickly and we beat a hasty retreat before more inedible food arrived. A day and a half and I’m sure I must have gained some grey fur; it really shouldn’t happen to a Mammoth.
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