Blogs from Turkey, Middle East - page 45

Left at a decent enough time for another coastal journey, some of it along the coast which has become the Turkish riviera with hotel after hotel after hotel, some of which were as big as Wembley Stadium & quite gross. A few had big statues out front as an indication of oppulence? But the one to take the top prize had 2 Greek females & gold plated or at least painted gold & were a good 40' tall. Once through the grot the road was as twisty as the others but climbed to 1500 m above sea level , hugging the coast & again just beautiful. We stopped for lunch at a more organised cafe next to one of the many fuel stations that are in Turkey & this time we had pide (a form of ... read more

t was hot yesterday – 33 most of the afternoon & in the evening the breeze dropped so it was a hot night despite have all the roof lights open. Worth it though for the first view out of the door when we got up.... The showers were hot too which is more than we were expecting. We went & sat on the beach & read then had a swim in the sea, our first this year. It was a bit cold; I must have been very emotional as I had two lumps in throat...We were watching the little fish in the shallows when a sea bass or a mackerel shot by & gobbled a few up. We had a wander around an ancient monument in the afternoon which is right net door to the site ... read more

was musing again last night as I do & wondering how many words I have written in this blog, it must be pushing 10,000– it feels like a dissertation but more fun. It's quite a commitment but I think I shall miss it when I stop in an odd way...there's another 40 odd... I found the disposal point for the chemical toilet...in the area that in the process of being developed..sat on it's own. They don't have a clue... Off we go after a lengthy goodbye to Yasin who was, by this time, overly friendly if you see what I mean. The old road for 16km through forests next to the river & the bridge whose base had washed away in the storms & a government chappie with a theodolite was doing his thing. Then onto ... read more

We decided to stay here two nights as we have time to kill, who knows what the next site is like anyway, the roads are tiring for different reasons & we have wifi! Did I mention the storms yesterday? Huge, massive – lightning that you never see in the UK & thunder like bomb blasts that shake Billy. The roads were like rivers full of silt from the mountains.. Today it was forecast to rain in the morning & afternoon but neither happened. After brekkers a walk into town, 3 streets just all for tourists, mainly Brits, Dutch & German. It is fairly quiet now, though goodness knows what it's like in the summer. We watched the paragliders coming down off the mountains & landing on the beach or 'prom' – the sky seemed full of ... read more

We knew this was going to be a long day but...I wasn't expecting it to be 6 hours driving! We started off with a stop at an onyx shop we'd seen on the outskirts of town the night before. They had some smashing stuff & loads of it. One of the family came up & introduced himself in fine English, Ahmet – he'd lived in East London for 5 years. He thought his boat had come in because Cathy bought 4 pieces, one piece alone was 60 Euros, about £42....bargain. Then Ahmet gave us his card, his number, his email address, his Whatsapp name & said any problems, ring me. How nice – he has a friend also in the Turkish Embassy in London – he must have been well impressed with Cathy's spending. I think ... read more