Hot Weather, A Work in Progress, and the Carrot capital of Asia.

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Saturday 25 August:



No overnight / early morning shaking in Istanbul so we got up at 7 to get ready for a long travel day. After morning jobs and breakfast we wandered 100m down the road to get a taxi. The driver seemed rather uncertain as to where we were going but after showing him our bus tickets he seemed a bit more confident. I knew the general direction so it was a good sign when he headed off that way. When we saw signs for the bus station a bit later we felt a bit more positive and sure enough he dropped us off at the right spot. Istanbul’s bus station is very spread out and there a number of companies running from it. They have multiple offices and stands so we were happy to be dropped off by the right one!



After finding a mini-market and getting a few things we loaded our bags onto the bus, found our seats, and then hung around inside where it was a bit cooler until it was time to go.



The bus is very spacious and well equipped. There are only 3 seats in a row, rather than the usual 4, so they are bigger and also the aisle is wider. It has tv screens with local tv and movies as well as Wi-Fi (slow, but I managed to publish the last blog). After a 20 minute stop in the next city we were served ice-cream, cake / muffin, and juice. €20 a seat (we didn’t have to buy Zachary one of his own but I did) for a 450km journey with all this seems like an excellent deal to me! The only thing the bus is missing is a WC.



After a couple of stops (and a very long tunnel, some impressive viaducts, and a rare spot of rain) we made into Ankara at about 4:20pm – so around 6 and a half hours. Ankara looks to be a very large and very modern city. On the way in we saw a huge fun park but it looks to still be under construction. But we will try and come in for a day trip on Tuesday or Wednesday. Ankara bus station is a lot more organised that Istanbul and there was an information desk and the man there directed us to the platform for the bus to Beypazari. The buses here have 2 people on board: a driver and a sort of conductor who assigns seats, establishes where people are going, collects money etc. He put our luggage in the back and we got on, but Zachary had to share this time. We got away about 4:40 so we were pleased with the quick turnaround. It was rather time consuming getting out of the city and the bus was soon full. The buses also work as delivery vehicles for packages. The scenery changed dramatically and the landscape became very mountainous in parts with many cliff faces and fields. It took a good 2 hours to get to Beypazari and the conductor had helpfully called a taxi to take us on to the resort, Akropol Termal. We thought it was right in town but is a fair way out and the fare of 15 lira (just over €5) wasn’t expensive, but ironically more than a bus ticket from Ankara.



We got to reception and the lady on the desk spoke a little bit of English. While I was filling in the registration form she started serving someone else which ended up in rather a long discussion with us being ignored so not a very good first impression. The resort is very large and a man drove us down to the apartment blocks where we are staying. There he rustled up a lady who actually speaks passable English – probably the only staff member in the resort who does, so she is going to be well utilised. We were shown to out apartment. It is very large and fairly well equipped but it always bemuses me what is and isn’t supplied. There is no air conditioning which is unforgivable in my opinion. Apparently there is Wi-Fi but I couldn’t find the network. Also the apartment is supposed to sleep 4 – it only sleeps 3 with one double bed and the armchair becomes a single bed. However no bedding was supplied for this, despite the fact they knew we were coming so we had to ask our liaison person to get housekeeping to deliver some. We also have no map or any information about the resort – we’ll have to try and get that tomorrow.



The laundry facilities as advertised do not exist so Heather is hand-washing. There is a drying rack so hopefully that will work okay.



Just across the way (as part of the resort) is a pasta / pizza place where we managed to rustle up a couple of pizzas. There is also a mini-market which is well stocked although it has no cereal or fruit and almost no vegetables (it also has no beer or wine, apparently the resort is alcohol free). We will have to see if we can get into Beypazari to get some more stuff on Monday but we have managed to get enough stuff to survive tomorrow. Both the pizza place and the mini-market are super-cheap.
With no air-con it is nice on the balcony and in theory leaving the windows open is a good plan. However we are wary of bugs and also it is rather noisy as I write this at 9:45pm. We noticed on our way back into Istanbul that a playground was full at 9:30pm including toddlers and babies and there seem to be a lot of children up and about now.



Tomorrow we will check out the pools and other facilities and not go anywhere. Zachary is exhausted and we need a really relaxed day. Monday we’ll try to get into Beypazari – the town looks quite substantial and hopefully we can buy a few things we need there. They have a Tourist Info office which is promising but then so did Treviso!



Sunday 26 July:



Well, the bedding never arrived so we improvised. It was extremely noisy last night. A huge racket going on until at least 1am. Zachary and I shared the double bed while Heather managed to make a bed out of the couch. She ended up opening a window and putting up with the noise as it was too hot. Zachary tossed and turned all night and I got booted and head-butted regularly.



After all that we managed a bit of a sleep-in and after breakfast Zachary got to have some tv and play time in the room. Then we went into the main part of the resort to buy some more towels (and got a dinosaur swim ring for Z too), find out a few things, and have a better look. We were met by our “guide” and she showed us around. There are separate gender pools and a general swimming pool for everyone. There is also a café there. All the other things that are advertised on the web site (horse riding, quad bikes, day care) are going to happen at some time in the future …



We had some lunch and then Zachary and I went for a swim in the main pool. There are 2 pools there – one 55cm deep and the other 140cm. Both were cooler than I expected and they also were a bit over-chlorinated. However we stayed in the two pools about an hour in total. The large pool has a small waterfall which Zachary enjoyed going behind and under. He was getting rather cold so we hopped out and he had a nice warm bath back at the room.



While we were out the bedding arrived. Zachary watched a movie, I did some reading, Heather did some stitching and more washing. This is going well as it dries in just a few hours. I then went in search of Wi-Fi and managed to establish that it is at reception (where it is of good quality) and also at the café. I got a couple of things done and when I got back I took Zachary for another swim while Heather made a start on dinner (chicken and pasta in a cheesy sauce).



After dinner I went over and bought the top-of-the-range ice-cream at the mini-market. It is a very delicious strawberry / raspberry / blackberry concoction. 10 lira or $NZ5 for 900 ml represents a luxury in this part of the world! So we all had dessert and after Zachary went to be the grown-ups had second dessert.



Tomorrow the main pool is closed for cleaning which makes sense. We were going to go for a swim in the morning but not to worry. We will get a taxi into Beypazari town tomorrow afternoon and see what we can get in the way of supplies. The market here doesn’t have much on the way of fruit and veges so hopefully we can get some. Also I am desperate for a beer! It is ideal beer drinking weather and we are in a resort that is alcohol-free... I reckon we can sneak some in, assuming there is anywhere around here that sells it that is. We’ll probably have dinner in Beypazari tomorrow also. Then Tuesday will be at the resort and Wednesday we will do a day trip to Ankara to go to the fun park – we will check it is all up and running though. As far as I can make out it is but we’ll get our English speaker to give them a call.



The flies here are a bit of a pain. There are a lot of them and, although little, they tend to “stick” to you. We have fly-spray and a fly-swat, both of which are being well used. I seem to have a lot of little bites on my legs and tummy. Not sure where they have come from but, combined with a rash on my ankle (I assume from the heat) and a bit of an upset tummy, it is a bit uncomfortable. But if those are the worst of my problems I can hardly complain!



Monday 27 July:



We got to sleep-in until 9am today which was a bit of a luxury! After breakfast and a bit of time in the room we headed over to the café to access the internet. We were hoping to be able to download another movie for Zachary on itunes but it wasn’t cooperating. We had some juice and cakes at the café and then Zachary and Heather went for a swim. The main pool was closed but the segregated pools were open and Zachary was allowed to go in the ladies one with Heather. I caught up on some online jobs and then we went back to the room. Zachary had a bath and some playtime.



At about 3 we headed up to reception to get them to call us a taxi. Both ladies at reception seemed to be involved in rather loud discussions / arguments (again) and it took a while for Heather to make herself noticed and communicate what we needed. The taxi arrived a few minutes later and we got him to drop us off in the main street of Beypazari. We had spotted a park and playground so that was good. We headed up the main street to have a look around. I had learned that Beypazari is famous for its carrots and, sure enough, there was plenty of evidence of this. We headed into the old part of the city onto some narrow cobbled streets to have a look at the shops and one lady offered us some different dried fruits to try. We bought some, as well as some baklava for later. A few doors down we got half a kilo of carrots and half a kilo of plums for the grand sum of 2.50 lira (about $NZ1.25) and we also bought a juice type drink off him. We think it is a blackcurrant based drink, but whatever it is, it is very nice!



Then back down towards the park. I had checked out Trip Advisor and established the name of the best restaurant in town. It had been reviewed by English speakers so that was promising. I put the name and address in my phone so we could try and find it. There was a small info stand and we were trying to get directions of the man there without much success when a lady, who had obviously spotted my tattoo, asked us in Dutch what we were after. She wasn’t 100%!s(MISSING)ure but pointed us in the general direction and advised us to then ask again. We got to the park, called Atatürk Park, and Zachary played on the pirate ship playground for a while. Then we headed in the direction we had been told and Heather showed the name to a group of ladies who gave us further directions. We then saw a sign for the restaurant so that was all good. To get to it we walked behind the bus station (Heather popped in and managed to get a timetable for Ankara) and then through what looked like rather an abandoned lot (still following signs). The smell wasn’t too great here (there was a stream which had a sewage smell coming from it) and there were several large dogs on chains barking at us. We went through the marked gate, past another barking dog, and into what looked like someone’s back yard. But there were tables and chairs set up outside under the trees and we found a waiter so we were in the right place. He brought us menus which were in English! We decided to order a mix of things: 3 dishes from the grill – chicken skewers, lamb skewers, and Beypazari meatballs plus some fries and salad. The fries came with baked eggplant and chillies which was a bit unusual. Even more unusual was that Heather ate all her eggplant! We all had an excellent meal, washed down with cold beer (yay!) 100 lira ($NZ50) for a really delicious and satisfying meal. It is certainly a contender for best meal of the trip. There was a very pregnant looking cat hanging around and she got to share my chicken skewer. If we can’t be bothered cooking on Thursday we’ll go back. We had also spotted a couple of other shops in Beypazari that had things we might want so we’ll go to those on either Wednesday or Thursday.



Then taxi back to the resort and I went and got some vanilla ice cream to go with the baklava and some supplies for tomorrow. Baklava is a Turkish specialty (although the Greeks lay claim to it too) and I have no idea whether the baklava we had was good quality or otherwise but it is something I can live without I think. It wasn’t bad, just not my thing. Zachary has been asking for eggs so we’ll have chicken and eggs for dinner tomorrow. We have flour and milk too so pikelets or pancakes could be on the cards too!



A hot day today. When we were in the old part of Beypazari a thermometer showed 42 degrees although it was down to 35 again in the main street. No luck finding bananas or oranges but we have carrots and plums. No luck finding beer to bring back either. But drinking less beer and more water is probably good for me.

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