Advertisement
Published: September 14th 2013
Edit Blog Post
Every day here is so glorious, we feel lucky to wake to sunshine everyday especially when we look at the weather reports for the UK.
Woolly says – My tan is coming along nicely and I feel in the best of spirits. The last of the paperwork is now heading to customs so our belongings might actually be joining us soon. I found out lots about the water system in Turkey this week after we had been told that one of tanks on the roof was leaking – not the news we wanted. But it did give me an opportunity to explore the top of the building. All of the apartments have two big tanks and a solar panel so instant hot water is assured. Our bottom tank had developed a leak round the seal, I was happy to get Ian’s tool kit out but was disappointed to find that a plumber would be needed instead of a hammer. The plumber in question arrived at 9.30am and confirmed that we would need the whole tank replacing and that he would be back later. Being used to the British way of life I raised my eyebrows and thought I
would see him in a week or so and planned to get some more tea bags in. Much to my amazement he returned at 2.30pm and by 3.30pm the old tank was no more and we had a shiny new one, 300 Lira (approximately £100 GBP), job done.
To be fair we were all a little surprised that things can be fixed so quickly and efficiently not to mention cheaply and with no tea in sight! Not having to wait in for several days we grabbed the opportunity to stretch Ollie’s wheels and decided to check out the Dim River.
Woolly says – it was lovely to be back in Ollie tearing along the streets and through the small back roads, banana plantations surrounding us with their produce starting to turn yellow in the glowing rays of the sun. It was easy to know where the river was, just follow the waving bar owners beckoning us towards their river side restaurants. Unfortunately with so many of them it was difficult to see the actual river itself. We decided to push on further and see if we could catch a glimpse but before we knew
it we were climbing upwards. Ollie surged forward as the road turned to a gravel track and we started to ascend the swing backs of the higher levels. The views were astounding as the Dim Dam (sounds like a Chinese meal!) hove into view. The Dam was completed in 2007 and now provides water and power for the people of Alanya. With its turquoise colours the resoviour behind the Dam seemed to go on for ever and although very pretty we didn’t seem to be getting anywhere else.
We actually had another 60km of this to go so regretfully we turned round and thought we would attempt our third time at finding Syedra Castle. This was a castle that we found signs for on our visit in February but the hire car we were in wouldn’t have got us up the steep incline, this was much more Ollie terrain. We had thought we had got lucky last week when we saw a sign for it but that turned out to be an empty hotel and nowhere near the co-ordinates we had, so working on the principle of third time lucky we went for it again.
Woolly says – alas it was not to be, the road where we had spotted the brown sign was being dug up and there was no way of passing the lorries and diggers that were replacing the once shale goat track. Thinking to be clever we took the next turning and wound our way up a dusty road only to find ourselves going in the wrong direction, spotting an even smaller track we started off again. Ollie was having a ball but with eye watering drops appearing on Ian’s side of the car we pulled up. There in the distance we could see what might be our destination but it will have to be fourth time lucky and we will attempt to find it again once the road is completed. Not being deterred we opened our picnic (egg mayo sandwiches, my favourite!) and sat munching while we admired the views before us, sighing with satisfaction that we now live in such a beautiful place.
Picnic demolished we cruised back through the traffic and the glowing red tourists flocking to the beach, with our sights set firmly on a nice cool swim. It doesn’t seem to matter
how many warnings are given on using sun cream the burnt remains of visitors litter the beaches.
Woolly says – the highlight of our week has been the celebration of Jo’s birthday – Turkish style. Ian and I had been running around for days trying to organise and plot, I was starting to feel like 002 and a bit (I’m too small to be 007!) in the plot of a bad spy thriller. We seemed to have pulled it off rather well if Jo’s smiles were anything to go by. We started the day with a bouquet of flowers that was six times bigger than me and the most wonderful of chocolate cakes followed by presents. This all seemed to go down rather well and with the added bonus of Jo being able to Skype daughter Zoe it was all going rather well. Cocktails before dinner and I think the surprise of a horse drawn carriage to transport us to the restaurant rather ‘blew’ Jo’s mind. The carriage ride was really exciting as the driver kept blowing his horn and I was able to majestically wave to everyone around me. Oh how they worship Emperor Woolly! Ian
had chosen one of our favourite restaurants, EV, which although a little pricier than the average has a lovely ambiance with its fairy lights and soft music playing. I was stuck between deciding whether to help Ian with his lamb shanks or Jo with her whale sized piece of tuna so happily tucked into both. A walk along the lighted harbour to our friends bar for more live music, fireworks and another cake had Jo quite overwhelmed and made the perfect end to the day.
It was a wonderful day and given the language barriers that Ian encountered in making all the arrangements, a true feat of accomplishment. Life in Turkey is good, especially when it comes to birthdays!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.129s; Tpl: 0.055s; cc: 11; qc: 28; dbt: 0.047s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Dancing Dave
David Hooper
finding Syedra Castle
You have set the scene...even mentioned a fourth attempt to come. Looking forward to proof when you achieve your quest!