Blogs from Olympos, Mediterranean, Turkey, Middle East - page 3

Day 12 Thursday 7th October 2010 and Friday 8th 77 miles The weather is becoming cooler and we are wearing our jackets for the first half hour until the sun rises higher and we have to work harder since we go down hill for 10 miles. Today was a bit hilly, but more down than up since we end up at sea level on the Med. We pass a dried up lake with goats grazing on what little vegetation it has to offer watched over by a very small woman with a weather beaten face. This was followed by a climb to the top of the Avaln Beli at 1105m. Now it was all downhill for miles and miles - fantastic - don't use your brakes, it is a waste of energy, wears out your rims ... read more

Traveling alone as you can imagine can definitely have its ups and downs. Every traveler that has set off on this kind of adventure can attest to this. I usually blog about the ups... flexibility, freedom, the requirement to put yourself out there and meet new people, the variety, etc... those are the ups! Then there are the downs. There are the times when you’re in your own hotel room instead of a dorm with no one to talk to for days at a time... there are times when you must be THAT person in a restaurant sitting solo while everyone around you is laughing and mingling in couples or groups... and there are times when you’re the only English speaking person on a bus full of locals chatting amongst themselves. As Monty mentioned of his ... read more

Primeiro, sobre como não chegamos a Olympos. Pegamos um ônibus tenebroso da Capadoccia e, muitas horas mal-dormidas depois, chegamos ao aeroporto de Antalya, centro-sul da Turquia. Por sorte, não iríamos voar, mas pegar um carro que havíamos alugado dias antes por um preço bem razoável na Internet. O objetivo era dirigir, pelos próximos 11 dias, por todo o litoral turco que realmente interessa, da famosa Riviera Turquesa até um pouco mais acima, perto da Grécia, no Mar Egeu. Deixamos Antalya de lado e caímos na estrada, felizes por termos um porta-malas, o que significava poder arrumar as nossas malas de qualquer jeito (e jogar todo o resto lá dentro), e um companheiro que nos permitiria chegar a rincões mais isolados sem a necessidade de ter de arrumar transporte a cada dois ou três dias. Meia hora ... read more

Today was the best travel day ever in Turkey! We left on an Anamur Zafer Co bus at 10am in the front two seats. It was a super nice bus and only a 6 hour ride to Antalya. The buses in Turkey are usually amazing and have comfy seats and offer free çay, water, traditional turkish hand sanitizer and snacks. We made it to Antalya and a small Dolmuş was waiting to take people to Olympos. The dolmuş dropped us off in the Olympos Valley but not at our hostel. We waited at this Olimpos Restaurant for more than two hours and it was getting dark and we were getting a bit nervous b/c we did not have reservations. The dolmuş finally came and we arrived at 7pm just in time for dinner at Turkman's Treehouses. ... read more

“Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.” - Seneca At first I thought, along with most people I'm sure, that Mt. Olympos was in Greece. It was, after all, where Zeus and the rest of the gods supposedly resided according to Greek mythology. But it turns out there's one in Turkey as well, just spelled differently. The sleepy town of Olympos lies nestled in a forested mountain region a few miles from the ocean. While there are plenty of opportunities to mountain climb, swim, or explore Roman ruins we were more interested in two other things. The first thing we wanted to do was stay in a tree house. Huh? Yes, I know it sounds kooky, but for some reason the hotel owners here decided that the tried and true method ... read more