WEDNESDAY 25 MAY: Day 21 by Jane

Antalya, Old Town

So, we left Kas (think Santorini and St Tropez), and drove to Antalya along the coast road with the Aegean sparkling away beneath us.

Now, Antalya has been the unexpected trump card of the trip, so far. We had no idea that it was such a beautiful city. It has a kms long strip of clean beach, turning into a perfect small natural harbour. It's been an important port for centuries and has a wonderful walled Old Town which is heritage listed and is where we stayed. Booked a hotel online the day before, and fell on our feet. Here's just a quick taste of breakfast in the courtyard.  

breakfast in Antalya

 We really enjoyed this delightful Ottoman city, and walked heaps around the cobbled streets. Felt like I was in Medieval days. The main gate into the Old Town was built for Emperor Hadrian (he of the wall between Scotland and England) but the feel was more Middle Ages.

Next move was the flight to Cappadocia, and another world entirely. Ian drove us out of the City in the early hours of the morning, and found the airport easily. 45 minutes of clear flight over snow capped mountains and we land on the Silk Road plains of central Turkey.

Cappadocia cave hotel

Where we are staying in what is described as a 'cave hotel', though we have both begun to describe it as 'the dungeon'. It's hewn out of rock, you step down into it, and it has a high barred window. But we don't get locked in at night and the food is excellent!




We have now had a 'hamam' or traditional Turkish slap up and scrub down.  And we are spending the next couple of days exploring this extraordinary area of volcanic outputs called Fairy Castles and learning about the early Christian fugitives who made their homes in  underground towns here.

A veritable town in the "fairy castles"!

Day 18 - Sunday 22nd May

Dear All,

I have added a few more photos of the last few days below as I now can.

Dinner with Steve and Pam on the sea deck at Kas.

And another photo of the sunken city.

Can you see the mosaic on the floor?

and more

Lycean rock tombs at Myra

DAY 17 - Saturday 21st May

Ian’s turn.

We have been traveling around for a few days and have fallen behind in our blog.  No rest allowed on this holiday - so here is the latest.

By the pool Villa Rhapsody

Tuesday (17th) saw us waking in the lazy island of calm of The Oyster Residence, in the madness that is Oludinez.  This hotel is the best place we have stayed so far, - but it was too good to last.  So we pack our bags and off we go to Villa Rhapsody, about 10 km away in the hills behind Oludinez - but it could have been a million miles away.

Deserted village of Kaya Koy in background

Set amongst fields and a short walk from the “ghost village” of Kaya Koy, it is a small “pension” run by a turkish / dutch couple.  No “duff-duff” from disco speakers here!  Good food but a very hard bed for the next three nights.  We sat by the pool, swam, read another book and went for walks to see the local sights, including the 500 empty houses in a village that was emptied and deserted when the Greeks and Turks swapped 2m people following their war in 1923.

Found a great wine bar amongst the ruins, and had my best white wine yet. Back to the pool, grilled fish for dinner.

Jane, wine and olives - what more could I want?

Thursday 19th May -  Pick up a hire car from Fethiye in the morning, (usual story in the shop, 3 men sitting around talking and one woman doing all the bookings and paperwork….)

Then drive 30km north to another Lycian ruin at Kaunos and a protected turtle hatchery at Iutuzu beach, near Dalayan, the first real sandy beach we have seen in Turkey so far. 

Driving on the “wrong” side of the road a little stressful but the roads are generally good and wide and drivers pretty calm, so far at least!

Friday 20th May - set off on the coast road to Antalya via Kas.  Its a bit like the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, except cut into a steeper, higher, hillside, and liable to get very narrow at the pointy bits - so luckily it was not busy as I drove along. Stopped at another sandy turtle beach at Patrata, with the usual greek /roman ruins, but this time they are actually rebuilding the old Odeon - looked great. 

Reconstruction of the odeon at Patara.

Arrived at Kas and met up with Steve and Pam T who are touring Turkey (in the other direction!) before meeting us again later in France.

Kas is a delight, a small but rapidly expanding seaside town clinging to the steep slopes and small foreshore next to a harbour, with a string of islands just offshore. It is the base for much fishing and tourist sailing and cruising. Our hotel is one of many built into the hillside but has no lift, - 150 steps from our room down to the platforms built out over the sea for sunbathing and swimming.

Look hard for bits of the sunken city of Simena.

Next day a quick drive to Kerkova, and a trip out in a small boat to view the drowned remains of the Lycean city of Simena, which was not only destroyed by an earthquake in 270AD, but it actually sunk it!  We had time to just sit and soak up the suns rays looking out over the amazing view too, so what more could you want - a softer bed perhaps…..

The upload speed for the photos is terrible here, so I'm going to post his now but add more photos later.

Day 12 - Monday 16 May (Jane's post)

……….and sun we have!  And have had since the last post (cue trumpet?). After Selcuk we had 24 hours whizzing too fast through the fantastic ruins of Aphrodisias, and then a completely bizarre visit to Pamukkale and its travertine marble ledges and very hot springs.

This is marble, not snow!

Sat up to my neck in clear hot water that tasted like intense San Pellegrino, then had a bath in spa water in our hotel. And next morning Ian and I had a 7.00am sit in an even hotter spa with a bunch of Russians who liked smothering themselves in clay as well.

The hot mud spa

Our journey from Selcuk to the coast was by public bus on tiny mountain roads. Heaps of locals (no chooks or goats) plus us and 2 others from Bellingen, NSW. And, of course, we discovered we knew people in common. We could see snow on the mountain tops, and that’s hard to believe as I write this wearing my bathers.

The Oyster Residence: our steps

Oyster Residence: lounging spot

We chose The Oyster Residence, Oludeniz, from internet research, and we are delighted with it. From those of you in Oz, it could be in Byron Bay, except it’s on the Aegean! It’s got  loads of lovely touches in the flowers and fabrics and hammocks. Staff are delightful and food excellent.  Lots of congregating round the beautiful pool. I love all the meeting and chatting that is going on.

on Santa Claus island

Today we took a boat trip round the coast to crystal clear coves, and a visit to St Nicholas island where Santa Claus was a Bishop in the 8th Century. We both feel as if we are slowing down at last.