Kalkan
My father and I were up early and had a nice swim in the cool clear water around our boat. The water is very deep right up to the shore here. It can be 30 feet deep 10 feet off shore. So that is why we stop in these bays and we drop a lot of anchor and tie the stern to the shore. The water is too deep to rely on just the anchor and it the wind shifts around your boat would swing into the rocks, because you are anchored so close to shore where the water is shallow enough.
Just the opposite of Florida were you are always looking out for shallow water!
After breakfast of tea, cereal, yogurt and fruit we all headed out of the bay and east around the seven capes towards the town of Kalkan. Almost no wind today so we motored and a few hours of watching the steep mountains above the seven capes roll by were were still using the “iron jenny” motor. I mase some more sandwiches and fruit and after lunch I went down below and reclined in my berth with a book. Soon the rolling of the boat sent me off to dreamland. I was awakened by Winfree, yelling that I was needed on deck. We were approaching the harbor. We dropped the anchor and backed into the key and tied off our stern. It is truly hot here this afternoon. This has been our first really hot day.
My computer battery is flat so I decide to go looking for café where I can get a cool drink, Charge my battery and a wifi connection in that order. I am successful! Soon I am seated on a comfortable couch under a shade tree with a fanta and my computer up and running. They even plugged in a fan for me! It’s almost heaven. I am able to check my email and do some work on the Black Bear Festival. I find that Connie is online and we exchange some email. She encourages me to connect with her on Skype so I find the download and in about 10 minutes we were having a video call! What a world.
It’s great to see and speak with her in almost real time. Martha come past and I put her on with Connie for a minute. My waiter comes over to see what we are doing and he gets involved. After catching up Connie and I wind up our call and I speak briefly with Christopher Spatafora who is staying in my house while I am gone. He gives me a report on some work he is doing for me and then we are cut off. I guess if you are talking to someone on a phone the time is limited. Now I know!
The sun is dropping and my shade is gone. I have had two fantas and an Efes beer and it’s getting close to dinner time, so I wander back down to the boat. Everyone is gathering so I change quickly and join the group. We return to almost the same spot I was at and find our seats at a long table. (We are 25 tonight.) This place is supposed to be really tasty. I hope so as it’s also the most expensive place we have seen all trip! I order a lamb stew and we eat some bread and mezzes while we are waiting. The sun has gone down behind the mountains and the temperature is dropping and the sea breeze is soothing on hot skin. The beer is crisp and cold and the lamb stew turns out very tasty and a huge portion.
I share some with the human vacuum (my father) and there is stil stew left so the waiter makes me a doggy bag. Funny to hear a waiter offer one in Turkey! We discover that the food shopping never was done and the market is just across the street. So we send Randy and the girls to bed, and father and I do some provisioning. It’s a small shop but they have most of what we want. We add an ice cream each and head back to the Silver Lightning. Then girls are asleep so we stow the cold stuff and leave the rest for the morning and retire to our cabins. Lets all keep our fingers crossed for some wind to blow the heat away! I am truly glad for a fan in my cabin tonight!
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Cappy Creek to Bestas Limani (Cold Water Bay)
Bestas Limani (Cold Water Bay)
We had some nice wind yesterday and are off to a good start and having a lovely sail today. There are eight boats in our flotilla. We have nice wind and we head east. We make some sandwiches with the local bread a cheese and have lunch in the cockpit under way.
In the afternoon just outside our destination harbor Bestas Limani (Cold Water Bay) the wind died so we hove-to and jumped over the side and swam in 300 feet of cool deep blue water. It was so terrific!
We rafted up in the harbor by dropping our anchors and backing towards the shore where Ali the local restaurant owner directed us and a one handed guy took a long line off our stern and tied it to a rock on the shore and then we tied all the boats together. The one armed guys was a really good rope handler. He was amazing to watch. We found out later that he lost his one hand and three fingers off the other when he was young fishing with dynamite! He has adapted amazingly well.
When the work was done I swam to the beach where Estill and I hunted for sea glass. We are hoping to find enough to fill two old bottles as a memento of our trip. After the swim a hiking expedition headed for the ruins at the top of the mountain. It was quite steep hike and Pop didn't have on his hiking shoes and didn't get all the way up. I scrambled up and took a few pics of the abandoned Greek town. It was built in medieval times but abandoned in the 1920's when there was a big exchange of people between Greece and Turkey.
Now the roofs have fallen in but mostly it looks just like an empty town. Randy noticed that my father was starting back down by himself so I scrambled back down to walk with him.
On the way down we passed Pavarotti, the donkey owned by Ali. Later while I was making dinner he began to bray. It was an amazingly musical and ultra loud bray. Which echoed all around the bay. He was a tenor like Luciano his namesake and he could sustain his call for a long time. He was amazing. (I didn’t eat in the restaurant but my brother recalls it was one of his favorites.) It was up on the cliff with a great view, a cool breeze and wonderful food.
Then I made dinner for he and I while the rest ate ashore. I made pasta with eggplant, onions, black olives in tomato sauce. The only oddity was instead of canned tomatoes I bought 2 large cans of tomato paste but I made it work. And with it a cucumber, yogurt and garlic salad. And of course I served fresh bread. All the restaurants sell bread that is baked fresh and delivered every morning. And we finished off with banana and nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread).
It was nice to have a quiet dinner and after while father clean-up I went skinny dipping off the stern. All the boats in the raft we empty except for the one at the far end where a couple were cozying up in the cockpit and listening to one of my favorite Roxy Music albums. For some reason the water cool on top and warm underneath except for a few warm patches. I found a warm one and floated and looked a sky full of stars and listened to Love is the Drug"
After the song was over and I was chilly I got out and dried off in the cockpit and settled in my bunk and started The Oracle of Stambul which Connie sent me from San Francisco for my trip. It’s a recently written novel about Istanbul during the time of the Sultans and looks very interesting. Good night!
The others came back late from the restaurant and I was already in dreamland.
We had some nice wind yesterday and are off to a good start and having a lovely sail today. There are eight boats in our flotilla. We have nice wind and we head east. We make some sandwiches with the local bread a cheese and have lunch in the cockpit under way.
In the afternoon just outside our destination harbor Bestas Limani (Cold Water Bay) the wind died so we hove-to and jumped over the side and swam in 300 feet of cool deep blue water. It was so terrific!
We rafted up in the harbor by dropping our anchors and backing towards the shore where Ali the local restaurant owner directed us and a one handed guy took a long line off our stern and tied it to a rock on the shore and then we tied all the boats together. The one armed guys was a really good rope handler. He was amazing to watch. We found out later that he lost his one hand and three fingers off the other when he was young fishing with dynamite! He has adapted amazingly well.
When the work was done I swam to the beach where Estill and I hunted for sea glass. We are hoping to find enough to fill two old bottles as a memento of our trip. After the swim a hiking expedition headed for the ruins at the top of the mountain. It was quite steep hike and Pop didn't have on his hiking shoes and didn't get all the way up. I scrambled up and took a few pics of the abandoned Greek town. It was built in medieval times but abandoned in the 1920's when there was a big exchange of people between Greece and Turkey.
Now the roofs have fallen in but mostly it looks just like an empty town. Randy noticed that my father was starting back down by himself so I scrambled back down to walk with him.
On the way down we passed Pavarotti, the donkey owned by Ali. Later while I was making dinner he began to bray. It was an amazingly musical and ultra loud bray. Which echoed all around the bay. He was a tenor like Luciano his namesake and he could sustain his call for a long time. He was amazing. (I didn’t eat in the restaurant but my brother recalls it was one of his favorites.) It was up on the cliff with a great view, a cool breeze and wonderful food.
Then I made dinner for he and I while the rest ate ashore. I made pasta with eggplant, onions, black olives in tomato sauce. The only oddity was instead of canned tomatoes I bought 2 large cans of tomato paste but I made it work. And with it a cucumber, yogurt and garlic salad. And of course I served fresh bread. All the restaurants sell bread that is baked fresh and delivered every morning. And we finished off with banana and nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread).
It was nice to have a quiet dinner and after while father clean-up I went skinny dipping off the stern. All the boats in the raft we empty except for the one at the far end where a couple were cozying up in the cockpit and listening to one of my favorite Roxy Music albums. For some reason the water cool on top and warm underneath except for a few warm patches. I found a warm one and floated and looked a sky full of stars and listened to Love is the Drug"
After the song was over and I was chilly I got out and dried off in the cockpit and settled in my bunk and started The Oracle of Stambul which Connie sent me from San Francisco for my trip. It’s a recently written novel about Istanbul during the time of the Sultans and looks very interesting. Good night!
The others came back late from the restaurant and I was already in dreamland.
Sailing from Gocek to Cappy Creek
Gocek was nice and quiet where we are docked and my cabin has a nice fan in it So I slept well. There was a big breakfast for all the crews in the flotilla and a briefing afterwards. Then my father and I walked down the waterfront to the shops and bought a few more supplies and got some Turkish Lira. We went back to the boat and had our boat checkout with Will the flotilla captain. We discovered that our anchor windlass had a jammed clutch. Will got a repairman to come and un-jam and grease the clutch.
Meanwhile Martha went for a walk and we were given permission to sail soon after, but had to wait a couple of hours for Martha to return. Then we cast of and motored out of the harbor and set sail for Cappy Creek. We tacked our way between the rocky headlands in some flukey wind. Our boat sails much better on port tack so we tried to gain as much ground as possible on port tack. We had Estill giving us advice on sail trim and when to tack since she has been racing sailboats for a few years now.
It took us a few hours of tacking up wind but soon we were reaching into Cappy Creek. We took down our sails, started the engine and radioed to the lead crew that we were coming into harbor. They had us put out fenders on both sides of the boat, rig two stern lines and prepare to drop the anchor. We spun around and backed into the harbor and when we were about four boat lengths from the dock we dropped the anchor and let out chain until we were at the dock. Then we tied our stern lines to the dock and cranked in the anchor chain until it was tight. We put our boarding plank over the space between the stern of the boat and the dock and we were set for the night. We put on our swimsuits and jumped into 12 feet of clear blue water and swam until we were refreshed.
There are a few people who live in Cappy creek and run a restaurant for the boating crowd. If you eat in the restaurant they don’t charge you to dock your boat.
My father and I went for a walk to the top of the hill and we could see where one family was still living in the old stone house except they had plastic sheeting on the roof and the electric cables were just strung through the trees from house to house. We cam back down just as the punch party was starting. We drank punch and introduced ourselves to the other crews and had a nice chat before dinner. There are 8 total boats in out flotilla including the lead boat on which Will is the flotilla captain, Nellie is the entertainment director and Josh is the repairman.
Most of the other boats are crewed by couples and there is another boat with a family of four with kids in their 20s. No kids Estill and Winfree’s age. Too bad! ☹ We ordered fresh fish and calamari for dinner. It was all cooked by the family in a bid wood fired oven behind the restaurant and was very tasty. After dinner I had a couple more beers with the lead crew and then went to bed. I crawled into bed and was lulled to sleep but the gentle rocking of the boat.
Meanwhile Martha went for a walk and we were given permission to sail soon after, but had to wait a couple of hours for Martha to return. Then we cast of and motored out of the harbor and set sail for Cappy Creek. We tacked our way between the rocky headlands in some flukey wind. Our boat sails much better on port tack so we tried to gain as much ground as possible on port tack. We had Estill giving us advice on sail trim and when to tack since she has been racing sailboats for a few years now.
It took us a few hours of tacking up wind but soon we were reaching into Cappy Creek. We took down our sails, started the engine and radioed to the lead crew that we were coming into harbor. They had us put out fenders on both sides of the boat, rig two stern lines and prepare to drop the anchor. We spun around and backed into the harbor and when we were about four boat lengths from the dock we dropped the anchor and let out chain until we were at the dock. Then we tied our stern lines to the dock and cranked in the anchor chain until it was tight. We put our boarding plank over the space between the stern of the boat and the dock and we were set for the night. We put on our swimsuits and jumped into 12 feet of clear blue water and swam until we were refreshed.
There are a few people who live in Cappy creek and run a restaurant for the boating crowd. If you eat in the restaurant they don’t charge you to dock your boat.
My father and I went for a walk to the top of the hill and we could see where one family was still living in the old stone house except they had plastic sheeting on the roof and the electric cables were just strung through the trees from house to house. We cam back down just as the punch party was starting. We drank punch and introduced ourselves to the other crews and had a nice chat before dinner. There are 8 total boats in out flotilla including the lead boat on which Will is the flotilla captain, Nellie is the entertainment director and Josh is the repairman.
Most of the other boats are crewed by couples and there is another boat with a family of four with kids in their 20s. No kids Estill and Winfree’s age. Too bad! ☹ We ordered fresh fish and calamari for dinner. It was all cooked by the family in a bid wood fired oven behind the restaurant and was very tasty. After dinner I had a couple more beers with the lead crew and then went to bed. I crawled into bed and was lulled to sleep but the gentle rocking of the boat.
Off to Gocek
Off to Gocek
My father and I were up at first light as usual and sat out on the porch until the chef had breakfast ready. It was a big Turkish breakfast and featured a few special items like the chefs own homemade bread and a sweet olive jam. Which was interesting but not as good as the cherry jam. My father and I have fallen in love with the sour cherry juice that is often served with breakfast. It has just the right combination of sweet and tart! Delish.
After breakfast my father brother and walked up the road and though we found the side road that led to the Lycian Way but it was not quite right. We got up a ways to were there was a nature preserve and headed back as we had to be in Gocek at 6pm to turn off the rental van and board out boat. Ur hosts gathered and waited around while we loaded the family circus and they send of in traditional Turkish fashion with a pan of water thrown onto our car as a blessing for a safe journey! I crept back down twisty one lane road to the twisty highway and drove four + hours of very twisty hairpin and rather hair raising two lane mostly coastal highway to Gocek. We stopped for gas at one town and at a restaurant on a cliff over looking the sea for a fresh fish lunch. Then we rolled the rest of the way into Gocek, found the correct marina and moved all our gear on to a Beanneteau 39 named Silver Lightning. I waited around for the rental car guy and after an hour finally called the office in Istanbul and they said he would come to tomorrow and when I said we would be gone tomorrow he hung up on me!
There was a supermarket right there so we did our provisioning for the boat. On the way back I noticed a marina office and the young woman behinf the counter spoke pretty good English and I got her to call the rental car office again and she determined that the guy was here in Gocek and waiting at the next marina! She gave him directions and I asked if I could buy her an ice cream. She said not but she would like a peach ice tea. I went to the store again and all they had were large bottles of mango ice tea so I bought one. She said it was much too big and asked me to share it with her. I accepted and she found two cups and we sat and drank tea and had a great conversation until after a few phone calls back and forth the rentaI guy appeared riding on the back of a moped. I was happy to turn in the rental car as we (in true Loyd fashion) took the long way from Istanbul to Gocek! I was done with driving and ready to do some sailing.
We had dinner at the marina restaurant. very pricey but not too tasty, took showers and headed for the boat and my cabin under the stern starboard side. I up packed my gear, made my bed and dived into it for the night! See you tomorrow as we prepare to go to sea! I was awakened before dawn by a horrible squeaking sound and finally realized that it was our boarding plank squeaking as the boat rolled. I pulled it on board and went back to sleep. A little while later my father got up and put the plank back ashore and went to the bathroom and the squeaking started again. He didn’t realize it until after he got back and moved the plank again but I was already awake for the day.
My father and I were up at first light as usual and sat out on the porch until the chef had breakfast ready. It was a big Turkish breakfast and featured a few special items like the chefs own homemade bread and a sweet olive jam. Which was interesting but not as good as the cherry jam. My father and I have fallen in love with the sour cherry juice that is often served with breakfast. It has just the right combination of sweet and tart! Delish.
After breakfast my father brother and walked up the road and though we found the side road that led to the Lycian Way but it was not quite right. We got up a ways to were there was a nature preserve and headed back as we had to be in Gocek at 6pm to turn off the rental van and board out boat. Ur hosts gathered and waited around while we loaded the family circus and they send of in traditional Turkish fashion with a pan of water thrown onto our car as a blessing for a safe journey! I crept back down twisty one lane road to the twisty highway and drove four + hours of very twisty hairpin and rather hair raising two lane mostly coastal highway to Gocek. We stopped for gas at one town and at a restaurant on a cliff over looking the sea for a fresh fish lunch. Then we rolled the rest of the way into Gocek, found the correct marina and moved all our gear on to a Beanneteau 39 named Silver Lightning. I waited around for the rental car guy and after an hour finally called the office in Istanbul and they said he would come to tomorrow and when I said we would be gone tomorrow he hung up on me!
There was a supermarket right there so we did our provisioning for the boat. On the way back I noticed a marina office and the young woman behinf the counter spoke pretty good English and I got her to call the rental car office again and she determined that the guy was here in Gocek and waiting at the next marina! She gave him directions and I asked if I could buy her an ice cream. She said not but she would like a peach ice tea. I went to the store again and all they had were large bottles of mango ice tea so I bought one. She said it was much too big and asked me to share it with her. I accepted and she found two cups and we sat and drank tea and had a great conversation until after a few phone calls back and forth the rentaI guy appeared riding on the back of a moped. I was happy to turn in the rental car as we (in true Loyd fashion) took the long way from Istanbul to Gocek! I was done with driving and ready to do some sailing.
We had dinner at the marina restaurant. very pricey but not too tasty, took showers and headed for the boat and my cabin under the stern starboard side. I up packed my gear, made my bed and dived into it for the night! See you tomorrow as we prepare to go to sea! I was awakened before dawn by a horrible squeaking sound and finally realized that it was our boarding plank squeaking as the boat rolled. I pulled it on board and went back to sleep. A little while later my father got up and put the plank back ashore and went to the bathroom and the squeaking started again. He didn’t realize it until after he got back and moved the plank again but I was already awake for the day.
Antalya to Beycik
Father and I were up fairly early and walked back out the restaurant to enjoy the view some more. We had a spectacular view of the nearby mountains which look very tall and steep. I have to go back into the lobby to get a solid wifi signal but then we do a little research about Antalya. I start back looking at map of the best way to get back out of this warren on little streets! Then we look up directions to the Antalya History Museum. It’s only about 200 meters away but there are lots of one way streets going the wrong directions so we are going to have to circle around. The Museum is very close to the road we want to take out of town so we decide it’s worth moving the car. We have our breakfast, check out and load the van. We find our way out of the warren and onto the main road where we instantly lose our way and spend about 45 minutes driving around until finally with guidance from Randy’s phone GPS we recognize were we are and soon are at the Museum.
We head in and view a wonderful collection of local and regional artifacts, statuary, coins, clothing, jewelry, weapons and carpets. It really was a good overview of the history of the region from a nearby stone age cave right up to contemporary times. Those who finished early toured the gift shop and then gathered under a huge arbor in the courtyard. There was a nice breeze blowing and Grandpa and the girls had ice cream while we waited for Martha to finish. Then we got on the road out of town and were soon driving in the steep mountains were had viewed at breakfast. We saw what looked like a pull off with a picnic area. We didn’t have time stop as were went right into three tunnels under the mountain.
We pulled off at the first town and bought picnic supplies an drove on looking for another picnic pull off but we were out of the nature preserve and there weren’t any more. We picked a turn off by a dry riverbed and headed up river until we found a bit of a pulloff and ate our picnic in the van. This was the least clean area I had seen to date and it was quite trashed so we didn’t stay long. We went up into the mountains and were started to look for a place to stop for the night when I realized that we were low on diesel. I slowed down and we decided it was better to forge ahead as we had not seen a station for a while. I saw the sign for the town of Olympus and headed down but didn’t see much and it 15 km down to the town. We stopped at a roadside teahouse and the old man owner who was heating water on a charcoal fire said to go back to the main road and 3 km further would be a station. We thanked him a drove slow and sure enough there it was.
I bought petrol while my brother called a nearby mountain inn which was on the Lycian Way. Which is a hiking trail that runs for 500 km (300 miles) along the coast Antalya to Fethiye. We wanted to walk on it so we headed backtracked about 15 minutes to the tiny hamlet of Beycik and ground our way up a very narrow twisty road to the Olympia Mountain Lodge. We had to pass some tiny local houses with goats, cows and chickens in the yard and up a steep hill to a gate. Behind the gate was the lodge set in a nice garden with a swimming pool. The owners were a semi-retired attorney from Anatoliya and his architect wife. They got settled in and we all headed for the pool for a swim. It seemed very clean but tHe bottom very extremely slippery! We were safe as long as we floated.
We had gained a lot of altitude and were up on the side of Mt. Olympia. The air was much cooler that Antalya and the pool water was bracing. We were out pretty quickly as the sun was dropping towards the mountain tops. I pulled out long pants and a fleece shirt and was still a bit chilly. Soon our host noticed and started a fire in the fireplace. We all huddled around and had a drink while the chef scrounged us up some dinner. He didn’t know we were coming so he hadn’t prepared a special meal Soon we were ushered out to the porch and served a very tasty chicken and eggplant dish with bread, salad and ice cream for dessert as we watched a huge yellow moon rise over the mountains down by the sea.
Our host, his wife, mother-in –law, and brother all sat around the fire and chatted with us after dinner. The mother-in-law was German but the wife grew up in Turkey and now worked for an architectural firm the worked in both countries. They built the lodge themselves and during the hiking seasons had about 2000 guest hikers from the Lycian Way stay each year. We inquired about climbing the mountain but were told is was 11 hours both ways. Our you can hike 5 to the top and take tram down the other side. We didn’t have that much time to spare. Soon my eyes were drooping and I headed my room and crawled under a pile of blankets was almost instantly sleep. It was quite a day. Until anon. Peace.
We head in and view a wonderful collection of local and regional artifacts, statuary, coins, clothing, jewelry, weapons and carpets. It really was a good overview of the history of the region from a nearby stone age cave right up to contemporary times. Those who finished early toured the gift shop and then gathered under a huge arbor in the courtyard. There was a nice breeze blowing and Grandpa and the girls had ice cream while we waited for Martha to finish. Then we got on the road out of town and were soon driving in the steep mountains were had viewed at breakfast. We saw what looked like a pull off with a picnic area. We didn’t have time stop as were went right into three tunnels under the mountain.
We pulled off at the first town and bought picnic supplies an drove on looking for another picnic pull off but we were out of the nature preserve and there weren’t any more. We picked a turn off by a dry riverbed and headed up river until we found a bit of a pulloff and ate our picnic in the van. This was the least clean area I had seen to date and it was quite trashed so we didn’t stay long. We went up into the mountains and were started to look for a place to stop for the night when I realized that we were low on diesel. I slowed down and we decided it was better to forge ahead as we had not seen a station for a while. I saw the sign for the town of Olympus and headed down but didn’t see much and it 15 km down to the town. We stopped at a roadside teahouse and the old man owner who was heating water on a charcoal fire said to go back to the main road and 3 km further would be a station. We thanked him a drove slow and sure enough there it was.
I bought petrol while my brother called a nearby mountain inn which was on the Lycian Way. Which is a hiking trail that runs for 500 km (300 miles) along the coast Antalya to Fethiye. We wanted to walk on it so we headed backtracked about 15 minutes to the tiny hamlet of Beycik and ground our way up a very narrow twisty road to the Olympia Mountain Lodge. We had to pass some tiny local houses with goats, cows and chickens in the yard and up a steep hill to a gate. Behind the gate was the lodge set in a nice garden with a swimming pool. The owners were a semi-retired attorney from Anatoliya and his architect wife. They got settled in and we all headed for the pool for a swim. It seemed very clean but tHe bottom very extremely slippery! We were safe as long as we floated.
We had gained a lot of altitude and were up on the side of Mt. Olympia. The air was much cooler that Antalya and the pool water was bracing. We were out pretty quickly as the sun was dropping towards the mountain tops. I pulled out long pants and a fleece shirt and was still a bit chilly. Soon our host noticed and started a fire in the fireplace. We all huddled around and had a drink while the chef scrounged us up some dinner. He didn’t know we were coming so he hadn’t prepared a special meal Soon we were ushered out to the porch and served a very tasty chicken and eggplant dish with bread, salad and ice cream for dessert as we watched a huge yellow moon rise over the mountains down by the sea.
Our host, his wife, mother-in –law, and brother all sat around the fire and chatted with us after dinner. The mother-in-law was German but the wife grew up in Turkey and now worked for an architectural firm the worked in both countries. They built the lodge themselves and during the hiking seasons had about 2000 guest hikers from the Lycian Way stay each year. We inquired about climbing the mountain but were told is was 11 hours both ways. Our you can hike 5 to the top and take tram down the other side. We didn’t have that much time to spare. Soon my eyes were drooping and I headed my room and crawled under a pile of blankets was almost instantly sleep. It was quite a day. Until anon. Peace.
Pammukkale and Hieropolis to Antalya
My father and I were up early and had a swim before breakfast. When we were finished we checked out and the owner of the hotel drove us up to the top gate by Heiropolis. Winfree was not feeling well so she and Martha stayed back at the hotel.
The hotel folks let Winfree swim in the pool while Randy, Estill, my father and I explored the ancient city. We started out in an extensive necropolis, or city of the dead, full of carved tombs. There was a long paved street with buildings on either side. We also walked up to see the theater which was probably one of the best preserved I have ever seen. It was huge and the seats were very steep. It would have been a fun place to see a concert.
We walked back down the hill to the famous pool of Thermopolis. It is a natural hot spring that has been used by people since ancient times. There is a modern café built around it now but the floor of the pool is littered with ancient columns and carved pieces from he time of the ancient Greeks. We paid our admission and went in for a dip. It was pretty warm and full of people from all of Europe. The bottom is covered with a gravel that we would see later on the beaches that is composed of beautiful small stones. Estill had fun diving and picking up pretty stones. When we finished swimming we sat in the café and had lunch. We didn’t pay to have small fish “pedicure” our feet like some people were. I guess the fish nibble the dead skin off of your feet! Sounds pretty freaky to me!
We went into the Heiropolis Museum and look at more wonderful carvings and then took off our shoes and walked down the travertines. It looked like the heavens were going to open up so were hurried to the bottom and were headed back to our hotel when a heard a little voice calling Uncle B. I looked over there was Winfree up in a treehouse. We walked over and it was part of a flatbread restaurant. It was decorated with the same low tables and carpet covered benches. They had just ordered lunch. We climbed up to join them but the rain drove us down and back into the main part of the restaurant. Too bad as it was cool up in the tree! We order some food and drinks and sat until the rain ended.
Then we got in the car and I drove us back through Denizili, over the mountains and over some even higher mountains and through some very heavy rain and finally back down to the seaside town of Antalya. After driving around through heavy city traffic my brother directed me down a series of side streets and alleys that got narrower and narrower. In one spot we had to fold in the side mirrors to get through. Finally we found a place we could park and he and my father went further down the alley and found out hotel. The rest of us were waiting in the van and a local shop keeper called Winfree over and gave her a glass of apple tea. He came back with her and spoke to us while we waited. He said it was okay to park there but when my brother came back he said there was parking on the other side of another narrow arch. So I squeezed the van through the arch between two shops and then backed into a tiny spot across from our hotel, which was built into the wall of the old fortress above the harbor.
We cleaned up and then walked into the restaurant, which looked out over the wall into the harbor. The sun had recently set and the mountains on the other side of the harbor had fiery crowns. It was a truly beautiful view!
It was pricey but I had excellent sea bass and enjoyed every minute if the view. After dinner it was off to bed as I was exhausted from all of the hiking and driving. Again I was sharing a room with my father and I were both soon fast asleep. See you tomorrow!
The hotel folks let Winfree swim in the pool while Randy, Estill, my father and I explored the ancient city. We started out in an extensive necropolis, or city of the dead, full of carved tombs. There was a long paved street with buildings on either side. We also walked up to see the theater which was probably one of the best preserved I have ever seen. It was huge and the seats were very steep. It would have been a fun place to see a concert.
We walked back down the hill to the famous pool of Thermopolis. It is a natural hot spring that has been used by people since ancient times. There is a modern café built around it now but the floor of the pool is littered with ancient columns and carved pieces from he time of the ancient Greeks. We paid our admission and went in for a dip. It was pretty warm and full of people from all of Europe. The bottom is covered with a gravel that we would see later on the beaches that is composed of beautiful small stones. Estill had fun diving and picking up pretty stones. When we finished swimming we sat in the café and had lunch. We didn’t pay to have small fish “pedicure” our feet like some people were. I guess the fish nibble the dead skin off of your feet! Sounds pretty freaky to me!
We went into the Heiropolis Museum and look at more wonderful carvings and then took off our shoes and walked down the travertines. It looked like the heavens were going to open up so were hurried to the bottom and were headed back to our hotel when a heard a little voice calling Uncle B. I looked over there was Winfree up in a treehouse. We walked over and it was part of a flatbread restaurant. It was decorated with the same low tables and carpet covered benches. They had just ordered lunch. We climbed up to join them but the rain drove us down and back into the main part of the restaurant. Too bad as it was cool up in the tree! We order some food and drinks and sat until the rain ended.
Then we got in the car and I drove us back through Denizili, over the mountains and over some even higher mountains and through some very heavy rain and finally back down to the seaside town of Antalya. After driving around through heavy city traffic my brother directed me down a series of side streets and alleys that got narrower and narrower. In one spot we had to fold in the side mirrors to get through. Finally we found a place we could park and he and my father went further down the alley and found out hotel. The rest of us were waiting in the van and a local shop keeper called Winfree over and gave her a glass of apple tea. He came back with her and spoke to us while we waited. He said it was okay to park there but when my brother came back he said there was parking on the other side of another narrow arch. So I squeezed the van through the arch between two shops and then backed into a tiny spot across from our hotel, which was built into the wall of the old fortress above the harbor.
We cleaned up and then walked into the restaurant, which looked out over the wall into the harbor. The sun had recently set and the mountains on the other side of the harbor had fiery crowns. It was a truly beautiful view!
It was pricey but I had excellent sea bass and enjoyed every minute if the view. After dinner it was off to bed as I was exhausted from all of the hiking and driving. Again I was sharing a room with my father and I were both soon fast asleep. See you tomorrow!
Selczuk to Afrodesia and Pamukkale
Afrodesia and Pamukkale
My father and Pippa and I got on the road at 6:15 am to drive to the Izmir airport because Pippa is flying home today. We have really enjoyed having here with us this trip. She usually doesn’t come as she is uncomfortable with the motion of boats. We get back on the same toll road and our toll card seems to work again. So off we go at 120 KPH north. It takes about 30 minutes then we are off on a side road and soon we drive into a very modern airport. The police at right there so I say a quick goodbye and stay with the minibus while my father walks Pippa in. Is back very quickly because in Turkish airports security screening is right at the door. We talk the alternate route back that goes through a few small towns which are just waking up. We are arrive back in Selczuk just as our hostess is beginning to set out breakfast. I get my computer and write about Istanbul as all the accoutrements of Turkish breakfast appear. Soon everyone else appears and we dig in.
After breakfast we load up the van and bid our lovely hostess and the men from the shop and restaurant next door adieu and head down the road towards Afrodesia and Pamukkale. Soon we are zipping along through small towns and past roadside stands selling fruit, vegetables, and sometimes jars of what looks like honey. They must e selling the produce they are growing right there because the stands will all be selling tomatoes, then it will be fruit and then change again to what looks like jars of honey. We can see rain clouds ahead and off to the south in the direction of Afrodesia. Soon we see the brown tourist sign for out turn off and we are on a very narrow twisty road through rolling hills and the through some small mountains. You have to get right on to the shoulder when another vehicle comes from the other direction. It’s very exciting driving. Soon the rain starts and we drive through some very small villages and just before Afrodesia we spy a restaurant off to the left and come to a flying stop in a cloud of dust. The owner is out in the parking lot and waves us in. It has a big out door terrace and there is a group off a tourbus at the far end being serenaded by a man playing a Turkish stringed instrument. The wind is bowing a little rain around in the bright orange blooms of the pomegranate trees. It’s a very pretty spot. We order sour cherry juice, Aryan, two chopped salads, beef, meatball shish kebaps and a broiled fish. We end up with a lot of delicious food and leave fully nourished and ready to tour the ancient city of Aphrodesia and the temple of Aphrodite.
We drive into one more rain burst and we try to park right at the gate but we are waved back up the road by a Turkish soldier. We go back up to the main road and park in the lot across the street. We pay a few TL to park and are driven down in a trolley pulled by a farm tractor. Almost like Disney world! We pay our admission and wander past the Museum, café and gift shop. The rain must have scared the tour busses away so we are almost alone. We can see the remains of a two story stone structure with some lovely statues ahead. But then I see a long line of carved capitals off of the tops of columns that are carved with faces. They are stacked four high and fifteen long under an over hanging roof. All the faces are different and carved with quite fine detail. They are really cool all stacked there like that. Across the walk is a field full of odd bits and pieces of carved stone. We walk along and soon come to the theater. It is a large one and pretty well preserved. There are some men working on the stage house. I get pics of the family sitting on the seats.
We walk one into the public buildings. Unlike Ephesus here you can really get the felling of how an ancient Greek city was laid out. There are still a lot of walls and columns standing and fountains, pools and a few statues. There was another workman rebuilding a wall and he smiled and motioned me over and handed me a bunch of plums had had just picked off a nearby tree. I thanked him and motioned that I was going to wash them and he nodded and smiled and are a few plums and went back to his work.
We walked through a smaller theater, where the city councils may have met. It had a pool of water and frogs at the base of the seats. Winfree was trying to catch a frog and we watched from the seats then walked over and were in the remains of the Temple of Aphrodite ( she who wears the see thru nightie!) Most of the columns are still standing and even some of the capitals are on their tops. It’s quite a place. Then we walking into another temple that still had the façade intact and it was covered with amazing carvings. We walked out and toured the museum were they now store most of the statues and a whole room full of carved capitals from the temple. Really intricate carving, and so much of it! It’s really amazing how much carving the Greeks did.
After the museum we walked through a display of the archeologists and photos of the site over the years. There were even pictures of the Turks in the nearby town and the odd pieces of carved stones they were using to hold of columns for porches or to hold water for their animals. There were more photos of parts of the dig over the years. It was amazing to see the original site pictures. You can that amazing temple poking up out of a grove of trees. Then I hit the bathroom and used the Turkish toilet which is a ceramic hole in the floor with foot grips and water spigot. Then I washed my hands and the plums very thoroughly with lots of soap. We ate some of the plums which were a bit sour. We decided they weren’t quite ripe yet so we switched to ice cream bars.
Then we walked back to the trolley where the drivers were shaking white mulberries out of a tree and eating them. I have never had a white mulberry so I ge them a taste. Not as flavorful as the red ones but interesting. We rode the trolley back to our minibus and drove off towards Pamukkale.
We headed further down that narrow twisty road until it meet up with another main road. We turned on to the larger road and were soon headed up into the mountains. We went up and over and then wound our way down the other side and into the city of Denizili. The traffic was thick but we eventually popped out the other side and followed the brown signs to the village of Pamukkale. It’s not a very big community and it mostly caters to tourists as it is right on the edge of a huge cliff of of white travertine which has been deposited there by centuries of water flowing down the cliffs from hot mineral springs. They form pools that people love to bathe in. It is now a world heritage site and they are trying to protect the travertine. The local hotels have diverted a lot of the water into their pools and through their bars and thousands of people walk up and down the cliffs every month. It is very spectacular. We arrived in the evening anf drove to the edge of town and found a quiet hotel with a pool and settled in for a swim and a late dinner.
When we were eating our dinner we could se lots of people walking up the travertines. People are limited to just one path now and it looked like an army of ants. When darkness fell searchlights light up he sky from the top. Our hosts explained to us that a big concert was being held that night in the ancient greek theater at Heiropolis on the top past the travertines. It was being broadcast on the television. Looked like fun. My brother considered walking up there but we were all pretty tired from the days explorations. So we relaxed and then headed for bed. I shared a room with my father instead of Winfree for the first time on the trip. It was nice not having to wade through her stuff to ge to my bed for a change.
My father and Pippa and I got on the road at 6:15 am to drive to the Izmir airport because Pippa is flying home today. We have really enjoyed having here with us this trip. She usually doesn’t come as she is uncomfortable with the motion of boats. We get back on the same toll road and our toll card seems to work again. So off we go at 120 KPH north. It takes about 30 minutes then we are off on a side road and soon we drive into a very modern airport. The police at right there so I say a quick goodbye and stay with the minibus while my father walks Pippa in. Is back very quickly because in Turkish airports security screening is right at the door. We talk the alternate route back that goes through a few small towns which are just waking up. We are arrive back in Selczuk just as our hostess is beginning to set out breakfast. I get my computer and write about Istanbul as all the accoutrements of Turkish breakfast appear. Soon everyone else appears and we dig in.
After breakfast we load up the van and bid our lovely hostess and the men from the shop and restaurant next door adieu and head down the road towards Afrodesia and Pamukkale. Soon we are zipping along through small towns and past roadside stands selling fruit, vegetables, and sometimes jars of what looks like honey. They must e selling the produce they are growing right there because the stands will all be selling tomatoes, then it will be fruit and then change again to what looks like jars of honey. We can see rain clouds ahead and off to the south in the direction of Afrodesia. Soon we see the brown tourist sign for out turn off and we are on a very narrow twisty road through rolling hills and the through some small mountains. You have to get right on to the shoulder when another vehicle comes from the other direction. It’s very exciting driving. Soon the rain starts and we drive through some very small villages and just before Afrodesia we spy a restaurant off to the left and come to a flying stop in a cloud of dust. The owner is out in the parking lot and waves us in. It has a big out door terrace and there is a group off a tourbus at the far end being serenaded by a man playing a Turkish stringed instrument. The wind is bowing a little rain around in the bright orange blooms of the pomegranate trees. It’s a very pretty spot. We order sour cherry juice, Aryan, two chopped salads, beef, meatball shish kebaps and a broiled fish. We end up with a lot of delicious food and leave fully nourished and ready to tour the ancient city of Aphrodesia and the temple of Aphrodite.
We drive into one more rain burst and we try to park right at the gate but we are waved back up the road by a Turkish soldier. We go back up to the main road and park in the lot across the street. We pay a few TL to park and are driven down in a trolley pulled by a farm tractor. Almost like Disney world! We pay our admission and wander past the Museum, café and gift shop. The rain must have scared the tour busses away so we are almost alone. We can see the remains of a two story stone structure with some lovely statues ahead. But then I see a long line of carved capitals off of the tops of columns that are carved with faces. They are stacked four high and fifteen long under an over hanging roof. All the faces are different and carved with quite fine detail. They are really cool all stacked there like that. Across the walk is a field full of odd bits and pieces of carved stone. We walk along and soon come to the theater. It is a large one and pretty well preserved. There are some men working on the stage house. I get pics of the family sitting on the seats.
We walk one into the public buildings. Unlike Ephesus here you can really get the felling of how an ancient Greek city was laid out. There are still a lot of walls and columns standing and fountains, pools and a few statues. There was another workman rebuilding a wall and he smiled and motioned me over and handed me a bunch of plums had had just picked off a nearby tree. I thanked him and motioned that I was going to wash them and he nodded and smiled and are a few plums and went back to his work.
We walked through a smaller theater, where the city councils may have met. It had a pool of water and frogs at the base of the seats. Winfree was trying to catch a frog and we watched from the seats then walked over and were in the remains of the Temple of Aphrodite ( she who wears the see thru nightie!) Most of the columns are still standing and even some of the capitals are on their tops. It’s quite a place. Then we walking into another temple that still had the façade intact and it was covered with amazing carvings. We walked out and toured the museum were they now store most of the statues and a whole room full of carved capitals from the temple. Really intricate carving, and so much of it! It’s really amazing how much carving the Greeks did.
After the museum we walked through a display of the archeologists and photos of the site over the years. There were even pictures of the Turks in the nearby town and the odd pieces of carved stones they were using to hold of columns for porches or to hold water for their animals. There were more photos of parts of the dig over the years. It was amazing to see the original site pictures. You can that amazing temple poking up out of a grove of trees. Then I hit the bathroom and used the Turkish toilet which is a ceramic hole in the floor with foot grips and water spigot. Then I washed my hands and the plums very thoroughly with lots of soap. We ate some of the plums which were a bit sour. We decided they weren’t quite ripe yet so we switched to ice cream bars.
Then we walked back to the trolley where the drivers were shaking white mulberries out of a tree and eating them. I have never had a white mulberry so I ge them a taste. Not as flavorful as the red ones but interesting. We rode the trolley back to our minibus and drove off towards Pamukkale.
We headed further down that narrow twisty road until it meet up with another main road. We turned on to the larger road and were soon headed up into the mountains. We went up and over and then wound our way down the other side and into the city of Denizili. The traffic was thick but we eventually popped out the other side and followed the brown signs to the village of Pamukkale. It’s not a very big community and it mostly caters to tourists as it is right on the edge of a huge cliff of of white travertine which has been deposited there by centuries of water flowing down the cliffs from hot mineral springs. They form pools that people love to bathe in. It is now a world heritage site and they are trying to protect the travertine. The local hotels have diverted a lot of the water into their pools and through their bars and thousands of people walk up and down the cliffs every month. It is very spectacular. We arrived in the evening anf drove to the edge of town and found a quiet hotel with a pool and settled in for a swim and a late dinner.
When we were eating our dinner we could se lots of people walking up the travertines. People are limited to just one path now and it looked like an army of ants. When darkness fell searchlights light up he sky from the top. Our hosts explained to us that a big concert was being held that night in the ancient greek theater at Heiropolis on the top past the travertines. It was being broadcast on the television. Looked like fun. My brother considered walking up there but we were all pretty tired from the days explorations. So we relaxed and then headed for bed. I shared a room with my father instead of Winfree for the first time on the trip. It was nice not having to wade through her stuff to ge to my bed for a change.
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