Friday 14 September 2012

Doing it tough in the south of Turkey

An interesting bus ride through the winding mountain roads had me hit the southern Turkish town of Fethiye around 9pm. Another shuttle picked me up and deposited me in the beach town of Oludeniz. It was quite late by this stage so it wasn't until the following morning that I realized I'd found paradise (well paradise except for the package tourists!)

I spent 5 days hanging out on the beach called blue lagoon with the occasional visit to Paradise Beach. I never take my camera to the beach but think I must start to so I can share paradise with you!

I popped to Rhodes for a bit .... but thats a whole different post.

The next part of my adventure was aboard a traditional Turkish gulet, sailing (or motoring as the case may be) for the next four days.




It's what I call doing it tough .... swimming in beautiful clear water and checking out little villages only accessible by boat.















We had an afternoon break in the small town of Kas. It is such a cute town with winding paved streets and friendly locals ... all trying to sell stuff of course. I had a fresh OJ, my new addiction. I know, who would have thought I'd get addicted to juice!





All too soon it was time to leave the boat and head for the beach and tree houses of Olympos. The cool thing was that everyone from the boat was heading there so we didn't have to say goodbye just yet.







My next stop was Antalya, the third largest city in Turkey. It was strange being back in a bustling metropolis, luckily I was staying in the peaceful old town where the streets are cobbled and there are more cats than cars.






My usual dose of roman ruins had been lacking so I hopped on a bus and headed out to see how the Romans had left there mark in this part of the country. I wasn't disappointed in Perege.










Although I did get a bit bored so got chatting to a dude who was cutting fruit off a cactus. Nothing like a bit of cactus fruit to spice up a ruin or two.










My next stop was Side and was I in for a surprise. This town is part mass tourism and part magnificent ruins (and that's a big call coming from someone who's seen a ruin or 10!) The town is entered through the Vespasian Gate. Very cool.


Then you get through the standard shops selling tourist tat and the Temples of Apollo and Athena (or a couple of columns left from the temples) stand guard over the Mediterranean.









Now that's what I call a ruin with a view.




Posted from somewhere round the world...

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