4 November ’04, Thursday. After a little debate we both chose to move on this morning. Again, it was a tough decision, but we just have to find that perfect spot to call home for at least 30 to 45 days. When we drove down into Cirali a couple of days ago, I just knew that we would have to drive back out. Going out is almost straight up and full of very tight turns. We had to go into 1st gear for almost every turn for the 5 km back up to the main road. Well, we had a lot of fun and saw a lot of great sites in the 2 days that we were there, so going on just means we wont spend the whole day basking in the sun. Our route will take us through at least 3 mountainous areas, but the rest will be right down on the shoreline. We encountered quite a bit of road construction on the coastline, but in a way, that was just great as we were able to really enjoy the spectacular views. During the construction, some of the roadway was a little scary as it would take us within inches of the banks that would take you in for a swim at the quickest moment. At one point, we had to come to a halt for about 15 minutes while they pushed rocks down onto the road, and then cleaned them off to the side for one lane to get through. Most of the roadway was newly laid gravel over tar, and it was really quite slippery in the corners. I think that the top speed we were able to drive at was about 20-35 km. Very slow going… Once we broke through the construction and back into another mountain area, we saw off in the distance, some ruins where they had dug out their living and worshiping areas directly out of the vertical side of the mountain. There was no visible road to get closer, so all we could do was enjoy it from a far distance. It looked amazing… Where we just happened to park was along side a farmers field, and there was a young boy about 9-10 who saw us. He waved and yelled out “HELLO”, and then followed that with “GIVE ME MONEY !!” as he ran toward us… It was hard to say no, but you just can’t give for that reason. We then found ourselves entering the town where St. Nicholas (Santa Claus) was born. Unfortunately, there really wasn’t any reason to stop beyond his being born there, so we continued on. About 40 minutes later and we were heading down the hill in to our next location for a couple of days….Kas. Our campsite is within a quick walk into a wonderful ruin of a “Theatre”, and then on to the town its self. We are parked just above the water in a great little campsite. It is terraced campground, with every site having a view to the water. There is a small restaurant/bar and a couple of small docks tied together with a boardwalk. We met our neighbors tonight, Ralph and Susan who have brought their camper with them from Alberta Canada. They have been camping in their VW Campervan in Europe since last April as well. Their trip will last them for a year and it has been just like ours… FANTASTIC !!!
Tomorrow…Kas

3 November ’04, Wednesday. Yep, we heard… Yesterday we spent about 35 minutes on the road and found ourselves pitching camp in one of the smallest villages yet… Cirali. I doubt it very much if you can find it on your map. We are camped right in the middle of an orchard with a pension at the back. It is located right across the road from a long and wonderful beach. At one end of the beach is Olympos, an ancient Lycian city dating from the 2nd Century BC. The Olympians worshipped Valcan, the god of fire. Tonight, we walked up the mountain to Chimaera, where there are flames coming out of the mountain. There just happens to be some mysterious gases coming out of some cracks in the mountain which ignites as soon as it hits air. The whole area that flames came out of the ground covered about 20 square yards. We started our walk just before dark, and by the time we reached the flames, it was totally in darkness. Quite a site… Now back to Olympos…. Olympos sits on two mountain sides that are separated by a river. Both mountains boarder the Mediterranean Sea. As you walk down the beach from our campsite, you immediately see the ruins on the hills in front of you. As we walked around the first mountain side, we started to see more and more of the ruins. It gave us the feeling of “Indiana Jones”. The ruins were in heavy (and sometimes thick) trees and vines. As we started to explore, we were just blown away by what we found. It was really exciting. The Valcan empire didn’t last long, but the Romans were happy to come in and take over in the 1st Century BC until the 3rd Century AD it was ravished by pirate attacks. Olympos was finally abandoned in the 15th Century. As of today, this was the most fascinating site I have been to. Back to Chimaera… Mythology has it that Chimaera was the son of Typhon, himself the fierce and monstrous son of Gaia, the earth goddess. He was so frightening that Zeus set him on fire and buried him alive under Mt. Etna, thereby creating the volcano. Typhon’s offspring, the Chimaera was killed and buried here, where the flames are still visible today. Now in between visits to these two sites today, we spent a few hours just basking in the sun on the great beach here in Cirali. The water temperature is “perfect”, the sunshine is “perfect”, and we are “perfect…what else can I tell you…it was a “PERFECT DAY”… Tomorrow…maybe more beach time

1 November ’04, Monday. Here we are in Turkey, a day before election day for the President of The United States, and all we hear on the radio is election news. This would seem like we were back home listening, but lucky for us, it is all in Turkish and we can only understand the names of those running. I’m sure when it is all done, and the announcement has been made, we will know immediately who was chosen for the next 4 years. Today was another tough day at sea side. I did do some light washing of clothes and “Bumble Bee” while Lou gave herself a pedicure…I know, life is tough…. I think that I mentioned that we are having to move on tomorrow, as this campground is closing until next season. It is going to be a busy place for a few months as they are going to completely rebuild everything. It is going to be a “Destination Resort” for campers. They will be building new bungalows, a large swimming pool (next to sea side), fantastic landscaping, a large restaurant, and doubling the size of the campground it’s self. A big project to say the least. I was in “Bumble Bee” reading last night, and Louise was outside playing some games on her computer, when she received a visitor. The managers wife, Sibil, dropped by. What a lovely young lady. Unfortunately, while her husband is on a site for construction, she has to commute to visit him from Istanbul. Her English was wonderful, as she had a chance to live in England for a couple of years. We all enjoyed the evening. Yesterday Louise and I put our walking shoes on and went out to see a waterfall (wasserfal). We were able to walk from the camp. It took us about 3 ½ hours, in 80 degree weather. While we were in the shadows of the canyon, it was very nice, but in the sun….it got warm. It really was a great hike, and the waterfall was really quite beautiful. It wasn’t very large as waterfalls go, but otherwise quite beautiful as I mentioned. The day before we did somewhat of a dry run to find our way the next day, and we stopped into this wonderful little restaurant for a beer. It is called Ali’s Garten Restaurant. Ali’s father has a wonderful “Green Thumb”, her mother is a great cook, and Ali is just wonderful in being with her customers. The tables are all set into separate little areas that are surrounded and covered with plants, trees, and shrubs of all kinds. Those that produce fruit are fully laden with their crop….it is special. This afternoon we went into Kemer to go shopping at the farmers market and grab a little lunch. While having lunch, a couple from England sat next to us. Their story started out as an 18 month trip on their 33 foot sailboat…it’s lasted 7 years….yep, that’s how it starts for all of us. They will spend this winter here in Kemer. Tomorrow….moving day