6 November ’04, Wednesday. On Tuesday we divided up the day by walking to the ancient Lycian Theatre, exploring additional Lycian rock tombs on the hills above the city of Kas, and the Antiphelllus Monument Tomb. These were very interesting ruins to see, but not the most exciting at all. The town of Kas is a very picturesque in it’s own regard. It is situated on the side of the mountain and extends all the way down to the sea. Being a older fishing village, you can still by your fish products right from the docks if that is what you are looking for. Today we are looking forward to visiting the weekly bazaar/market. This market is really one of the most “authentic” markets that we have been in. It definitely wasn’t set up for the “tourist”. Some people were selling their goods from an egg crate on the ground, while others were selling from the back of their truck or wagon. We were looking for some fresh fruit and produce, and we found some good buys. We spent about 2 hours walking all the booths and eating from the vendors samples, and then headed back to camp with all our purchases. It is nice to be camped so close that we can take an easy walk into town when we want. After getting back, we both jumped into our swimming suits and hit the water for a nice cooling down. It was just what the doctor ordered…oh so wonderful…. Ralph and Susan ask us over for a glass of wine and we were happy join them. They had some red wine from Greece that was very good. Later that night, Ralph and Susan asked us to join them for a walk into town and have dinner with them…it was their 35th wedding anniversary…great dinner, dining partners, and wonderful night under the stars. In the morning (Wednesday), we both pulled out and headed up the coast with the final destination of Fethiye and a stop over at Xanthos to see the ruins there. Xanthos was once the capitol and grandest city of Lycia. It has a large Roman Theatre with Lycian pillar tombs, a large Acropolis, many ground and cave tombs, a Basilaca with beautiful mosaic floors. This dates back from the early 5th Century BC and forward to approximately the 11th Century AD. As we walked into the site we were met by 2 young brothers. The oldest about 11 and his brother about 6. They came over to us (we were there with Ralph and Susan) and immediately said “Hi”, and then handed the ladies some sweet smelling twigs of wild oregano. Then a with a soft voice the oldest started to tell us and show us the ruins. His knowledge was really unbelievable, and his English was pretty good. We ask him how he knew so much about these ruins, and he said that he read all the tourist literature and books he could find, and he was learning his English at school and talking to the tourists that come by the site. Anyway, he continued to impress us at every turn and then when we had seen all the theatre, pools, water pumps, the river and the homes of the past, he said “that’s the end now, $5,000,000 lire each please”…. Oh yes, I forgot to tell you what the little brother was doing all this time…he had picked some beautiful yellow flowers for the gals and found another sweet smelling twig to give them as well…we loved the soft sell…but not for $5,000,000 lire each… Tomorrow…Fethiye
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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 29 October ’04, Friday. REPUBLIC DAY…29th Day of OCTOBER Today is a national holiday commemorating the proclamation of the republic by Ataturk in 1923… Big celebration all over the country, parades, speeches, parties, and lot’s of fireworks, big ones, all along the coastline last night from 9:30 to after 11…BIG FIREWORKS… This campground and the campsite that we are occupying said to us this morning, “Sit Back and Enjoy The Day”. Sooo, we did !!! The sun was a little hot coming into the van while we were making up breakfast and doing the morning dishes, but after that…my oh my, what a beautiful day. It topped out at about 80 and got as low as 72 last night. Louise being the “Hunter of Shell’s” walked the beach from one side to the other. We’ve got some beautiful rocks, but only 2 shells the total walk. All were left behind (thank God for the van). I don’t know if I mentioned the little village that we are in, or not. It’s Goynuk, and is located just a few km east of Kemer right on the Mediterranean. Our walk took us up the beach so that we could see two of the large beach resorts here. We’re sure that they are associated with timesharing. They just have that “Timeshare” look. One was nice, and the other was really quite nice. Of course they have all the water features…jet ski’s, water banana’s, and all the rest of the toys. After we got back from our walk, we both got into our swimming suits and took a swim in the Med. The water was “wonderful”, and they tell us it will stay the same at least through December. By that time we will be heading for Greece. Late afternoon, we decided to do some “spring cleaning” and get rid of some of the things that we brought, never warn, probably never will, and extra luggage. Then we settled down for a light dinner of pop-corn and a beer. Just as we were finishing up, the young man who we’ve become friends with here (Oskan) brought us a full plate of these very small fish that he had lightly battered and fried up. He also brought us a plate full of this wonderful flat bread that is fried on both sides and lightly filled with this wonderful cheese. I loved the whole thing, but with Lou’s touchy stomach, she only ate some of the bread. Tomorrow….going into Kemer for groceries, internet, and …. 28 October ’04, Thursday. Crickets are in full swing from a small stream about 40 yards to our left, the full moon rises out of the sea in front of us as we sit in our easy chairs under 4 large Pine trees. The surf is calm off of the Mediterranean with a slight breeze coming from our right. The temperature is hovering around 75 degrees and we are the only camper in town. Again, we seem to have the whole place to ourselves…well not quite, as there is a Turkish lady that lives here on the campground, and there is one other caravan that is here as well. After last night, we have found heaven. Last night started out OK, but as we started to settle into bed, a dog that we knew was next to us, started to bark and cry…ALL NIGHT LONG…. I really wanted to do something drastic, but… Anyway, somehow, we did get some sleep in between yelps and cries, but it was short. I guess that if we are going to look for “Free Camping” in service stations, we are just going to have to put up with a little discomfort once in awhile. As it was, we did get some sleep and were out of there at 9am. Unfortunately, on top of all this, Louise has a case of the “Turkey Trots”…not good timing, but that type of thing never comes at the right time. Even tonight she is having a little difficultly. The road trip today took us on a route through some of the poorest parts of Turkey that we have seen yet. Life there was very simple to say the least. We have seen more of the “traditional dress” for the ladies in the last two days than we have seen for the whole trip. The head is covered with a printed shawl, the dress is dark and printed (in most cases), and is like “Sultan” or “Harem” pants…bloused at the legs and tight at the lower calf. Heavy socks are also part of the dress. One of the other sightings we have seen more and more of, is the small cart being pulled by a small horse or donkey. A lot of the time, we will see the whole family riding in the cart with some of the wood they have gathered for the day. With Winter coming soon, and with no central heating in any of the houses, wood and coal are the main stay for heat. Wood is by far the most used. Another note for the day…, the trucks. You would not believe the amount of trucks on the roads, and the heavy and over-sized vehicles are the norm. They stack these trucks so high and wide, that when they go down the road, they have a tough time keeping them in their lanes. And when they go through the smaller villages, it is full bore to the floor…Get the heck out of the way. When they go through the larger towns they take up so much of the lanes that it is tough to be beside them. Also, they blow the blackest diesel smoke you could imagine…EVERYWHERE. Tomorrow…A new day to look forward too 27 October ’04, Wednesday. A little about yesterday…we had our last Dr’s appointment at 9:30am and then we were on our way heading East/South East. The day was TOTALLY filled with air pollution from Istanbul to far beyond Bersa. Our trip will take us from Istanbul, across the Bosphorus, around the Marara Sea coast, down to Bersa, then to heading toward Bosuyuk. Night was coming on fast, so we decided to pull into a gas station for gas. Once we were there and filled our tank, I ask them if they would mind if we had dinner and spent the night on their premises. “No problem, and welcome”, so we pulled up on this little knoll above the station. I started to get the site all set up as Louise started dinner. It didn’t take long before I heard from Louise….”THERE ARE FLIES EVERYWHERE !!!” By the time I got to the door and had a look, there were at least 50 or more all around her watching her cook. It didn’t bother me so much, but Lou, well let’s say it was driving her crazy. We did finally have our dinner without being bothered. For some reason, they only wanted inside so we ate outside…smart don’t you think??? After we ate, we franticly searched for our insect “KILLER” to take care of the little varmints. The outcome was, we slept through the night without one interruption.. This morning, we were underway by 9:30am and heading for our first destination…Aizanoi, which is just outside of Cavdarhisar. The scenery in really different. We have passed so many different colors of soil and rocks, trees that stand tall, but have all of a sudden started growing their own ground cover (it makes the trees look like they are “melting”). The Fall colors are definitely in full change…brilliant… We passed many “strip” mines, that were mining materials for porcelain. Porcelain is a product that dates back to 14th Century. Even some of the buildings we have seen today are covered with porcelain tiles from this area. We visited the “Temple of Zeus”, the theater, stadium, and the bathes. We also drove over a Roman built bridge that dates to the 2nd century BC. The Temple was dedicated to the worship of Zeus, or Jupiter, and to the Anatolian fertility goddess Cybele. A lot of damage was done by an earthquake in 1970, but what remains is absolutely wonderful. It didn’t take long to see the exterior of the Temple but, our host at the gate, opened the locked gate to Cybel’s burial chamber. It is a large room with a high dome ceiling and openings at the top of the walls to the outside. Cybel, (Kybel) was one of the earliest Anatolian goddesses. Sometime after 1000 BC, when Greek colonists began settling on the eastern shore of the Aegean, her cult was merged with that of Artemis, the lunar hunter goddess. In legend, Cybele is often paired with Attis, a handsome and highly desirable shepherd. Legend has it, Cybele is often paired with Attis, Attis falls in love with a nymph, and Cybele kills her rival in a jealous rage. Attis then goes mad and cuts off his testicles with a sharp rock and dies. I love these “Love Stories”… We have now made our way down past Usak and found another gas station to stay the night at Sivasti. The problem that has all of a sudden popped it’s head, is a barking dog right next to our van….anyone got a shoe??? Tomorrow…Onward toward Analya on the Med. 25 October ’04, Monday. Yesterday was one of those days that were just made for kicking back. I had a little more laundry to do in the morning, but after that, we both found our “easy chairs” and made the best of use out of them. We both have good books that we are enjoying, so mixed with the great weather, and wonderful campground, we seem to have it made. In the late afternoon, we walked across the street from the campground, pulled off our sandals, and walked the shoreline of the Black Sea. Now it was a beautifully warm day, but I probably wouldn’t have gone into the Sea to swim…well, I didn’t, but there were a few of those who’s blood is a lot thicker than mine who did. As it was, this walk was one of absolute beauty. I’m glad we put the Black Sea on the agenda. And this campground, it seems to be magical and the people that own and run it are the greatest, although our communication was done only by smiles, hand gestures and words, that only the speaker knew what was said. After our walk, we pulled out the barbeque and set ourselves up with a great early dinner of hamburger patties and the most delicious squash. We are doing it right. Speaking of doing it right….we initially had reservations about Turkey, as it was really hard to find anyone who had made the journey before us, and all we had was the travel books to deliver all of the “travel” information to us. Unfortunately, the travel books are out dated almost as soon as they hit the presses. If it wasn’t for the email that we got from Bonnie and Doug saying that this was were they wanted to meet us, we might not have made it. What a terrible mistake that would have been. We have now been in Turkey for over 3 weeks, and traveled quite a lot of the country. We have been in the largest city, and we have been in some of the smallest villages. We have even been in one of the largest “party towns” Turkey has to offer. We have flown in hot air balloons, we have been to 3 Seas, and 2 straights, and now, we have made the decision to stay in Turkey for at least another month or more. We will stay here until sometime in December, and then travel to Greece for Christmas and the New Year. Turkey has offered us the friendliest people, great hospitality, wonderful food, beautiful country sides to visit, unmatched history, good roads to travel on, and unfortunately the highest gas prices. This afternoon we arrived back in Istanbul. We have a doctors appointment in the morning and then back on the road heading south/southeast. We dropped into Angels Home Hotel and saw everyone there again. It seems that we left our radio/cd player there last time. Hakan tried to email us, but Louise had given him the wrong address, but everything worked out. Thanks again Hakan, we thought we had lost it sometime after our stay with you, but getting it back was a wonderful surprise. Angel’s Home Hotel has been like a personal home to us from our 1st week in Turkey, and I guarantee that it wont end there…. www.hotelangelshome.com Tomorrow….more good things 23 October ’04, Saturday. Sun is out bright, it is warm (70º), slight wind off the Black Sea, and it makes a perfect day to get some washing done and hung out to dry. So, that is exactly what we did. After getting it all hung up, we went looking for lunch and tonight’s dinner. Yesterday we looked down onto the harbor, so today we went down there to see what was happening. We have watched about 4 or 5 boats running back-n-forth across the beach area in front of our campground and wondering just what they were catching. Well, this afternoon, we found out. They are picking the tiniest little clams you could imagine. Bushel Bags full, all going to Japan and France, for the “Big Bucks”. These clams were smaller than the fingernail on my thumb. As we walked the marina, we had noticed from afar, a huge old tanker tied to the dock. Well, what it turned out to be, was a tanker that had sunk quite a long time ago. There were barnacles all over it, from bow to stern, from bottom to top of the bent masts. I would have guesses it was under for at least 25 years and probably much more. Now, I would guess it was about ready to go to the scrap metal shoppes. Leaving our tanker behind, we went looking for lunch. Just down the wharf, we found a little restaurant…gravel/dirt flooring, thatched roof, log railing surrounding the 8 tables inside. Sitting inside already, were people eating at 2 tables. Looking over what they were eating, we made our choice…”Just What They Are Having, But Only One Order Please”….Uh ha, Yep, You know it… I don’t know what it is about ordering our food in a restaurant, but if you only want one thing, everything goes..BAAMMM…NO COMPUTE !!! Well, it was good, but how the bill got that high, I’ll never understand. I think they definitely have 2 price sheets, one for the locals, and one for us. Oh well, we’ve got to support the economy one way or the other. Tomorrow…Our last day and night in Þile 22 October ’04, Friday. Believe it or not, but we went to bed at 8:30pm and didn’t get up until just before 8am this morning. For some reason we were just pooped… Our campground was supposed to have hot water for showers (according to our receptionist), but that just isn’t the case. We have read and experienced the campgrounds that have solar hot water and so far only one has had anything close to warm for us to shower in. Oh well, SWSWSW (Some Will, Some Wont, So What)….next. This morning it was cereal, toast, and coffee and then off for a long walk into ªile. With high clouds overhead, we were just hoping that it wouldn’t want to rain on us. Our goal today is to just explore the town and find the grocery store, bakery, and internet café. On our way into town yesterday we did see three or four grocery stores, a couple of bakeries, and one internet café, so I guess our work was done before it started. It was interesting to see about 20-25 men on the streets of the town, compared to 1 woman. There has always been more men present in the restaurants, but on the streets, you have always seen a higher percentage of women than what we have seen here. As we got deeper into town we heard a band playing somewhere ahead. Curious, we went looking for the source. It happened to be at the school (equivalent of our high school). All the students and facility were out in front of the school listening to a Turkish Army Band from Istanbul. Everyone was thoroughly enjoying the music. Louise and I found a location close to the fence to see and listen, but that didn’t last long, as we were approached by one of the school facility members. He couldn’t speak any English (and of course, we couldn’t speak any Turkish, darn it…), but he invited us up were the rest of the facility was listening, and wouldn’t take “No Thanks” for an answer. So up we went. We did find ourselves with better seats… Next to me was a man (school security officer) that did speak English and we had a great conversation. This school assembly was great, as the students were really enjoying the band music and, enjoying the opportunity to be entertained by the “Army Band”. When it was all over, we were delighted to see the interaction of the students and the army men. The girls especially were taken with them being there. Excitement over, we said our “Good-Byes” and headed back down the street. Luck would have it, as we walked into a huge bazaar/market going on just around the corner. One of the most memorable items at the market was the cabbage…Not just a cabbage, but all the HUGE CABBAGES !!!! They were beyond huge really. We had to take pictures. We did our shopping and headed out for lunch and then the walk back to “Bumble Bee”. Another great day in our many days of this journey… Tomorrow…A little depends on the weather, but… |
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