Turkey: Thursday 23 October 2014

Today has been a washout - quite literally! It was thundering and lightning when we got up, and it has been torrential rain for most of the day! The poor hotel staff have been rushing around trying to keep everything dry, brushing out the water from the public areas as the rain keeps building up. The electricity went off once but luckily not for long!

Rainbow view from our balcony

There really isn't much to do here when it rains so we have been in our room mostly, reading and watching program's that Peter downloaded on his laptop.

More rain clouds rolling in!

The weather cleared late in the afternoon for about an hour so we went for a walk on the beach and along the promenade one last time. However, when the dark clouds started rolling in and when it started to rumble with thunder again we thought it would be a good idea to head back to the hotel!

It is a shame the weather has turned but we have been very lucky as the rest of the week we have had glorious sunshine. According to the weather forecast it looks to be up until next Thursday so I think we chose the right week!

We travel back home tomorrow so this is my last blog post for the holiday. We have really enjoyed our time in Turkey - it has been a mixture of relaxing and seeing the sights. The weather has mostly been pretty good, and we really liked the hotel although going all inclusive is lethal - Peter said the other day we have never eaten and drank so much on holiday!

 

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Turkey: Wednesday 22 October 2014

Today we visited an area called Alanya, which is about an hours drive away to the east of Side. We were a small group of 12 - we were the first people on the minibus and, bizarrely, at each pick up everyone else sat on the other side of the minibus - Peter whispered to me 'do you think they know something we don't' ..... It was a bit of a concern when we were travelling up to our first stop, which was a castle on a mountain top - as the minibus edged up the tiny winding roads I thought it may topple over with the amount of people sitting on the other side!

When they told us we were visiting a castle we thought there would be a castle you could go inside of but it was more like a castle wall with a few ruins inside... However the views from the top were amazing.

The views from the castle

For our next stop we drove through the mountains to get to Dim Cave which is estimated to be 1 million years old! The guide broke the news to us all, just as we were about to go in, that there was 200 steps down, and then you had to come back up again, so were in for a bit of a workout!

Inside the cave

It was a bit humid and clammy in the cave but we both thought it was worth the effort!

Our lunch stop was in the mountains next to the river - the food was ok although not very traditional but we did have the option of turkish seating where you sit on the floor on cushions around a low table - we were the only ones in our group who did it and it was very comfortable!

Our final stop of the day was time in the town of Alanya. Now for some reason I was under the impression it would be like Old Side with cobblestone streets, ruins and quaint shops but it was like a normal town so it was a bit of a random place to stop! However, we made our way down to the harbour and walked round there which was lovely - apart from men constantly asking us if we wanted to go on their pirate ship (don't ask...they seem to love a pirate ship in this part of the world)

View of the harbour

Pirate ship!

View from harbour looking up to the castle

We got back around 5:30pm so just relaxed until dinner. Today is the last of our excursions so the plan tomorrow is to chill out before we fly home on Friday.

 

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Turkey: Tuesday 21 October 2014

Today we went on an excursion that took us to the two major historical sights of the region. The first stop was Perge, just over an hour away from where we are staying, which was once a bustling Roman port dating back to the 2nd Century AD. The guide first of all took our group of 14 round to give us some background and then we had free time to wander around - it was very interesting and you could imagine how it was all those years ago!

Our next stop of the day was Aspendos, where the best preserved amphitheatre in Turkey is. It is 2000 years old and it was amazing how intact it was - a bit too intact for my liking and it didn't really feel that old - I preferred the one in Side.

For the rest of the day we just chilled out, and after dinner enjoyed the evenings entertainment which was the house band playing rock classics!!

 

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Turkey: Monday 20 October 2014

Today we had booked an excursion which was part nature and part shopping! Our first stop was the Manavgat waterfalls - now it was no Niagra Falls but it was it was nice to see and take a few snaps. However, for some reason they gave us 40 mins here when 20 mins would have been more than enough as there was nothing else to do and everyone was back on the coach in record time!

The next stop was a factory outlet which sold knock-off clothes, shoes and handbags - lets just say it was an hour lost in our lives that we are never going to get back. It was in the middle of nowhere so you couldn't go and have a wander around elsewhere, and there is only so much slow walking around a load of crappy and cheap looking clothes that two people can do......not a great start.

Next stop was the local market where we were warned we would get hassled but it was nothing compared to the hassle we have had in markets in Asia! It was pretty much similar tut as the factory outlet so we thought oh great, we have 1 and a half hours of this, but then we found a food market where the locals go and it was a much more interesting experience and we started enjoying it!

Spices in the food market

Locals selling their wares!

We even stopped off in the food market for a turkish tea (which I enjoyed) and a turkish Mocha (which Peter said he wouldn't get again!).

Our turkish drinks

After the market they took us on a boat along the River Manavgat where we had lunch and a stop off at the beach where the river joins the sea before sailing back. It was nice and relaxing, and the views of the Taurus Mountains were good, but we agreed that the day wasn't one of the better trips we have done but at least we got out and about and saw some interesting things.

View from the beach over the river

Tonight at the hotel was Turkish night - the food was delicious and then we had turkish dancing in the lounge which was amazing, especially as the dancers kept spinning around and then jumping on to their knees (it must of hurt!). After that they had a live band - it was a good evening!

 

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Turkey: Sunday 19 October 2014

Today we woke up to a blue sky and blazing sun, but what we didn't realise until we went for breakfast was that there was a cold breeze and we were freezing sitting outside for breakfast! We had planned a morning on the beach and an afternoon looking around the ruins in Old Side but decided to bring that forward as it felt too chilly to sit on the beach!

Old Side is about a 20 min walk from our hotel along the promenade - it was quite a nice walk with the breeze blowing on us.

Along the promenade

The old town of Side is one of the earliest settlements in the area and dates back to the 6th Century BC. There are a number of ruins in the town and the first we came across was the amphitheatre which, in its day, held up to 15,000 people!

Sitting in the amphitheatre

In front of the amphitheatre

View from the Amphitheatre

We then went on to the agora which was the main square - it is now pretty much scrub land with a few ruins scattered about!

More ruins!

Camels!

We stopped at one ruin just as a load of people were leaving and we ended up being left on our own, in the middle of scrub land, with an old turkish bloke who started giving us facts about the ruin we were looking at, and who insisted in taking our camera to take photos of us! We were a little sceptical but went with it, hoping we weren't going to regret it......so a few shots later, one of which he insisted we kissed in (which we did as I just wanted the camera back!) he handed me the camera and just went off and sat down - I thought he may ask for a 'tip' but no, nothing, he just smiled and walked off! Of course this put us off staying much longer at the ruin and after a few photos we left....just as the police arrived - we didn't stick around to see what they wanted!

One of the photos taken by our new turkish 'friend'!

When the wind wasn't blowing it was quite hot so we stopped for a drink at the harbour. We were starting to get a bit 'ruin-ed' out by this time but we were amazed by the Temple of Apollo which was apparently a gift from Anthony to Cleopatra!

Temple of Apollo

In the afternoon we chilled out on the loungers next to the pool, sipping on cocktails, and being entertained by people in the pool trying to play some pool game badly (they were driving the rep mad as they kept doing it wrong!).

We went to the Sunset Bar, which is just above our room on the top floor, to watch the sunset whilst having the obligatory cocktail :-)

Sunset over Side

 

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Turkey: Saturday 18 October 2014

Today was all about relaxing! After opening my presents in bed, we spent most of the day relaxing at the beach - I even had a swim in the sea!

Chilling out - making sure I don't get sunburnt feet!

In the evening we booked the Italian restaurant at our hotel for my birthday dinner. We stopped off at the bar for cocktails first, and then had a lovely meal in the outside restaurant.

Cocktails by the pool

Peter about to tuck in to dessert!

I told Peter not to mention it was my birthday and I am so glad he listened to me as some poor soul also had a birthday and the whole restaurant had to sing to him - I would have died of embarrassment! We finished the evening by watching X-factor on Peter's laptop!

 

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Turkey: Friday 17 October 2014

An early start for us today (alarm went off at 5am!) as we were getting picked up at 5:45 - we were greeted by a very panicky taxi driver......he was getting in a right state about traffic, accidents and roadworks and started quoting facts of how many people had missed their flights since the roadworks on the M23...great start thanks mate ... I just plugged in my earphones and let Peter deal with him :-). And guess what - it took us the usual amount of time to Gatwick!

An uneventful flight, apart from screaming kids and the plane being freezing, and we arrived in Antalya 4 hours later, and then it was on a coach for an hour to our hotel in Side (pronounced Seeday).

Our hotel is lovely - we have not had much of a look around as we didn't arrive until around 5:30pm - but we are right next to the beach and our room has a nice sea view.

Our bedroom

Living room in our hotel room

View from our balcony

As our hotel is all inclusive we had dinner next to the pool which was very nice - the waiters are constantly filling up your glass so I have no idea how much wine I had! There was live music in the bar after dinner so we had even more drinks whilst enjoying the music :-)

 

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