Turkey Day 9-11: Antalya/Cirali/Olympos

The bus ride... 9hrs and the seats were so uncomfortable, nothing like the bus to Gallipoli, stops every few hours, lights on without any warning, people getting on and off... need I say more.

We arrived in Antalya and we weren't feeling great. Our car hire rep was nowhere to be seen and meanwhile, the connection bus to Çirali had been and gone. We finally get in contact with our car rep and we're on the road! Thankfully Ben volunteers to drive but I'm stuck with the hard task of navigating us through an unknown city without any detailed maps. Unsurprisingly, with my fantastic sense of direction (if we listened to Ben we would have ended up lost) we quite easily made it and we're on the highway. We are completely surprised and blown away with the landscape ... there are huge rocky mountains spilling into the sea. In a little over an hour we arrive at Canada Hotel around 8am, where we were kindly given breakfast and then we went to sleep.

We awoke in the early afternoon and found a fantastic place specializing in Turkish pancakes (gozlemese). As we wait a local woman sitting on a low stool proceeds to roll out the freshly made mix and cooks it on a coal fired convex hotplate. I ordered the eggplant and I'd easily say it was definitely up there with the tastiest meals I've had on this trip. Wanting to go back to sleep we force ourselves to explore the area. We walk along Cirali beach to where the ruins of Olympos are seen, on the rocky cliffs above the sea amongst pine trees. We explore these for a few hours and then I have a refreshing swim in the beautiful clear water. Being lazy we have dinner at the hotel but it's a fabulous 4 course meal starting with lentil soup and bread, then mezes (including an interesting soy pasta with yoghurt plus the usual hummus, vine leaves, vegies and a fresh salad) chicken curry and lastly a fresh fruit platter. Way too much food but yummy!!!

View from top of Olympos Ruins

Cirali

Saturday we drove back past Antalya to Termessos. On the way we stoped at a roadside stall to buy fruit, as we point to various things the mother and father are asking their 2 young children in Turkish what the English name of the fruit are. By the time we leave at least another 4 children had emerged to practice their English.

Termessos was an amazing place. It’s an ancient Pisidian city over 1000 meters above sea level. We climbed up this massive mountain over pieces of marble, an ancient capital here, a column there. When we reached the top there were many ruins to explore, our favourite being the theatre, high on the edge of a cliff, overlooking deep valleys and mountains, with views to Antalya and the ocean in the distance.

Ruins at Termessos

Termessos Theatre

On the drive home we stopped at Phaselis. An ancient Lycian city set along the beach. This time I sat and enjoyed the view while Ben went for a swim ... and guess what, for the 1st time ever he was able to float in the regular ocean!!! We tried another gozlemese restaurant for dinner but it was no match for the previous night.

Phaselis

At about 8pm we drove (I finally get to drive) to Chimaera where we walk 1km up a mountain to see this natural phenomenon. Night has fallen by time we get there and we stare in wonder at these flames coming out of the rocks.

Chimaera

Today, Sunday, we returned the car to Antalya (logistically we should never have hired it there) and got a local dolmus ride back to cirali (which we caught from the side of a main road ~ no bus stop in sight). We had a delicious pancake back at the 1st restaurant we went to, a relax on the beach and a much needed lazy afternoon by the pool at the hotel.

We are both very much looking forward to tomorrow when we set sail on our 4 day 3 night cruise to Fethiye!