Saturday 26 September

Destination today is Cirali.

First stop was Isparta which is called the City of Roses and there were many shops selling rose products. Here we dropped one of our guides, Erica, at the bus stop as she was heading home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We stopped at beautiful Antalya for lunch in a cliff side restaurant and ate mackerel and salad which was delicious, especially with the turkish beer. Such a magnificent view!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Cirali we stayed in a very laid back beachside hotel (Plaj hotel) with chooks and roosters. The beach was across the road, mostly pebbly and with thatched beach umbrellas to lie under.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the evening we were taken to a restaurant with low tables on platforms which had been constructed over the rapidly flowing river.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we climbed a rocky incline and after slipping over on the way up made it to the top with a minor graze on my knee. The holidays were still on and so there were many others climbing the hill. At the top there were areas of spontaneous flames , some bigger than others, dotted over the hill top. These were the Chimera  where methane leaks from under the earth surface. Some of the others fell over on the way down but no serious injuries. The young Turkish people were very kind and concerned about any injuries and helped us along the way. That night we thought was the blood moon night but when we got up at about 4am there was no blood moon to be seen.

Friday 25 September

Today the destination was travel to Egirdir, a small fishing village on a peninsula jutting into an inland lake.

First stop on the way was at Sultanhani to look at the largest caravanserai in the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At Konya, we went to the Mevlana  Museum and Mausoleum which was filled with many Muslims still celebrating the holiday. It was informative and the old rooms were used to show the living of the whirling dervishes. Headwear for women and covered shoes were required to enter the building which contained the sarcophagus for the body of Rumi, the founder of the dervishes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a big day of driving for our driver Umet who fell asleep at the table over dinner. The wife of the restaurant owner cooked us some delicious lentil soup so we asked for the recipe and it was delivered in Turkish for translation by genghis. The small township of Egirdir was cobbled streets with old stone buildings. Our hotel was the hotel Merci and we opened the windows to let the fresh breeze through

Thursday 24 September (continued)

More excitement followed with a visit to the Derinkuyu underground city. Paul went down all eight levels and there were a lot of skinny tunnels with steps and also sections where it was necessary to bend over to go forward.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the afternoon we visited Pigeon Valley and some other valleys. Once again the landscape had been carved into and the ‘fairy chimneys’ and other rock formations looked like big mushrooms and landscaped houses. Cappadocia is magical!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a big day but more to come with a night treat from a Turkish dance show including a performance to show the whirling dervishes. Paul had his first taste of raki which is an aniseed-tasting alcohol +++ drink like ouzo which is mixed with water and becomes cloudy.