Turkey, continued: May 2014

Our next stop in Turkey was Selçuk, from where we would visit the Greek ruins on Ephesus, or Efes in Turkish.

After the hustle and bustle of Istanbul, Selçuk seemed decidedly tranquil. It's nestled in a valley, with blue hills rising up all around. Strolling along the streets, there were oranges hanging from the trees, and the smell of jasmine on the breeze. An impressive fortress looks down upon the town, and we enjoyed views of this and all around the valley from the rooftop restaurant at our hotel.

Efes is just a short drive from Selçuk, so we went on the afternoon we arrived. I don't think either of were expecting something so vast. With a main path running alongside the ruins of former buildings, you can imagine how the city must have once looked. and many parts of the ruins themselves are quite intact, such as the library and a huge amphitheatre. It's nice that you also have the possibility of walking right up to everything.

It was in Efes that we started to notice the abundance of cats in Turkey. They were lounging about all throughout Efes, and all seemed to be in relatively good condition.

We soon hit the road again, and en route we managed to stop off in Pamukkale, the town famed for its travertines - naturally formed terraces formed by minerals in the flowing water, and its hot springs. Provided you take your shoes off, you can walk right on a path to the terraces, wading through the milky blue coloured pools of water, and enjoying the stunning view from the top. I couldn't help thinking that the pink and white terraces in New Zealand must have once looked something like this.

Later that day we arrived into Fethiye, on the Aegean coast. From Fethiye itself, one of the main attractions is Öludeniz: picture postcard Turkey, with deep blue sea and long strip of beach stretching to a headland. As it turns out, this area is quite the destination for British holidaymakers and retirees. It was very strange wandering down the street and seeing sandwich boards advertising things like 'British bacon' 'PG Tips.' The area is also well known for paragliding, and from down on the beach you can see the brightly coloured gliders circling and landing one after the other. So we thought we'd give it a try ourselves.

We were picked up early the next morning for our adventure. I started to get quite nervous when our rickety van kept climbing and climbing at quite a speed up a narrow and not too stable road, but by this stage, no possibility of backing out! As newbies, we were paired up with instructors and were suddenly standing on an extraordinarily steep hillside, and being told to run towards the edge. The wind picked us up and away we were. After the initial adrenaline of running off the side of the cliff, the ride down itself was actually quite peaceful, although I still clung nervously to the handles/straps all the way down - which is actually quite a long time. We were also lucky enough to have some a beautiful sunny day, so the views really were breathtaking.

Our next stop was Kaş, a small coastal town further south. The afternoon we arrived the weather was stunning and we enjoyed a beer in the sun, looking forward to the next few days of scuba diving. Unfortunately a big storm blew in that night and the weather for the rest of our stay was pretty off and on. The diving was also quite disappointing, as there just didn't seem to be many fish, or much of anything to see there, despite us having read it was a good spot for diving. The bad weather didn't help our enjoyment of it either. So after our first day, we ended up cancelling our second day. 

Kaş is a really cute wee town, hills curving around a harbour and rocky outcrops to swim from, and winding stone streets, where you're actually not pestered in the slightest by shop owners trying to sell their wares. In bad weather however, we quickly exhausted most things to see. I would recommend going back, but not in May, when the weather is quite unpredictable - the locals recommended September is a good time to visit.

We tried another couple of delicious dishes in Kaş. One was manti - a pasta, similar in size and shape to ravioli, however it wasn't filled, and it came served with a garlicky yoghurt sauce with a bit of rich tomato sauce on top. Delicious, but gave you terrible breath! The other was lahmucan: similar to a pizza, but with mince on top. It doesn't sound appetising, but it was perfectly seasoned and super tasty.

Manti

From Kaş, we just had one last stop before flying back to London - this time in Antalya. Antalya is a bit of a resort town, with casinos aplenty. We even saw tourist cruises around the harbour, in ships fully decked out in pirate regalia. It's quite a big city and did quite a few interesting things to see, but didn't particularly appeal as a holiday destination.

In Antalya we again noticed an abundance of cats roaming around, apparently strays, but in very good condition. We then came across a cat house in a park. It seems the stray cats are really taken care of here. 

Local cat house :) 

Our time in Turkey had come to an end. It was an enjoyable trip, although would have been more so with better weather. We also had some great food, although at the end, it felt like we had subsisted on meat and bread, and were glad to get back some normalcy at home.