Antalya Part 5: Aspendos and Serik

(Justin) We were determined to explore more historical places while on this side of Turkey.  Myra was disappointingly too far from Beldibi by the bus system, but Aspendos was a workable day trip. Dad and I caught the first morning bus to Antalya, taking it into the bus station. From there, it was another bus on about an 80 minute ride to the town of Serik (6TL/person, I think), where you then have transportation options outside town to the ruins. Given the off-season, there wasn't a lot of obvious activity so we taxied there and back.

Aspendos was once one of the largest cities in Asia Minor. Part of the kingdom of Pamphylia, it was conquered by Persians, Alexander the Great, and the Romans. It was under Marcus Aurelius that its famous amphitheater was built in 155 A.D. It remains one of the best preserved Roman amphitheaters in the world.

You can also walk around the ruins of the old city. Excavations here looked pretty incomplete, and much of the area is overgrown with tall grass. It's also quite rocky in some places. Some of the buildings are marked but it's hard to get a picture of what the city once looked like, there are no maps depicting it on site.

The city ruins from one of the hills.

Dad standing at ruins of Aspendos' stadium.

Stone walls of various ancient structures are on site. Explore at your leisure.

You can also see the amazing aqueduct ruins in Aspendos. The aqueduct reportedly functioned until an earthquake destroyed parts of it in 363 A.D.

Looking down the cliff from the ruins into the quiet village below. This house was completely made of stone, I'd never seen anything like it.

The ampitheater itself was pretty impressive. The Seljuk Turks also used the structure as a karvansaray, so it's been preserved by quite a few civilizations.

View from the city ruins into the amphitheater.

Me standing at what I guess was backstage.

Fortunately, we finished our sightseeing just before it started raining. We returned to Selik and ate some kebab. While wandering the downtown, we came across a set of large busts outside the city courthouse.

Dad with Atilla the Hun

These busts were of ancient Huns, ancestors of the Turks, and the plaques told the story of the migration from Central Asia to Anatolia. Serik is still home to many ethnic Yörük and Türkmen, descendents of nomads. I enjoyed the history. There are other tourist sites to visit nearby, but we didn't have the time. We caught the bus and headed back to Antalya and Beldibi. That ended our Antalya adventures.

Antalya Part 4: Kaleiçi, the harbor, and Hadrian's Gate

Having gotten our private tour of the high points of Antalya, we returned another day to hit some of the tourist sites we missed. We took the regional bus from our resort and it dropped us off at the entrance to the underground entrance of the Antalya tramway, which took us downtown.

We had a quick lunch of döner, and walked through the marketplace (çarşı) of Kaleiçi, in "Old Antalya," towards the harbor.

Tavuk döner = chicken shaved from a vertical spit.

A view of the Ottoman era clock tower.

Attalus II, King of Pergamum, who is Antalya's namesake.

We meandered down the steep cobblestone streets admiring the restored old buildings and trying to ignore many of the shopkeepers eager to entice us to their shops (though we did pick up a few souvenirs).

The interior of one of several historic mosques in the old city.

At the harbor we were immediately met by boat captains eager for us to take a cruise around the cliffs. After negotiating a lower price (and an "ikram" of tea and coffee) we boarded a schooner and set sail. This put us in the footsteps of the Apostle Paul who set sail from Antalya (Attalia) in the Book of Acts (just humor us here). We were thankful that the rain held off on our excursion in Antalya.

Tapps on the boat.

Some of the waterfalls and caves on the brief tour.

From the harbor looking up at the fortress walls of the old city.

After climbing up from the harbor we meandered to Hadrian's Gate, built in 130 AD.

From there we caught the tram and began our long journey on public transport back to our resort. (Tram to bus station, long walk to the local bus lines, 45 minute ride back to our hotel in Beldibi.)

How to handle downed power lines-- only in Turkey!

(Justin) On our next bus trip from Beldibi to Antalya we suddenly came to a stop. It became clear that both sides of the 4-lane highway had been closed for perhaps an hour. Our hearts kinda sank as it looked like we'd be stuck for a while.

The problem was that power lines had somehow snapped off the electric tower on the nearby mountain. You could see the lines across the road and into the picnic grounds of the adjacent park. I got out and walked to the front of the scene, watching a lone worker scale the high transformer and begin reeling the line back up. However, the line was just high enough off the road for low-clearance cars to pass under in one lane. Trucks were stuck, and our bus was stuck between them. Many of the drivers were angry, yelling for someone to cut the lines and go. While wondering how this frustration would end, suddenly traffic started moving.
Someone, maybe a driver or worker on one of the trucks, had climbed on top of a tanker truck on the side of the road and was holding the power line up on his shoulder, creating enough clearance for everyone to pass. You'll have to zoom in to see him, but here is the picture of this unsung hero: 

I wouldn't have had the guts to hold that line, and we sincerely hope that this guy lived to tell the story.

Antalya Part 3: Museum and Falez

(Justin) After the previous day's adventure, we went to Antalya city as an entire family. This was about a 30 minute ride on the bus which came by our resort every 20 minutes. We met Gülnur, my friend and long-time language helper, who wanted to show us her city. First stop was the Antalya Museum, which houses a very large collection of artifacts from around the area-- from prehistoric fossils and cave dwelling artifacts to Greco-Roman statues and early Ottoman period pieces. Here are a few random pics from the museum, so much to see:

The Tapp family in front of the museum

The museum is located in Konyaaltı, and from the nearby bluffs you get a good view of the mountains and rocky beach below.

Next, Gülnur drove us to Lara, her side of town, for lunch at a great kebap place. This was my parents' first good Turkish food experience, they approved!

After lunch, we got some spectacular views of the waterfalls above the "falez" (from the French: falaise, meaning "cliff"). The falls are named Düden and Antalya has built some beautiful parks there. Antalya is to Turkey what Florida is to the U.S. After being in frigid/snowy Ankara all winter, we were happy to walk about like it was a warm spring day! Plenty of people were in the park area barbecuing and picnicking.

At the top of the falls you can see a walkway/gazebo above the river.

A tour boat down below.

Last stop was sandy Lara Plajı ("Plaj" from the Russian word for "beach"). Antalya is remarkable for its sandy beaches in the east and its rocky/pebbly beaches in the west (and down the coast to our resort).

It's not hard to see why this place is a tourism magnet. Beaches and resorts, ancient ruins and artifacts, forests and mountains--something for everyone. German and Russian tourists and immigrants were everywhere. The traffic was a bit difficult to navigate, and I can't imagine what it's like in the summer when the population swells.

We were definitely thankful that we had Gülnur to drive us around town! We made note of other places in town we wanted to see when we came back another day.

Antalya Part 2: Olimpos (Olympos) and Chimaera

(Justin) We went to Antalya with a list of ancient places we wanted to see. The ruins of Olimpos (Olympus), an ancient Lycean and Greek city and national park, along with the ancient Chimaera, or "yanartaş," flaming rocks, was first up for my dad and I to explore. Fortunately, the weather was mostly sunny and high 50s, not bad for hiking.

Our resort was in Beldibi, about 30 mins south of Antalya city and just north of the resort town of Kemer. We took a bus (4TL/person) to Kemer (about 30 minutes) and got let out on the main highway (Kumluca-Kemer yolu) at the intercity bus station. From there, we caught a minibus (3TL/person) that told us it would drop us off close to Çıralı (another 30-40 minutes), the village where they are located.

View from the Kemer bus terminal.

This provided my dad an experience on local transport, where we stood in the aisle of the cramped minibus while elderly village women, fully covered, sat chatting. The road is quite curvy and one local woman got carsick as the driver passed plastic bags back to her while everyone pretended not to notice -- a first for me in Turkey. 

It was going to be a 7km walk downhill to Çıralı. After walking a bit, we flagged down a car to hitchike and some retired German-Turk locals dropped us off at the Çıralı beach and pointed in the direction of the ruins.

Olimpos ruins are at the far end of this beach where remains of fortresses can be seen. The tables are from a local restaurant hopeful to snag us, one of the few open in the off-season.

Mt. Olimpos and its snow-covered peak in the background. Palm trees and beachfront in the foreground. That's Antalya.

So, we walked and found the way obscured by the Çıralı river. We rolled up our pant legs and crossed, the water being quite cold but crystal clear-- much like the Mediterranean around us, a beautiful light blue color.

Dad crossing the rocky river. Not a typical senior citizen at this point.

We proceeded to the ruins where we took a few photos. Because it was the flood season, the waters were high and we didn't walk too far into Olympus. The winter wind was quite strong and we got a good lesson as to why it was dangerous for ancient Mediterranean sailors to sail during the winter (see Acts 27). This area is part of the Lycian Way, a backpackers' haven, and we saw plenty of internationals carrying their packs on the beach.

Olimpos was built on both sides of this river with a bridge connecting the two sides. Ruins of many buildings still stand, and in the center of the picture you can see what remains of the bridge.

Ancient tombs

Flood season meant water running through much of the ancient city dwellings.

We then trekked up the rocky bank of the Çıralı river, inspired by a covered elderly woman ahead of us who was balancing on rocks and clinging to branches like we were, back to Çıralı village. The village is filled with "pansions," bed-and-breakfast places, and restaurants-- all unfortunately closed for the off-season. From the village, it was another 3 kilometers to Mount Chimaera.

This hike took us through the village with its beautiful orchards and to the base of the mountain, where we had to buy tickets (5TL/person I think) and hike another kilometer uphill to the flaming rocks. (This blog has a good review of how to navigate the area during the tourist season.)

Methane gas seeping through pores in the mountain that have remained alight through millenia is what makes the place legendary. In ancient times the flaming mountainside served as a lighthouse for sailors. The ruins here are only partially excavated (This is common as Turkey has so many ancient sites and new discoveries are made seemingly daily). We watched tourists play around the flames, some using them to cook dinner, and hiked back down.

I almost stepped on this flame on the ground.

You can see the flame burning over my right shoulder.

Ruins at Chimaera.

Dad and I were rather weary having hiked quite a bit (I should also note we also forewent lunch), but we still had a 10km journey back uphill to the main highway. So, after walking a bit we hitched a ride with a family of Turkish tourists who luckily were staying in Kemer and graciously gave us a ride all the way there. I enjoyed chatting with them about teaching as they were public school teachers in Izmir.

From Kemer we caught the bus back to our hotel and made it back in time for dinner. My dad is over 65 but was probably less tired than I was. I definitely recommend renting a car for an excursion like this if you don't fear driving in the country. We had a great adventure experiencing the great sites and hospitality of Turkey!

Family Visit, Part 1: Trip to Antalya

(Joni) Before we left Ankara, Justin's parents came for a visit, and we traveled with them to Antalya, a southern coastal region of Turkey we had never visited before. So it was a fun adventure for all of us! We enjoyed the flight there, and flying into Antalya was pretty awesome because they flew out over the sea and then turned around for the descent into the airport.

Then we rode a shuttle out to our resort, the Marriott Antalya Renaissance Resort. It was all-inclusive and a perfect place for us to use as our home base when exploring the area. Best part was that, because it was off-season, we were able to get a really good deal on the rooms.

The resort was beautiful!

The view from my in-laws' room

What's cool about Antalya is that is has huge mountains AND seaside all in one place. So one side of the resort faced the mountains above, the other side faced the Mediterranean Sea. The weather was a little too cold for beaching, but we enjoyed the scenery!

The resort also had activities and shows. This was an evening of traditional Turkish dancing.

The resort was all-inclusive, which included meals, snacks, and an open bar. Elias LOVED the juice mixes called Rainbows where the different juices separated into rainbow colors!

A really unique thing about this resort is that it was a cat shelter, so they feed and shelter homeless cats. There was this Cat House structure, but the cats just roamed freely around the grounds, sometimes even sneaking into the dining room!

Elias LOVES cats, so he loved this part of the trip!

They also had an enclosure with geese, ducks, and rabbits!

This was a really fun place to stay, and the scenery was incredible!