The Hari Raya Haji holidays ( 5 days!) gave us the perfect opportunity to go visit places a little further from Ankara - so deecided to go see Antalya!
It's down south by the coast about a 7 hour drive from Ankara. Antalya has a wonderful climate - mmmm nice and toasty-warmy at 20C!!! - very mediterranean weather (Ankara is now already into the single digiits - about 3C!).
It's actually Turkey's largest international sea resort. It's also rich in history and dates back to something like the 2nd century BC and was a major city in the Byzantine Empire (Im no history buff - info compliments of our Tour Guide hahahha..!)
Stayed at a 2 bedroom apartment with kichenette so we can fix our own breakfast & dinner (more money saved for shopping!)
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| Just arrived and taking a rest before unpacking |
Side - was particularly picturesque since it is right by the sea ( old harbour town)
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| Quaint little shops all the way to the harbour |
Sqeezed in a visit to the National Park (can't remember the name!) waterfall - it had a great hiking trail.
Had lunch at Alanya - the restaurant was by the river and they had this deck built right over the water - really pretty especially with the ducks swimming around - gave it a nice touch. So, anyway- lunch was choice of kebab or grilled fish...with plenty of salad and Turkish bread.The bread would definitely be one of the things I would miss most when we return
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| My friend Sal and her family who was also with us |
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| Yup! That's our lunch.. |
I like Aspendos best - the stadium was intact and one of the most well preserved; you can get the aura of a bygone era by just being there - sends chills up your spine!
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| Siddiq way up at he highest point of the stadium |
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| Quite happy to enjoy the scenery from below |
I could only go halfway up the stadium - my knees were shaking - it felt way high up! only Siddiq made it all the way up!
The final day we were given three hours to do explore downtown Antalya - which is a happening place
- by the time we had our lunch and prayed - there was only an hour to browse and shop - so tak puas hati sangatlah...kinda dissapointed. We didnt' get anything from Antalya and did not have time to explore Old town which was one of THE things to go ...sigh!
Oh yeah -went to a Leather factory/store in Antalya and tried on some jackets. Siddiq tried this on but at USD800 - NO THANK YOU!!!
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| Ummm - maybe I'll come back for this later...say in another 5 years? |
Stopped at Konya (3 hour drive from Ankara) on the way back to break the journey and also for lunch and prayers. It's one of the oldest cities in Ankara, city of the whirling dervishes, the Sufi mystic Rumi, the Mevlani museum etc..
Had an interesting lunch - look at the Loooooong 'lamahcun' ( sthing like pizza )
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