Deep Blue Sea

Antalya is the main city on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. It is a large city of about 1 million people. We spent two days here, mainly exploring the old town and harbor area. There is also a very large and popular beach, but it's far from our hotel so we didn't go.

Our first day we arrived via bus from Kas. The bus station is a lot further from the center than in Fethiye or Kas. We took a tram to the old town; it must be new because it was clean and they spoke Turkish and English for the stations. We found the old city (Kaleici) just fine; however, finding our hotel was another problem. The small, winding streets are lovely to get lost in, but not when you have a backpack or you're hungry for lunch. Unlike Russia, thankfully, many Turkish people speak English, so we asked around for the street or hotel. A nice man helped us find it, but wanted us to return to check out his shop. When we did, he insisted on us buying something. We said we weren't interested, as we had already bought a few souvenirs. Finally he remarked, “What can I sell you?? Postcards? Necklaces? Purses?” “Oh, nothing thanks. We're finished shopping.” And we walked away. He picked the wrong tourists to help! You can read about our hotel in our review (Villa Tulipan).

Hadrian's Gate

Kaleici is a nice area to spend an afte

rnoon wandering around in. You could walk for hours and still find a small street you missed. The streets are lined with tourist souvenir shops, cafes, pensions, carpet shops, and restaurants. Many places put tables outside so you can enjoy the atmosphere while sipping your drink. Along the harbor front are more cafes and restaurants. Along the cliffs on the water are even MORE cafes! This is definitely a place for sitting, relaxing, and having some tea. While walking back to our hotel, we stopped to buy some nuts. The man offered us a taste of some salty and sweet nuts; they were quite good, so we wanted to buy a few. Maybe a small bag, but nothing more than a snack. Well, the man started doing his shtick and 2 minutes later we were stuck with a large, 1 kilo bag of mixed nuts!! They've provided a good snack ever since.

After a walk along the harbor and marina, we accidentally found the main site of the old town, Hadrian's Gate. Built in Roman times, the three-arch gate still retains many of the sculptures that make it beautiful. For dinner, we went to Corner's Cafe. The man who runs the place is so nice and friendly. We only bought two fish, two teas, and a water, and he gave us bread, tomato and spice spread and yogurt and garlic spread, and a salad for free. Not to mention they all tasted great. This is the one thing about Turkey we love: the food is plentiful and always flowing. After stuffing ourselves full, we went back to the hotel and relaxed.

A view of the small beach.

The sunset from the harbor.

The next day we had all day to do everything and nothing, as our overnight bus to Cappadocia was at 9:30pm. We started the day off right with a huge breakfast and a few hours chat with our hotel neighbors; an Australian couple and two Korean girls on vacation from studying abroad in the Netherlands. We talked about Korea a lot, how much we miss the food and how much we miss the culture. It was fun to chat and reminisce. It was the first time Rich and I really missed Korea. We got going around lunch time, where we walked down to the marina and hopped on a boat ride for 30 min. It was advertised in a brochure as one hour, the man selling us the ride said 45 min, but ultimately it was 30 min. No matter, it was a mere $6 for the ride. We sat out front and saw some waterfalls, the cliffs, and a few hotels. The water, however, was a beautiful blue, and the breeze felt great against the hot sun.

On the boat

For lunch we wandered around the harbor, trying to avoid the overpriced cafes and restaurants (most things were listed in Euros, making a normal dish twice the actual price). We finally found a one-room cafe that had four things on the menu: fish, toast, something with pumpkin, and another dish we didn't know the name. So we ordered a set fish menu (fried fish, salad, and a glass of raki), and a cheese toast. Turns out the fish are what we saw the fishermen off the Galata Bridge in Istanbul fishing for. They were tiny, cut open, breaded and fried. They were so delicious and went great with the raki! The rest of the day was spent wandering more of Kaleici, hanging out in cafes, getting dinner with the Korean girls, and finally heading to the bus station to catch our bus.

Tiny cafe and tasty fish

The last sunset on the Mediterranean

There were no problems once we got on the bus (made by Mercedes-Benz of all companies!), but at one point in the middle of the night, around 4am, the bus hit a car, or perhaps the car hit the bus, we don't know. The bus swerved and woke everyone up, and 5 minutes later there was a lot of screaming and yelling going on, two police cars showed up, some other buses stopped, and a few other cars stopped as well. We had no idea what was going on as everything was in Turkish, but it definitely left us with little sleep.

Stay tuned for our next update as we regale you with stories from Cappadocia!