Gulet-Olympos-Antalya

(Lesley) Wow! Hard to describe how lovely our boat trip was. The photos kind of explained things, I suppose. I will add that we had a great captain and crew; they were lovely, all of them. There was one shot of the captain steering the boat with his foot while texting. He didn't text often, just the once that I saw. There is a shot of the rest of the crew. The one with the short curly hair was our cook. The guy with the really short hair did everything.

The other guests on board were great too. There were quite a few Canadians. Us and and a young couple from Quebec (now living in Ottawa), a couple from Victoria who have been on sabbatical for a year with the last two months in Istanbul, as well as a woman from West Vancouver. There was an American couple from Portland, a man from LA and a woman from Santa Cruz among other places. There was also a couple from Zanzibar, though the woman was originally from Italy and spoke Italian.

We were all quite glad to have decided to do the trip. It forced us to relax and chat and we had so many opportunities to swim in lovely places and in water that was beautifully clear and clean and turquoise.

We ended up with tans but we were careful not to burn as we tried to stay out of the sun in the heat of the day.

After the boat trip we went to Olympos and stayed in a tree house. Well, the second story of a cabin on stilts in a grove of orange trees. We had breakfast and supper provided and the food was very good. The pension we stayed at (Bayrams') was really nice. The staff were super helpful and welcoming. We felt very at home there. It was a bit like being at a summer camp minus all the activities and programming, though you could sign up for tours. There were the ruins of Olympos nearby and a great beach surrounded by mountains on three sides which we entered via a river bed through the narrow valley and the ruins. Many travellers stop for a short rest in Olympos, others hike in the area or use it as a starting or end point for a gulet boat trip.

One night we signed up for a tour and went to Chimeara to see the fires. We left at 9:00pm after supper and the dolmus drove us up, down and around for about 35 minutes then let us off at the bottom of a trail up a mountain. We climbed for 20 minutes (John and Sam sprinted up in 12 min, much to the surprise of the ladies they sprinted past) And there, near the top, were the flames that just rose from the cracks in the rock. There is a gas escaping that ignites as it comes into contact with the air and burns continuously. Apparently it can be smothered for a moment but as soon as it gets past the block and hits the oxygen it ignites again. I'd like one of those for my BBQ back home.

The next day we took a bus to Antalya and went to a hammam. Wow, you should have seen what came off in the scrub (or peel or whatever they call it). Exfoliation to the max! Lucky thing they didn't get hold of us right after India, that would have been a sight. As it was we came out fresh and clean, much scrubbed but with some tan remaining. The hammam experience was one not to miss. We had waited until Antalya because it was half the cost there compared to Istanbul, yet still touristy enough to be a good spot for those of us unsure about what to do in a Turkish bath.

We walked around old Antalya and saw some of the old ottoman buildings, the harbour and some parks but on our arrival earlier we had booked a night bus to Goreme in Cappadoccia so we didn't sleep in Antaly.

Photos: A creative if somewhat controversial fruit tray; First Mate and Cook; Pirates Cave; Tree House;  Beached Mhari; 

Chimeara

Bayrams Olympos: Breakfast and the outdoor lounge.