Yearly Archives: 2016

Day 314 – Pergamon, for real

Ruins of the big Egyptian temple

Ruins of the big Egyptian temple

This morning, we were ready for another ancient site. Leaving the tent up for now, we started early and rode to the Red Hall in town. These are the remains of a giant temple to the Egyptian gods Serapis and Isis. It is so big, in fact, that it hasn’t been converted into church, instead a church was built inside the temple.

When we arrived, after a pleasant ride through a picturesque village, no one else was around. Approaching, the big scaffold around many of the walls were visible. Another site being renovated at the moment. Good for it, bad for us. Since it also costs an entrance fee, we took a look from the outside and left again for the acropolis.

There is a cable car going up to the acropolis, although it didn’t seem to run this morning. All the cabin were hanging motionless on the cables. So we rode Rocinante up the steep street to the entrance. Again, except for the staff of a café, a souvenir shop and the ticket booth, no one was around. By now it was 9am and the site was definitely open. Flo decided on an audio guide this time and didn’t regret it: Different information than on the signs and all in British English.

Nice look-out point

Nice look-out point

We followed the audio tour for the most part. Starting with a walk past the remains of palaces with a great view of the valley below, we came to the barracks and the arsenal. Here, the remains of an aqueduct could be seen in the valley. It is very impressive; they used pressure to get the water from the mountains up into the hill of the acropolis. Around the bend of the hill, we came past the library which is just a faint outline of the foundation now to the Temple of Trajan.

The biggest reassembled part of the temple

The biggest reassembled part of the temple

The Temple of Trajan is partly reassembled. The work had been done by Germans and there is a lot of documentation around about how they worked, how the deduced what it must have looked like and how they secured the site in case of another earthquake. It is art historian porn, really. Luckily, Flo was also interested in it. Two things made the re-imagining difficult: First, Byzantines had used and repaired the site, using marble pieces randomly in brick walls and second, locals burnt marble pieces lying around to get chalk. That seems unimaginable now but, I guess, marble ruins were useless at that time.

Found built into a Byzantine wall

Found built into a Byzantine wall

We spent quite some time here, reading and looking at things. When we moved on, the path leads you down below the platform with the temple on it and you realize for the first time that the area you’ve been standing on is actually artificial. There are vaulted tunnels underneath trying to extend a level area out from the hill slope. Here, all of the metal links have been taken out of the walls… another case of ‘this is more useful than an old wall’. You can’t enter the vaulted section but a row of arch leads you along them.

The next highlight is the Hellenistic theatre carved into the hill side. It is incredibly steep but must have been awe-inspiring at any performance. The Temple of Dionysus is off to one side but we didn’t feel like going down all those steps in the sun just to have to climb them back up again.

The theater with the Temple of Dionysus at the bottom

The theater with the Temple of Dionysus at the bottom

The Altar of Zeus is not a lot more than rubble with trees on it as most of it is in Berlin now. The Ottomans made very generous deals with the German archaeologists, allowing them to take it to Germany.

At 11am, we were ruin-ed out. It was also time to call my mum so we hurried back to the camp ground. Flo prepared lunch while I called and afterwards, we packed up. Our next destination was Troy. Very tired again, we weren’t sure if we would make it today. Once on the road though, we pushed through.

The camp ground was about 700 meters from the archaeological site which would give us an early start tomorrow. For today, we showered, made dinner and wound down before cheering for the German football team. The game ended at midnight and we dropped into be like dead.

Day 313 – Le tired

impressive flag collections these nice Aussies had there

impressive flag collections these nice Aussies had there

We had long days lately with half a day of riding and then visiting sites afterwards. Today was planned as exactly such a day: Ride to Pergamon, visit the ruins, camp. The plan, as always, is only correct until it has the first encounter with reality. We slept in a little as both of us are really tired. Flo was out and about last evening and I read until he was back… rather late for our terms. After breakfast, we started packing up. When I came back from brushing my teeth, Flo was talking to our neighbours in the big yellow truck.

Cheryl and Guy turned out to be lovely people. We kept them from cycling to the ruins of Ephesus for a while but it was great to talk to overlanders again. One of the cute and curious things we have in common is that our vehicles are yellow… and rather big for their types. Thus, bumblebee is a logical thing to call such a vehicle. 🙂

it is huge!

it is huge!

Starting after 11am, we made it to Izmir just in time for lunch. From riding through parts of it, Izmir might be a city for us. There are cafés and eateries at every corner and it has a relaxed vibe. Kumpir, baked potatoes stuffed with fillings, were recommended by the Lonely Planet. Ordering one of them for each of us, we faced the challenge of finishing the huge portions. We would have loved to explore Izmir further, but running out of money and of time, now is not the time for it. Might be a good city to visit for a short holiday in the future.

From here, we reached Pergamon in one go. The camp ground looked amazing: Grassy area with trees for shade, a pavilion, power plugs all around and a pool. Again, however, we were the only ones staying here. So we put up our tent in the most awesome place, next to the pavilion which we claimed. This would be the time to get ready for visiting ruins. We just couldn’t. Maybe the camp ground was too awesome or we are just too tired… we decided to have the afternoon off and visit the ruins tomorrow.

It felt like a short holiday from traveling. Sitting in the shade, watching some football, having ice cream. I had a nap during the second half, Flo had a nap right after the game. The rest of the day went by with me blogging and then great dinner with fresh bread and mezze. Tomorrow, Pergamon, I promise.

Day 312 – Marks of Empires

The boring part...riding the motorway

The boring part…riding the motorway

There was not much left to do for us in Pamukkale other than pack up and move on. From here on, there were four more points of interest for us: Ephesus, Izmir, Pergamon and Troy. Ephesus was only some 250 km away and had three campgrounds for us to pick from nearby.

The ride was pleasant and smooth, with the exception of the motorway of all places. The automated system is kind of a nice idea, but it does not work at all in practice, at least for motorcycles. Out of the four times we passed toll gates so far, it has worked only a single time. We went to the post office twice to check and pay before we would get a fine, but they could find nothing in the system. So either we slip the cracks, or more likely we will get an unpleasant surprise at some point.

Great selection of all vegetarian börek

Great selection of all vegetarian börek

We had a really nice lunch in a town along the way. We just pulled into a random börek shop on the main road and scored. Outside any tourist region it was dead cheap, tasty and filling. Plus, the staff was real nice, too.

We reached Ephesus around 2 pm. According to our guide book, the crowds should soon loosen up. We were “adopted” right away by an enterprising fellow on the parking lot. He was nice enough that his sales pitches were never too annoying. Plus, he was genuinely helpful. The site is set up in such a way that the ‘right’ way to explore it is to start from the uphill entrance and then walk down the main road towards the southern entrance, where we currently were. There are shuttles going up. One that goes straight up for 15 lira and one that drops guest off for a “tour” at a local leather factory, but is free.

Maybe something to look at in the future

Maybe something to look at in the future

We opted for the free variant, of course, even though we were a bit anxious about what to expect. Well, it turned out that our “guide” just so happened to be one of the drivers. He dropped us off and we soon found out. It was not too b

ad – a straight beeline into a super high class showroom full of lambskin leather clothes in the $500 and up region. It dawned on us that we might even be interested in this stuff, would we not currently have been broke and on this trip. I might check this out once back in decent employment, I guess.

Close-up of the arch

Close-up of the arch

It was over after 10 minutes and we could start the tour. Ephesus turned out to be the most expensive place yet. It was made all the worse by the fact that just about now, we would have been better off buying the 185 lira all-of-Turkey museum pass – with at least 100 lira still to come in Istanbul. Still better than a piece of wire in the eye, I guess.

The place itself was fantastic, though. Heaps of solid info on boards throughout the ruins and loads of uncovered and reconstructed marble architecture. All quite impressive. The ruins stemmed from a huge time period from the 3rd century BC into the middle ages under Byzantium, but most remaining (and impressive) architecture is from Roman times between 133 BC till the Roman schism.

Great place to build a theater on the first place

Great place to build a theater on the first place

All in all, we spend about two hours exploring the place. Happy but exhausted, we got back to the bike. Our enterprising friend had one more up his sleeve: Authentic silver coins of varying ages. Of course, for a real good price. We passed on that golden opportunity to get in trouble with customs and were content with a look through. I mean, how often do you get the chance to hold 2000 year old silver coins?

We checked the camp grounds in Kusadasi. One was full, the other one was packed in what seemed to be party central of the town. We considered for a second and then decided to go back to Pamucak and check out the last place in the area. That one was a score. A super laid back area right at the beach, with almost no one around. It sure had seen busier days, but right now there were maybe 10 of the 100 spots taken. We could place ourselves right next to a power outlet to get all the goodies charged again.

perfect sunset over the water here we come

perfect sunset over the water here we come

After our sunset walk along the beach, there was one more vehicle on the ground and it sparked my interest. A closer look revealed a Queensland licence plate on a bright yellow overlander truck. The travellers in question turned out to be a real nice couple, Cheryl and Guy, with many a country flag already decorating the truck. I got invited in for a brief chat and ended up staying up way too long …

 

 

Day 311 – Pamukkale

On the last stretch of coastal road

On the last stretch of coastal road

Breakfast right at the ocean was still nice even after having had it three times in a row. Pamukkale was the destination for today; it is one of the top experiences in Turkey according to the Lonely Planet. It wouldn’t be a long day on the bike as it is only 200km away from Kaş. So we packed up and left. Flo grumbled about the “service” of the camp ground which meant we couldn’t take the bike to the tent. Instead, all our stuff was transported on a tiny pick-up to the bike…and then we had to strap everything to the bike for the next 15 minutes, in the sun.

Beautiful but rather chilly place

Beautiful but rather chilly place

We followed the Mediterranean Sea for another 100km before turning inwards to get to Pamukkale. As soon as we started to go up into the mountains, it got much cooler again. Flo actually started to feel cold with the compañeros letting the wind through. For lunch, we decided on a picnic once more and all we needed was some bread which was easily found. Then, we turned off the road at a promising looking dirt track, went up a hill and had a great spot with a view. Because of the wind, we both felt like having a nice cup of tea. A bit of organizing later, the cooker was out of the pannier and we got to have a great break.

About an hour later, we were in Denizli, the big town before Pamukkale. The couple from twentyonesteps.net had recommended a camp ground so we knew where we were going. Buying groceries for dinner was all that was left to do. I slightly overdid it when I went into a bakery for bread and left a while later again with baklava and bread. Well, at some point we will not get baklava anymore and that time is approaching fast.

A geese pond in front of Pamukkale

A geese pond in front of Pamukkale

The camp ground was nothing special except that you are right at the terraces of the Pamukkale sight. So even from our tent, we could look onto the white mass on the hillside. However, both of us were so tired that we needed two hours just for relaxing before we thought about anything else again. Starting, we first went to the Nature Park below the hillside. It looked like the entrance might be in there and you got to play around a bit. Looked like fun and it was. 🙂

Entering the real site, we nearly turned around. 35 lira per person is the most we have paid for an “attraction” in Turkey. Flo decided that we’d still do it and I am glad that we did but it hurt our budget. Also, all the tickets had been adorned with “35 lira” stickers and when you looked underneath it said “25”. *hmpf*

More still to go

More still to go

Pamukkale. From a distance, it just looks like a blindingly white hill. The path and the people on it are visible but the beauty lies in the details. The whole hill has or has had water flowing down over it, depositing calcite on every surface. The so-called terrace walk lets you walk up. As soon as you hit the calcite, you have to go barefoot as shoes would destroy the intricate patterns that the flowing water has carved into the surfaces. Some water is still flowing down the hillside and additional pools have been created so getting wet feet is expected. And much fun. I really enjoyed the look and feel of the calcite. Where it is in standing water, it is slippery and soft. With just a little stream of water flowing over it, it is rock solid. Flo claimed that we will have baby-soft feet once we’re back down.

Ancient theater of Hierapolis

Ancient theater of Hierapolis

On top of the hill are the ruins of Hierapolis. We tried to see some of them but first, the museum had an extra entry fee of 5 lira per person and second, the ancient pools had an entry fee of 32 lira per person. Annoyed about not being properly informed at the gates on the base of the hill, we skipped all of it and made our way back down again over the terraces. Still great fun…even the second time around. 🙂 Back on the camp ground, the usual evening routine set in and we were both incredibly tired from a long day.

Day 310 – I sink your … city?!

Looking back towards the harbour

Looking back towards the harbour

All chores were done, the application sent – it was time to get back to that old travelling business. Nina was still supremely keen on visiting the sunken city of Simena. We could book a tour from here, but the guide book said that it is easier and cheaper to negotiate directly with the boat captains at the pier in Üçağız. We packed our stuff right after breakfast and were there before 10 am.

Negotiations went smooth and we quickly found a boat at a price that we were happy with. This year, due to lack of tourists, the locals had only licenced the larger boats, ignoring all the little ones. That meant the smallest boat we could hire was still huge, good for 8-10 people, but we had it all to ourselves. We did not bring swimming gear, and we did not really want to do much but see the ruins anyway, so we booked the “classic” tour: Sunken City, Kaleköy and back before lunch.

The first foundations visible under water

The first foundations visible under water

Now what’s the deal with the sunken city? Well, this was the site of the Lycian city of Simena, which got destroyed and submerged in the 2nd century AD. The ground sank about 6m, so a lot of the coastal buildings are now just below the surface along the new shoreline. Add to that the brilliantly clear water in the area and it makes for a pretty cool experience.

The other stop was in the hamlet of Kaleköy, where we had an hour to explore. The modern name is a remark on the Crusader fortress crowning the little island. Adding to the charm is the fact that it was build in the middle of the ancient Lycian necropolis of Simena, which was also partly submerged. Thus, we got a beautifully illuminated coastal village, with ancient sites and a fortress all in once. To celebrate, we went to one of the restaurants lining the shore and got ourselves a nice home-made ice cream.

Mediterranean-style lunch in our tent

Mediterranean-style lunch in our tent

I enjoyed the ride back along quiet country lanes. We picked up supplies for a beautiful little lunch and spread out in front of our tent to enjoy. With our to-dos sorted, the rest of the day was pleasantly filled with a mix of swimming, blogging and just generally enjoying life. To top it of, we went out that night to have another round of excellent pide in another Lonely Planet recommended restaurant.

 

 

 

 

Day 309 – The Day of the Food Hipsters

The camp ground was lovely. The weather was lovely. And Flo had been pointed towards a job that he just needed to apply for. So we quickly decided to stay put another day so Flo could put his application together. Which in turn meant, I’ll have the whole day to myself…with my book. 🙂

Hipster food shot

Hipster food shot

After the food disasters yesterday, we carefully made sure to have appropriate food hipster food today. At 2pm, slightly late for lunch, we went into a vegetarian café close to the camp ground. It was brand new, in fact yesterday they had still painted some of the outdoor furniture, but it looked cosy and just like our thing. Which it was. 🙂 I had the bread platter while Flo took the falafel plate and we shared equally. It was fantastic food. It made us wonder a little bit on how much amazing food we were missing out because we cook ourselves when we camp.

Going back, more laying in the sun followed for me. In the evening, when Flo had finished his documents, we went out for a real dinner. The Lonely Planet recommends Saraphane which is the Turkish word for “wine house”. This seemed like the right place to celebrate that Flo started

Frist wine since Sohar - offically since Kuala Lumpur

Frist wine since Sohar – offically since Kuala Lumpur

on the application process already. Again, it was amazing. The super friendly cook took me into the kitchen because the menu didn’t feature a vegetarian main and gave me option what she could make for me. She spoke more German than English so with a mix of languages I ordered a cold yoghurt soup as a starter which is refreshing and a great summer dish and got a custom-made pasta plate as a main. The pasta is home-made, too, and with cheese, walnuts and rocket…it was delicious.

But the main attraction is definitely the wine menu. Choosing chicken as a main which will go with red wine, Flo was superbly advised while picking the wine to go with it. A local Turkish red wine. Can’t get much better. It reminded us of so many evenings in Wellington but also in Frankfurt when you have good food and are able to share with friends. Slightly home-sick, we contacted at least one of the ones we thought of.

To round things off, we went for coffee and tea afterwards. Also, superbly done and yummy. Paying, we realized that those drinks were not on the bill and when I asked about it the lovely lady said it was on the house. Happy, we walked back to our tent.

 

Day 308 – Opportunities

Using some time after breakfast for blogging

Using some time after breakfast for blogging

What a blissful night! The bed was really fantastic. Our hosts had to leave for work early, but kindly allowed us to sleep in and take the time we needed. When I got up, I had a text telling me that they even left some breakfast outside for us. Thank you so much!

Last night I got a message from a good friend about a job currently on offer in Frankfurt. After having missed the opportunity to fix up my application papers in Oman while staying with Lina, I thought I would leave any job hunting until we reach my dad’s place in Würzburg. This one really was too good to let slip, I had to admit. That meant I would have to call them at some point today to get some more details. Then, I probably would need a day dedicated to writing the cover letter, wrapping up a German style CV and gathering all the required documents from their various storage places.

Isn't Tiny cute? She pretended to sleep but kept an eye on us while we packed

Isn’t Tiny cute? She pretended to sleep but kept an eye on us while we packed

After a brief discussion with Nina, we decided that a nice campground on the Turkish Mediterranean coast would be just the perfect place to do so, provided Nina would be allowed to buy her next book. 😉 So we packed our bike, said goodbye to “Villa Naz” and headed towards Kaş.

We were hoping to find a place somewhere along the way, or if not to go to the campground we heard about in Kaş. Of the attractions along the way, the only one marked as a must by Nina was the sunken Lycian city of Simena. Although this was best accessed via Üçağız, only 35 km from Kaş, so we could also do it as a day trip from there.

Beautiful coast

Beautiful coast

None of the other bits along the road really tickled our fancy that day, apart from the scenery on the coastal road section. But these were taken in anyway. We had our lunch picnic in the woods near the road after first failing to find a nice beach and then refusing to pay 40 lira to get to the one we saw from the road.

So we rolled on, with the mood getting a bit better along the coast, but my mind constantly drifting towards the job offer. What to write, what to say, how not to bumble like the fool when trying to sound professional in German (remember, no practice for four years). When we came to the turn off to Üçağız, we gave it a pass and pushed on to the campground. It was late enough that I would need to call Germany soon before they would go home for the day.

The view from our tent

The view from our tent

The campground offered a pretty cool location. Lucky for us, not too much is going on right now. The arrangements of the camp spots has a lot in common with the locally famous sardine dishes … but it was only maybe 15% full. The host is also a bit quirky, refusing to let us get our bike down to the spot. So we had to strip the bike at the entrance without shade and have him taxi all our gear down in a cartoonish electric trike.

We finished setting up the tent and I had my call. Afterwards, I only was more excited for the job. Needs must, tomorrow I would need to set my application straight. So excited!

During dinner, cats appeared looking very hopeful

During dinner, cats appeared looking very hopeful

Dinner was another sad fail, on both the main and the dessert part, unfortunately. We went to a fish restaurant recommended by the Lonely Planet. The place managed to go down to abysmal quality and raise their prices in the short time since our edition came out. Quite the feat. The fries were half raw and dripping and the anchovies soggy and bland. To make up for it, Nina felt like having a waffle. We both nearly choked, though when we heard that it would cost 15 lira, for a single half-cooked waffle with way too much cheap Nutella knock-off slabbed on top of it. Welcome back to tourist land …

We did jump into the sea at out campground, which made for a pretty lovely end for a very mixed day.

Day 307 – Sürprise

Getting up and making breakfast wasn’t much better than dinner last night and I guess, we didn’t take a single picture of our camping spot 5m from the restaurant. All we wanted was to get going, ride the 160km to Antalya, have lunch and decide on a plan. For quite a while, we had wanted to skip Antalya altogether but now, it was conveniently placed. Also, Flo wanted to at least have a look around the old town. Where to go from there, was completely up to debate: Go inland to Pamukkale and skip most of the Mediterranean coast? Follow the coastline which might disappoint and then double back to see Pamukkale?

just say yes ...

just say yes …

The ride to Antalya was nothing special. We put on some music and it mostly flew by. Getting close to the inner city, we stopped in the shadow of a bridge to see which places the Lonely Planet recommends for lunch. Flo hadn’t even managed to get the Lonely Planet out when a BMW rider stopped just a few meters in front of us. Actually, they rode two up as well and with the panniers, their silhouette looked much like ours. We closed the distance so we could speak and they asked us if we needed help. Oh! “Nah, we just need a bit to figure out where to have lunch” – *brief conversation in Turkish between the two* “Okay, follow me”.

Önder and Nazan in road attire

Önder and Nazan in road attire

One of the advises the Lonely Planet gives you for Iran is “just say yes”. Wondering if that sentence still applied for Turkey, we followed the BMW as it wove through the traffic. Stopping at a place that is owned Antalyaspor, the sport’s club, we introduced ourselves. Önder and Nazan were on a day trip to Kas, about 200km further down the coast, and back. They invited us to join them but 400km starting at lunch time seemed too daunting for us. So while we had lunch and they had a coffee, we explained our journey. It ended with an invitation to Önder and Nazan’s house for tonight. They would be back in the evening so we had the whole afternoon to explore Antalya before being hosted. Such a sweet deal was not offered often so we said yes once again.

Riding through the old town

Riding through the old town

Already being slightly late for their expedition, our two future hosts left soon after to get on the road. We took a bit longer in figuring out what to do. Mostly, both of us were tired already. Thus, we spotted a park on the map for a relaxing nap and a bit of reading time before doing anything else.

Three hours later, the light started to look golden so it was now or never to see Antalya’s old town. Access to the old town is restricted but Flo managed to get us in without having to take a ticket. Maybe motorcycle don’t count. Once we were at the car park, the owner saw our license plate and started speaking German with us. He had actually lived in Frankfurt for 16 years and seemed happy to speak German again. An invitation for tea followed soon so we sat down for some çay and some talk about Frankfurt. It almost seems as if there is a pattern emerging: A lot of people we met have lived in Germany and have good memories about it and speaking German. Others, who probably haven’t lived in Germany, seem to be slightly hostile. If that is because of an abundance of German tourists or because of the recent political things, I cannot say. Being German provokes a reaction is all.

Another ally and minaret

Another ally and minaret

After tea, we started on the walking tour that the Lonely Planet recommends. Strolling through the small streets of the old town, it reminded us of Höchst’s old town, the quarter in Frankfurt where we had lived. Yes, there are a lot of hotels and restaurants catering to tourists but you can also find quiet corners. We really enjoyed it despite our negative expectations beforehand. It is pretty. Having more money would be good because then you could actually try one or two of the hipster food places that we now only imagine are lovely. When we got to the marina, we noticed the other reason why we might like it: The lack of tourists. Yes, the odd ones are there but given that it is high season, the city is practically empty. Turkish tourists can be found but not in masses.

We came past some old houses, a mosque which had started as a church, ruins of old, the old city wall etc. etc. In the end, Flo stopped with a surprised shout. One of the motorcycle rental shops had a transalp in barley yellow on display. Rocinante without being Rocinante. For us, it is the first time we have seen another yellow one but not a lot of people seem to be riding the Transalp anyway.

15 km through the night, always the eyes on this

15 km through the night, always the eyes on this

By now it was 7pm. Önder and Nazan hadn’t gotten back to us yet so we dined in one of the nicer restaurants. Veggie kebab for me and half a chicken grilled over charcoal for Flo kept us occupied. Still, we hadn’t heard anything. So that is my excuse why I had dessert. 🙂 Another round of sweet rice pudding and also a text from our hosts made me really happy. It took them another hour to make it into Antalya but they picked us up from our parking spot so we could follow them to their home. They’ve had a hard time making it back as there had been a 15km traffic jam, adding to the already long day both of them have had.

Finally, we made it to the place where we could rest our heads. I was slightly surprised when we turned into one of the gated communities. Once we’d parked, a tiny kitten which I thus dubbed “Tiny” greeted us. Being pre-occupied with the kitten, I was flabbergasted when the door opened. Despite being “forewarned” that we would get a whole floor to ourselves, I couldn’t believe it. It was a whole flat just for us. A fully functioning flat with a bedroom, living room, kitchen and bathroom. And after refreshing ourselves with a warm shower, we were invited for tea upstairs.

By now it was really late and everyone was dead tired but we still had a lovely tea with nibbles and conversation. Önder suggested a couple of things that we might look at along the coast, especially Kas where they went today. Flo, on the other hand, promoted Ted Simon and Horizons Unlimited. After that, we just fell into bed intend on sleeping in.

Day 306 – Southsun groove

The roadworks picked up at some point in the morning. So although the light morning haze kept the sun from burning us out of our tent, we got up eventually. The morning ritual was performed efficiently if a bit lacklustre in the energy department.

The whole island is taken up by another fort, just off-shore from the castle

The whole island is taken up by another fort, just off-shore from the castle

Soon after though, the rhythm of the road started coming back to us. The wall of high-rise vacation bunkers loosened up and soon we finally felt like riding along the Mediterranean. There was a cool double fortress / castle very early on that got us a bit excited. One castle stood on shore, the other maybe 500m into the sea, fully occupying a small island there. All nicely illuminated by the morning sun shining down a now clear blue sky.

The first planned stop were the caves of Heaven and Hell. The Gorge of Hell is a massive sinkhole that ancient Greek colonists believed Zeus imprisoned the 100 headed monster Typhon. The view down the almost vertical shaft from a little viewing platform perched over one edge was a good warming up exercise. The real star was the massive cave at the bottom of the chasm called Heaven.

The sparsely lit cave was indeed beautiful

The sparsely lit cave was indeed beautiful

After a brief climb down to the “bottom” of the open chasm, an enormous cave opened up at one end of it, leading way deeper into the earth. The footing going down was treacherous, but we managed to reach the lowest part without a tell-tale “mud butt”. The cave was huge, going down almost 200m and was in places maybe 70m high.  The ancients believed that the river at the very end to be an access to the underground river Styx – not for us though, since the river was currently dry 🙂 It was really cool, nonetheless. On our way out, we had a short breather and rest at the Chapel of the Virgin Mary, build in the 5th century by the Byzantines to let a raucous bunch of teenage school kids pass.

Great lunch right at the sea

Great lunch right at the sea

On our way to the next destination, we had lunch at a beautiful and quiet restaurant right on the water’s edge. The eccentric proprietor served us a beautiful vegetarian bean dish and we enjoyed the sounds of the calm sea for a while.

Said next destination were the ruins of Anemurium. This city founded by the Phoenicians was ruled by Romans of one kind or another (Byzantines) until destroyed in 580 AD. The ruins are a magical place and exploring them in the beautiful afternoon light was just the thing we needed to get us back on track. Some of the public buildings still have bits of ancient mosaics decorating them. All can be explored freely and there was almost nobody there. Just an amazing spot.

An overview over Anemurium

An overview over Anemurium

With our spirits soaring, we were ready to tackle the road once more to reach the next campground along the coast. Unfortunately, this one was another 150 km away. Until now, we travelled pretty quickly on the brand new 2 lane coastal highway, with its many new tunnels. The next bit would go through the national park and while supremely beautiful, the more careful routing of the new road meant that it was not done yet. Any other day, this would be perfect for us. A quiet one lane highway, hugging the coastline as close at it can with hundreds of turns along the way.

From Anemurium, it was another 100km to the next camp ground

From Anemurium, it was another 100km to the next camp ground

We made the best of it, grooved along towards the setting sun and enjoyed ourselves. We had one more heart-warming encounter with two Kurdish guys at our last fuel stop and made it to the outskirts of Alanya sometime after 6 pm. The “campground” turned out to be a rather odd thing. Mainly a restaurant, they directed us to a tiny patch of grass within 5m of the diners sitting at the edge of the beach. We did not care much, though, got our cooker out and keeled right over after dinner was had. Earplugs helped a lot to drown out the sound of jolly diners and surprisingly loud peacocks.

Day 305 – Where’s the groove gone?

Time to finally leave the Göreme Camping camp ground which had been really good to us. The next camp ground would be at the Mediterranean Sea, some 250km away. Not really a big day, kilometre wise, and looking at the map…the road would be many-laned and fast. Thus we left, just to get the cloud cover back that was our constant companion before Cappadocia.

Loads of Lanes, no traffic

Loads of Lanes, no traffic

The beginning of the ride was unspectacular. Soon, we hit what must be the motorway…with a toll gate. There was no one around and no barrier, no sign that said motorbikes are not allowed so we just went on it. So far so good. About 20km in, we needed fuel and just to be on the safe side, Flo wanted to do a 3 km detour off the motorway rather than wait for a station on it. So we left the motorway again at the first exit. Again, a toll gate, no one around, no barriers. This time, when we left, an alarm sounded. Whoot? We stopped immediately at the side of the road to ask how to deal with it but THERE WAS NO ONE AROUND. Not even the alarm going off could produce a human being that we could talk to.

This time, with toll card

This time, with toll card

Confused, we rode to the fuel station and Flo googled how Turkish motorways work. There is a toll (*check*) and you need to have a card for contactless payment (*uncheck*). Okay, where to get such a card? “Every PTT and Shell station will sell them”. Asking the guy at the fuel station, we rode to the next post office about 5 km away. Fair enough, you can do that to avoid setting off any alarms. The real reason to fix this is because the bridge over the Bosporus us also a toll road and we really, really want to ride it. It took the staff at the post office about 15 minutes…to realize they could not help us and to send us to the post office in the next town. Great. By now it was 11.45am and with our luck, the office would just close at 12, right?

Bor, the next town, was another 8km away. Now it started raining. Yay. -.- Or not. There, the yellow of a post office! Flo jumped inside and while I got off to take cover as well, he came back out again. Too small, we needed a bigger post office. We took one wrong turn getting to the “right” one and I was thoroughly annoyed. This is hilarious…if they want you to pay the toll, maybe it should be a bit easier to get that stupid card?

We even got into one more brief rain

We even got into one more brief rain

Now things worked out. Flo got his card, we had to put 50 Turkish lira on it as the smallest amount (!) and I now felt as if I could eat a horse. Figuratively. The first place, of course, was a kebab shop but they were kind enough to point us to a place further up the road where vegetarian food would be available. We gladly sat down and after the initial confusion about a vegetarian I was offered a cheese pide with fresh salad as a side. So good! Flo enjoyed his pide with minced meat and we were so happy about the food which was freshly made (even the dough!) that Flo had tea as dessert while I chose the sweet rice pudding. Also really good. 🙂

Feeling much better now that we didn’t have to deal with things on an empty stomach, we got back on the motorway. This time, the entrance toll gate even gave us a green light. Riding for 120km, time and miles flew past. Soon, we were only 60km away for tonight’s camp ground and had to get off. Again, the alarm went off. WHY? No idea. It should be contactless payment but it didn’t work. This time we stopped near by the three men standing around but really, they just said it needs to scan the barcode and that we should simply ride on. You have about a week to go to a post office to tell them that it didn’t work before you are fined…

Checking out our first Mediterranean camp spot

Checking out our first Mediterranean camp spot

Welcome back to Europe’s bureaucracy. However, we don’t want to burn any bridges as we are unsure when we will want to ride through Turkey next so leaving with an outstanding fine seems like a bad idea.

To top today’s great experience off, when we reached the Mediterranean coast, we were not impressed. Mersin and the next towns looked too much like the Caspian Sea in our eyes: Rows of hotels blocking the view. Arriving late at the camp ground next to a construction site of the road, we are left with a feeling of uncertainty as not even the coast excites us. Will we be able to enjoy Turkey or should we really just power through to get to Frankfurt?