Barbaross Pasha's Beach Club Manavgat

... to Alanya, I opted to take the coach this time instead of hitch hiking. I got into the station at 6:30 and then took a city bus to get closer to the beach. I think I was pretty much in the wrong neighbourhood for cheap hotels but was able to negotiate a room down from 50 to 30 TL. The apartment had a living room, kitchen, dining area and bedroom!

Now for a walk-about town for the evening...

... nahen und f**nen Dorfminaretten üb** das Land. Wir w**den es imm** wied** hören, weitgehend noch live gesungen, fünf Mal am Tag, and**s als in den arabischen Länd**n wo meist das Tonband bemüht wird. Kein Mensch auß** uns genießt den Blick üb** die idyllische Szen**ie, nur am Aquädukt hält kurz ein Reisebus und spuckt eine Busladung bunt** Ameisen aus, nur um sie gleich wied** einzufangen. Auf d** Weit**fahrt nach Alanya kommt man vorbei an imm** mehr ...

... all about Greek Mythology in school and Jasper had even acted as Zeus in a play so they were quite familiar with the story of Zeus imprisoning the hundred-headed monster Typhon. Anyway, we decided to enter only one cave (the asthma curing one) and descended 20 meters into a 95% humidity and warm environment with impressive stalagtites and stalagmites. It did feel good to breathe the air but serious sufferers would not have been able to negotiate the steep ...

... were huge drops on these narrow parts where they had piled up sand to do the road at a later date. Damo's expert driving got us through and once we arrived in Alanya it was off for some drinks (only 2 each as $8 for a beer) before crashing at 2am. As it is really just a drinking place we didn't take any photos of Alanya. Alanya is a haven for Germans and Scandinavians ...

... Roman ruins and an equally large amount of touristy shops and restaurants. I didn't care much for the commercialism (although the bellydance outfits were a little bit better quality) but the ruins were awesome, and the only part I saw that charged admission (the Roman Theater) was 5 Turkish Lira. That's less than 4 dollars/3 Euros/2 Pounds. Compare that with 11 Euros a head to get into the ruins in Rome!

... we kicked back in a local carpetshop where lunch was provided and we were treated to an insightfull carpet demonstration (never knew there was so much to it) it was a nice atmosphere full bellies free wine and what do you know we are now the proud owners of a huge turkish handmade silk carpet!(So much for our budget) Later that arvo we went to the temple of st. john and to one of the 7 ...

... a kıwı pensıon (aka a budget hotel) tonıght - yay for runnıng water! And a loo where you can sıt down ınstead of squat! Then off to vısıt the Temples - St John and Atermıs - tomorrow. Also goıng to the ruıns of Ephesus so wıll need a beer or 5 after all that sıght seeıng.. That's ıt folks Cy and Ants

... into snug pensions, charming restaurants cum bistros slash cafes or even the ubiquitous carpet shops. The harbour is picture perfect panoramic. Ýf anything the weather was too good today - trust the Ýrish to find something to moan about - the cloudless sky made the bay too bloody blue - aquamarine water and azure sky is not the best of photo permutations - but it has inspired me to make definite enquiries about the 3day blue cruises (no - not some ...

... coast seems to be full of Germans. Dont know what if anything those preferences say about the national pyshce of each country.... Also had by far the most expensive cup of tea so far in Turkey at said waterfall - 3YTL -or about €1.60 - 3 times the average. In general I think this part of Turkey will be more expensive than the east and centre. But it wont be long before Im on ...

After a stint in the sun, the Fez Bus did arrive to pick me up from Kas for the ride along the coast to Olympos. Along the way, the bus stopped for a refill of petrol (at around $2.70 a litre) and the compulsory halfway bus wash (every trip at least one scrub). For some reason the BP staff took a liking to my shining scone, pointing and laughing. I joked along as I guess I am used to it now, and am still riding high on a couple of positive comments on this trip - "you look better ...