|
|
|
Sunday
28th June
Went into town again, after moving to a
different campsite on the coast. Main item on the agenda was the Blue
Mosque, which was amazing. The postcards of it don't do it justice, the
colouring is far more subtle. We spent some time in there, and then got
dinner in a small kebab stall for about 4/-, much more like it. Back to
the campsite with a bottle of Raki – potent anise spirit at
about 17/- a bottle. We chased it with beer from the bar to drown the
taste. Got talking to a Turk who called himself "Charlie", who was
quite a laugh.
Monday
29th June
Back into town, went to the Post Office to
look for mail, then on to
the Grand Bazaar. We were already prepared for what was to come by the
stalls all over the city, but even so the inside was incredible. I
should think you would buy anything there. We had a lot of fun as once
again several Turks wanted to practice their English, and no-one minded
if you didn't buy or simply beat the price down. Particularly nice was
one carpet-seller, an old English-looking gentleman, who was urging us
to buy now as the prices would be much higher on the return journey! I
told him we'd beat him down, whereupon he replied "Me, yes, but not the
price". When we enquired about magic carpets he told us he had some but
that we could never afford them.
We also managed to buy some substitute
mosquito netting, for there were
a lot of mosquitoes about the campsite, biting all and sundry,
particularly sundry (myself) who recorded 123 bites one morning. Found
the local VW agent to ask him about our engine, which was rattling, but
he said it was only the local petrol. Later George and I retarded the
ignition, which helped.
Tuesday
30th June
The others went into town again. I was
feeling a bit tired and
sunstruck, so stayed at the campsite and did some washing. Cooked some
of the local fish for supper, with cold salad consisting of green
peppers, which are plentiful here.
Conversation that evening. George
– "Did you know all the
bogs here face Mecca?". Pam (gullibly) – "Do they?".
Odd notes on Istanbul. Lots of
water-sellers, with ornate tanks on
their backs and a flexible tube leading round to the front where they
carry a couple of glasses in which they sell the water at 4d a glass.
Also plenty of fresh drink stalls, selling strawberry, cherry, lemon
and peach drinks at 4d a glass. Very nice indeed, and incredibly
refreshing. And fresh cucumber stalls, where you buy a cucumber, have
it peeled and then eat it walking along.
Hundreds of American cars, used as taxis,
all full to the brim with
people – ditto minibuses. The taxis deserve a short
dissertation, as they form about half of Istanbul's traffic, which now,
having driven in it a bit more, I see as far more logical than in most
cities. For instance, a left turn would take hours with a non-stop
stream of traffic coming the other way, unless one adopts the Istanbul
technique of just pulling out in front of it, whereupon everyone stops
and lets you go, having expected you to do just that. It really works.
Wednesday
1st July
Early start, as we were leaving Istanbul.
Called in briefly at the PO
to have a last look for mail, and then crossed the Bosphorus by ferry.
Climbing the long hill out of Istanbul when over the brow towards us
came a coach and a lorry, side by side, both blowing their horns madly
and neither giving way. And we thought Istanbul traffic was mad.
We drove more-or-less non-stop to Balikesir, where we camped beside a
local garage cum café. The proprietor fixed us up with a
hookah, and I smoked myself sick – literally. I felt off the
whole of the next day, and couldn't face green peppers ever again.
Thursday
2nd July
Another early start, drove to Bergama
(formerly Pergamum, Hellenistic
city), and Pam and I slept in the shade whilst the others spent the
whole afternoon wandering around the ruins. As everyone was feeling
really tired we pulled into a Mocamp at Izmir and had welcome showers
and clothes washes.
Friday 3rd
July
Set off for Selcuk. The countryside is
getting more attractive, and is
covered with large hills. One view in particular was very nice. As we
came over a pass ahead of us lay a large plain, completely covered with
silvery olive trees and surrounded by mountains. The countryside is,
admittedly in the dry season, typically very brown, but with a lot of
green bushes and trees. These the Turks make the most of by doing
nothing but sit in the shade from about 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.. Sometimes
the countryside gets noticeably drier, the hills looking distinctly
desertish, and we have even seen a few camels.
Reached Selcuk about noon. This was formerly
Ephesus, of biblical fame,
and also has some magnificent Roman ruins, which we explored. We also
stood on the former site of the Temple of Diana (or Artemis). This was
one of the Seven Wonders of the World, until being destroyed in the 4th
Century AD.
Went on to Denizli to look for somewhere to
camp. We were told to go to
Pamukkale, which we found to be the former Hierapolis, about 10k from
Denizli. This was situated on a plateau formed by lime deposits from a
swiftly flowing hot stream. The top of the plateau consists partly of
shallow cascading limestone pools, filled with warm water and in which
we paddled. There were also some ruins further up the hill, in which we
camped. Got woken up in the middle of the night by sheep being driven
past only a few feet away.
Saturday
4th July
Aimed to hit Antalya on the south coast,
which we did after crossing
the Taurus mountains – which apparently gave the early
Christians great trouble in their journeys, being full of bandits. Had
the usual trouble with coaches, which come round the bends on the wrong
side of the road. They make full use of the coaches here, they are
always full to the brim, and we have often seen Ford Transit minibuses
with passengers lined up abreast on the roof-rack as well.
Reached Antalya early afternoon and found a
very nice campsite on top
of the cliffs, where the proprietor offered to let us camp for free if
we ate at his café – which we did, after a long
swim at his private beach. Later, singing round the camp fire (Camping
Gaz light!) we were joined by the locals wanting to listen, and the
café owner brought us a plateful of iced fruit as a
thank-you.
Sunday 5th
July
Made our way slowly down the coast to
Alanya. Met two English students
in the town who showed us a lovely beach where we could camp for free,
which we did. Joined a German couple on the same beach for a campfire
night with endless red wine (3/6 a litre). Went to bed slightly
inebriated.
Monday 6th
July
First thing, the German lady came over to
join us for coffee (despite
her hubby's protestations from their tent, which I could understand,
that English coffee was foul). Decided to spend the morning on the
beach, swimming and sunbathing. We knew the sun was strong, but even so
we underestimated it and all got sunburnt to varying degrees.
We had the previous evening met a Pakistani
called Ali/Richard, about
35 years old and a seasoned traveller. He had decided to settle in
Turkey, in Anamur about 100kms down the coast. He was apparently on
good terms with a cheap restaurant there and knew of several good
places where we could camp. We decided to take him on there that
afternoon. True to his word, he found us a lovely picnic area in a wood right by the sea. However, I felt very
feverish, and spent the evening trying to bring my temperature down
from 101F and deal with my shoulders which were now covered in blisters
from the sun.
We had remarked to Richard over a cup of tea
on the way that Turkish
men seemed to do nothing all day, and he told us that on the whole this
was true – especially with crops such as bananas which just
grow and don't need much tending. As a result the men just sit all day
in the local café, of which there are usually at least two
even in the smallest hamlets, albeit often not consisting of more than
a couple of tables under a tree, matting roof, grapevine or similar.
What work there is to do is done by the women.
|
|
|
