#16 – Turkey, Istanbul to Antalya

Our legs itched unbelievably and we finally wanted to camp again in the nature and be on the way. Although Istanbul has drawn towards the end on the one hand, I will miss it. Still, there are so many great places.

I left Istanbul on a coastal road that reminded me a lot of Hollywood. A wide road for cars, a wide green strip of grass, palm trees and sports facilities and stop the sea. Not that I watched too much TV, but all I needed were the big cars with the stars, then I’d be in California.

We took a ferry across the Sea of Marmara again, then headed towards the lake İznik Goelue, where we took a bath, so we could wash ourselves. Shortly afterwards we were taken from the road to Çay in a village by some people.

After a short conversation we decided to drive to Iznik, where among other things a church, the Hagia Sofia, from the 4th century is to be seen. The city also has some ruins to offer. I hung myself in İznik for a siesta in the hammock. I realized how good a nap like that can be sometimes. How much energy you can get from it.

Behind İznik it went over an extended expressway up to over 800 m. I still have to get used to it, because Turkey is not exactly flat. It went up several kilometers and I was totally finished. I could only hope that this would finally become easier sometime. My knees were still causing me problems, so I still have the second option on foot and hitchhiking in the back of my mind.

We decided to go to Oylat to see some waterfalls. Shortly before, we raced on a small field, so we slept one night, and had so much time the next day to look at the miracle of nature.

In Germany there is partly the picture that women in Turkey are at home and only live for the household. That’s what I heard. But somehow I don’t find that in Turkey. Some live correctly, which means they travel, have hobbies etc.. Some women in the villages also work really hard in the fields, with the men.

We enjoyed the waterfalls and then drove on partly up, partly down, once again through beautiful landscapes. We went shopping in the village of Tahtaköprü, but were first approached by a few locals during our break, later also invited to Çay (thanks for the tea and cookies Mehmet, I don’t forget such hospitality for a long time). But we did not get out of the village, because we were called to the next bar, where a gentleman prepared a very nice Turkish coffee for us and showed us photos of other bikers from Italy, who had also stopped here. We talked, drank another Çay and drove a few kilometres further, where we found a wonderful place to sleep. A really great day with a great exit. We really didn’t make many kilometres that day, but you don’t have to. I couldn’t get my grin off my face, was emotionally charged and happy to be in Turkey. Everything seemed perfect. Even now, almost two weeks after writing, I still get goose bumps and strange feelings in my stomach. But that was only the beginning of a certainly great trip to Turkey.

What about the blog?

Unfortunately, a lot of text just got lost thanks to the shitty smartphone technology. The writing was suddenly gone. If this should happen more often, I will probably finally change to paper. That’s too bad, really.

Moreover, flickr is bad on smartphones, as not all features are offered. Everything is simply much more complicated and cumbersome. It’s all costing me a lot of time and effort to keep this up. I’ve been sitting here for five hours, I haven’t even finished a third.

I still try to go on and write everything from my memory. But if this keeps up, I have to stop the blog. Smartphones are suitable for NOTHING and my hate is getting bigger 😀

OK, let’s hope we move on, in the third or fourth attempt:

The drive to the south went over mountains, several times to over 1200 m height, then with over 60 km/h down again.

Something else, by the way:
I noticed that the airplanes here have no tail or just a very short one, hm, why is it different in Germany?

Back again:
Many Turks sit in the Çay-Bars and talk. When you arrive there as a traveller, it really does not take long before you are approached. Similar to the small shops in the Balkans.

After we were invited a total of 4 times on the trip and refused 2x, we sat in a village on a meadow at our tents, when first a few children, later also a shepherd sat down with us. He wanted to offer us something small to eat, but we had everything there and refused. We were trying to talk. It’s a pity that the language so often fails to allow longer conversations.

In another village, where we were invited twice, someone said to me that I did not have such a grin in Germany. After a little thought, I think so! You just have to know how you want to shape your life and sometimes you can do without a few things. You only have this one life and why shouldn’t you make it your own way? Unfortunately, you are born into a system in which not many can or want to recognize that it is up to you to live differently. A quiet and stress-free life is also possible in Germany.

Anyway, when we discovered a sign with something historic on the way, we wanted to go directly. But first something to eat in a village, which led to an invitation to Çay. The people here are incredible. One man spoke German because he worked in Dortmund, Germany, for about 30 years. So also knows Herne. Many people speak German here because they worked in Germany. So it’s a little easier for me.
He then drove with us and a friend by car to the Ottoman tomb and a museum, which I found very great and exciting. All without admission and you could get a very good insight into the history. Unfortunately, I have hardly dealt with the Ottomans and therefore I do not want to go into that here.

In Uşak we were taken from the street to drink Çay. The nice gentleman showed us another mosque and how someone was praying. We had a little chat with a jewellery salesman in English, but still had to go on because we were just hungry.

It’s so awesome that you can find these taps every few kilometers. Sometimes even vending machines with free cold water.

In an amphitheatre I talked to Michael, only we were sitting opposite each other in the theatre. Unbelievable how well people understood acoustics back then.

We visited some ruins that were probably built by the Greeks, Romans, Ottomans or other peoples. I am still enthusiastic and could look at the fine art skills in the stones for a long time. Almost every stone is a work of art in itself. I was very happy when I had a brief chat with an archaeologist who briefly told me his thoughts, his ideas. Not that I’m going to grab a shovel and help them dig. I still think I’ve seen too much Indiana Jones.

For many they are stones, for me they are works of art.

Again and again goats, sheep or cows

Or we

We drove towards Ulubay, where we wanted to see a canyon. For 3 TL (approx. 70 Cent) we did the same and were stopped by an employee on our way out. He spoke fluent German and said we could camp here for free and also get free food because we were travellers. We had a toilet, shower, I could hang up my hammock, everything was perfect. Until early in the morning we talked with lots of Çays and food. But at some point I could no longer and had to sleep, unfortunately.
Thank you very much for everything and the really great conversation, which gave me many new impressions.

We at a gate

Sometimes the temperature went over 50 degrees, in the example however only approx 47

Hardly loaded, to see again and again trucks, which have much on it

Arrived in Pamukkale, we paid 35 TL (6 EUR) entrance fee. There you can see some graves and an amphitheatre. There is also a bath where you can take a little bath for an additional high entrance fee. That’s what some have done, but we haven’t. The prices for everything are very high, so it is better to take everything with you. Fortunately, access to the white baths is free, but very crowded with tourists.

I liked some other ruins better, where hardly anyone was there and even excavations took place. I would have loved to help them discover something and get to know the story better. So I found it exciting to talk to an archaeologist for a moment. Okay, I think everything’s new and exciting.

Be that as it may, Pamukkale is for the package tourist, the small ruins more for those who want to see something different, or something similar. Moreover, the small ruins have no entrance fee.

Pamukkale:

Admission to Pamukkale is almost half cheaper if you buy a museum ticket valid for many other museums or places. Unfortunately, the card is only valid for 15 days, which is out of the question for us. So we have to rethink our route a little, because the entrance fees are very high for us. It’s a pity, but many tourists = earn money. Only this would be an issue in itself.

On my way I discovered that many prickly pears are ripe. Another power source for the journey!

At Denizili’s we camped and got some vegetables from the garden in the evening. In addition, someone came to us and said, no matter what we need, he lives here and we should ask him for food, water, no matter.

On the next ascent, fortunately, a few trucks came to my rescue, from which I let myself go. These drove up the mountain at approx. 12 km/h. Once again at over 1000 m. It’s good not to have to drive yourself.

Later we were invited to Çays again in another village. How nice people are, I’ll repeat myself, so everyone knows that too :D.

I was just talking to Michael on the bike about how great such a watermelon would be when two young people called us from the street shortly afterwards to invite us to the most delicious watermelons in the world. Even our hot water was exchanged for cold water. These melons gave us not only water, but also strength, that can’t be put into words. Thanks a lot guys and I wish you that you can sell more than enough of the watermelons! You have given us great pleasure!!!

Here’s my first selfie ever 😀

One night, nice as it looks, it wasn’t great. First a dog barked at us for hours, at a short distance a few people shot for fun, loud music, the water tap next to us made noises, cars suddenly drove loud and every turn in the wooden part was very noticeable to the other person. Michael’s tent also broke down.

Nevertheless, this honey gives him joy again and again

So much pain when driving uphill, so much suffering: it’s always worth it for such moments. This may sound funny now, but sometimes I almost, but only almost, tears came up when I saw this. I can’t add any emotions to the site.

It’s all a little exaggerated for some, but not for me. I just really enjoy it.

Then finally arrived at the sea, more precisely in Fethiye. There we stayed 2 days, sleeping at the beach, bathing in the sea and also bored, because I was simply too exhausted from all the mountains. Unfortunately, my knees kept coming back, so I had to be careful. It’s not pain, yet I realize there’s something. So I have to be careful, certainly during the whole tour.

At Ölüdeniz we hiked to a dream beach, the blue lagoon, where we could cool off a bit. Unfortunately the beach was soon besieged by many tourists with ships and loud music. The city itself is pure tourism. So avoid D:

Here are some nice photos

A mosque with a supermarket

It went up twice from zero to over 600 m. Luckily, once again a truck came to our rescue. The police saw this and drove just behind us. Honked suddenly, but only as info that they wanted to overtake. Cars honk here more often than they’re here.

When I reached the top, the view was so beautiful that my stomach turned and I was emotionally moved again. Unbelievable how quickly all pain and the like can disappear. As I write, I can clearly see and feel these moments. I wish there was some way I could pass that along. No photo this time 🙂

We went down to Demre, an ugly town consisting almost entirely of greenhouses. But it should be nicer.

The next kilometres to Antalya are hard to put into words, from one dream beach to the next, bathing again and again, diving, enjoying the water with about 25 degrees, everything was so wonderful. I could have taken one postcard photo at a time. But the closer Antalya came, the more hotels and tourists were there. Some villages are more Russian than Turkish, whole settlements develop from it. The prices are corresponding. Nevertheless, these kilometres were a feast for the eyes.

Arrived in Antalya, we went for 2 days to a hostel, where we, or rather I, could rest and also use a shower.

I have taken few to no photos of Antalya, because there are certainly more beautiful photos on the Internet. Istanbul was just my first big city, which I have seen and experienced on my journey and is and always will remain my first big travel city. I’m afraid I missed Belgrade.

On the last evening in the hostel we had a little party. That was very good for me. Besides, I only had to speak English, which is very useful.

We will partly rethink our route, but we will still reach some destinations.

Some things are written here from my memory, I hope I haven’t forgotten anything or anyone. Also the first attempt to write with the smartphone.

TURKEY IS Great!