We left Antalya early after the most amazing breakfast, outdoors, in front of an old Roman site. Our goal was to go through Alanya and Anamur before the heat hits, take a break and then head up the mountains inland towards Cappadocia.
Tough going initially. They have not invented under/over passes here so there is a stop light on the main road every few hundred meters ... and they are all red most of the time!
Alanya is the mass market for beach vacations ... literally, hundreds of massive hotels lining up a beach that was about 30 km long. And, then, a very narrow, very steep, very twisty road right before Anamur where we visited Anamurion, a very large ancient roman necropolis overseeing the ocean. At this point, Alexandra was not looking good so we had a nice long break by the beach, had a nice lunch and a long rest before heading inland to Ermenek.
The road from the coast to Ermenek was one of the best and most impressive roads i have ever seen - from 0 to 1600m in altitude, from 96 to 69 degrees in temperature, from sunny to fog to rain, while traveling up an almost vertical mountain range, with interminable switch backs. First, it felt like Switzerland, then the Dolomites, then Copper Canyon, then the Gap of Dunloe (with goats and all), then Lake Arenal (without the volcano), then Sudtirol, and finally the moon! Pine trees growing on rocks!! What a ride. Alexandra enjoyed it. Her love of nature is heart warming.
Alexandra and I are now getting into a nice rhythm ... packing, unpacking, eating, talking, sharing, laughing, and enjoying life, people, places.
Ermenek is a city perched on a cliff overlooking the lake below ... with cave dwellings on the rock face above the city ... and our hotel, in the true heart of Turkey, is actually awesome.
Tomorrow, we head to Capadoccia.
No comments:
Post a Comment