Roast Turkey – Loose Ends

Claire awoke at 1am, 5 minutes before our alarm was to go off so we got up and had a cup of tea. Although they told us that the bus would pick us up at 1.40am we headed down at 1.25am to find a bus full of people waiting outside for us which is quite embarrassing especially as we couldn’t find our transfer document and had to spread stuff all over a table to find it. The place still had about a dozen people drinking from the previous night; after all it was still too early to go to bed when you are on holiday. Bags on board we were off with only a couple more pick ups before we were on our way. Of course we were only on the road for around 40 minutes and the driver pulls in for his pit stop while everyone onboard sat and awaited his return 15 minutes later. Why they do this and annoy everyone is anyone’s guess. Even with the stop we arrived at the airport about 3.5 hours before the plane was due to take off and the check in was dark and not due to open for over an hour.

Our flight was on time with no problems; we even managed to get extra leg room by an emergency exit and I managed to get at least 2 hours sleep which is unusual for me. Mind you, as Claire said I had been ill the previous day having awoke with stomach cramps which got progressively worse as the day went on. Somehow, drinking cold water seemed to help a little. I guess that it was a little like expectant women having contractions – except worse. It’s always worse for men. Anyway unusually for me I wasn’t hungry even though I hadn’t eaten anything since lunch the day before. What a shame, I seemed to ruin Claire’s last day; we had planned to get lots of sun before our return but I couldn’t sit in it at all.

We found out later that the Turkish restaurant that we stumbled across called Cinar (pronounced Chinar) produce one of the best Turkish breakfast’s in the country. This explains why there were as many cars outside in the morning as there were upon our return at lunchtime. It still surprises me that so many people make the effort to travel so far to this remote location. The closest town is Marmaris which must be at least 20km away. We also found out that the other place that we visited by the sea in that area, a little further on where they had the tractor rides to the sea has thermal springs by the sea. Maybe if we had known this we would have waited for the next tractor.

South Turkey in July and August is very hot and my advice would be to go there at a more sensible time. We hadn’t learned our lesson after being there in August last year but our special deal holiday probably wouldn’t have been available at a more popular time. With temperatures almost up to 50°C in the shade, much hotter in the sun and very little breeze. Lots of fair skinned Britt’s were caught out with the power of this sun. I have returned home with quite a colour and I spent most of my time dodging the sun choosing to walk in shadows as much as possible. Our day on the boat was extremely hot with little shade on the top deck. It was only possible to stay on the top while the boat was moving so as to gain the breeze; as soon as it stopped I had to go in the sea or on the lower deck. We probably caught the sun more on the bike than anywhere as you can do little to get out of the sun and your kept comfortable with the breeze. You have built in air conditioning on a bike; if you get too hot just go a bit faster and you get more wind; well Claire does.

We had a great first week and enjoyed Danny and Sharon’s company and the late nights talking shit over a beer or three. This used to be my favourite pass time in an early life when I still had youth on my side; I never wanted to go to bed. Mind you, even the night we went to bed at 5.45am I was disappointed and wanted to carry on. Ones too many and two’s not enough. It was a huge coincidence being able to meet up with Mick and Lynn while being away, especially so quickly after seeing them in Australia. When we left, Lynn said to me to let them know when we go away on holiday because, you never know, they may be able to meet us somewhere. For our last week we rented a motorbike and did our usual thing, travelling around independently getting flat tyres. These days, for me, this is what I enjoy most, the independence of being on our own, able to stop wherever takes our fancy and move on just as easy. We were very lucky finding the log cabin in such a lovely town by the sea in the Turkish holiday resort; you don’t get the hard sales tactics in these places but we may still be overcharged compared to locals but much less than in Foreign tourist areas.

Looking back at what we have done over this last fortnight, meeting new friends, Danny and Sharon, old friends, Mick, lynn, Barby and Alan, long walks, trips to market, bag shops, midnight cruise, Claire’s birthday, boat trip, bike trips, beautiful views, flat tyre, trip to Rhodes, two peninsulas, ruins, log cabin, lots of sun, not much sand, late nights, hard sales but a great time that has washed those post holiday blues away from our last trip. So remember, the solution for getting over a long holiday is;-- Another holiday! Every holiday, I always seem to learn something fundamental without even trying.

Holiday over, back to work now; that is if we could find any. I either need to change my CV and start lying, big time, to get a regular job or start buying, renovating and selling houses again. I guess you already know the answer, I hate lying anyway! Watch this space, depression gone we are suitably charged, ready to start the next phase of our life.