Turkey 1999~part 3 ~ out and about

To finish up my trip to Turkey, this is a post about other excursions and activities. On our 3 day tour inland we visited the Mevievi Museum in Konya. The Mevievi is a sufi order from which the famous Whirling Dervishes come, but there were no whirlings going on when we were there.

We also got taken to see silk making and weaving

Then they tried to sell us rugs 🙂

We also visited a pottery

and we saw camels..

When we got back from our trip inland, we also organised a white water rafting day with a couple of holiday friends we made. The holiday reps also were organising this but it was cheaper to organise ourselves with the local excursion touts. It was quite different. The other people on holiday got picked up from the hotel in a nice air-con coach and off they went. We got picked up in a tatty old 4 x 4, taken to a families farm, and then put in a tractor with 2 young lads and some lifejackets and a dinghy and hauled up to the river. We got our life jackets on, got in the dinghy, were given oars and then the lads pushed off and off we went. The young lads shouting instructions to us and hooting and laughing as we went past the posh lot who were sitting in their dinghies with an instructor, being shown how to put on their life jackets and going through the safety measures of what to do if they capsized etc. None of that rubbish for our lads, they were brilliant, and obviously born to it. I think this is one of the best things I ever did and I loved it. After, they took us back to the farm where their Mum had laid on a great buffet of local food, it was delicious.

We also had some good nights out…

wish I could remember the names of our pals 😦

these all taken around the pool of our hotel where entertainment was on most nights

we ventured out to a local restaurant where there was more entertainment..

our pals

Ben and Matthew had a great time in the pool

and I’m finishing up with the boys messing about in the apartment we had

Matthew, Ben and Magic Mouse

Gaz & Ben doing ‘The British Bulldog’ pose (it was a thing back then..)

and goodnight all.

It was a really fab holiday, and the people of Turkey were lovely, all the hotel staff looked after us well, in particular the bar staff, 4 lovely guys, really took to Ben & Matthew, even took them out clubbing with them one night, that wouldn’t happen in the times we now live in! I gave my camera to anyone available to take a photo of us with it, even the Dad of the rafters, great stuff! Good times and it’s been fun remembering them.

Turkey 1999~part 1~Side

In 1999, I went to Side in Turkey,with Ben, his pal Matthew and our pal Gaz. Side is a small resort town on Turkey’s southern Mediterranean coast. An ancient port city, the village today is known for its long beaches and ruins. And blimey were there ruins. Walking along the coast there were bits of Roman buildings just lying about the place, and parts of buildings and temples still standing. Side is pronounced ‘see-day’ by the way. I still must have had the same camera I had when I went to Wales, as I’ve got some panoramas from this adventure.

There is a wonderful 2nd century amphitheatre

you can just see me at the right of the photo leaning on a fence.

The temple of Apollo

and the temple at night

Camels were resting amongst the ruins

and I had my photo taken with their owner 🙂

More ruins

A rugged coastline with turquoise sea

Side at night, view from our balcony.

As well as exploring Side, we went on a white water rafting expedition, and a 3 day coach tour inland to t he amazing Cappadocia, but I’ll leave them for another time 🙂