Its been a while since my last post. Getting access to the net has been a fraught experience recently. The places we have been staying either didn't have access, or it didn't work.
We did 75km from Chimaera to Myra. Myra is the name of the ruins in the authentic Turkish country town of Demre (named Kale also just in case you didn’t have enough names).
Authentic in terms of dusty roads, high guttering along the roads, small shops, and the ubiquitous chickens. Chickens are found everywhere! They are handy as well as they kill the scorpions and snakes.
The mountain pass to Demre, was steep, long and hard. This view is from the top, just before the descent into the plains below. Demre is a land of greenhouses, as we drew close to the city it seemed every available space as filled with them, growing tomatoes, peppers, and other unidentified vegetables.
From the heights of the climb we dropped down to the plain of Demre in the distance, the greenhouses shining in the valley below.
Entering the city we were not very confident about finding accommodation. The rough edges of the town, unsealed verges, dust, industry, and shops did not make it look very inviting. The few hotels we passed appeared run down and decrepit.
The city has an industrial utilitarian feel to it, not designed for tourists at all. Sometimes this is what we want, authentic Turkey, however when you are tired and just want to stop such authenticity can be more of a problem. Eventually by following signposts we stopped at a house only 5 minutes from the Myra ruins. The *** guesthouse.
One of the cultural, or possibly economic difference between Turkish homes and ours is the lack of grass and a traditional lawn. Either land is such a premium that its not suitable to waste on grass, or the culture is one that doesn't rate an expanse of green very highly. So the *** guesthouse did not surprise us at all. Small, multi storied, but only the bottom level run by the host. With an unusual layout, three rooms down each side, the kitchen in the middle and the lounge in the front. The three 3 rooms on the street side were rented out for tourists. In reality we are living in the house of the host. This provided us with a unique window into the lives of the locals, in the 2 days we were there we started to see how the local people lived.
Our host used to be a sailor and was very westernized, however his wife seemed to be his polar opposite. Initially I though the short veiled frumpy woman that we met was his mother or sister. but no this conservative Muslim was his wife.
She was expecting her second child and was tired, the other guests, a couple from Holland said that she she would spend the entire day working in the greenhouse and then come into prepare dinner each night. it was a hard life when pregnant.
We dined with the family and had wonderful food. The entree being a spicy lentil soup that was so nice I didn't want to move to the mains. Another night we had fish for dinner, a typical dish in Turkey, which as usual for fish dinners was nice but not very filling.
Our host told us of the hard times that Turkey was experiencing, the lack of tourists, and the poor economy meant that many people were finding it hard to make money.
Myra is a fascinating city to spend a few hours in. The rock tombs were impressive although only able to be viewed from a distance.
The remaining structures showed the impressive building quality of the Romans, 2000 years and still standing!
The theater was well intact with a gardening goat keeping the grass down. Myra was also the home for St Nicolas, the originator of Santa Claus. Famous among the Catholics his pictures and souvenirs were everywhere.
Three myths about Turkey I have found.
Their roads are terrible.
Not true Road 400 that we are following around the coast is fantastic, it is better than 90% of roads I have driven on in NZ. Often double laned and when not with large edges to ride on, its been a pleasure being able to cycle them.
The Turkish drivers are terrible.
Again not true, owing to the ever present motor scooters Turkish drivers are totally at home with the odd cyclist, we are just treated as slow scooters. Cars and trucks toot to let us know when they are coming, give heaps of room when overtaking, and the drivers smile and wave.
Turkey is cheap.
Well partly true, we have been stung so many times by shopkeepers and generally when it come to money that it starts to seem like the inflated prices are normal. In tourist areas its unusual to find prices on food in restraunts, just lists of items for sale. They seem to make up many prices on the spot based on your ability to pay.