Antalya & Olimpos

9th August
Meant to be picking up the van today then will take off along the coast west of the city to visit some of the Greek and Roman ruins. Has been a good break in a very pleasant city though we have been made aware that from now on we are just a tourist to be ripped off whenever possible. Up to now we have been treated with a certain respect by the locals who want people to visit their country, now we are just a means of making money during the tourist season. We will have to be on our guard more.
There are gardens for most of the way along the cliff top above the clear Mediterranean. Well kept and relaxing to walk in. A tram runs for about 3kms alongside the gardens making it easy to check out different areas. The museum here is also excellent having been voted the best in Europe a few years back. There are so many ruins in the area for excavation to yield hidden treasures.
We have finally mastered the Turkish keyboard which doesn't have a dot above the i Plays havoc with web addresses until we were shown how to put it in.
11th August
Lake Koysegiz
Van looks great after the panel beating. There were the sliding door and one side panel to fix. Seems a very professional job. We headed off 100km's south of Antalya to Olimpos, an ancient Greek and Roman city built on the coast which boasts a beautiful beach as well. This was our first experience at a popular Turkish beach. It was an 8km drop from the main road to the town of Olimpos then a further 3 kms on to the ruins and beach. Those last 3 kms were almost a continuous row of pensions, tree houses and restaurants. But not much in the way of camping nearer to the ruins and beach. We asked at one of the restaurants if it was ok to auto camp in the orange grove next door, You'd better go next door to the Saban Pension the English speaking owner said. Ask for Merle Merle appeared out of the kitchen where she was preparing the evening meal. A very laid back character who had a casual way with her English, she came with us to sort out a place. How much? I asked. A million Lira. Was her reply. She didn't charge us of course. We thought it only right to patronise her place for a drink and the evening meal. The meal was quite an experience. It was a line up help yourself arrangement with soup, beautiful salad, rice risotto, a type of ratatouille, and tender chicken cooked in a stew with roasted potatoes cut lengthways. Help yourself to seconds. Merle did it all herself with a different menu each night. There must have been 60-70 people lined up the night we were there. The food was delicious, the best since leaving India. All for $9 each, wine extra. Merle restored our faith in Turkey after the bad experiences in Antalya. A lovely person.
Yesterday morning we visited the ruins, went for a swim in the Mediterranean then headed to the next bay to climb up to the Chimaera. A mythological creature who's firey breath still rages out of the ground. Homer mentions it in the Odyssey. In his day it could be seen from the sea but the intensity of the flame is much subdued. But worth the climb. We then headed along the coast to Kas, a wonderful town with a camp site perched over the sea. The Turkish coastline is very impressive, very rocky with the odd pebble or sandy beach. Islands break the sea scape while yachts sail between them. Tonight we have found a shady camping ground on the shores of a fresh water lake. Very relaxing.