Our home close to the Black Sea is in easy travelling distance of Turkey. We are not much more than an hour away from the border crossing. This was our third road trip to Turkey, on this occasion we were travelling to Antalya.
It took us three days to arrive at our destination. This was breaking the journey up into no more than six and a half hours per day neither of us wanted to be in the car for longer than this! We made two hotel stops on the way there and also on the way back. The point of our road trip to Turkey was to reach our all-inclusive resort where we were looking forward to spending a week with our family.
The first day of our road trip to Turkey
The border crossing Wasn’t too busy at all on the way there. We even picked up a hitchhiker, a young man from France. He told us that all of his friends were hitchhiking this summer.
As he chatted cordially , I contemplated his predicament. Was it brave or foolish or just simply frugal to hitchhike? Did being a man make it less of a risk. Or was his faith in the goodness of humanity either more naive or more magnanimous than my own.
We arrived at our first stop in Silivri not far from Istanbul by mid afternoon and were able to enjoy the beautiful facilities and then a supper by the pool. We were pleased to have such a good start to our road trip.
our first stop on our road trip to Turkey – Silivri
The second day of our road trip to Turkey
The following day we headed for Afryon . The roads for the most part were toll roads and very easy to travel. However, this was a long journey of 6 1/2 hours and we were very tired when we arrived at our destination. The hotel was nowhere near as auspicious as the previous evening, despite its grandiose title, and we were very disappointed. We did, however, reclaim the evening by a wonder through the old town and a enjoy a traditional Turkish supper -minus alcohol of course 😊
Old buildings in the Turkish town of AFYON
We went to bed to the sound of rioting young men in the street outside. We wondered why they were rioting. This wasn’t England there was no alcohol to induce them. I pondered the significance of alcohol in my own culture. How my life would’ve been different had England been a Muslim country. I would probably never have been conceived! My alcoholic father may have been less violent. My liver would definitely be healthier.
The third day – reflections in tranquility
We were awaken from a restless slumber by a call to prayer at 5:30 am! (Imagine if the state dictated what time you got up each day!) the early star did however mean that we were well on our way by 9 a.m
The drive over theTaurus Mountains was spectacular! This really was the best part of our road trip to Turkey. The rocky arid terrain reminded me of how I have seen Mexico portrayed in the various spaghetti westerns I’ve watched! We even saw a couple of fires.
We came across a remote mountain village parched from the Son. A queue of people waited patiently at a truck delivering essential water. I pondered how worrying it must be having to rely on an outside source like this to keep you alive. And how we take the ubiquity of water for granted.
Reentering some semblance of civilisation we decided to stop off at a roadside café for some lunch. This was one of those delightful and unexpected experiences that will stay my memory forever – as William Wordsworth refers to it –‘ reflections in Tranquility’. although it was a very simple affair the food was delicious, the staff were incredibly attentive (we decided they saw very few foreigners as this wasn’t a tourist area) and the food was amazing.
We sat in the bright sunshine, our pale blue and white napkins ruffling in the breeze. The Waiter brought water and bread to the table without us asking. He waited on us with great pleasure eulogising over our reaction to the delicious food. And when we left he said “Auf Wiedersehen”.😊 I left the café determined to learn how to cook Turkish cuisine.
Arriving at our destination
We were thrilled to arrive at our destination! It was nothing like I had imagined. I had envisaged a tourist resort with blocks of hotels and very crowded. The hotels were actually spaced out with lots of palm trees lining each side of the roads in between and it wasn’t crowded at all, even though it was August, there were beautiful gardens and of course the Mediterranean Sea. my thoughtful son had even arranged parking for us at the hotel!
The Resort
Our long road trip was well worth while. The resort was beautiful, well maintained and well thought out. There were flowers everywhere (I must get some Mexican petunias for my own garden!). Our room was spacious. the bed was comfortable. We had a nice balcony to sit out on. The food was delicious and the staff were amazing. But of course the best part of the entire trip was spending time with our family.
Antalya
Antalya was a beautiful area with an amazing coastline. White cliffs trailing into the sea with visible caves and spectacular waterfalls. However, the area has been marred in my opinion by the overabundance of fake merchandise at every turn. Part of our trip into Antalya old town was an enforced 10 minutes in one of the largest fake merchandise stores. The owner of the store proudly announced “everything here is fake! We have the best quality fake goods!“ I think the oxymoron was lost on him.
Wondering the old streets I was determined to go against the flow. I searched high and low for an authentic Turkish dress but was unable to find one. Finally, I had to go Inland to a mall.
Memento Mori
We had an amazing holiday. I enjoyed every minute. But the highlight of my journey was being able to spend time with my eldest grandson who is about to join the army. At 18 he demonstrated amazing maturity.He had clearly thought through the implications of dying for his country, of how he would react if he had to enter into combat, and what patriotism really meant. The conversations I had with him brought me to tears.
I was humbled by my own ignorance. And felt so proud of him. I had never really contemplated the importance of the armed forces or the sacrifice that these young men make when they join up. Not being able to see their families or girlfriends for long periods of time and the obvious risk of losing their lives. My grandson is a Christian. I wondered how the young men must feel who don’t have a faith. Or is it true that “there are no atheists in fox holes”?
This Memento Mori was rendered even more poignant in this environment of unauthenticity and the deification of consumerism.
The journey home
We stopped off at the same towns travelling home. But not the same hotel in Afryon. The hotel wasn’t much better than the first, but at least it wasn’t in the city centre. And on this occasion we were able to find a restaurant close by that actually sold alcohol!