At 5 a.m. on 27th March, our coach left from outside Cardiff Museum bound for London Heathrow. A few hiccups occurred on route picking up people from lay bys. One was on time and there on schedule but one couple were never found and after a few phone calls were eventually traced and joined us further up the road, and we at last arrived at Heathrow to catch our first flight of the day to Istanbul at 12.30. Security at all the airports on route was very strict, and many people found themselves searched and prodded and even had their bags searched.
The flight to Istanbul was very exhilarating for some, others were not so keen, but we had the added addition of your very own movie system facing you on the back of the seat in front so a few of us caught up with films we had missed, and by the time food had been served and endless drinks, we were touching down at 4.45 p.m. which turned out to be 6.45 local time. After endless checks and body searches we were allowed onto our next flight bound for Antalya. We took off at 7.30 and arrived 8.45 p.m.. We then had a very short coach trip to our first hotel the “Sea Life” which proved to be a very posh hotel with sauna, Turkish baths, swimming pools, massage parlour, and shop facilities. We were taken straight to a splendid meal with platters of all sorts of goodies laid out to help yourself from. Eventually we all checked in and found our room and went to bed pretty exhausted. Indeed this had been a long haul but nobody was lost in the end and everybody arrived with their luggage in one piece if a little tired.
After breakfast we met our Guide, Engin and the drivers, Osman and Dennis, also one of our party, Ken
Beecher was acting as a liaison between the guide and drivers, and was able to give us any information we needed
along with Bob of course. They were all very helpful throughout the trip and made it a very pleasant holiday.
We duly set out for a full day’s tour beginning with a visit to Perge where the ruins
include a stadium that once echoed to the roar of 15,000 spectators. When we wanted
to leave the bus was nowhere to be seen as it had been
relocated into a bus park. We were amazed at how it was extracted from all the
other coaches. Then after a three course lunch we set off for another wonderful
site.
The theatre of Aspendos which is one of the best preserved theatres in
the world. The acoustics are so well tuned that a coin dropped on stage can be
heard in the last top row. There was an unfortunate incident when an elderly
gent at the top of the theatre lost his footing and rolled down 3 steps. He
stopped for a second or two and then carried on rolling another 3 steps.
Fortunately a lady bravely grabbed him before he gathered momentum and
hurtled down the rest of the stone steps. We were very lucky on this trip to
have our very own resident Doctor, namely Patrick
Harney or PJ as he is known for short, who very
kindly examined the poor gentleman and found
nothing broken, just minor cuts and bruises. A
broken nose had been suspected at first but
nevertheless it must have been a very frightening
experience, all in all he was very lucky.
We went into the shop at the theatre, partly to see their wares because they had what looked like a lute for sale (it was an Oud) but partly to get out of the blazing sun for a few minutes. In the shop an amazing sight met out eyes. A two bar electric fire on and glowing. The shop assistant was sitting almost on top of it. “You’re cold?” I said “Yes.” she replied shivering. It all goes to show everything is relative This season is their spring in Turkey. To Us its our high summer.
I awoke remembering my nightmare. The sky was cloudy and dark, and it was raining, I had been
watching the rain rolling down the window.. I yanked the curtain back again, and the sky was
beautiful, brilliant blue and not a cloud in sight. There had
been various forecasts of the weather today and one of
course we had all listened to was the good old BBC. As
usual their forecast was totally naff thank goodness, the
weather stations of other countries had got it right , what a
surprise!The majority of our party set out by coach for the hour trip to Manavget as the original plan, and indeed we arrived in plenty of time and the roads were not busy, as they undoubtedly would have been in this country. Cameras and tripods were set up and refreshments were taken from the various waterside cafes. It was a totally delightful sight with river boats going up and down. Several of our party had stayed back by the hotel, and actually saw the eclipse from the beach or from the various balconies on the hotel. One of our party on the river bank, a gentleman from Surrey by the name of Wynne nearly got left behind in case he proved to be an unlucky being to be with for eclipse siting. This was his third attempt, the first one was clouded out in Cornwall; the second took place in Africa where Wynne was bitten by a local spider a day before “E” day and instead of viewing the spectacular sight in the heavens spent the day in hospital with a very swollen leg and a great deal of pain and suffering. So hopefully and indeed as came to pass 3rd Time Lucky!!!
We attracted quite a number of local people at our site, everyone was friendly, and they were very interested in our equipment and the eclipse glasses and joined us to wait and watch. Gradually the sun’s disc was swallowed up and it got darker and darker and colder and colder. The light was quite eerie and everyone went quiet. Then at approx. 11.39 am the eclipse reached totality and a spectacular sight appeared. The Corona stretched in great white streamers more at the top and bottom than the sides around the disk. There was no evidence of colour as had been seen in Austria, when the corona appeared to be moving and flashing in blues and yellow. Nevertheless it was a very awesome sight. The eclipse started at l0.53 and took approx. 46 mins. to reach totality. At this point fireworks were setoff by the local people and there was much cheering and excitement. The atmosphere was quite electric.
After 3.46 secs. approx. the diamond ring appeared, and this was even more spectacular than I had seen in Austria. The crowds applauded enthusiastically. Rays of sunlight stretched out everywhere and gradually more and more of the Sun.'s disk appeared. They say that every eclipse is different. Well this one was certainly different from the one I had seen before, but nevertheless totally beautiful and well worth all the travelling to witness. Roll on China in 4 years time!!!!
We gradually packed up our equipment and found our way to the restaurant by the waterfront to partake of a very excellent lunch. What a very wonderful way to spend a day.
We eventually set off in the afternoon for the waterfalls a Manavget, where the melted snows rush down from the mountains and meet in a boiling frenzy and join other tributaries in a fierce battle to get going on their journey downhill. A very impressive site but not a spot you would want to fall into. You certainly would take after “Clementine” if you lost your footing here. We passed a very pleasant afternoon here gazing into the waters and seeing the local people cooking their pancakes on their outdoor hot plates and then filling them with various sweet concoctions, they all looked very delicious, but most of us were still too full of lunch to indulge.
We eventually got back on the coach and set
off again. Our guide Engin did actually admit to us that he had mistaken the name of our tour and what
turned out to be an “Astronomical “ trip should have been a “Gastronomical” trip instead. Still with all the
delicacies and 3 meals a day it seems to encompass both words to me.
On the way back to our hotel we stopped to visit a jewellery factory and showrooms, and we had our first serious experience of the Turkish hard sell approach, as all Turkish salespeople we later learnt, adopt. We had been pestered up till now unrelentingly by people selling fancy goods in the name of hand made jewellery, ornaments, scarves, guide books by the ton, endless postcards, book marks, lucky blue eyes, you name it they had made it, everywhere the coach happened to stop on our journey up till now. But nothing had prepared us for the jewellery episode. After showing us around the workrooms and wonderful displays of exquisite and mind blowingly expensive gear they seemed to separate as many couples as they could into separate rooms with one or two sales persons. Del Boy or should I say Sir Del Boy now, had nothing on this mob. They used every trick in the book to convince you that life would not be worth living without a £3,000 necklace strung round you scrawny neck. I looked ridiculous in this beautiful many jewelled appendage. I had already coughed up for some earrings and a watch for Richard so this extra expense would have been bad. So in order for them to remove the necklace and convince them I was not interested I began to bargain. The cost of the said necklace came down remarkably after several ofers to £800. I said no again at which point they said what would be the sum I might consider. I said £100 at which point they lost interest and admitted defeat. Engin came and fished us out at this point and outside Bob and Elaine had just escaped having had a similar experience.
blossom and one tree echoed to the sound of hundreds of
working bees collecting their harvest from the flowers.
Wonderful, everywhere in Turkey smells of this orange
blossom, we have certainly hit the right season, and what is
more pressed orange juice is available everywhere, very
sweet and much less acid that the orange juice out of a carton
from some super market at home. Indeed, I shall have
Vitamin C poisoning by the time I go home. What a way to
go!The rock caves are very interesting and there are also goats everywhere. All the goats seem to have long black silky hair in Turkey, very gentle creatures. The theatre is impressive but the place is crawling with enterprising school children who have bunches of what look like herbs in their hands. They approach and give you a stem or two. Then you realise that they require payment. At this point empty pockets are pulled out and they take back their wares. One youngster did in the end give one lady a sprig for free because he liked her. A goat thought our sprig was delicious!
After our visit to the rock caves we went the Church of St Nicholas at Myra and then had a splendid lunch in a nearby restaurant. They certainly put on a fabulous spread in a short time for so many people, well in our case we were nearly 50.
Now it has become a tradition in the CAS to follow an eclipse with a boat trip. Well this time 24 hours later we made our way by coach to Kekova. Our driver, Osman, had to turn the coach in a very short space and avoided driving an end of the coach over the harbour wharf. The ‘Italian Job’ drivers had better look out!
There we boarded a boat in the harbour to see
the sunken city and the caves. As we sailed along Engin
clued us up with the history. The sea in this part of the
world is a wonderful rich blue and is so clear you can
see everything on the bottom. The scenery was
glorious. We slowly sailed by the coastline picking out
sunken jetties and buildings and the outline of many
houses, even wells could be seen. Apparently an
earthquake caused the upheaval and the sea claimed the
city some 2000 years ago.
The boat trip was very smooth and took approx.
one hour and we eventually landed on the island of
Kekova. On top of the rocky island there was a castle
and some rock tombs. The path up to these was very steep and a few of the more sensible ladies “what tea”
decided that rock climbing on a boiling hot
afternoon was not for them, when in the harbour
there was a perfectly wonderful cafe set out with
umbrellas to frequent. So they immediately made
their way to the waterfront and there partook of
several delicious cups of cappuccino coffee in the
course of the next two hours of so, and watched
the snorkelers in the harbour and the many
sponges wafting backwards and forwards in the
clear blue water. Absolutely delightful. Eventually
the more adventurous came back down the hill and
joined us so the cafe did a roaring trade all
afternoon. There was one tomb actually in the
harbour so we could look at that and not miss too
much.
We then once more returned to the coach by way of the boat and that journey was just as smooth and interesting. Altogether a very pleasant day and well worth making a very early start for. No pain no gain as they say.
The waterfalls at Salalesi were very impressive and apart from a very long drop the water formed a huge curtain which you could go behind for a quick refreshing shower. There were many frogs and fish to see in the surrounding waters. After a very delightful hour or so we returned to Antalya for a free afternoon, that is about 3 hours, after which time the coach arranged to pick us up.
We had lunch in one of the many pavement restaurants with huge umbrella coverings. This proved to
very entertaining watching the world go by. We watched a shoe shine man watching one of his customers
polishing his shoes with his equipment. Afterwards we wandered into the nearby shopping arcade and
upstairs found heaven. There was one floor with
ALL the shops devoted to musical instruments etc.
About 20 music shops, selling every guitar you
could think of, keyboards, drums, amplifiers, you
name it they had it. This place makes Cardiff look
like a real backwater. Anyway, we eventually tore
ourselves away and wandered down the back
streets, and found the market. What a market,
there was about 5 whole long streets with stalls
spread out with every vegetable and fruit you can
name, and bag upon bag of spices, cheeses, dried
fruit, nuts and more fruit. What a wonderful sight.
We purchased what we could carry home but
wished we had our own jumbo jet.
It all too soon was time to get back on the coach and return to the hotel to pack up our stuff for the move to our new hotel tomorrow.
We carried on along the
mountain road until we came to
Solda lake where we stopped for
a break. The water was crystal
clear and perfectly still as there
was no wind. The mountain
scenery was reflected in the clear
water, and everyone took photos
it was so beautiful. As well as the
mountains the fleecy clouds were
reflected in the water making it
that much more interesting. We
took the opportunity before
leaving to take the group CAS
photo. But where’s Wynne? He
was found paddling in the lake! A
few hundred feet below.
Nearing midday we
arrived at a carpet factory and showrooms. We sat down to a magnificent 3 course meal provided freely by
the carpet manufacturers, all very nice. Then we were shown into the carpet workrooms. It was very
interesting as we were given the complete story of the silk worms that go to make some of the fabulous
carpets we were later to see. We were shown the various processes and preparation in the making of the
wools used in the carpet making, and clutching our silk worm cocoons we made our way into the carpet
weaving area, where perhaps 3 young girls sit for 6 days a week, 8 hours a day weaving by hand these
carpets and rugs. They apparently are allowed to have 10 minutes an hour break to uncross their eyes and
backs I should think. The average carpet takes between one and a half to 2 years to make, so you would
have to like your work mates. Talk about slave labour. By the time these girls are about 20 their eyesight is
ruined so they are no use.
What a life.
Then came the hands on for the salesmen. We were all taken into a massive room lined with beautiful carpets and rugs of all shapes and colours, and seated on the benches edging the room. Next we were give tea and juice to drink. Very pleasant. Then they started on the showing of the carpets, throwing them up and letting them fall, very impressive. In the end there must have been 200 carpets and rugs scattered in front of us. Next we were approached by the salesmen who seemed to swarm through the doors, and gradually they herded us off into separate rooms to show us exactly what we would like. This process went on for so long and the word No does not figure in the average Turkish persons head. On and on they tried until in the end I felt quite giddy and indeed a little desperate. I crashed out of the room and tried to find the entrance, but it was not easy it was like a maze of rooms. After a while I found the stairs and ran down them to the safety of the great outdoors and the warm spring sunshine. What a relief, never mind what had happened to Richard, but I knew he is more logical than me and would just say No in his own way.
With feelings of great relief we set out once more on our journey to the next hotel “Derici” at Kusadasi. We were lucky in that we had a room overlooking the sea and the harbour where the cruise liners come and go. In fact when we awoke the next morning a liner had moored overnight. There was also a castle set on a rocky outcrop overlooking the sea that we could observe through binoculars from the bedroom window. We also had a very nice balcony to rest our weary bones. Also this hotel had a superior facility in the shape of a plug for the bath, at least I could have a proper soak.
There were a couple of drawbacks to this hotel, the water did not appear at first to be too hot and there were several leaks from bathroom taps and the like. Also one very bad drawback occurred in the form of the volume of the suction on the toilet bowl when the plug was pulled. It quite took your breath away and caused more than a little panic among some. Indeed one poor unfortunate to give him a name , Bob Biss, actually leant over the bowl with his glasses poised on his nose and proceeded to pull the flush. At the precise second the suction occurred Bobs glasses fell off his nose and entered the bowl. Unfortunately gravity took over with a rush and all was lost. He had to walk around in a complete fog for the rest of the holiday. I offered him one of my contact lenses but he said he would manage.
Set out for Ephesus the roman ruins that are the
largest ruins in the country. In fact it is so big that the guide
took us on a tour from one end to the next for one and a half
hours. It was very hot but well worth seeing and Engin
explained it very well. Unfortunately, by this time I had seen
so many ruins I felt that I was in ruins as well so I was more
interested in the livestock which became apparent if you
stayed still and in one place long enough. Namely lizards and
tortoises. And believe me this particular tortoise seemed to
have wheels attached to his legs he was moving so fast.Anyway for the more intellectual of our party this was well worth seeing and eventually we set off again and were taken to the House of the Virgin Mary. A beautiful little church where she spent her last days. Very moving and we were able to partake of the holy spring water flowing from a fountain just below the church.
We had lunch in yet another of Engin’s store of wonderful restaurants and were then take to a leather factory and showroom. This time I was ready for them, I was not going to be browbeaten by anyone. No Sir. Anyway some chickened out altogether and stayed outside in the beautiful sunshine, but most gathered around in the seating around a catwalk and were once again served tea and juice.
After a while the lights came on and a model in a beautiful leather jacket stepped into view and walked the catwalk looking the part. Then another and the coats and jackets were just wonderful. A young handsome man also joined them and showed off his goods. Very impressive to the sound of loud and cheery music.
Suddenly one of the girls grabbed the hand of a man from the audience, Michael Dowden, and swept him up on to the cat walk and marched him behind where they were changing, I thought they were going to usher him into a room to sell, but was not to be. They dressed him up in a red coat and a hat that would have done the Mad Hatter proud and paraded him onto the catwalk where he gave a very passable performance of a male model. Suddenly the male model grabbed my hand and swept me along to the changing room behind the scenes. I was dressed in a beautifully soft black leather full length coat and paraded out onto the cat walk. I was so shocked I laughed my head off and set out to enjoy my one and only introduction to modelling and catwalks, thus proving its never too late to walk the boards.
After all the fun and needless to say raucous laughter, we were taken into the showrooms amidst hundreds of beautiful leather coats and jacket of all colours and shapes and sizes for men and woman. Wow, we were told that it would not be a had sell line, and indeed they didn’t overdo it. But I came away with a lovely leather coat I had only ever dreamt of, as Richard kindly offered to buy. I shall wear it and think of Turkey and our very lovely holiday.
Went early by coach to visit the ancient
city of Didyma with its theatre. Engin took his
musical instrument a SAZ and played in the
theatre for us, he is very gifted and played some
very pretty tunes. Unfortunately, before going
into the theatre I had slid off a rock when
negotiating some steps and dug a hole in my leg.
Of course the blood somewhat spurted
everywhere. I was a little shaken and tried to stem
the flow as best I could. Everyone had
disappeared in the directions of the theatre so I
looked around for help. Fortunately Richard
appeared then and helped me back to the coach
where fortunately the driver Osman was still there
and he helped clean up with some of the lemon astringent used for our hands on the coach each day. That
seemed to do the trick and wearing an enormous plaster we sealed off the wound. I then hobbled over to the
rest of the party. I had taken my travel guitar with me on the holiday to keep practising, and indeed I had
managed about half an hour each day, so I was quite pleased. I tried to play a couple of tunes but the actual
guitar is not full size so the sound from it is very subdued, but it was fun.To add to my further troubles that day I managed to attract a large horse fly to eat half my other leg so I looked an absolute mess by the time the bites had swollen up and the bruise had come out on the wounded leg. The joys of the summer time wherever you go.
After lunch we went to look at the shops and bargain for a couple of items. Which was very enjoyable, and at last we found some Turkish delight. It wasn’t on display that many times in the places we had been. But we managed to buy quite a considerable amount for all our friends. By now it was raining and this was the only rain we had actually seen since the first day we got here. We returned to our hotel and packed up all our stuff ready for a very early start the next morning. In the evening we sat around talking to all our friends and the friends we had made on this wonderful holiday, as a said before, roll on the next eclipse!
Jackie Rudd NOTE: This page is also available as a .pdf document "JackieRudd.pdf".