Weather - Overcast, mild morning and sunny and warm in the afternoon
Accommodation - Best Western, Khan Hotel
A large part of our journey today was spent on the bus driving to the coastal town of Antalya and crossing over the Taurus Mountains which divide the Mediterranean coastal region from the Anatolian plains region where we have spent the past few days. The countryside changed from the flat Anatolian plains to becoming more heavily treed as we got closer to the coast with large areas of pine trees the higher we climbed.
The journey was quite isolated and there were very few villages or towns so we had our morning tea break at Tinaztepe which was a roadside petrol station, cafe and market place. Shortly after we reached the summit at 1825 metres.
The Taurus Mountains are enormous with the highest peak being about 3700 metres and it took a long time to reach the summit and then slowly descend to reach Antalya. The road was very good but we did see two accidents - one a car which had rolled over and a truck which had lost its load of computers and other white goods. The driver did not look happy!
On the Taurus Mountains we saw transient camps of nomadic people known as Yoruks who spend the long summer months in the cooler mountains tending their crops and animals.
We are seeing many crops being harvested and hundreds of farmers are working with their tractors and trailers transporting these crops. Some of the tractors were being driven along the side of the freeway. We passed different crops including large cotton farms and pomegranate plantations. Surprisingly bananas are also grown in the area but mostly in hot houses.
On reaching Antalya we had a late lunch at two o'clock overlooking the River Eurymedon and near the one of the best preserved Roman theatres at Aspendos. We visited this site after lunch and we were impressed with its size as we walked onto the large stage area and looked up to the surrounding seats which could accommodate up to 15000 people.
The theatre is in excellent condition considering it was built by the Greeks in approximately 160AD. We climbed the steep stairs and sat in various positions taking in the views. It was quite warm and we were pleased we weren't visiting the theatre in the heat of summer.
On the return to Antalya to our accommodation we visited a Roman aqueduct and the Roman Eurymedon Bridge.
At the aqueduct we had a thirst quenching pomegranate drink which was made freshly for us. Here's Carol, Lindsay, Anni, Dennis and Funda at one of the the pomegranate stalls alongside the aqueduct.
Antalya is popular tourist destination on the coast. It hosted the 2015 G20 summit and next year is hosting Expo 2016. Our group of thirteen is getting on very well and there is much chatter as we motor along the highways.
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