Side

Side is a name that tempts me to entitle this posting Sunday in Side, A Side Trip, or any of a number of puns. Ok, we'll leave it alone. Side would be the furthest east along the coast I would go in Turkey. There is more than half of Turkey beyond Side, but it's gets harder to tour as you head east, and even dangerous near the borders with Iran and Syria due to insurgencies. So no encounters with Lake Van cats on this trip unfortunately.

I slept well thanks to the fan. The jeans I washed the evening before were almost dry so I decided I would wash my underwear next. There seemed to be only a few other guests in the Pansyon. Seemed a slow season for Turkish tourism. R the British journalist, from Kaş, said they didn't advertise enough. This time I found the otogar where I bought my onward ticket for Tuesday night. The bus to Side wasn't full, so it cruised slowly in an attempt to pick up more passengers along the way. I din't know why they bothered to seat passengers by allocated places when there were so many free. We got dropped off in Manavgat, inland from Side. Sometimes they don't tell you that you have to change buses. There I caught a dolmuş towards the coast. I didn't know which direction the beach was, but I spotted some Swiss (I think) tourists and I figured that I just needed to follow them. And so it was.

I found myself at the eastern end of a long beach. The beach was lined with umbrellas and recliners galore. There were lots of sunseekers here. I made towards the town in the distance. At one place I made the mistake of following a path up some old walls out of curiosity and then finding no way back down to the beach except by climbing down a difficult wall. I was relieved when I reached the sand. Whew, I could have been hurt, I thought. After that hard work, I was soaked in sweat and deserved a beer, so I found a beachfront bar. A pleasant breeze wafted through and cooled me down. A couple of Turkish girls, probably family, were playing. Prices were also listed in Deutschmarks, sometimes in USD too, which tells you something about the clientele.

This hawker boat is serving balık (fish), köfte, and ekmek (bread). Side has ancient Roman ruins and a Temple of Apollo which Anthony is supposed to have given to Cleopatra. I didn't feel like visiting another ruin so I caught a dolmuş back to Manavgat. I found lunch in a restaurant opposite the otogar. Unfortunately I made the mistake of picking a dish from those ready to eat on display that was made from liver. To compound that mistake, it came with a fierce tasting green as a salad. Oh well, I suppose they were healthy for me.

Back in Antalya I spent the rest of the day wandering around. These are some ancient buildings within the city.

Locals feeding the ducks in the gardens.

The marina in the harbour.

I asked the Pansyon owner about trips to Olimpos but the agency trip only went once a week, on Wednesday, too late for me. So I would have to do that trip myself. With that done, I thought, I can end the Mediterranean Turkey segment of my holiday. I was getting tired of sea and sand anyway.


The garden was lovely to sit in while writing postcards in the evening breeze.