Turkey Tour 2006
Antalya
(Taurus Mountains, Perge, Manavgat, Side)

Taurus Mountains

Gozleme Maker

We left Pamukkale and drove through the rugged Taurus Mountains on our way to Antalya. We stopped for lunch at a small roadside restaurant and watched this woman prepare guzleme for our meal. She rolled the dough very thin, using a broomstick. When it was just the right thickness, she added a stuffing of beyaz penir, spinach and grated boiled potato, folded it over and cooked it on the surface of a domed oven. Her husband, a professional wrestler who owned much of the surrounding land, made us fresh ayran from yogurt and water and a simple salad of tomatoes and cucumber. He danced and sang as he brought our meal to the tables.

Perge

Fountain

Along the marble road to this fountain in Perge were beautiful pools. The road had ruts worn into it by chariot traffic. The ruts are the same distance apart as modern railways, the width of two horse’s rumps. We saw the well-preserved baths and could see how the four different sections were used.

Aquaduct

Our driver Mustafa managed to maneuver our 26-seat coach into a u-turn on the narrow one lane road by
these aqueducts. The back of the bus was over the river, the front over a drop off into the field, but he managed with ease.

Baths

Lunch

We ate fresh bream at this restaurant on an eddy in the river. From here, we went on to Aspendos, where the magnificent theater is in such good shape that it is used today for concerts.

 

 

 

.

Gypsy Vendor

Photo by
Wendi Crabill (Felson) 67

Mark's Impressive New Hat

Mark Fortune 65 asleep on the coach wearing the hat he bought in Perge.

Photo by
Wendi Crabill (Felson) 67

Manavgat

Manavgat Waterfall

Side

Old and New

We were surprised to see someone parasailing over the
ruins of Side.

Again, we drove through the Taurus Mountains and were treated to a cool breeze at 6,200 feet. The coolness was a welcome relief to Turkey’s unseasonable heat. The weather had been unusually hot for this time of year. The mountains are rugged, and not much grows there beyond medicinal poppies, but we saw nomad tents with their flocks of black goats among the pine, cyprus and cedar trees. We also spotted Ataturk’s profile looking up from the mountain peaks.

Turkey Tour 2006