On The Road

I left Selcuk after one last real coffee, which is hard to come by in the land of tea and Nescafe, at the Swiss cafe.

I came across some red faced cyclist making their way up a hill.

Wind energy seems to catch on in Turkey. No wonder considering the fuel price here.

I stopped for lunch at shore of beautiful lake Bafa

More ruins could be seen on the side of the road.

Another stop, another nice view

Shortly before reaching my destination for the day, the lake shore town of Koeycegiz, I saw I sign for Kaunos. Somehow that name sounded familiar and I decided at the spur of the moment to turn right. The road was leading me past some citrus plantations

around lake Koeycegiz. The views after every turn kept getting better and better.

I finally came across a nice spot near the thermal bath that looked like an ideal camp site and I decided to stop and pitch my tent. With the chores out of the way I went for a soak in the 39C thermal bath. With an Efus beer in hand this is a nice way to end a day.

The view from my camp site was great.

I wasn’t planning on camping that night and didn’t bring much food. As I was sitting in front of my tent, eating bread and cheese and having another beer, a German Norwegian couple in their 70s took pity on me and invited me for dinner. They have been coming to Turkey and this particular place for 23 years and were full of useful information. The next morning I was given some oranges for breakfast by another couple. Not a bad way to spend a night!

I made my way to the end of the road to Kaunos. After Pergamum and Ephesus I wasn’t that interested in actually seeing Kaunos. I came to see the Lycian tombs, cut into the rocks nearby, which can be seen from the road. These particular tombs are from the 4th to 3rd century B.C. One can see fancy tombs with temple facades and the pigeon hole style for those not so well off.

I had to work my way back around the lake from Kaunos and so got to enjoy it all over. Just past Kaunos I got a lovely view of the river delta.

I almost hit this suicidal turtle who tried to cross the road. Saved the little bugger.

I had lunch at a lake side restaurant in laid back Koeycegiz.

Getting fuel in Turkey is always interesting. First, you’ll never run out. There are gas stations everywhere and a lot of them are huge enterprises with attached mini markets. At around EUR 1.50 fuel is the most expensive I have seen and it pays to look around as there can be quite a difference between stations. However, the price on the road sign doesn’t always agree with what’s on the pump. The stars aligned at this station. As soon as I unmounted my tank was refueled by an assistant while a female assistant offered my some lemon scented hand cleaner, the same you get after each meal here. She also offered me some tea with my fuel. Now that’s service. When I paid with my credit card I noticed the eclectic collection of payment processing machines. There must be many competing systems here but my cashier handled the transaction with a big smile and without a glitch.

Shortly later I finally figured out what the water that is running out of pipes along the road is for. I had seen this many times already but could never make sense of it. It’s a Turkish car wash. I’m still a little puzzled though. The water always runs and it seems to be an incredible waste of water.

After getting stuck in a traffic jam on a bridge, due to a May day celebration, I reached the coast again. Once again nice views of the Aegean see.

The coastal road took me straight to Kas. I have dreaded this part of the trip. In my imagination the coast is packed with concrete bunker hotels filled with Speedo clad all inclusive European drunk tourists. Well, that part is still to come but a guy I met in Selcuk recommended Kas and I liked what I saw. I pitched my tent next to an Austrian couple, which came the long way up from Tanzania on their bikes.

They told me of the cold weather ahead and so I’ve settle in for a few days, enjoying the good life, hoping things warm up a bit in the Northeast.

A nice sun halo could be seen on the day of my arrival.

P.S.: The much dreaded Speedo man did make an appearance.