Backdating to Antalya

Antalya is a city of over 2 million people which reaches over 3 million in the summer season as it is the exit and entry point for those people wanting a Mediterranean holiday. One look at the crowded beaches lining the coastline was enough to put me off. High rise tourist hotels, umbrella and beach loungers covered the sand. All types of pleasure craft and leisure craft boats lined the beach front as well.

The city was founded in 158!BC It was a regular staging post for the Crusaders on their way to the holy lands. In the 1930s control was handed to the Ottomans and remained with them until it was occupied by Italy in 1919 and 3 years later handed back to the Turkish people. We drove round the inner city and as said previously went out on a boat from the city looking back at the old Roman wall that protected the Roman people from invasion thousands of years ago. Our first stop was to look at a beautiful waterfall that cascaded down the cliffs into the sea. Next stop was - yes, you guesssed it - another museum.. There was a room for children to see how life was in roman and Ottoman villages and it was the first I'd seen where children could understand the history surrounding them. We had been surrounded many times by bus loads of children and I wondered many times what they were taking in and how good their pre-visits were. There was a hall for Greek Gods and the most enormous marble statues. Even one of Alexander the Great. At least I felt I knew a little.

Bill climbed up to the Chimaera at Olympos where there occurs an extraordinary natural phenomenon of belching small flames which flicker among the rocks. Apparently the result of leaking methene gas. The guide book tells me this is thought to be the origin of the Greek myth of the Chimaera, the fire breathing monster with a lion's head, goat's body and serpent's tail that was finally destroyed by Bellerophon.

We wandered along to the pebbly beach and joined hundreds of tourists dropped off from a daily sightseeing trip to visit the ancient ruins here.

Our next destination was Pamukkale where we arrived early in the evening and were able to wander over these magical terraces. They have been formed by limestone laden hot springs cascading and forming terraces and stalacitites and potholes . The water is reputed to be beneficial to ones health. Surrounding these terraces was another Roman ruin called Hierapolis. This ruin spread over 2 km. It was levelled by an earthquake in AD17 but rebuilt in the 2 and 3 century. Once again you are reminded of an enormous civilisation that lived so long ago.