part III - Termessos, Cirali

From Cappadocia we drove down to Antalya, where the main beach areas are located. According to viamichelin, this itinerary takes about 9 hours and I was bit worried about the long drive. I shouldn't have - although there aren't any motorways, the roads were generally in pretty good condition, and the scenery quite picturesque. There was practically no traffic in most of the roads we passed, and we even found a nice spot to have lunch along the way (a little after we passed Seydesehir, there's a big Petline gas station on the left side with a restaurant and market attached. We had the best - and cheapest - shish kebaps there)





Arriving in Antalya around 4 PM, we quickly decided to make a short stop in the ruins of Termessos before driving down to Cirali, where we would spend the night.

My friend J. strongly recommended we should visit this, and although I grumbled a lot about the steep climb, the view at the top is quite worth it. The theatre in particular is very impressive, and the rest of the grounds are extensive, so we ended up spending a couple of hours there.





From Antalya to Cirali (Olympos) it took us another hour and a half, which means we got there right on time for dinner. I had booked at the relaxing Canada Hotel, where Carrie and the rest of the staff made us feel so welcome. Dinner was by the pool, with so many delicious dishes I can't name them all.



Since we had arrived late that day, we thought we'd start quite early the next morning. After I'd seen Carrie's videos about the Caretta baby turtles hatching on the Cirali beach a few weeks earlier I knew I'd want to go take a look, even if the chances were slim. So we headed out for the beach at 6:30 AM, just in time to watch the sunrise too. Unfortunately we didn't see any baby turtles, but the sunrise was gorgeous, and the sea water was warmer than the temperature outside (I almost went in, but had forgot to pack a towel). The Cirali beach is beautiful, 3 km long and quite unspoiled. I noticed the tree house hotels along the beach, it looked like fun but probably not as comfortable.





After leaving the beach (and quickly buying a towel at the market) we drove to the Chimaera site, to see the eternal flames. It was quite early, and I think we probably woke the guard up, but it was already beginning to warm up. The climb up takes about 20 minutes and is a bit steep, but we eventually made it. The flames are fueled by natural gas vents on the rocky ground, and we have to be careful not to accidentally step on one.



We were quite starving by then, so we went back to the hotel and had breakfast (but first, a quick swim in the inviting swimming pool).



Before heading out to our next destination, there was time to relax for a bit in the comfortably hammocks in the garden. Ah, that was really nice ... I was sorry we didn't spend more time here, but for this trip we wanted to do so much, and there just wasn't enough time for all. Maybe next time, I'm quite sure we'll go back.





More photos:

Termessos
Canada Hotel
Cirali