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Hamam’ing It Up
If you haven’t visited a hamam on a visit to Turkey then you have missed out on this centuries old tradition which the people of this colourful country still enjoy today. The truly traditional dome roofed hamams are fewer in number these days, simply because they date from times before most of the population had running water at home, but there is still a good deal of choice. Whether you go for a rustic hamam in a dingy building hidden down an alleyway where you are laid out on a marble floor, a more sumptuous spa where you have the luxury of a raised marble plinth, or any of the…
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COVID: How Quickly Things Change
All of a sudden our Turkish adventure is coming to an end and we are now travelling back to England on Monday. As we headed off to Alanya this week, news was breaking that the Turkish Government were about to announce increased COVID restrictions, although at that stage all of the talk surrounded weekend closures. When the announcement came, the measures were much more far reaching, with an indefinite closure of all bars and restaurants and heavily restricted opening times for all other outlets including food shops. At the same time an 8pm curfew comes in and, although the curfew, rather counter intuitively, doesn’t apply to tourists, it’s clear that…
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One Night In Alanya
For us one of the joys of long term travel is that “time to move on” feeling, when we pack up our backpacks, say goodbye to one place and prepare to explore the next one. As we’ve said before, it’s good to move on while you still love a place; that mixed feeling of wondering if you’re leaving too soon coupled with the excitement of a new destination, is a heady feeling and is one of the real buzzes of travel. And we’ve missed that feeling during our extended stay in Side. True, we have always wanted to experience a long stay in one place too, but it’s come earlier…
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Side & Manavgat: Mosques, History & The Modern World
Each day, the first haunting call from the muezzin sounds out around first light, greeting the day alongside the crowing of cockerels and, sometimes, the clanging of binmen emptying the communal rubbish bins in the street outside. We’ve been to places where the Muslim faith has seemed to be much stronger than it is in this part of Turkey, maybe westernisation has had an effect, but there is no doubting the evocative nature of the sound of the call to prayer, which still stirs us even after 8 weeks here. And with the daylight hours reducing, the muezzins’ calls become that bit more regular. Despite the apparent moderation of diligence…
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Manavgat, Markets & Moggies
Life is relaxed here in southern Turkey, and we feel lucky to have managed so much time away in this ravaged year. We continue to embrace our new surroundings. Tuesday 10th November marks something of a milestone for us as it’s our 50th day in Turkey, making it our longest continuous stretch outside the UK so far. As we prepare for our Tuesday and look out across the rooftops to the sea, the air is suddenly and unexpectedly filled with the sound of police sirens, not a common sound in Side, and we are a little puzzled as to what might be going on. A few minutes later, crossing the…
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Road Trips From Side
As we continue to enjoy our time in Side, the details surrounding our eventual return home don’t get any clearer, as our flight home has been cancelled again due to the second lockdown back home in England. The latest position is that we now have a flight booked for December 5th, but whether that actually happens is another matter altogether. Exploring our temporary home we collect a hire car for a few days and get out and about to widen our knowledge. Our first road trip takes us to the so called Green Canyon, up in the mountains closer to the source of the Manavgat river and at the far…
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Living In Side Turkey
As we approach the end of our sixth week in Turkey we also begin our second week in Side, with a few things moving on. October 29th is Republic Day here, Turkey’s biggest public holiday, commemorating the day in 1923 when Ataturk united this huge nation by declaring the existence of the Republic, although in reality the republic was effectively almost 3 years old by that date. In normal times, Republic Day is a nationwide festival with much celebration, but the Government has this year implemented COVID restrictions so the festivities are mostly restricted to draping of the Turkish flag over buildings and buses. Speaking of COVID, matters have changed…
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The Evolving History of Side
The storms and cooled nights of Cirali already seem a long way behind us: since arriving in Side we’ve stepped back into summer with unbroken sunshine and temperatures which have tipped 30 a couple of times but are consistently in the upper 20s. The crystal clear waters of the Mediterranean at East Beach are a constant draw. Several weeks ago, back in Selcuk, we commented to one of our new found friends, how much we love the fact that the ancient monuments are so accessible, providing the freedom to wander amongst the history rather than view it from the other side of a fence. His reply was that, with so…
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From Cirali To Side: Phase 2 Begins
Something different is stirring in Cirali tonight. Restaurant staff are standing in the lane looking at the sky, exchanging opinions. Children chatter excitedly. Tables and chairs are moved indoors, perspex partitions manoeuvred into place, logs thrown on to fires. Something is definitely stirring. Our final three days in Cirali have been punctuated with thunder storms, but it is clear that tonight’s storm, now looming in jet black clouds over the Taurus Mountains, is causing an extra stir amongst the villagers. They obviously know more than we do. What follows is a spectacular display of sheet and fork lightning, electric blue and stark white, from the flicker of a welder’s torch…
