All Hail Turkey... Wait, What?

Wednesday’s whirlwind adventure was an interesting experience with a very interesting guide. The day started with a history of Turkey’s national hero, Ataturk, and the glorious revolution of the early 1920s. It really started to get fun when he started telling the ‘real truth’ about events that we all thought happened in Greece, but really, apparently happened in Turkey.

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Needless to say, the bus was exceedingly skeptical of his claims. Things got really interesting when he accused the Italians of stealing some precious artifacts and then said that the real Romans were from Romania. I don’t think he was aware of the fact that there was a group of rowdy Italians on this tour. When they started sarcastically snickering at one of his ‘real truth’ stories, the tour guide got A N G R Y. He yelled at us. He insulted us. It was bizarre. The bus sat in awkward silence until our next stop. Our guide eventually recovered and, for the rest of the trip, we were very careful to listen to all his stories and random ruminations with interest.

Although the day started off a bit rainy, it cleared and turned into a gorgeous day. We stopped at a small fishing village and hopped on a boat to go explore the sunken city. This is a city dating back to the Lyceans and settled several times after by different groups. However, an earthquake in the area split the rocky hillside where the city was built and most of it sunk under the sea. As we passed by the island that remains now, you can see just some of the remains that are still above the sea and follow them down until they plunge into the clear waters below. You can very easily make out the shapes of old structures that are now submerged under the water.

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As we headed to a hidden lagoon for a quick swim, we passed by a Greek sailboat. Our guide took this opportunity to wax lyrical about how the Greeks and Turks are all brothers and sisters. Turkey has opened the gates! Relations are improving! Even with the Armenians! We are all one! It is all getting better! I had to smile, as it warmed my heart just a little after I spent the morning listening to a very different version of history than I had learned and feeling like some kind of accidental undercover agent.

The other very interesting stop was at the Kings Tomb in Demre. Unfortunately, because our guide just COULD NOT shut up for 10 seconds (he was very talkative…) we got there quite late; right before sunset so I couldn’t take many good pictures. In fact, the site was closed for the day but they opened specifically for us, which was actually kind of awesome because then it was only the few of us there exploring the tombs and the ancient Hellenic amphitheater. Still, we were pretty annoyed with our guide who could have told one less ‘real truth’ story and gotten us to the tomb with a little more light left in the day. Nevertheless, I enjoyed climbing around on the rocks and in the theatre and it was a spectacular place to watch the sunset.

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All in all, the Antalya region of Turkey is fantastically beautiful. And I love visiting a place with such an interesting and long history. The hotel has been a little ridiculous though I can’t complain about unlimited FREE food and drink. I will miss the fact that I can go for a run, cool off with a splash down in the sea, and then retire to a lounge chair with a (free!) Turkish coffee.

But I am happy to be leaving. Not just because it’s been two weeks and I miss being home, but also because sometimes things were just weird here. Not just with the crazy angry tour guide (which, I heard later, the Italians had some choice words for!) but also, a couple times when I was on my own, I was pressed awfully hard about my background by the local (male, of course) hotel staff. So, all I have left is a 5:15am shuttle, followed by three flights, and many hours of travel before I’m back home squishing my puppy and giving Calli banana chips. I can’t wait.

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