A day trip to Alanya

 or the incredible adventures of Dick and Linda!

We had decided to take a trip into Alanya, again deciding not to use the tourist guided tours but travel by Dolmus, as directed by Bus Chef Ferdi who knows all of the buses in the area and stands at the central bus stop in Gündoğdu and will put you on the right bus and tell you the correct connections etc.  He told us to go by Manavgat and then from there to Alanya.

This we did and travelled to Alanya along the coastal D400 motorway, quite uneventful and thinking that we had the better part of the Turkish Riviera Coast, as here the Motorway runs directly along the beach and the hotels are built on the other side. This means that to get to the beach you must use underpasses to get there.

We saw the hill top fortifications topped by the citadel in the distance and knew we would soon be there!

We arrived at the Dolmus station and headed through the Bazaars to the harbour.

It is a very pretty one with the normal pirate fleet ready to whisk you off for a trip to the caves. 
We declined the many offers, as I had been reading up a bit about the old Christian settlements and the fortifications on the bluff overlooking the town and harbour.

We walked along the harbour passing the pretty fishing smacks, all painted in pastel colours.

We walked out to the end of the Harbour mole and took a few photographs of the Taurus Mountains, the Red Tower and the old town with its mighty fortifications and forts.

We then turned our attention to climbing up into the old town, passing through the entrance to the Red Fort . The Red Fort (Kizilkule) was built in 1226 to control the entrance to the old harbour, the old ship yard below was built in 1227 by the order of Sultan Alaaddin Keykubut, the red tower was built using building materials from various epochs.

and through winding twisting streets with there fragrant flowers, pomegranate and oranges trees galore.

Climbing further upwards 

Stop and have a look at the harbour through the lookout window 

you reach and pass through old bastion gate (Meyyit) and then up and out into a cobbled road.

There sat a couple of Gentlemen one in uniform, the other a man of portly stature in the shadow of the municipal offices. I enquired first in English and then in German as to the route to the top and the fort. The uniformed one said “Come, Chief speaks English” and led us into an office.  The Chief at once offered us a seat and searched out a tourist map of Alanya with all of the sights and the streets (or so we thought), saying there are two ways up to the fort, the easy way via the road, the shorter way via the old town which is very steep, but that way you get to see the old Byzantine church and other pre-Islamic sights. We selected to take the tough route, climbing ever upwards through old houses in a state of sorry repair and some very nice one repaired or being repaired.

 










We  found a road blocked by construction materials, but not to worry as just then the waggon, was offered to help us on our way up by a kindly Artisan.

I looked at the rails and though better of it!

We arrived at the church ruins.

These overlooking  the harbour right out into the Mediterranean and you can see why this site was selected. The church sits high on an outcrop and one false step and you are closer to heaven than you think!

 

The view through a large hole in the church wall with the view of the harbour and the Taurus MountainsWe left the church behind us and wandered along until the way became quite steep,

it became smaller and smaller and steeper and steeper until it was but scree and scrub. Linda was feeling a bit uneasy by this time and said she would prefer to go back to the church and find the proper way up. The cheek of that girl!

Linda’s Story

The cheek of that lad expecting me to climb almost vertically into scrub which could contain, well, almost anything (memories of a certain snake-ridden track in Greece and an encounter with a scorpion in Provence are still very vivid in my mind) and, let’s face it, Birkenstock sandals are definitely not suited to such terrain. The very kind Turkish man who had pointed out that this route to the top was “very steep” had definitely not been exaggerating. So down I scampered to the old church again, where I would await further instructions from our adventurer, Indiana Dick. It was at this point in time that I became aware of a certain pressure on my bladder and realised that I had not been to the loo since breakfast. Uneasy to have a piddle in public lest I be caught unawares, I walked around what we had previously joked about as being the Middle Ages equivalent of a car (or, in those days, donkey) park next to the church ruins, trying to work out what would be the best, visibly least accessible corner. I was just undoing my belt when I suddenly heard some voices nearby and quickly pulled down my t-shirt again. It turned out to be a man in uniform (my later experiences of this afternoon were to indicate, in retrospect, that he was, in fact, a policeman) with a Turkish woman, who was following his instructions as to how to get off the hillside. They both greeted me and he then came back up the path to ask what I was doing. As I do not know the Turkish for “I was about to have a quick pee when you showed up”, I replied in Turkish that I was waiting for my boyfriend. We had a bit of small talk before he set off down the hillside.

I had just taken a panoramic film of Alanya Bay from the wonderful vantage point when I heard Dick’s unmistakable voice calling out my name across the hillside. I looked up to see him at the top of the hill on the ramparts of ancient Alanya Castle. He indicated with his arms (now, this is my interpretation and I am definitely sticking to it) that I should go the right and ascend the hillside that way to join him at the top. I donned my cowboy hat (which is, in fact, my wonderful sun hat) and set off, following his instructions - being the obedient individual that I am. Indeed, he had pointed out the easiest route to the top, which I reached about 15 minutes later. The view of the bay from there was truly stunning: the climb was well worth it. I felt sure Dick would be waiting for me behind the ramparts, but as I started walking up the road there, he was nowhere to be seen. I walked further until I came to a fork in the road, where I thought, “Hmm, this could be difficult. If I choose one of these paths, Dick might be on the other and I will miss him. Better to hang around here”.  I then walked back to the viewpoint, opting to wait for him there. All to no avail, however. I asked a couple sitting there if they had maybe seen him. They both said “No”, but the young man joked that if I did not find him, his father was looking for a new wife and I could apply for the job. I replied that, depending on how long it took me to find Dick; I might consider a change ;-)

 I cannot deny that a certain feeling of uneasiness was beginning to settle in. If we truly HAD missed one another, I was without any water and, more importantly, any money as these were both in the rucksack which Dick was kindly carrying. After a further long wait, I decided that action was necessary:  I had to return to a point where we had both been to before in the hope that Dick would also return there. When we visit busy spots such as markets together, we usually arrange a rendezvous point lest we become separated. Today there had seemed no need to do this as we were hiking up a quiet hillside. Anyway, there were three options:  (1) The old church, (2) The Red Tower at the bottom of the hill or (3) The bus station where we had got off the bus in Alanya. I headed back down the hill to the old church: no Dick there. I then walked down the hill to the Red Tower, feeling all the while quietly confident that he would be there waiting. I reached the spot at about 4 p.m., aghast not to see him sitting there. Good grief. This wasn’t funny anymore! Instinct told me that the worst thing to do would be to move from there: if the two of us were on the move, we would more than likely never meet up. I stuck it out at the Red Tower until just after 5 p.m. It was dark so I decided I needed to call the hotel as this was the only way Dick and I would be able to communicate – via a third party.

How do you make a phone call when you have no money and don’t know the number? You pick a perfect stranger who has a smart phone! I was in real luck as the young waiter at the “Harbour Bar” spoke really good English. He had gone to Liverpool for a year, but come back after three months because “it was too cold”! He talked to his colleague, who likewise spoke very good English. I explained the situation and within a minute they had called the hotel. Dick was not, of course, there since time-wise that would have been impossible, but at least I was able to explain the situation to them. Ten minutes later the hotel called back, this time with their staff member on the line who is responsible for guest relations. She said I needed to make a decision: stay in Alanya or come back to the hotel. I told her I would call her back a little later if Dick did not show up. In the meantime, one of the two lovely Turkish waiters called over a traffic policeman on a motorbike whom he knew and informed him of my problem. He took a description of Dick, studied a photo of him that I have on my camera and then zoomed off to the bus station to see if Dick was there. He called the bar from the bus station to say that he had not found Dick. He had also checked the castle – just to be sure. I have to admit that this was the point where I began to feel a little panicky. Up until then I had been preoccupied with my problem (no money, no way to get back to the hotel), but now my thoughts were heading off in a completely different direction: had something happened to Dick????

As I continued to wait at the Red Tower, one of the waiters from the “Harbour Bar” came out with a bottle of mineral water for me, which I downed almost in one go – my first drink since my slurp of water on the bus that morning. The other waiter then brought out a chair for me to sit on. Such kindness! Now things were well and truly out of my hands as the police were on the case. A police car arrived with three surly officers in it. The waiters interpreted as the policemen spoke very little English and my Turkish was not up to this situation. I left the waiters, thanking them for their wonderful help and was whisked off to the central Alanya police station. On the way there I could distinctly hear a description of the “Englishman Richard Smith, 64 years of age, black leather ‘Chevrolet’ baseball cap, light grey shorts, black sandals, brown rucksack, blue glasses” being put out across the police radio to all mobile units. Despite the seriousness of the situation, I did have to have a little smile to myself at the ludicrousness of it all! The policeman joked that maybe Dick had gone off with a “Madame” to a hotel for the afternoon. The withering look I gave them at this quip forced an immediate apology from them all. I had to smile again at some traffic lights when one of the policemen wound down his window and gave an earful to a young man in the car beside us who had been using his mobile phone while driving. Doesn’t matter what country you are in: the problems are the same!

When we arrived sat the police station, I called the hotel to tell them that I was coming back to the hotel as I felt sure Dick and I would meet up there. The problem was that I had no money for a taxi. Ten minutes later the hotel called back to say that they were sending a car to pick me up and that this would take about an hour. Regrettably, there was still no sign of Dick either in Alanya or in the hotel. This was very worrying. Still, I know he is able to take care of himself just as he knows that I can take care of myself when abroad. I remained optimistic and thankfully accepted a policeman’s offer of a nice glass of tea. Ah, Turkish tea! It lifts the spirits and is always available in every doctor’s surgery, municipal office and crisis situation. Happily, ten minutes later the hotel called again to let the police know that Dick had arrived. What a relief! It was later to transpire that he had searched the rucksack to see if my purse was in there. He knew that I had put it in that morning in case I wanted to buy something in Alanya. Not finding it (which was impossible as I had it hidden in a secret pocket in the rucksack), he “knew” that I had it with me and, since I am the sort of resourceful lass who has travelled around Turkey on her own in the past, knew I would be able to make it back to the hotel on the bus on my own. This was a perfectly reasonable assumption – and would have been the case…if I’d had money! It must have been quite a shock for Dick when the hotel informed him upon his arrival there that I was in a police station without any money.

I passed the time in the police station observing various family crises being sorted out by the police and watching Turkish TV. TVs are everywhere! I was really in luck: there was a long interview in English with the leading actor of the series “Dexter”. It was funny to hear the policemen saying “Oh, Dexter! I love that series!”. So do I! Suddenly I was distracted by a Geordie voice – hooray! Dick had come along with the driver to pick me up. Let me tell you, it was wonderful to see him again. A warm embrace on our part upon our reunion caused all the policemen to look away as such shows of emotion are not often seen in public (except between members of the same sex). Who cares? We were both happy and relieved.

So thank you, policemen of the Central Police Station and the two helpful waiters of the “Harbour Bar” in Alanya. Your help and hospitality were greatly appreciated. “Türkiye seviyoruz – We love Turkey!”, I called to the policemen as we were driven  away. And everybody laughed.  Stuck in Turkey? Ask a policeman!

 

Ok! So that is how Linda saw it, but now!

The truth (from my point of view)

After the not so fleet of foot Linda had left the mountain goat, to return to the church. I then climbed at times using the old methods learnt 51 years ago when climbing on the Wanney crags, Scarefell and at Dirtpot, three for the rock and one free, that is only move one limb at a time, so slowly but surely I climbed up through the shrubs and rocks, stopping at times to admire the view,

 

The shrubs in the main oregano, wild thyme and bushes with little red berries (I haven’t a clue what they are), I once took a pause to watch a tortoise edging its way out of my path, if the truth be known it was more than likely moving quicker than I.

The last part up to the parapet railing was almost vertical and with a last effort I was up, I noticed a steel set of steps and decided to use these to reach the road, at the top I was confronted with a padlocked gate, but after having climbed the good part of vertical 100mtrs it was nothing for me to clamber over this paltry obstacle.

It is many years since I have done anything so exhilarating (or fool hardy), but the adrenalin rush and the sense of achievement is absolutely fantastic.

I then walked to the fort (Arap Evliyasi) took a couple of photos and walked down the road until I saw Linda at the church below, I shouted down to catch her attention (I am said to have a voice like a fog horn, it can be useful at times) I shouted and indicated for her to go back to the minaret from where we had started our climb, I could see it and was sure she had understood, wrong, wrong, wrong!

She had thought that I said that she should come up using the easier path, but this still should have been OK as I was taking this route down to her, we should have met right? Wrong! The path up and down branched around the village school and yes you have got it she took the right hand path going up and I took the right hand path going down, we both took the right path but it was the wrong one in both cases.

The easy way down

I reached the point where we had started our climb to the Church and there still sitting in their positions on the bench seat were the uniformed chappie and the portly gentleman, I asked by symbols, signs and gesticulations if they had seen Linda and had she passed on the way down to the Red Tower, he put 5 fingers in the air, so I thinking that meant she was 5 minutes ahead,

I sauntered down to the base of the hill, passing the Red Tower (on reflection, I now believe he was telling me that it was a mere 5 minutes to the bottom).

On reaching the base I found no Linda (she has bought herself a cream coloured cowboy hat so is impossible to miss). I looked along the line of cafes thinking that she may have been having a drink. I thought she is not daft (others may not agree) if she was thinking logical, she would have retraced our route back to the Dolmus station, so this I did putting on a spurt, but all along the harbour caught  no sight of the Belfast Cowgirl. I reached the Bus station and no sign of Linda, I waited a few minutes and decided to check the rucksack, that I as the leader of this expedition, had been instructed to carry today.  Inside to my relief, no money wallet, no communal money kitty, I had my wallet in my pocket, so that to me meant we both had enough money to get back to the hotel. Being satisfied that we both had enough money, I once again retraced my footsteps through the Bazaar, to the harbour, along the harbour walk to the red tower, waited and once again walked along the row of cafes, checked the rucksack once again to satisfy myself that the money wallets had not slipped in to a corner, nothing, thus being completely satisfied that Linda had money I returned to the Dolmus station, and caught the next Dolmus to our hotel changing in Manavgat. This had been my fast day and I had not eaten for 24 hours and was looking forward to breaking my fast, or so thought I.

On arrival at the hotel, I passed the reception desk, and was walking along the traventined passage towards the lift to our room, when the reception desk clerk came running after me, Mr Smith, Mr Smith have you lost your wife? I replied I think not, I hope she is in our room getting ready for Dinner! No, No come with me, the head of the hotel guest service section (very helpful section, they do a fine job) came to meet me saying Mr Smith your wife is in the Police station in Alanya without any money, the Police have a search out for you, the whole of Alanya is out looking for you (great to be wanted isn’t it?). We have arranged a car to go and pick her up can you get your passports and travel with it to pick her up. I also took the opportunity to get into a bit more respectable attire.

 So it was into the hotel car and back the 60km to Alanya, I don’t think the driver was too happy as he was about to go off shift, but like all the tourist service is more than willing to help, the rest was quite uneventful covering the distance in about half the time it took the Dolmus as we didn’t stop every couple of Km to squeeze in a few more passengers. We arrived at the police station, I released Linda from Clink and brought a smile to the policemen’s faces with a parting comment of, can you keep her in overnight next time!

On returning to the hotel of course dinner was finished, but no matter, in this hotel you can feed 24 hours a day, there is a nice little self-service restaurant, and there was a chickpea soup, fresh bread, sautéed vegetables, rice and a fantastic spiced lamb and aubergine stew! They do take care of the guests here.

We went to our evening watering hole, the C&C cocktail bar to see if our friends were there, no, not there so Linda had a red wine and I had a beer and exhausted went to bed.

And that dear readers is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth!!!