Day 18 – Antalya Turkey

Antalya

Thursday, 3 October 2013

Morning tour to Termessos, a fantastic archeological site hidden in the mountains.

We were bused to the site and then had to trek up the mountain. Many of us weren’t prepared for the bracing mountain climate. 

But brilliant site with evidence of settlement from Neolithic, Hellenistic from time of Alexander and also Roman times.

Onto the Archeological museum of Antalya where we spent about an hour independently going through a collection that spanned prehistory to the Ottoman Empire. Not as impressive as the museums in Athens but certainly demonstrated the richness of the archeology in Turkey.

Antalya is situated in a bay which enjoys balmy weather all year round. The population has grown rapidly coinciding with the growth in tourism. There’s a long public beach that spans half the bay with cafés well spaced along it. 

It was interesting to see all these golden statues around – they are promoting the Golden Orange film awards which will take place soon.

After the tour we caught the free shuttle bus organised by the ship into the old city. We saw firsthand that tourism is indeed the main industry as we encountered many aggressive vendors and beautiful smelling spices.

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