Yesterday morning we had our eye doctor appointments here in Antalya.
Turkey is known as one of the cheaper places in the world to have corrective eye surgery performed. They even have a (normally) booming medical tourism industry related to that fact. But in trying to research it, I had a really difficult time coming up with actual prices. We figured that since we are already here, we would look into doing away with our glasses!
Only 30 kms (18 miles) from our apartment in Antalya is the ancient city of Termessos. But while Antalya is virtually at sea level, the city of Termessos was built in the mountains, 3,000' above.
I had done some research and seen some photos, and the site looked spectacular. Despite it being so close to Antalya, it is a fairly quiet ruins site because it's not accessible to the masses. Most people drive from the entrance gate to the parking area, and even then it is a fairly steep 1 km (.6 miles) hike to actually get to the ruins.
We were out of the apartment in Finike at about 10:30am and headed for the big city of Antalya (pop 1,000,000). But we didn't want to arrive in Antalya until mid afternoon, so we planned to do some sightseeing along the way.
First, we headed towards the little village of Karaoz, with the thought of maybe doing some more Lycian Way hiking. But the weather was still not great and there was a 60% chance of rain. Besides, with all the rain we had three days prior to that, the trails would likely be pretty muddy.
Our weekend curfew was over yesterday morning, but we woke up to more rain. The forecast called for a break in the showers after lunch, so as soon as that break occurred, we put on our raincoats and headed out the door!
I carry a set of exercise bands with me, and between pushups and other exercises I managed to get some activity in during our almost three days stuck in the apartment. But getting out for some fresh air and a fast paced walk really felt great.
Pouring rain here all day yesterday. Not nice being cooped up due to the weekend quarantine here in Turkey, but it does make it a little more bearable knowing that we likely wouldn't have been outside anyhow. Man, did it pour buckets!
So, I spent a lot of time on the computer yesterday.
We knew when we made the decision that a trip to Tanzania was going to be expensive. It's one of those countries where tourists pay far more than locals to do just about anything.
Seems that anything the government in any country touches, they make it difficult. It's either complicated... or it's confusing.
We need to have tourist visas in order to visit Tanzania. It's really just a money grab, because I haven't read of anybody being turned down for any reason. As Canadian citizens, we qualify for Visa on Arrival. It's a fairly simply system whereby you get off the plane and fill out some forms and maybe stand in lines for two hours while you get your visa processed. Then you pay your $50 USD, get your passport stamped, and away you go.
Not an emergency though... don't worry! Full story below.
Yesterday was an interesting day. We had to get a legal file printed off and mailed back to Canada. Just some stuff related to Ruth's father's estate. So we had to find somewhere to do that. I thought about a library, and a computer store, or an internet cafe but couldn't find any decent looking options using google maps in the town we are in. Guaranteed there would be somewhere, but instead we chose to drive a half an hour to the larger town of Kumluca.
Well I guess now that we have confirmed that we are going to climb Kilimanjaro, we need to stay in shape! Or hopefully get in better shape!
We've been making an effort though... doing regular hiking and walking, and whenever possible involving some climbing. So yesterday we did a fairly short 1,200' climb to another ruins site. I know... you're probably getting tired of ruins sites.
We got ourselves settled into our new apartment for the week. It's okay, except that it has no WiFi, and the cooking supplies are not the best. Ruth showed me one of the fry pans, and I said "you wouldn't use that in your own house" so why are they supplying us with it? But, that's what you get for $20 a night!
And we realize that. But in looking at more expensive places, you really need to spend double that and even then you have to be selective. The problem is that many Airbnb rentals are used by people on holiday, and generally people on holiday eat in restaurants.
Tuesday was a travel day, so the blog post was a little late. If you missed it, you can read it here...
https://www.travelwithkevinandruth.com/2020/12/more-beautiful-turkish-scenery.html
We were only going from Kaş to Finike, a distance of about 75 kms (47 miles). Slow going on some curvy roads though, so we figured maybe an hour and a half drive.
