... click any photo to enlarge....... 20 best of Turkey 2011 Google Photo Album link
1330 photos (click) My 4th time in Turkey, now 2 weeks on Turquoise coast with the UK Exodus group,... the first week cycling , the second (with a different group) is a so-called "multi activity" with cycling, kayaking, scuba diving, and paragliding (not likely). I did the Nepal trip with Exodus, and thought they were pretty good. There's a direct YYZ-Istanbul flight, ... nice. I have a hunch the average age of participants will be half of mine.
Exodus website week 1(click) Exodus website week 2(click)
Little points in the "travel agent " vein:
1.... Turkish Airlines was excellent in every way.... on a par with Air France
2.... The Transfers4Cheap worked well, although Id imagined all sorts of problems (...silly me).
3.... There was a Exodus employee "Ruth" as a guest, who was checking things out, I suppose.
4.... Although only 4 people on MTI, it was OK, ... next time Id check the number before committing.
5.... MoHo the guide was pining for "Best Guide" in the world, but I knew it was Kumar of my Nepal/Nov2010 that won in 2010.
6.... Abseiling(=repelling, level 3) was "blow your socks off" exhilarating (still cant believe it), whereas other stuff was really relatively tame. Scuba was OK, but dull compared to Caribbean.
7.... The only complaint (I suppose) was the guide shouldnt say f**king, as a routine adjective.
Executive Summary:
Exceptional value … two action filled weeks $1850, small group of 4 first week, 16 second week, ...because of vanning we cherry pick high altitude (>1000m) routes, and it's not too hot. Canyoning, with repelling 50M down waterfall, was clearly the highlight. Observation: ...... the English group, seemed to do a lot of macho-type boasting about how much (alcohol, lots) they could drink till 2:00-3:00 am, then show up the next day, ... typical for college kids I suppose, but when you're aged say 30-60, seemed strange (maybe even pathetic). We ate dinner at 9pm, and didn't finish till 11:30 pm, ... late for me. The group was very mixed,..... a farmer(35), a bank teller(23), a lift truck driver, a UPS driver, ....I liked them all... whereas a Canadian equivalent group would more likely be lawyers, doctors, people with $100+K incomes.
June 19 Sunday, our last day, and mountain-bike cycling, ... turned out quite well, although there was a long transfer to get there. It was about 50% off-road, and 70% downhill. There was a lot of filming by a professional Turkish TV photographer, ... not sure what that was all about. Overall the trip far exceeded my expectations.
June 18 Friday, the free or rest day, so tried paragliding at 80GBP for a roughly 30 min session,... the pilot said the weather was “perfect”, but I think every day is near perfect anyway. There were only two of us who chose to do so, picked us up at hotel at 10 am and we were done by noon, see video (click) taken with Flip camera Sandy gave me a couple years ago. In the afternoon did a Turkish bath with four others, took 3.5 hours, ...pretty much just like I expected.
June 17 Friday, absolutely outstanding day, "canyoning" (and I wasn't too sure what it meant) means repelling 3 different locations down a waterfall, max was 50m (=12 story building)in a minor waterfall... exhilarating, and no chance to back out, took about 8 hours overall .. and I was clearly fatigued at the end. As the oldest of the group (avg age 35) I was probably the slowest, but not by much. Kind of like movie "127 hours" without cutting of your arm business.... but lots of water (wore wetsuits)...4 guides for 13 participants, level 3. Tomorrow signed up for paragliding and turkisk bath.
June 16 Thurs, about 3 hours of kayaking in mean area where I had visited in 2003, a roman city that submerged after a subsequent earthquake … you could see some rough underwater outlines. It took about an hour vanning there and back, and I guess because the seas were a bit choppy the guide cut it a little short. There was a powerboat accompanying us and a lot of filming, and recorded video interviews, … must have been some marketing promotion. Every day is sunny and 30C.
June 15, Wed, two dives for the 6 qualfied divers, and all 10 new divers took the induction course. The equipment was top of the line, the staff very good, and a good boat, … I got the feeling they appreciated the business. However the dives themselves were not that interesting, with clear water but very few fish, and no coral, … but beatiful weather, a dive in the AM, and again in the PM, … all round; not bad.
June 14, Tuesday, every day has an activity, today in was “tubing” (inner tube on a river for about an hour) then mudbath, then 9km hike along Lycian way, … they seem to have an objective to tire us out. Then dinner kebabs in an outdoor restaurant … didnt finish till after 11pm. Diving, 2 dives, tomorrow.
June 13 transferred to Kas, 2H40m...met the new group of 16, several in their 20`s one couple in 40`s, I`m the oldest by far,... all Brits except one Californian. Vanned to Kas where the Oreo hotel seems to be exclusive to Exodus customers. Had a BBQ dinner at the hotel.
June 12th, a “free day” inDalyan, so took boat to turtle beach, walked 8-10 km along the beach, then had farewell dinner, ... lamb stew in one use crockery pot. Judy fell boarding boat (on the way to dinner) and blood seemed to flow copiously, first aid by van driver worked well … she handled it well.
June 11th Last cycling day (June 12 is free day in Daylan). Breakfast at the pension was rather nice, generous kind of omlette with fresh eggs. Two hour van transfer to the start point, at 700m then quiet country roads, ... then another picnic lunch(I prefer to restaurants). I was out front (unusual for me) and I somehow scooted by the junction, and they had to send the van to collect me. After lunch it was pretty hot and had to climb 500m which was pretty hard, ... for the first time I found it "too" hot, but managed through. I find the camelback really helpful, ... kind of continuous drinking, rather than having to stop to drink . The last stage was a 40 min boat ride to the hotel,... I have a feeling its the same hotel in 2002, when I was here with Velo Quebec
June 10th, from Ephesus to Lake Bufo, 55km, two transfer sections, one on a road where was cyclists were not permitted, generally fairly flat and a sea level (unlike previous days) so we felt the brunt of the 30+ C temperatures. I expected it to be brutal, but in fact it was rather nice. Stopped at vine covered terrace restaurant for the typical Turkish crepe lunch … potato-filled or veggie filled and we were encouraged to drink “Iran” a kind of yoghurt drink …not too fussy for that. Then another 12 km to our family-run pension at lakeside (Lake Buffo), … rather nice to be away from commercial hotels, and a delicious fish dinner to boot.
June 9. only about 50 km cycling at 1400m-1000m level where it's not too hot. We started the day with 3 hour transfer to the start point. There was a restaurant lunch by a lake then a 15km steep hairpin decent, then another 15km flat ... but a sea level its pretty hot and I suspect the guide shortened it, to give us more time Ephesus. Ephesus didn't quite live up to expectations, maybe because the local guide wasn't very good. Dinner on the hotel roof was good, ... choosing from behind a glass counter, pretty good overall.
June 8, 57 Km cycling ... a superb day, lots of downhill into a valley, lots of surrounding mountains with snow caps, and flat with 5km section of gravel uphill, (fairly difficult section). ... all in the 1,000m-1,500m range so not that hot. The van diver provided a piknik lunch, using the table of a terrace restaurant. Ended the day with 2 hours at Pamukkale a place famous (lots of Japanese tourists) for cascading water that creates mountains/terraces of white carbonate with water flowing over it (looks like ice) ... you walk up in bare feet for about half an hour. At the top there are ruins of a Roman town where the Romans thought the waters had healing properties.
(.....no internet wifi last night.....)
June 7th, sunny and some welcome clouds, 66km of cycling plus 2-3 hours of van transfer to Acipayam … where the van was used to climb to 1440m where it was a good 5 degrees cooler than the coast, say 25C, and we never went lower than 1000m. Had lunch at a fish farm, … not bad. I am slower than the other three, and the countryside is much greener/lusher than I would have thought. This is the last trip of the spring because in July/August its pretty much 40C, so the next trips are in September. Bikes are pretty good “Specialized” front suspension mountain bikes, … I’m happy with mine.
June 6th, in Fethiye, waiting for UK group to arrive. Walked towards centre of town, must have been 100+ tour boats (… that’s a lot! of boats) and not many customers. Kind of ashamed of myself, but had lunch at McDonalds (just to try it), … surprisingly good salad with chicken strips. Many vendor stalls for tourists, but I am reluctant to show any interest in items because they pounce on you, and wont let you go… very aggressive, …but I did buy some shorts at a modest yachting shop. The UK group arrived around 4pm, only 3!!! people, so I’m the 4th, plus guide and driver…. kind of disappointing, but we’ll see. The other three are about my age… surprising. Saw the vehicle (rather new), a MB van/bus for 12 passengers, with trailer and 5 bikes. Noticed the TSX fell 175 points.
June 5 2011 flight over 9H40min was great, Turkish Airlines 777, only 30% full, so 3 seats to sleep say 7 hours, not perfectly but not bad, dinner was surprisingly good (I rarely say that)... privately arranged transfer, 1H5min, worked out too, to Fethiye, pleasant coastal town, hotel has scuba boats out front, ...waiting for UK group to arrive. 30C and sunny
