Back to main page and index of daily reports


Loading, please wait...

Sunday, October 2, 2005 - Saying Goodbye to Anatalya and Sabah Pansiyon, Moving on to Olympus, Checking in to the Turkmen Tree house Pension


Antalya was a good stay for both of us. It is time to say goodbye to Sabah Pansiyon, backpacks on, passing the cut minaret, under the Herodian Gate, cross the street to the tram station, to catch a dolmush to Olympus.

When we consulted Betty at Anatalya about staying at Olympus in one of the Tree Houses Pension, her reaction was "no, it is not for you, it's a bunch of young kids with backpack and they party all the time and it is noisy... you should stay at one of the pension in Chimaera, it is very nice..."

Well, we knew where we are going to stay. It is 80 KM from Antalya to Olympus. Winding road along the coast. High ragged summits are on the right, and to the left, the coast and islands are seen occasionally. Most of the time we are high on a cliff, above the ocean. It started to rain.

The dolmush dropped us at a restaurant on the highway, where we will catch another dolmush that will drive us all the way down to Olympus, which is at sea level.

We have half an hour to wait. I go to the kitchen, love to watch the women cook. Seven women were cutting fresh vegetables and two were cooking in large pots. Some of the pots were on open fire. A man was adding large chunks of margarine into the pots, all the good fresh vegetable go into the pot. And I wanted to scream, "Stop killing the food, and just make a nice salad". I took some photos with the fat floating over all the dishes.

The road down to Olympus is beautiful. Mountains, cliffs, trees, green. When we got down to Olympus, we saw one campground after another all offering tree houses. We will stay at Turkmen Tree House. All the tree houses pansiyons include breakfast, dinner and a hot drink during the day. The tree houses are sat in orange-pomegranate orchards with chicken, turkey and dogs wondering freely. High mountains are seen in the background.

It started to rain again. It is pouring now. Our tree-house room is actually a very comfortable bungalow, with bathroom and shower included, and all this with meals included, 25 liras per person, about 18.5 dollars per person per day.

We picked up some pomegranates and green oranges and enjoyed and the afternoon snack. When the rain stopped, I went out and took some photos of flowers and the different colors of green. I was chasing a beautiful rooster, but he ran away. I have a weakness for roosters; I just love to watch them.

Turkmen Tree house Pension is full of young Turks. Most of them are students form Ankara University. After dinner, there was a bon-fire and people sat around the fire. We took a flash light and took a long walk.

Benny said, “this is a perfect place to stay for few days”, I agreed. What a perfect day, I love how we change scenery. Moving from modern Anatalya to the natural setting of the tree houses camps.

Tomorrow we will go to Chimaera to see the eternal flame.

Back to main page and index of daily reports

Back to Top
1