Well, what a difference a day makes. It was a good decision to enjoy the sun yesterday. Today it is raining. Rainy days equal driving days, so we continue along the coast toward Alanya. Around us are orange and lemon groves, large cactus grow wild by the road side. Then we come to banana territory, some grow in the open others in huge green houses.
At lunch time there is a break in the weather, which coincides with our reaching Mamure Castle. The castle appears closed but we pull in anyway. Quickly a man appears, he proceeds to give us a whistle stop tour of the grounds. "Take picture here" "take picture there" as we are whisked across the courtyard. "We must go now" It turns out, he is the gardener, the castle is is the process of being restored and we arrived during the builders lunch break!
We manage to squeeze in a look round the outer walls to watch the terrapins in the moat before we surcome to the valiant efforts of the cafe owner opposite, to attract our custom. We enjoy a lunch of gozleme ( a Turkish pancake filled with soft cheese) and salad, washed down with Turkish coffee, which I am getting quite a taste for!
Camping tonight is in a banana plantation. So obscure, it had to be done! Mother Natures light show must be on tour, as before bed we watch a repeat performance of last nights storm.
Fri 31st Oct
So far we have wondered at Turkey's geology, marvelled at its biblical history and investigated its Islamic culture; today we experience tourist Turkey! We have reached Alanya, with its multitude of apartment blocks and every conceivable thing a stereotypical tourist could want: Macdonalds, tattoo parlours, bars and clubs!
We visit the towns castle and immediately notice that now we are in "touristville" we also have to pay tourist prices. However, having said all that the views alone were worth it, miles and miles of clear azure, turquoise and inky blue sea matched only by the clear blue sky and very warm autumn sunshine.
Our campsite site for tonight is on the drive of a friends empty villa, what a difference from the banana plantation. My honest impression of Alanya? It's like Southend with the temperature turned up!!
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