Turkey Part 7: From Antalya over the Taurus Mountains to Konya

Departure in the wrong direction

We contacted Melli & Dani as they were also taking a longer winter break in Antalya and found out, that they’re up in Geyikbayırı at the moment. The only way to meet them was to cycle up a steep hill to the village without knowing what would expect us up there. Surprisingly we saw them just as we entered the campsite and they took us straight away to a refreshing dip in a cold natural swimming pool under a waterfall. Now, we felt much better. We put up our tent on the campsite and spent the evening talking about our experiences so far.

We stayed for two nights on the campsite in Geyikbayırı and went climbing together the next day. Melli & Dani were so nice to organize all the necessary hiking equipment for us and introduced us to rock climbing. They were very patient, even though they probably would have preferred to hike some more interesting areas than the beginner’s route. The weather was ideal for climbing with a cloudy sky so we wouldn’t sweat too much on the rock. The view over the surrounding lush hills was great, even though Lisa didn’t dare to look down when she climbed to the top. Being afraid of heights doesn’t go too well with climbing. All in all, we had a great time climbing and Lisa even considers it a possible new hobby and in the future all rocks are being examined by her for their climbing suitability, at least theoretically.

Melli & Dani returned back to their apartment in Antalya and for us it was time to finally cycle in the “right” direction. We drove back to the city together with our touring bicycles and it was fun to cycle with others for a change. We absolutely enjoyed meeting Melli & Dani, such a great and positive couple and we hope to meet them again on our trip towards the east. It was also interesting to find out, that there are some other cyclists waiting for the borders to open to drive towards Central Asia. It’s a good feeling to know that others are in a similar position and that we’re not the only ones with crazy ideas.

Departure in the right direction to a famous theatre

We followed a pleasant cycle path along the ocean out of Antalya and arrived in Lara Bach on the Turkish Riviera. This part of the coast is famous for its big All-Inclusive-Hotels and we didn’t get to see the ocean anymore. Those big resorts, often resembling famous places such as the Kremlin in Moscow or the buildings in Amsterdam, are often a sore to the eye of every architect with taste. That’s definitely not how we would like to spend our holiday. We were checking the map to find a place along the ocean without any buildings, as we wanted to spend one last night camping at the beach. One place looked fine and we excitedly arrived there just to find out that there were many shacks and two supermarkets standing there. It looked like an informal settlement directly on the beach. Not an ideal place to spend the night so we quickly left and found a nice place in the forest behind the dunes to pitch our tent.

Our first stop the next morning was a gas station to refill our cooking stove with petrol. And we have to say, those Turkish gas stations are definitely ideal for us, because there is usually a well-stocked supermarket and clean toilets and this one even had a hair-dryer in the bathroom (!?). Definitely better than in many other countries. We stopped in the next bigger town to buy fresh vegetables and fruits before we would hit the Taurus Mountains, where they wouldn’t be much infrastructure. Shortly afterwards, we cycled through the remains of the aqueduct of Aspendos, the best-preserved Roman theatre of the ancient world. And since we were already so close, we decided to visit the theatre, even though we have already seen quite a lot of them on our journey through Turkey.

Aspendos was a flourishing trade-center in Ancient times, especially in the 2^nd to 3^rd century AC under Roman rule. In that golden age the aqueduct, the basilica, the theatre and the agora were erected. More than 20’000 people lived and worked in the city and olives, lemons, grapes and corn grew on the fertile farmland and the horses of Aspendos were famous throughout the region. We have seen various theatres on our trip, but visiting the theatre of Aspendos was definitely worth a stop, as the sheer scale is impressive and you can still notice the excellent acoustic and see some exquisite architectural ornamentations. There would have been many more sights to explore in Aspendos, but it was time for us to finally climb up the Taurus Mountains, no more excuses.

River Rafting in the Köprülü Canyon

Soon after Aspendos the landscape got more impressive with the turquoise river Köprüçay within a national park with peaks up to 2500 m. We found an ideal camping spot directly on the river and hidden from the road. It reminded us a little of Switzerland, where we also like to spend time on the rivers in the summer. This perfect camping spot even had two tables and a fire place, what more could you ask for? We got easily used to sleeping in the tent again and it feels like home for us and we love to fall asleep to the sound of the passing stream and the voices of the birds. In the beginning of our trip we used to wake up at every noise and were afraid that someone might see us, but those fears disappeared the more we slept outside and by now we wake up after a night in a tent almost as relaxed as if we would stay in a hotel room.

After a refreshing bath in the river the next morning, we started cycling uphill towards the Köprülü Canyon. This region has got some touristic infrastructure with companies offering Rafting trips and a couple of simple guesthouses. We planned to cycle further today, but the scenery was so beautiful that we decided to stay. We found an affordable room and were even able to organize a Rafting trip in the afternoon. Our rafting guide Hamza was a young man from Southeastern Turkey, that hitchhiked through the area and got offered a job here and now has been working for three years as a guide. But soon he would like to continue his trip towards Varanasi in India. We spent the full afternoon on the river and are glad that we stayed. Especially the narrow part of the canyon was very impressive with steep cliffs and waterfalls coming down in the azure blue water. The Rafting trip was a lot of fun, even though the rapids weren’t that adventurous. But since it was just the three of us in the boat, we felt our arms afterwards and were reminded of our Kayak trip in Kekova. What an adventurous week this was with climbing, cycling and now River Rafting, definitely not our usual week.

Tough mountain crossing with a big surprise

One of the perks of cycle touring is that you never know how your day is going to end. We usually have a general idea about the day ahead such as «tonight we will probably camp in this area» or «it’s time for an accommodation and a break», but sometimes things turn out quite differently and that’s probably why must of us travel in general: The magic of experiencing the unexpected. Crossing the Taurus Mountains took us two days that we spent mostly cycling uphill and sweating. The rewards were some remote traditional mountain villages and beautiful camping spots with fantastic views. The advantages of traveling through the mountains are the wonderful nature, the fantastic campsites and fresh water in abundance. The disadvantage is obviously that you don’t get very far in a day as you have to cross many hills and that it’s generally pretty exhausting.

Sometimes in those situations we ask ourselves, what we are actually doing out here. But once you make it to the top, you are so proud of yourself, it’s hard to describe this feeling in words. We were exhausted as we arrived on the pass and then we suddenly heard an approaching car. And what a coincidence, in the campervan was a Swiss couple from Lucerne! It was windy and cold up there and we were probably just too surprised to exchange a lot of words and soon continued to cycle downhill. We were so happy when Carmen and Dave stopped again and invited us for dinner in their campervan. Now, we would have time to get to know them a little.

They left Switzerland in January with the idea to travel for a year through South America. But because of the pandemic they also had to adapt their route and decided to drive eastwards instead. Her converted car with kitchen and a hot outdoor shower seemed to us like pure luxury. After a warm shower they invited us to a delicious vegetarian dinner with beer and we couldn’t believe our luck. We never expected to meet a Swiss couple on a mountain pass in this remote part of Turkey and were so happy about this encounter.

From the mountains to the Anatolian plateau and into Konya

After a quiet night on our campsite we had breakfast together and then it was time to say goodbye to Carmen and Dave. They continued their trip towards Konya the same day, which would take us two full cycling days. Definitely a different way of traveling. Both have their pros and cons, but we have to admit that traveling in a campervan definitely has more advantages in general. After fixing another flat (we’ve got many of them lately) we filled up our water bottles in the neat mountain village Dumanli and in Yeşildağ we found a bakery selling the delicious Ramazan Pidesi, a special flat bread sold during the Ramadan with sesame seeds on top.

Soon afterwards the landscape changed completely as we left the mountains and reached the Anatolian plateau at 1000 meters above sea level. We were back on the main road and suddenly could cycle much faster than in the mountains.

We still had to climb some hills until Konya. We weren’t that motivated to cycle uphill after crossing the mountains and so we decided to take a shortcut. Yes, we know, shortcuts are usually just another way of describing a harder detour, but this time it was a real shortcut, just illegal. Judging by our online maps the dirt road we wanted to take wasn’t connected to the main road, but in reality there was a connection and luckily no security guard was in sight and we could easily pass through. We arrived in a remote valley without traffic that brought us all the way to Konya. The sky was full of clouds and it was a very special atmosphere in that valley. There were a couple of houses and a lot of people coming from the city to fill up their big water bottles with mountain water.

We drove through the suburbs of Konya and suddenly arrived in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the city traffic and it was horrible, as considerate driving didn’t seem to exist in Konya. We were so happy when we finally reached our accommodation in the old part of the city, just next to the Mevlana Museum, the main attraction of the city.

Konya is an economic powerhouse, considered on of the “Anatolian Tigers” and at the same time a deeply religious and conservative city. The locals dress differently than in the coastal towns and we hardly saw a woman without headscarf and a long coat. The stores offered mainly dates, dried fruits and nuts during Ramadan and we didn’t see many modern shops or cafés. Definitely a different flair than in any of the cities we visited before. It is very interesting to see those differences between the places, but we must admit, we didn’t really like Konya and also didn’t take many pictures of our stay there. We used our time there mainly to rest, to wash our clothes and to work on our website.

The main reason to visit Konya is the Mevlana Museum and to see the whirling dervishes, who unfortunately didn’t whirl during the pandemic. The Mevlana Museum is the former lodge of the whirling dervishes and the mausoleum of Muhammed Celâleddîn-i Rumi, a famous Persian poet and Sufi mystic from the 13^th century and founder of the Mevlana Lodge. There weren’t many visitors in this famous pilgrimage place and we had time to look at the decorated tombs and the beautiful calligraphy at our own pace. We read that it would normally get quite busy here, but there were just a couple of locals around, some of them reading Rumi’s poems on the floor. From our hotel we could see the Mevlana Museum illuminated at night, quite a stunning sight.

We strolled through the bazaar in the old town and Dario tried two of the local specialties: Firin Kebab with tender oven-roasted mutton on a puffy bread and Etli Ekmek, a flat bread with meat. The narrow streets had a concentration of shops with the same offer next to each other and so we saw three stores just selling eggs and nothing else. We wondered how they could survive.

Oh No, Turkey enters a strict nationwide Lockdown!

When we arrived in Konya, the streets were full of people pushing their way through the shops, especially those selling nuts and sweets. Everyone tried to stock up on food before a complete lockdown would start from 29th April until 17th May 2021. As the cases reached an absolute peak during April, the government reacted and imposed the strictest lockdown since the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

This meant that the locals were only allowed to go outside for grocery shopping or for a doctor’s appointment. Stores would be open from 10.00 – 17.00 h and only people working in key sectors such as logistics and supply were exempt from the lockdown. The life of everybody in the country was suddenly put to a halt and many well-heeled townsfolks travelled to their second home on the coast or visited their family in the countryside before they weren’t allowed to go outside anymore. And since the government already restricts almost everything, Ankara also put a ban on the sale of alcohol during that time, quite a patronage of the people in our opinion. It is already hard to buy alcohol in Konya in normal times, but even harder just before the lockdown. We heard about the ban one day before it started and thought it would be wise to buy a couple of beers before it wouldn’t be possible anymore for the next three weeks. But what an odyssey this was.

We walked around the city to find an open Tekel, the shops with alcohol license. But they were all closed. Then we started to ask around in restaurants and hotels and everyone denied. Then a restaurant owner told us to try it at this one fancy business hotel and since time before the lockdown was running out, we took a taxi to the mentioned hotel and walked straight to the reception. The receptionist told us it was forbidden to sell alcohol to non-guests, but in the end we were able to buy some overpriced beers. We had to promise to hide them in our backpack, not to tell anybody where we got them from and to drink them in our hotel room and not on the streets. We felt like criminals with our beer chinking in our bag while returning to our accommodation. The mission impossible was completed and we could finally drink to the complete lockdown in the privacy of our hotel room.

The lockdown definitely makes sense to bring the rising numbers of COVID-cases down, but we would have preferred to spend those three weeks back in our apartment in Patara and couldn’t imagine staying in Konya for that long. The lockdown didn’t apply to tourists as they were able to freely roam the country all the time and visit sights and eat in hotel restaurants. That doesn’t seem fair and quite discriminating towards the locals who aren’t allowed outside, but of course it was an advantage for us and so we decided to continue our trip towards Cappadocia and spend as much time in nature as possible and therefore limiting our social contacts and keeping our distance. Find out more about our trip along the ancient silk road in Turkey and through the mountains to Cappadocia in our next story.