Alanya, Turkey - August 4

Side monument

Dalmatas cave

Alanya is another of the ports substituted for Jerusalem. One thing about Alanya is the humidity. Until about noon it was hot, but not too humid. Well, around lunch the clouds rolled in and the humidity sky-rocketed! There was no breeze and parts of me I didn’t know could sweat were drenched.

one last beer

The first thing that strikes me today is how touristy Alanya and Side are. Our first stop today is Side – this is about an hour’s drive from Alanya. We are here to see…you guessed it…ruins. In addition to the ruins here is a museum of statues, monuments, sarcophaguses etc. It’s interesting when we are here at the Turkish ruins that the temples are dedicated to what I consider Greek gods and goddesses – today’s are to Dionysus, Apollo and Artemis. In addition to these ruins are many night clubs, resorts and water parks – not unlike Cancun.

LUUUUUNCH!!!

After Side we head back to Alanya and the Damlatas caves. These are the caves that are described as needing athletic shoes. I bought athletic shoes for this tour and surprise…they were not needed AT ALL. I’m not sad about buying them as I’ll surely use them at home, but WOW, what a misrepresentation in description. These caves were a HUGE disappointment. They are neat as they are deep and have tons of stalactites and stalagmites, but are very commercial and beyond walking down and up again (a 10 min exercise) there’s nothing much to them. Apparently they have healing properties for respiratory problems.

We decide to have lunch in Alanya rather than on the ship. Alanya is very easy to get to from the boat – a 2 minute walk and we are on the beach walk. There are mostly fast food type places on the go at this time of day so I am thrilled to have a donair and a beer. 

Alanya seascape