We needed to find a laundry. There were a few listings in the big touristy city of Alanya (pop 300,000), so we packed up early and drove the half hour or so into the city.
But first on the agenda was to get diesel. Max's tank was getting low. There was a station just outside the campground, and I had been watching the price creep up every day the last few days. We ended up paying 17.82 lira ($1.59 CAD, €1.14) per liter. About $4.76 USD per gallon. We don't feel so bad about that because when we left Alanya this morning we saw some stations at 19.
I also tried to fill one of our LPG tanks, but this particular station said no. Our other tank is still half full, so we will try again another day.
We found a laundry, and they said they would have it all washed, dried, and folded for 160 lira ($14.25 CAD, $11.25 USD) for two loads and that we could pick it up at 6:00pm. They didn't have great parking though, so we headed to a pay lot right in the central area by the teleferico (cable car) where we paid 14 lira ($1.25 CAD, $1 USD) for 8 hours.
From there, it was time to hike up to the fortress. Yes, there is a cable car that is reasonably priced, but we needed the exercise!
You can see where Max is parked beneath the cable car line.
It was so windy we were surprised the cable car was running.
Starting to get a view.
Looking inland.
Ruth and the view of Alanya's west beach.
Lots of waves crashing in.
Alanya has beautiful beaches.
No wonder it's popular with tourists.
Scenery along the way.
We arrived at the upper cable car platform where a nice walkway leads you higher and up into the fortress. It is free to wander around, until you get to the citadel where there is a 30 lira ($2.70 CAD, $2.10 USD) per adult fee. We had read that it wasn't really worth it, and we had enough to see without the need to pay for more.
From the upper cable car platform, you get a view of Alanya's eastern beach.
Zoomed in on Alanya harbor.
There are lots of great views from the fortress.
Inside the fortress walls there are quite a few structures. A few restaurants and cafes, as well as some restored and unrestored private homes, a mosque, and a small museum.
There are also a lot of ruins in amongst the more modern buildings.
Here's a fixer-upper!
We headed down a path that would lead us down the other side of fortress hill.
One of the old fortress gates is now used as part of the modern roadway to get to the top.
Looking down on the Red Tower.
Looking east.
Ruth, enjoying the view.
This person found a good way to store their wheelbarrow!
From there, we walked back to Max and had lunch and relaxed for a while. Then, we headed over to the waterfront promenade on the eastern beach. As I said earlier, it was pretty windy although you didn't really notice it in the city. Too many buildings. But out in the open, it was still pretty breezy and there were huge waves crashing in.
On this side of the city, the Red Tower and the Ancient Shipyard are worth seeing. Then of course the walk along the promenade.
The ancient shipyards.
The shipyards were constructed in the year 1227. Isn't it amazing that they actually have records of that?!
The Red Tower.
Heading out to the shipyards.
This original inscription says when it was built.
Unfortunately, due to the high waves the shipyard was closed.
They were coming crashing in all the way to the top!
Tourist boats along the promenade.
The harbor was well sheltered, but the waves crashing onto the open beach were huge!
This road runs alongside the beach for miles.
We went in and bought a couple of almond Magnum ice cream bars. They are a nice treat, but even nicer here in Turkiye where they cost only 11 lira ($0.98 CAD, $0.77 USD) for the full size ones! Yum!
Back at Max for a half hour snooze, and then we walked the 1.5 kms back to the laundry place to pick up our laundry. We brought some other bags so we figured we would be able to carry it that far, and we managed just fine.
At the laundry wash "saloon".
Too funny.
Notice Ruth's hair blowing in the wind!
The beach just a few meters from where we were parked at
GPS 36.54264, 31.988222
By this point, it was just after 6:00pm and I really didn't feel like moving on to find somewhere better to overnight. We figured the parking lot would be fine, and it was. We had to pay another 14 lira ($1.25 CAD, $1 USD) to the attendant, and one other van decided to join us later on.
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Nice price drop on Camco's Premium Travel Toilet.
And in Canada...
Pretty beaches with impressive waves, but, oddly, no surfers to ride them! Culturetrip* says of Alanya: "One of Turkey’s most popular spots for surfing, this tourist town located in southern Turkey is perfect during the off-season, from December until April." But it also notes Turkey isn't known for its surfing culture which would help explain the waves going to waste there, but it sure seems like an untapped tourist market for winter.
ReplyDelete*from: https://theculturetrip.com/europe/turkey/articles/the-best-places-to-go-surfing-in-turkey/
They really are nice looking beaches and very big waves that day. There were surfers in the water at the beach on the eastern side of Alanya. We watched one guy, who was really good ride a wave all the way up onto the beach. After watching him, Kevin got the camera out to get a picture of the surfers but the rest all fell just after getting up so we gave up on the picture taking and continued with our walk.
DeleteMany of the hotels, resorts, restaurants, night clubs and shops shut down for the winter because the tourist crowds just aren't around at that time of the year. It isn't warm enough for the beach and that is what brings people to the city from late spring to early fall. It would be a zoo there in the summer months!
Wow, those waves are indeed massive! Maybe too rough for surfers that day? LOVE the wheelbarrow man with his mask, very creative. Looks like a fascinating place with much to see.
ReplyDeleteThere were definitely some surfers there, maybe ten or so of them. We watched one guy that was really good but after he rode his wave he got out of the water. The rest of them spent most of their time sitting waiting for the perfect wave to come and anytime Kevin tried to get a picture of one getting up on their board they would fall almost right away, that is why we don't have any pictures of the surfers.
DeleteWe thought the wheelbarrow guy was kinda cute too!
It is a good city for a day or two but that was all, otherwise it was just a big tourist city full of tourist shops, hotels, resorts, restaurants and night clubs which just isn't our scene. People come here for the beach and we aren't sun worshippers, plus it isn't warm enough for the beach anyways.
Looking at the surf, I was thinking about surfers in NW coast. They are out early morning surfing in cold waters. Love the tour of the fortress.
ReplyDeleteThere were a handful of surfers here too, trying to catch the perfect wave but we didn't get any pictures of them because other than one guy the rest couldn't get up on the board and stay on the board.
DeleteWhat a great day you had sone fabulous views there and you certainly got your exercise. I’m curious to know how many kilometers you average per day
ReplyDeleteOther than it being very windy and lots of salt spray it was a wonderful day and yes, the views from up at the fortress were fantastic. We always try to get in at least 5 km (3 miles) of fast walking each day but normally we would probably do an average between 5-10 km (3-6 miles).
DeleteHi, been out of touch for awhile. Diesel in Arizona is about $5.34/gallon
ReplyDeleteLove the waves
Wow, that is definitely getting pretty high. It has been going up here as well but it has come down at little from the the 23 TL high, the other day we paid 19.99 TL ($1.71 CAD per liter, or $5.14 USD per gallon).
Delete