Antalya is one of the biggest city in Turkey. Its attraction is being closed to the Mediterranean Sea and so is part of the Turkish Riviera. It is Turkey's largest international sea resort. Although not many Americans know or have heard about it, it is one of the most popular resorts among Europeans and Russians.
It was part of the Roman Empire and was a center of Christianity. It was also a major city in the Byzantine Empire. Later it became part of the Ottoman Empire and then in the 1920s' became part of the new Republic of Turkey.
Near the hotel are several pedestrian streets that have many restaurants and shops. We enjoyed walking around and looking for places to eat. Most served Turkish food and are very reasonably priced. One evening we gathered at a seafood restaurant to enjoy the fresh seafood of the area.
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| A statue on one of the main streets |
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| A monument in the city |
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| A seaside restaurant |
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| Along the Mediterranean coast |
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| A local restaurant |
In the evening we attended a dinner hosted by a local family. Our group of 11 were split into two groups joining two different families. The husband and wife are in their mid-forties with a teenage daughter. This is one of the key features of Overseas Adventure Travel's tours - enjoying a dinner hosted by a local family. This gives the participants a chance to ask questions about life as a local - jobs, schools, politics, etc. There are no limits imposed on us although most of are careful not to touch on sensitive topics. The families are hand-picked and speak excellent English and understand quite a lot about Americans. The meals are home-cooked. We, as guests, bring a gift for them from the US. The dinner lasted 2-3 hours.
In the afternoon some of us signed up for a Turkish bath. This is quite common in Muslim countries and it's called a Hammam. This is different from a massage as is known in the western world. You are almost all undressed except for an underwear or loin cloth to cover your private parts. First, you are rinsed with warm water and someone of the same sex will scrub your body with a special hand-worn coarse glove. I tried this in Morocco and I was scrubbed with a loofah-like sponge. The whole process took almost one hour and it costs about US$60. Was it worth it? Perhaps the experience but not the process.
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| The Hammam in Antalya |
In the morning we were given a talk by a renowned archaeologist. He explained the history of ancient Turkey and some of the artifacts that we'll be seeing at the Antalya Museum, where we'll be visiting next. The following are from the Antalya Museum.
We next visited Perge and Aspendos, two ancient sites found along the coast near Antalya. Perge was originally settled by the Hittites around 1500 BC. Although it grew into a wealthy city, Perge was abandoned in the seventh century. Saint Paul visited Perge in 46 AD and preached his first sermon here. Then, we visited Aspendos, a city with going back to 800 BC during the Hittite Empire. Below are pictures of the two ruins.
Being by the Mediterranean Sea there is plenty of seafood here. You see many seafood restaurants in the city. Our guide picked one with a wonderful view of the sea and served excellent seafood. This dinner was on our own but most in the group came and enjoyed an evening together. Later we wandered the streets and enjoyed the local shops and street food vendors. Americans are always worried about whether the place is safe. We were reassured again and again that Turkey is a very safe country. Aside from the occasional street vendors who are pushing to sell their stuff, there is almost no one harassing or threatening you.
One of the amusing things I saw in Turkey is how ice-cream vendors on the street sells ice cream. Instead of just handing you your ice-cream the vendor puts on a show of trickery. Watch the video below.
