STOP PRESS...TV APPEARANCE

We are intending to watch the tour de france flash by on Thurs 4 july and expect to be at Chapelle St. Gabrielle. The van will probably be in the campsite but we will be on the road and the peleton  is expected at the  crossroads we are targeting somewhere between 15.04 to 15.09 French time (14.04 to 14.09 BST)
I don't ( so far) have a union jack or a silly costume and I will not be running alongside any cyclists  although Bob may be overcome by all that Lycra and testosterone and any offer of a crossbar may be taken.
I do however have a large blue and white Auto-Trail golfing umbrella and will wave this furiously for all our fans ......so set the video to ITV4 and try to pick us out

Still at leisure

21-26.06.2013

Doing nothing on Lake Garda  except a nice lunch lakeside in Pacengo and a day out on the bus to Verona, about an hour away. Having had a bad experience in Bologna trying to find the right bus stop for the return trip, this was number one priority and managed to waste a fair amount of time on the exercise....but we were not alone as a vast number of people were also having difficulties in locating  correct stop. I ended up with 3 different timetables and the bus arrived at a time that coincided with none. But I get ahead of myself. We have been to Verona before but only a flying visit to the opera some many years ago when we had a lastminute.com  holiday on Garda so a good opportunity to see the city properly. And very nice it is too. Very smart, stylish and a good place to walk around, despite the heat. Place was full of people wearing Beatles t-shirts and it would appear that either a tribute band was on that night in the arena or Paul McCartney was. ...( is he still alive?) . They were doing sound checks and it was awful, so probably Macca himself. So had a good walk, couple of smashing churches, the Duomo and the Basilica well worth the €2.50. Had a snack by the river which looked dangerously fast and high - and then managed to get the bus back. No marks to Verona public transport information dept.
Had a breezy night involving 3am winding in the awning and battening down hatches as a mighty storm  blew up.
Decided we had done Garda and being suitably refreshed would head for France. As we need to get south of Avignon, various routes available but as we have booked a campsite after great difficulty from 1st July hopefully on a road that the Tour de France passes right by...or very close too..and have days to kill, we opted for Milan-Turin-Briancon, over the Col de Montgenevre, stopping overnight in a hotel car park at Cesana Torinese, a few miles short of the French border. The book said ( correctly) that the Italian side of the pass was vastly better than the French , as it had been improved with tunnels. I suspect that this was because it turned out that Cesana & Claviere were  Olympic winter games venues in 2006 and good access was required. Our overnight stop in the hotel car park with all facilities for €10 showed enterprise and it seemed that it did good business in the winter as it was opposite the ski lifts and monorail.So dined outside in glorious  sunshine surrounded by snowcapped mountains and glaciers-until the sun sank behind them and it turned chilly. Next morning, it was 11° in the van, which hasn't dropped below 24° for 7 weeks so bit of a shock to the system. Over the Col and down to Briancon, very picturesque route and a much better road to descend than ascend', with innumerable hairpins. Strangely the descent was much longer than ascent so France must  be lower than Italy. Came upon a nice lake south of Embrun with a choice of campsites so stopped for a couple of nights. Hot in the sun but a chill wind coming off the surrounding Haute Alpes if you don't get behind a shelter.. May only stay one night.

At leisure

19-21.06.2013

After the rigours of touring we decided to have a holiday. Whilst it was a terrific trip, there is no doubt that it was fairly hard going....over 4500 miles already, and at least another 1000 before home...with few real rest days, as there was always somewhere to go or something to do. Last year this tour was 45 days, cut to 40 this year with no fewer locations or visits, and we all agreed that those 5 days of leisure would have been most welcome. So we need a break.
First to Bologna. A fine city, with excellent campsite on outskirts of town serviced by a regular bus to city centre and near roundabout with exceedingly nubile young ladies apparently offering to wash cars or give directions and I suspect that the shortness of clothing was on account of the heat...which was a bit of a problem, being 37°, nearly100.
So sightseeing limited to one morning. Very grand city with lots of colonnades for shade thankfully. Very hot in van at night and sitting outside compromised by biting insects.....take your choice. Very good campsite but pricey @ €29pn.
Next to lake garda. Intended to go to Bella Italia but email from Christine said it was packed & hot, no shade left and they were on football pitch and lots of kids ( they stopping one night on way home). So picked Fossalta as it seemed less likely to be full and it wasn't. V.nice camp on lake but 30 min  walk along beach to any civilisation .  No big deal so here for 5-7 days before heading to Provence and tour de france.

Chaos.....if you think boarding a ferry in Ancona is bad....

17/18.06.2013 - A Greek Tragedy

The drive down to Patras was beautiful - probably better than the Adriatic highway in Croatia as it was not dangerous as well. The campsite at Delphi has to be probably the best site we've ever stayed on, certainly in the top 3, as it has good clean facilities, a very good restaurant, a stunning view available to nearly all pitches and a swimming pool perched on a cliff. Family run by 2 cousins, the father of one having built it in 1965. After our meal on Sunday, we were taught Greek dancing by one of the boys and their whole extended family joined in for a great evening. The tragedy is, that despite all this going for them, bookings this year are 60% down on last year and they don't know what to do. Word of mouth is OK but Delphi is a long way to go for a good campsite so I don't know how they're going to survive which they deserve to as they couldn't try any harder to please.
So we drove down to Patra, wonderful sea bridge in the Millau style over the straights and a crowd of us parked beneath and had lunch at a waterside taverna before heading to the hellhole of the docks. First mistake was letting Malc lead who took us to the north port instead of the south port, 2 miles away, where Minoan lines operate from. When I eventually overtook him in the docks and stopped the now developing convoy from going further north, we turned round and headed south. Finding the port was easy, getting in was difficult, and finding the right parking area, having cleared security, for our yet-to-arrive ship was a lottery. Information zero. No signs, no gates, no personnel, no nothing. 2 other shipping lines had ships unloading and loading with not one person directing anything at any time. Every lorry driver did what he wanted. Our boat arrived at 15.30 and it was chaotic. When the very long line of motorhomes/caravans finally boarded, some were parked facing the front, some the rear and hunt the electric supply began.
Sailed at 18.45, 45 mins late. The situation was made worse when the boat called into Igoumenitas at midnight and a lot more vehicles were loaded in front of us.
The crossing to Italy was as calm as millpond, and arrived Ancona 17.45 Tues, 45 mins late. Weather exceedingly hot.
We had said goodbye to Alan & Pat, tour leaders, at Patra as having given us the tickets and seen us through the dock gates their job was done and they are off to Athens for a holiday. There had been a vote of thanks and speeches at the Delphi dinner as they had done a cracking good job. We got quite friendly with them as we often pitched next to them and shared the odd bottle and we thought they were superb. Very calm and unflappable, good people in a crisis, a great team and a fund of stories from leading over 40 tours around Europe , New Zealand and South Africa.
So when the other 9 units finally disembarked in further chaotic scenes at Ancona, 7 headed for San Marino, where we started and had a final final meal, and 2, including ONBF ( who left very pointedly without saying goodbye to us, and very pointedly invited everybody except us to visit them in their Spanish holiday home) who shot off to Rimini. So 14 of us had a very pleasant meal at the campsite and said our farewells with mass swapping of email addresses etc.
Richard & Monica may well join the trip to Morocco and we all intend meeting in Cambridge for a week in Oct to finalise plans. A good finish.
Notes will be made.

End of tour....another adventure begins

16.06.2013
Guided tour round Delphi. Very hot, no shade . Must be hottest day yet. Fantastic setting, great guide who brought it to life and excellent museum. Afternoon spent in shade/pool and last farewell dinner in evening
Tomorrow we head to Patra , only 75 miles, embarcation at 16.00 so lunch  in Patra as meals on boat are rubbish and expensive. Bit pissed so may elaborate next time....it is father's day after all.

Mt.Olympus to the Oracle via Thermopylae

14/15.06.2013
A straightforward run from Alexandropolis in sunshine again. Stopping for morning coffee at a lay by I discovered a farm stall and succumbed to cherries, oranges, a litre of farm Ouzo and a 2 litre plastic bottle of their own wine, to much derision. A swim in the sea was very pleasant in the afternoon and at evening meeting was asked to give presentation on the battle of Thermopylae, the monument to which we shall pass nearby. When evening drinks chez nous were commenced, the 2 litres of wine disappeared in a flash with criticism that more was not purchased although the Ouzo was universally condemned and may well be causing the loss of sight in one eye. Things got raucous and continued to the restaurant  where we had a splendid meal on the terrace overlooking the sea , followed by port and brandy  chez nous to round off a super day. Things may be getting rowdy which bodes well for the now almost certain Moroccan trip next Feb.
Highway robbery alive and well in Greece as we  were continually mugged at toll booths between Plaka and Delphi. At one point charged 5€ for 1 km of motorway, and first 50 miles cost 21€. Stopped at Thermopylae to take photos of the statue of  Leonidas, the Spartan king who when leading 300 Spartans against 300,000 Persians replied to the demand from Xerxes to " lay down your arms" with "Come  and get them". Fine statue.....if you don't know what I'm on about, it's all in Wikipedia.
The campsite at Delphi is the must stunning location ever encountered....on a terrace in the mountains, high above the town of Itea looking across the valley to the sea with a view to die for. Site is family run and the sons provided a liberal welcome with ouzo and a promise to teach us how to dance Greek style when we have our last and final meal on Sunday before heading to Patra and the ferry back to Italy on monday.

Out of Turkey, back to Greece

13.06.2013
The weather breaks and a miserable run up the Gallipoli peninsular to the Greek border. Worst roads yet. No problem crossing despite having to dodge a lengthy line of lorries waiting to clear 3 Turkish checkpoints (customs,police,vehicle) with only one one lane functioning and a dirt track into Greece where again only one booth was operating. Heard later that Peter and Barbera  passed one Turkish checkpoint where the window was closed and therefore missed getting the requisite stamp and were refused permission to exit the final gate at gunpoint and had to renter Turkey which involved presenting documents at 3 windows and paying €15 in order to be  allowed to then turn round and exit Turkey in the correct manner. Much hilarity as it took them 2 hours but they took it in good humour as its a story to dine out on for years.
Arrived Alexandropolis midday, massive shop at Lidls, walk into town and beer on the prom, then drinks chez nous for friends. Bit of an end of term atmosphere building up even though we still have Delphi ( and my own detour to the pass of Thermopylae and the Spartan's monument) yet to come.

Before we leave.....Troy

I forgot to mention that en  route to Canakkale we passed within 5 kms of the (disputed) site of the ancient city of Troy, complete with trojan horse (reconstruction) and ABA. The guide books do not excite as the ruins are fairly nondescript (see later) but the chance of a photo with a wooden horse and maybe running into Brad Pitt making Troy II persuaded the other four that it would make a good lunch stop and was not an arduous detour...
Malc was leading and missed the sign, Ken dithered and was passed in a flash but I turned off down the very narrow lane. I waited for 10 mins but they didn't appear, not being able to quickly turn round on the dual carriageway, and met ONBF who had been and were retracing their steps back. They said it was worth a visit so we pressed on. After 5 km we suddenly came across a barrier in  the road like an east German checkpoint . Investigation revealed that to proceed further required payment of 30 lira, parking and walking was not an option and turning round would be difficult, so duly paid with bad grace. A mile further on brought us to a dusty hard baked uneven car park full of rubbish and coaches but a little shade under a tree next to Richard & Monica having lunch and waxing lyrical. So we had lunch too, during which the other four turned up muttering about bloody 30 lira ( they are northern)...too hot to walk round ruins....better be worth it etc etc
The ruins....supposedly discovered in 1873 by a German amateur archaeologist, Schliemann, but he got the idea from an Englishman , Calvert who had begun digging and had identified the site from studying the Iliad. At first, Schliemann's work was hailed as the dawning of archaeology but is now considered to be vandalism, and one quote I read says that he singlehandedly managed to accomplish what the Greek failed to do and destroy the city of troy.
He dug a huge trench down across the site, exposing foundations of 9 separate developments from the bronze age to 5bc and looted everything he could lay his hands on. He lied about the treasures but they were smuggled out to Berlin and then looted by the Red Army and are now in the Pushkin museum. His entry in Wikipedia, under criticisms ,   makes interesting reading. Anyway, what is left, after wars, earthquakes and heaven knows how many archaeological campaigns is a vast area of trenches and low stone outcrops that mean very little to the casual observer ....especially ones that have been to Pergamon and Ephesus. The experience is not enhanced by being accosted by a Roman legionnaire (?) offering to let you be similarly attired and photographed in his chariot (sans horse) made of plywood.
The Trojan horse, currently under renovation and therefore closed is a very modern looking construction, spoiled by the staircase emanating from the testicle region by which visitors may enter the body presumably, and made of highly polished mahogany which is unlikely to be have been lying around on the beach or been part of a galley. Its 4 feet are firmly planted in the earth, not on a platform, so how it might have been dragged from beach to town is unclear.
I've wasted enough time on this ......and Brad Pitt wasn't even there.

Back to Europe....

10/11/12.06.2013
Our circumnavigation of Turkey draws to a close as we cross the Dardanelles to the Gallipoli peninsular and so leave Asia and return to Europe. It seems to have passed by in a flash but we have so many wonderful memories that I hope we can return and explore more. Like Croatia last year, this has been a revelation and preconceptions have been blasted out of the water by the reality. The Turks, from our experience, are a truly nice bunch of people, happy, welcoming, polite, helpful, fiercely proud of their country, sometimes child-like in their attitude to foreigners, hard working, willing to sell anything to earn money, resourceful and probably the worst drivers we've ever encountered. The roads are generally awful but will be good in 5 years (probably)
and farming seems inefficient. An endearing trait is the universal acceptance that the hard shoulder present on most roads must be used for any purpose other than the one for which it was intended; Parking on it is the main past-time, followed by: setting up your stall to sell fruit,vegetables,jams,honey and olives, placing your wheelie bins on for dustbin day and then not removing them when emptied, herding your goats ,sheep & cattle along, driving your car along towards oncoming traffic as you use it as a shortcut to work/home, undertaking slower moving traffic and especially at traffic lights ,using it to nip in front of slow off the mark lorries. On the subject of driving, in roadworks where one carriageway is closed and the other is used for both directions with cones separating the two lanes, it is commonplace for impatient drivers to overtake by dodging through the cones like a slalom trusting to Allah to see them safely back through when oncoming traffic appears.
Scooters & mopeds carry impossible loads, 2 adults a child and a baby being quite normal and nobody but nobody wears a crash helmet. We saw a cow on the back of a tiny Suzuki flatbed truck, seemingly nonplussed by the experience as it was whizzed along, its halter being held the woman in the passenger seat, the only means of restraint. Donkeys regularly stand in the middle of the road, gazing into the distance, as tortoises amble slowly across busy carriageways.
Despite very hot temperatures, nothing seems to shut for lunch but are open early and stay open late.
Fuel stations abound and there are more brands than can be counted, all are attended service with obligatory windscreen washing thrown in and even a motorhome will be jet washed for a mere 5 lira ( less than £2) whilst you have a cup of tea, sometimes even that is free.. 3 vans stopped at a roadside cafe in the mountains with a terrace overhanging a stunning view and 5 teas including a refill and a can of iced tea came 10 lira ( under £3.50 ).
Beer , the local brew is Efes @ 5%, costs about 4 lira for a 500ml can or 6-8 lira in a bar for the same size.<
Wine is expensive and I have not bought any but the wines served with our meals have all been highly drinkable. Fresh fruit is abundant by the roadside and good value. Desserts are very sweet and sickly. Ice cream from street vendors has the consistency of bubblegum and is best avoided. The purchase of everything has to be haggled for, and even good quality jewellers don't have price tickets.
A thumbnail sketch.
So, drove to Cannakkale, where a chaotic landing stage is entered after having paid an arbitrary amount ( we paid a straight 50 lira but it ranged from a lucky 28 to a heavy 64) with half a dozen car ferries are lined up going to half a dozen different points on the peninsular and you are given no choice in the matter as you are directed to first one about to depart. They all land within about 10 miles of each other so its no big deal, just charmingly chaotic. Good campsite at Kabatepe on opposite side on the beach which has turtles which can be seen at night.
Next day tour of the Gallipoli beaches, cemeteries and monuments. Very instructive guide. Of course, everything is presented from the Turkish perspective of a great victory and one that cemented the reputation of Kemal Ataturk and the Turkish memorial is by far the most impressive and moving.
The allied memorial is quite low key( undergoing renovation unfortunately) and the cemeteries are standard war grave commission, well maintained and understated. On wed visited new local state of the art museum with simulation rooms offering 3d, imax-type 360 ° surround vision that was quite stunning with simultaneous English translation via headphones, describing all stages of the battle and ending with rousing vision of modern day turkey. We were the only 5 non.Turks.

Heading North......

8/9.06.2013

Round Izmir, 3rd. largest city and the least likely to attract from what we saw of the ring road. More industrialised than any other part of Turkey we have seen....huge port and oil refineries, more poor high rise tenements and the usual manic traffic.
Weather v.hot, 35°. Still travelling with mckj and a bit of an atmosphere developing re ONBF which we are ignoring....they were the ones who changed the arrangements without a word and so we do our own thing now .. stopped at roadside stalls trying to find oranges without luck as we now appear to be in peach country ( and the ubiquitous watermelons which are served at every meal) so bought peaches. Nice campsite, at Bergama, usual challenging showers. Night enlivened by Turkish wedding in garden of site restaurant around swimming pool. All the ladies stood gawping and were eventually invited to join the women.....no alcohol or food, 400+ guests
but trays of very nice Turkish delight

were sent round. Today trip to Pergammon and most interesting tour of remains including cable car to top of mountain to see acropolis..... once was 2nd biggest library i in world next to Alexandria......Cleopatra got jealous and had it burnt down destroying 350,000 scrolls and putting an embargo on papyrus. So they invented parchment from goatskin and invented books and rebuilt the library. Fascinating stuff this.

Back to the seaside.....

6/7.06.2013

Easy drive across to Kusadasi on the coast, a very pleasant coastal resort catering for the massive cruisers calling in to "the gateway to Ephesus " the largest and most impressive of the Roman sites. Great campsite in centre of town opposite the beaches and minutes from centre. Nice dinner on the campsite and wander round town. We are now driving with mckj as a matter of course as we have much more fun with them.......so much so that they have persuaded Bob that we should join them on a trip to Morocco in Feb 2014.  M&C went  on a tour last year, as did Geoff & Sue, and  have described it in glowing terms. I have been suggesting it for 5 years, since we are almost there in Spain each year, but Malc has offered to lead us and Ken&Jackie so we are making arrangements to meet in Algeciras round mid-feb and head for Marrakech. Now that will be fun.
Tour to the remains at Ephesus did not disappoint, very spectacular, even ABA. Nice buffet lunch, then the basilica of St. John, not the baptist, the gospel writer and his tomb and , I kid you not, the house of the Virgin Mary., both of whom lived here, along with Paul who went everywhere it seems, and Alex the Great who conquered, and lived in, every inch of Turkey. As our guide said, Turkey is one vast open air museum and in this area you're never more than 20 miles from the ruins of an ancient city......over 100 discovered so far and many more waiting.
Kusadasi very classy town, could be anywhere in Europe except for the hassle of traders.

How much fun can we have......?

05.06.2013
And lo! The people of Pamukkale were exceedingly strapped for shekels, and said to the Lord "Lord, how shall we become rich ? " and the Lord said "Oh people of Pamukkale, you have Roman ruins and ABA  (Another Bloody Amphitheatre) on the top of the hill, and a thermal spring so charge 5 lira to look at them and 6 lira to bathe in the waters." and the people of Pamukkale heeded the Lord's advice but pickings were slim and fortunes were not forthcoming. So the people of Pamukkale cried to the Lord "Help us, Oh Lord, we need a gimmick" and the Lord spake thus to the people of Pamukkale - "Divert the exceedingly warm spring water (36°c) over the cliffs where it will form travertines, disgorging calciferous water at the rate of 260 litres per second, forming wondrous pools, turning the rocks white and then charge people 20 lira to walk up them in their bare feet  and bathe in the pools which will take 10 years off their age " And the people of Pamukkale heeded the Lord and are now laughing all the way to the bank as the crowds pour in. I jest, of course,  egged on by an original idea of Ken's, as  it was the greatest fun we've  had in years and is an astonishing experience. We climbed, barefoot , up a mountainside running with water, astonishingly steep but incredibly easy to ascend. It is very difficult to describe, a naturally occurring phenomena, unique and a world heritage site. We paddled in the pools and climbed the cliffs. We then did the extensive ruins and ABA ("the best in the Orient") before walking back down the travertine...our campsite is opposite the entrance and has an uninterrupted view of the travertine hillside. We walked round the village and were accosted by the usual gamut of shopkeepers, carpet sellers and restaurants offering ever increasing deals and discounts. I then made the mistake of suggesting we take advantage and eat out for dinner and before I knew it I was organising dinner for 16. I have never negotiated a price for a meal before sitting down but I got a set meal at 27.50 lira for 25 lira and included 6 beers, 4bottles wine(35 lira each on the menu) and 3 1.5 ltres of water and it was a jolly good meal and everybody had lots of fun and it was very noisy with a great view.

Heading north.......

04.06.2013

Great scenic drive, first along the coast and then inland over mountains to Pamukkale, near Denizli. Great campsite directly opposite the travertines..(this weeks quiz question. Answers on  a postcard ). Group dynamics getting confusing; travelled with mckj as oxbf went off on their own but came round for drinks tonight after meal in camp restaurant to apologise for not having mentioned it and asked if we would join them on exploration of travertines tomorrow but we have already arranged to join mckj at a different time so had several glasses talking pish.
Today's highlights included the 3 legged donkey in the middle of the road that refused to move; the lovely wild flowers on the verges, a riot of colour ; miles of poppy fields; the horrendous roads ; the cafe where we stopped for tea at 11.00 with a pen full of ostriches out back;the magnificent flock of angora goats being driven down the road towards us; the dozens of beautiful young ladies from the local university arriving to be photographed at the travertines with their escorts before going on to the end of term party......and yes, that is true because I asked them. And for those too lazy to look up travertine, I will be going on at length tomorrow after I have immersed myself in the history thereof. You have been warned.

What a wonderful day......

03.06.2013

It started well and my chirpyness as we breakfasted 'neath a brilliant blue sky was commented on several times. Now, this is usually a harbinger of doom and things can only get worse but today was an exception.....
Initially, today's itinerary had not filled me with  great expectations, not sounding too exciting on paper and culminating in a boat excursion from which swimming would be optional....a bit of a challenge for a person of the non-swimming persuasion but who has always hankered after diving off the back of a boat in some inaccessible bay in the Mediterranean. So I packed my bathers whilst Bob refused to on the basis of modesty when confronted with having to change under a towel .........
Also, our route meant retracing our steps 38km back to Demre over the tortuous coastal route traversed yesterday. Much groaning from the drivers. However, we had a new Turkish guide who was interesting and the time to Demre just flew by. From there we went to Myra, an ancient city site from 5th.c BC with the best preserved amphitheatre in. ...........and tombs carved into the rock hillside which was all very spectacular. Then to the church and tomb of St. Nicholas, he of Ho,Ho,Ho and Rudolph fame although there was no sign of any stables for reindeer at all. Original church from 1AD, only restored a few times ( latterly by the Russians who virtually pilgrimmage to this place, St.Nick being a big noise over there.) but wonderful old frescoes and paintings. Then to lunch. We had assumed that this would be on the nearby harbour, but no, we went over the mountains to Kekova, a tiny village which now makes a fortune from boat trips to the outlying islands. The road is narrow, twisty, sometimes vertical and we were in the hands of a Turkish minibus driver........this is the equivalent of British White Van Man. Every other vehicle in Turkey is a minibus (Mercedes of course) and minibus driving is probably the largest employment source in the country. But every driver is an Ayrton Senna with the red mist so a trip over the mountains is grist to his mill.I went to sleep, and woke up in a delightful if somewhat contrived 'authentic' fishing village with about 100+ pleasure cruisers moored on the pontoons.. We had  a superb  buffet lunch on the quayside then a cruise around the islands to see ruins and tombs and then dropped anchor in a secluded cove for swimming. I've always wanted to do it so I got changed and jumped off the back. Only 2 others took the plunge, but my inability in the swimming department was greatly anticipated. The boat, fortunately , carried a stock of those long polystyrene things that children learn to swim with, so grabbing one with both hands I leapt from the plank at the rear and have never had so much fun in my life. The water was deep , clear  and warm and afterwards nearly everybody said that after seeing me, they wished they'd done it. So pish on them, I had a great day.

Ruins.....

02.06 2013
Today's drive to Kas was fairly long at 180 miles but took us past many sites of Roman ruins and some people decided to start off at 07.00 in order to stop off at a couple. ONBF  and R&M were in this camp whereas we thought 08.00  was probably far too early. So they decided to go off together......no surprise there then.
However, when I surfaced at 07.30 and walked out to get fresh bread, R&M were just leaving and ONBF were still messing around, so I wandered over to discover that they had another flat tyre and were changing the wheel. So  I helped, and stayed until they were OK. They insisted their plans were now changed and that finding a puncture repair shop was a priority , understandably , so we left them to it.
Headed first to Aspendos, a rather magnificent  site on the way to Antalya with the best preserved amphitheatre in Asia.(aren't they all ?) It is impressive, and they were setting up for a performance of Aida tonight which must have been fantastic. We ran into R&M who were concerned about ONBF ......but not concerned enough to stay and help, obviously. My tongue was bitten.
Then followed an exceedingly hard drive. I had planned to stop off at least one other site but the traverse of Antalya was delayed by what we thought must be the aftermath of a riot, many of which are sweeping Turkey this week and then a tortuous coastal road through mountains that lasted for ever
but was quite spectacular. The campsite was across the road from its own private beach with all facilities and we had time for a swim followed by a jolly good group meal on a terrace hanging over the beach.
Both suffering from biting things last night.

The Other Side of Turkey

01.06.2013
So here we are near Manavgat on the Mediterranean.
The camp is basic but on the beach.....and next to a brand new monolithic hotel of chrome  and glass that only opened 4 days ago. It is stunning and we are separated by an impassable ditch. They gaze down on us ,enviously , from their penthouse balconies. Anyone lying on the beach massage tables looks directly into our chemical waste facility which is more basic than most......I never had any illusions regarding the sanitary facilities at Turkish campsites and have not been unduly surprised . We can be self contained if necessary and last night showered chez nous again.We can always rely on Malc to find water and hosepipies to replenish supplies and have plenty of purification tabs. The worst problem is electricity ....hook up points are scarce and we always need splitters and whilst amperage seems OK , voltage invariably drops which means fridges either hardly work or switch to gas. Having refillable LPG tanks is a godsend as every fuel station sells LPG and some ONLY sell LPG so I don't have a problem but those with fixed systems get twitchy about how much more gas they are using than they had anticipated.....and in this heat, large absorption fridges use a lot of gas.
Group dynamics are changing.........ONBF are not any longer. We still travel together but only because Their New Best Friends, Richard & Monica leave very early to beat the worst heat of the day as they don't have an  aircon  cab. Monica is nice but Richard maybe the most boring man alive with a wealth of farming statistics to hand which he shares liberally. Anyway, they have all become very pally and sit together whilst we always seek out Ken/Jackie/Malc/Christine... or kjmc who are much more fun and don't have 3 dry days a week.. so a group of 8, us kjmc and pat & Alan (our leaders) appear to be the noisy drinking group who are now congregating regularly....
Today was a free day and we are close to Side, which is big in the Roman ruins department and all 20 wanted to go visit. There are 2 caravans so the 2 cars would take 4 people - Bryan & Gill only talk to Bob & Maggie so thats one car, and Sue & Geoff avoided our gaze and Richard muttered that they had a lift.....point taken. So the remaining 12 hired a minibus at 180 lira to take us in at 09.00. There was then a heated debate about a return time and in the end it was agreed that we would get taxis ourselves in groups of 4 at estimated 80-100 lira a car. However, this morning when the minibus dropped us at the town centre he offered to take us all back at 14.00 for 120 lira.... As this was 20 lira a couple rather than 40-50 lira , group pressure was brought to bear to take the offer.
Side is two places. Fantastically preserved amphitheatre and ruins surrounded by All Day English Breakfasts , Champions League Sky Football
and wall to wall tourist crap and hustlers. Great beaches with obligatory 10,000 sun loungers and monster hotels. So different from the Turkey we have seen. Hope this  is not a foretaste of the second half.