Biking Around Again

Well, this blog post was a long time coming.  When we did this trip last September, I was still fairly good about keeping the blog going, and this entry was the next one I was going to write.  Somehow I never got around to it, and the blog lapsed for months.  So, finally here it is — Uçansu Waterfall, Manavgat Waterfall, Altınbeşık Cave, the famous “button” houses of İbradı, yet another Uçansu Waterfall (!), and the tourist trap of Side.  It was a fun full four days.

Jacqui and Gertjan managed to take long leaves from their jobs in Vancouver last year and spent quite a bit of time visiting France, Wales, the Netherlands, Germany, Turkey, and who knows where else.  Ferda and I had the chance to visit Gertjan and his mother in Groenekan, and while we were there, Gertjan took us to the tallest pyramid in the Netherlands.  Wow, how exciting.  Challenged to top such a spectacular site, Ferda and I invited Gertjan, Jacqui, and Mateo to Antalya and put together this short driving tour.

We started by visiting one of two waterfalls in Antalya with the same name, Uçansu (Flying Water).  To add to the confusion the first Uçansu we went to (near Gebiz) actually has two waterfalls (does that make three Uçansu?).  They’re both spectacular, with great swimming holes, like something out of a movie set.  The dirt road to get back to this area was longer than I expected so it was nice that we got permission to camp at the lower waterfall.  It was less nice when, after the employee who gave permission left for the evening, the overnight guard decided to enforce the no camping rules.  With some smiles and a promise to take down the tents early, everyone was happy again.

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