All My Bags Are Packed.

I’m not ready to go. But all good things must come to an end, and I need to fly back home to work for my next trip. (How about that for an incentive?) I need to pack, but I lazy bum was not really in the mood for packing. Not on this beautiful sunny morning. As I looked around my cluttered room, my fears about excess luggage and all punishing fines that go with it need suddenly rose. And that didn’t help either.

 

Goodbye Turkey. I sure will hit you again soon.

Girls Night Out.

T. and I celebrated my bingo win that night and went out to shake them booties. It was rather a mild night; we had a few drinks (long island iced teas / piña coladas), and enjoyed the music.

One of my favorite club hits currently:

All The Games People Play.

After staying at the resort for more than 10 days now, we finally managed to take part in the daily hotel activities they offer their guests. We started off with at 1100 hrs with air rifle shooting. I lost. As in like I was really the last one on the list with whopping 6 points or so while the others had 20 points at least.

After lunch, and a short walk around the block, we proceeded with beach bowls at 1400 hrs. The goal was to throw your metal ball as close to the target ball as possible. My talent of focusing on target and aiming for it still has not improved yet since this morning. The game was fun but in spite of all the enthusiasm I felt, I lost. No big deal.

 

1600 hrs was dart time. Now that was something I was actually familiar of and even got to play sometime in my past. I did have a few good throws, but they still were of no 1st-place quality. So guess what? I lost. I’m starting to get comfy with it, however. Practice makes perfect, you know. One positive side effect of being such a chronic loser though is that you get to know people people get to know you. They even tend to dig you more than the game winners. So, yeah, that was pretty cool

Last game for today was horseshoe pitching. I scored a few points during the first rounds. But you know the story. I did it again. And we all ended up celebrating my successful and continuous series of defeats.

We also bought tickets for tonight’s bingo game. My friend bought one, I bought two. And you know what?? I won. I got five digits right. TWICE. Now how’s that for a compensation? I got 2 bunches of some cool deals: 2 boxes of Turkish delights (which have been ingurgitated by some avid fellows that very night) , Ali Baba slippers, 2 bottles of red wine from Pamukkale, 2 gift coupons for a back massage in the hotel’s spa, and a spice collection.

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut .

Candid Camera.

I sighted this petty dispute between two Turkish boys over the conquest of the famous garden hammock.

Boys will be boys.

Resort Impressions 3.

Resort Impressions 2.

A Day at the Beach 2.

I really must have caught a chill while strolling through Kumköy without wearing a jacket 2 days ago. I had fever last evening and felt so miserable that my body decided to simply recuperate and rest for 12.5 hours straight. I woke up the next morning on 11:30 a.m. all damp and sticky. I must have evaporated all the inner heat and pain I’ve suffered from yesterday.

Enough of the moaning. Today was a beautiful sunny day, so I decided to start it with a hearty lunch. Soup, salads, pasta, rice, stews, bbqs, dessert…I stuffed my face with everything my potbelly could digest that midday (a good sign that I was recovering very well). Sated and energy-regained, I took a walk along the beach and checked out the happenings.

“From a little shell, at the bottom of the sea, was the Earth and the Moon, and the Sun above me.”

Some “leftovers” I found:

 

 

The watchtower in three different views.

 

 

Busy kids at play.

“Take me somewhere I can breathe, I’ve got so much to see, This is where I want to be, In a place I can call mine…”

 

 

Antique Side.

I lost my friend while strolling along the busy Manavgat market, and I was starting to feel kinda chilly – so I left the bazaar and set off for Kumköy, changed my mind seconds before the Kumköy-bound bus came, and decided to make a detour to check out the antique Side city instead.

Although I was not feeling well that afternoon anymore, the wandering sure was worth it.

 

I traversed the remains of the old city and roved through the ruins while trying to visualize how these monuments used to look like during their best days. One used to be the agora (3rd pic on the upper right), and I recall seeing a sign which pointed to what supposed to be a hospital once; not sure which one that was anymore, though (1st pic on the lower left perhaps?).

I made a quick break at the beach shore to catch my breath and enjoy the warm sun rays; check out who I met along the way (1st pic 2nd row). That guy was definitely ready for a ride.

My last stop was the Apollo Temple at the end of the beach promenade. I did some research and learned that it used to be a hexastyle peripteral Corinthian temple. It’s really hard to overlook all the Greek influences they had in their ancient architectures.

The best holiday tip I had so far was the sign I saw on the bus (2nd pic 2nd row) I took on my way home (i.e. our hotel resort in Kumköy – for now and the next 10 days, at least).