Recalling the sim card issue I had in Manavgat, I made it a point to hone my Turkish a bit everyday. Who would have thought that this will be a blessing for me in the end?
I handed in my suitcase at the check-in counter of the Antalya International Airport with my heart pounding. I knew I exceeded my baggage limit of 20 kgs as I barely managed to lift it up to the ramp. I was quivering as I watched the scale. The Revelation: 31 KGS. What the… I knew I brought in way too much weight, but 31 kgs???
The check-in clerk was not pleased and neither was I. I had to pay 4 Euros for every excess kilo. Considering their 3-kg tolerance which was up to 23 kg, that will make 32 Euros fine for me. As luck would have it, I didn’t have any cash left handy. So I had to run back all the way down to the last hall which was a few hundred meters away to look for an ATM that worked.
I got some cash and ran back to the counter again. The clerk was now examining my papers and snappily asked how long I stayed in Turkey. I replied in Turkish, and you should have seen the look on her face. The metamorphosis of a grumpy bitchy broad to a friendly warm lady was truly a sight for the gods. How amusing! She discussed the matter with her colleague, who in turn asked me the same question, so I pulled the trick again. They then decided that it was ok to carry around 30 kgs when you stayed in Turkey for 2 weeks. They granted the 3-kg-tolerance once more, so my fine came to zero.
All the tongue twisting moments of practicing my pronunciation just sooo payed off. 32 Euros, to be exact.
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.
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.
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.
We went to Alanya for some shopping today and visited the Citadel which was built during the 13 th century. The castle stands on a peninsula, and one can get a marvelous view of its tips while standing on the castle’s seaward.
I skipped breakfast as well as lunch today, and I was really running out of energy and stamina (not that I had a high level of such, though, hyak hyak) from all that hiking and hill-climbing so it was high time for me to refill my calorie tank again. While driving downhill we past by a local homey tea garden. And stopped there as a matter of course. It was no coincidence that they had snacks too. Lucky for me. Instead of having a çay, I decided to go for an ayran(a refreshing Turkish yoghurt drink), as this tastes better with gözleme(“goez-leh-meh”, a Turkish pancake). I had one filled with feta cheese and minced meat. What a soothing relief to my hungry palate.
We ended the day hanging out and chilling in the same café bar we were in Manavgat yesterday, playing tavla (Turkish backgammon) and smoking nargile.
I was having some probs with my turkish SIM card (i.e. I still wasn’t getting any network coverage) so we went back to the outlet in Manavgat where I purchased it to check things out. I was very determined to hone my Turkish a bit more after that mild dispute.
Apart from that, the day was very lovely again so we strolled along the Manavgat river and enjoyed the sights.
There was a pedestrian bridge over the river with some cafés and eateries which were quite busy during that lunchtime. We stopped by at a chic café bar a few meters away from the bridge along the river, had some warm drinks, and indulged in the sun. On our way back home, we stopped over in Titreyengöl (a small district in Manavgat) and watched the ducks on the sea. Some were bathing, others were dozing off. One sat on the bench and smoked.
When we came back to our hotel I got my first SMS from my Turkish provider. Full network coverage
*sniff* before I fly back home.
n a shopping spreeeeeeee!
