When we get to Kemer we realise that it's not really where we wanted to go, but it's another beach so it must be ok. We head down to the water and quickly realise that it's like Antalya but if Antalya had a credit check to access the beach. Yikes. Loads and loads of private beaches everywhere. Heaps of old, fat, rich tourists and their attractive, toned, tanned toy boys and girls. Wow. Sure is a educational at the very least. We sneak into one of the private beaches because there is literally no obvious alternative and we are dying in the heat.
Once we have cooled down we go for a wander and discover another area full of rich people, umbrellas, and sun loungers. This one is better though because there are trees for shade and we get invited onto the beach. We swim in balmy water next to pirate ships, listening to popular western music, and with only a fraction of the people. It's quite lovely, a little later in the day and it might have almost classed as romantic... Maybe. We still feel pretty crowded though.
We catch us bus back to Antalya, then a taxi to the Sefa Hamam Turkish Bath. We stand outside, looking at each other, slightly afraid of what's coming next... The manager grabs us and pulls us in - no turning back now. After stripping off our salty, sweaty clothes, we wrap in towels and get taken downstairs to a sauna. We lie on a slab of grey marble and stare up to the dome above us, it's so cool to think that we are in a six hundred year old bath! It's very quiet except for the dripping of a tap, and we almost go to sleep by the time they signal for us to come into the next room.
With fear and trepidation we proceed into the next grey marble space, this time confronted by two large men who proceed to drown us with bowls of water that they tip all over us, before getting us to lie down and scrubbing us all over with exfoliating gloves. I lose so much skin, it's great. I sneak a peek over to Willy - I can hardly see him under the mountain of bubbles he has been covered in. Soon after, I find myself also covered in bubbles. It's the weirdest thing, they cover you in suds then massage you. We get rinsed off and are then shepherded upstairs where apple tea and fresh fruit awaits us.
It's a relaxing wait before we are led into the last room for our olive oil massage. It's just as good as the previous parts although my legs are very, very tense and the poor masseuse doesn't have it easy! We eventually return to our room to change into our clothes. It's at this point that I am super happy that I thought to bring fresh clothes. It's pretty great. I highly, highly recommend anyone traveling to Turkey tries out the Turkish Bath. Willy even agreed that we might go again before we leave, so it must be good!
We head back out into the world, wandering through Old Town in Antalya. It's much more our scene than where we have been staying. Much, much more our scene. Making our way through the streets, we end up on a cliff overlooking the ocean, marina, and mountains. For one of the first times on the trip we are actually alone, and it's quite special getting to watch the sunset from there.
Upon rejoining civilisation we have a beer in a rooftop bar before ending up in a dodgy looking, food courtesque restaurant. Never judge a book by the cover, it's some of the best food that we have had the pleasure of eating. It's great. Also no food poisoning, so yay!
We hop in another taxi and head back to the hotel. The taxi doesn't know where our hotel is, so we hop out and walk the last few hundred meters. It's been a lovely day.
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