What We Did—and Didn’t Do—Today in Antalya

Gorgeous view from above the harbor. Amazingly clear today!

We continue to be amazed and enchanted by Antalya! Today was the day we would finally take the “sea bus” across the bay to Kemer, a small and not particularly interesting seaside village. Apparently there’s some tourist hotels and a beach, and not much else. But see, it’s truly the journey, not the destination that’s of interest here. The boat ride lasts about an hour, and today was a lovely day to get out on the water! And, since this time of year the boat bus only runs two days a week, it had to be a weekend.

Unloading the catch on a Sunday morning. We'll get ours later tonight, at a restaurant...

We were up earlier than we generally want to, and were down at the harbor in plenty of time for the 10AM boat. The sun was low and bright, and there were few people about. The air has been dryer lately, which means incredible views of the snow-capped mountains across the way. We’ve let several weekends slip by, and today, by golly, we were making this trip.

One of the many tour boats, ready to board in the harbor.

Imagine our disappointment, then, when we were told the boat was cancelled today! Windy. Oh, no! All dressed up and no place to go. What do we do?

We go exploring! Let’s get on the bus, sez Paula, and go to Lara Beach, south of here. OK, that’ll be the number 08 bus, the one everyone takes. (It’s a running joke here, apparently: the number 08 is always full, since no one knows where any of the other buses go.) Paula has gotten us a transport card (a credit-card sized thing that allows us to ride the buses and the two trams, both the fast new one and the older “nostalgia” tram). We’re soon settled in, and in 10 or 15 minutes have passed the furthest point we visited so far, and into new exploratory territory. 

The private spa at the end of Lara Beach, where we were asked to leave. (There's plenty of open beach behind us, though!)

The bus turns away from the coast, and its modern high-rises, restaurants, cafes, and shops all the way. We track our progress with our favorite app, Maps.ME (stores maps off-line on our phones so we don’t need a data connection to find our way home), and note we’ll be passing right by the Dṻden Waterfall, one of the must-see sites in Antalya. SO, we decide to see it, and get off a few stops before the end of the line at the beach.

The arrow-straight, nearly-overflowing fast-moving creek that leads to the waterfall.

No problem getting lost at this point; we just follow the arrow-straight, nearly-overflowing fast-rushing creek through a park to the cliff edge. And then… the water falls. There’s still not a lot of people out; maybe no one gets up early on Sunday? We arrive and it’s quite dramatic. Not as good as our expected boat ride, but pretty good all the same. I notice little solar panels stuck all over the cliff face near the waterfall; oh, solar lights! Must be sparkly at night. We’ll have to go back again, after sunset.

My travel brochure-ready photo of the falls.

Near the falls. Note the the wind socks on the top of the palm trees... it was blowin'!

Another bus ride, and we were back in familiar territory. Next item to complete: lunch! We found yet another new place (there are so many!), and ordered fish, again. Lots and lots of fish here. This time it was salmon. (OK, not local, but we like it!)

It's always a great plus when you order something you really like to eat, and when it comes, it completely exceeds your already high expectations. That's what happened this time, with a parchment-wrapped salmon fillet. Oh my! We will go back to that place!

Tomorrow, Monday, we embark on an even more ambitious adventure, a bus ride a few hours down the coast to the small (but highly recommended!) village of Kaş, where we’ll spend a couple of days. Don’t worry, I’ll take lots of pictures…

Around the corner from where we live is this magnificent ruin. Everyone has their picture taken here. Now, me too!