Day 1 of our Land(ish) Adventure, Mangavat & Side

Having risen early to make the most of the day, we jumped in what was one of the better cars we have hired during our adventures, it actually had seat belts and usb sockets that worked so we plugged in our iphone, set off one of Steven’s playlists and our navigation system to get us past Antalya and out towards the East.

We had decided to go to Manavgat and see if we could jump on a boat, why I hear you ask, when we spend all summer on one, well to see the waterfalls! Most boat trips were run out of Side or Antalya and were all day affairs, so we were just hoping someone wasn’t busy! After a couple of hours we arrived, parked the car and wandered along the banks until we came across a boat with a very bored skipper twiddling his thumbs and he was very glad for something to do for a couple of hours, so we jumped in and off we set.

Introducing our jovial skipper, not that he was laughing with us, his English being non-existent!

Life on the Manavgat River

About 45 mins in the trip, we noticed the boat slowing, fully expecting as we rounded the corner to see the waterfalls. HaHaha, not quite …..

So we finally get to the Waterfalls, where we discovered it was being sold as quite an attraction, a fee paying one at that. Our driver gave us 20 minutes, which given the queue for the entrance ticket was a rather tall order, but thankfully, once through the barrier the waterfall was just there, all we had to do was fight our way through the hordes to the viewing platform to take some photos! They were not quite Niagara Falls, but then we weren’t expecting them to be after seeing the “smaller” ones earlier one, but the noise was thunderous and as the water came over our feet, we realised it was icy cold despite the 44 degree heat!

20 minutes later, we were back on the bus back to the “mid-station”, where we had a little time to ourselves and had a wander around the restaurants on the bank, noticing a watermill for the first time and the fact that the tables and chairs were in fact placed in such a way that you could have the icy cold water splashing around your ankles as you had lunch.

We then jumped back on a boat, and tried to help our skipper get himself off, the force of the water over the rapids pinning us to the boat we were moored up against. Finally we were off, heading back down the river, somewhat quicker than we made our way up it, I wonder why, but still giving us an opportunity to see Managvat from the water, it hadn’t been much to see from land, in fact its only redeeming features were its 2 mosques.

We then wandered back along the banks of the river, chuckling at some of the “sites” as we went and grabbed a much needed coffee, I say coffee, we ordered two ice latte’s and about 5 minutes later our waiter disappeared on a moped and arrived back another 5 minutes later with a bag…  He then headed inside the kitchen, and low and behold, our iced latte’s finally arrived, fresh out of a can that had just been purchased! It was sickly sweet & horrible, so we made a quick exit and headed back to the car to continue on our journey.

Next stop, Side (which means Pomegranate) which dates back to the 7th Century BC. In the 2nd century became a centre for pirates who made large profits through the slave trade, and that continued through the Roman era. A far cry from today, as it is now a busy resort with its leather, jewellery and souvenir stores, many bars and eateries dotted all over the place, whilst still retaining its village charm.

Side is also renowned for its extensive ruins, including its own Temple of Apollo, amphitheatre large enough to hold 17000 spectators in its day, aqueduct and old city walls which we slowly meandered around, mad dogs and Englishmen come to mind, as spectacular as it was, we should really have been there at dawn, not in the afternoon heat!

We had fully intended on finding a little pensyon (B&B) in Side for the night, but having established that unlike most of Turkey, Side had decided to take full advantage of its heritage and the price of everything was at least 40% more than it should have been, so we gave up on that idea and headed back towards Antalya. I had hoped to get some photos of the Temple at sunset, still the Internet has helped on that front, sssh!

All in all, a fab day was had, but we were glad to put our feet up at the local restaurant we chose, unwittingly not realising it was one of the many alcohol free places around, all too late to do anything about it. Still a night of the vino can’t be a bad thing!

20th July 2019