coasttocoast.sitemynet.com

We wake up at 04.30 and leave the field at 05.30. We have to be early because it becomes too hot during the day.
We walk till the next house concentration along the road and ask a woman, in a house, the way to Aksu. She is or very stupid or wants to fool us, she points in the direction were we came from.
We stop a tracker on the road and ask this man the same question. He gives more useful information and soon we follow the wide DSI channel. This is a kind of modern Roman Aqueduct and it follows a certain contour-line. This makes that it winds along the hillsides. A good path (service road) is running next to it. On a shadow rich place we have a stop and eat something. I'm cutting the bread for Sevgi and in the process of this I cut off some meat of my fingertip. It starts to bleed like hell. We wind it in bandage and continue to walk. At some point the bleeding will stop, probably when I am empty!
It gets soon very warm. We pass places where the shops have nothing for eating and end up with rolls of pizza cookies. At least they give us some salt! But also thirst...
The group-members need more often a rest and we stop now almost every half hour. We refuse an offer to join a wedding party with a free meal. At some point we sit on the road's asphalt and when I stand up my trousers are black with pieces of tar on them. We walk again and in the next rest-place a car comes and the driver offers a lift to us. Sevgi who already has difficulties to follow us takes the offer. The man brings her to Perge, while I memorize the number-plate of the car.
The walk continues and I want to reach Perge, it will be the longest day of the whole walk.
I don't want to stop anymore and with Douwe and Rado we walk on. Rado stays behind at water-point in a graveyard. As we walk Burak passes us without speaking and disappears in the distance. The mood is not so good these last days!
Douwe start to walk faster and I walk alone.
I walk on the left side of the street so I can see the traffic coming towards me. A strong wind blows and I can't hear much because of that sound. A slow truck comes from behind and passes me. Suddenly I hear car tires slip on the asphalt behind me. A car was overtaking this truck without caring me. I didn't hear him come, so he had to stop at the very last moment! I show him a hand sign with a finger as he passes...
I was almost killed on the last day!
The road to Perge seems never to end.
A wedding convoy is passing me over and over again. The happy people and the bride and groom (are they happy too?) wave as they pass. The last time a pickup truck follows the group and in the back of the car sit Anil and Gürkan between crates with tomatoes..
Douwe comes from behind towards me, he stayed some time on the toilet of a petrol station where I passed him without seeing him.
Finally we come to the theater of Perge, here Burak, Anil and Gürkan sit in the shadow of the building.
Sevgi comes from the archaeological site where her backpack is also still standing.
Only Rado is now still missing. We decided to go and look where Rado is. Douwe takes a taxi and drives back.
Anil and I go to visit the site. The guard thinks that Anil is a sergeant with his strips on his T -shirt and without paying we enter. We walk up and down the long central street. On the way back a very angry Rado comes to shout at me. Saying some bad things about me..... Rado had the pleasure to meet three dogs,they seemed to have done some attack. If you are afraid of dogs this might be not so nice... why I didn't see these dogs?
After the visit we drink a very expensive ice tea in the tea garden of the site, just inside the Late Roman Gateway.
We don't want to drink more here.
As we sit again in front of the theater two Jandarma soldiers come to speak with us. They speak good English and later they walk towards the village.
We too go to Aksu. Here we learn that there are no hotels, pensions or any camping. There is also no teacher-house. The place is too close to Antalya. This means 15 km. Close by car or bus but no for us.
We sent out our soldiers sons. I did my best with the teacher houses now it is the turn for the army!
The boys go the Jandarma-post and stay away for a long time.
As they come back we are invited for tea and move everything to the camp. The commander is polite but not to keen to have us there. He wants to see my Ikamet. He is going to open the football stadium so we can camp on the grass there.
First we want to eat and he offers that we can order and
eat something there, but we like to go to a real restaurant. There are many restaurants on the main road. Crossing the pedestrian bridge comes even heavy after this day's walk.
We eat and drink a few beers. Then we return to the Jandarma. In the garden we drink more tea and sit and speak with the men. They offer that we can take a shower in their bath-building. That sounds good to me. I need that since I have a good irritation again. Only washing and a spray can help for that.
In turns of two we take a shower. As the last I have a very warm shower-room but cold water. As always I forget to bring soap and borrow it from someone else.
More tea till about 22.30 and then we go to the football stadium.
I don't feel like setting up my tent again.
Next to Rado I roll out my sleeping-bag and mat and give myself a thick layer of the anti mosquito crème that Rado's mother had given to me.
It is better without tent!
I sleep like a baby....

==============================================
Statistics
from starting point = 358 km
to end point = 10.3 km
walked today = 28.9 km
total = 535.9.0 km
groupmembers = 7

==============================================

Day 28 Monday 28th of June, very warm

AKSU - THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA (AKDENIZ)

After a good night sleep and no mosquito bites I wake up at 04.30.
Here starts the packing and it is time to dump items we don't need anymore. Douwe dumps his tent in a container; the thing was not very good from the beginning and couldn't close. Also the tent sticks were cracked.
I throw my trousers with asphalt away, also underwear that I don't want to see or smell anymore goes in the rubbish can.
At 05.15 after a few small pieces of bread we start the last 11 kilometer to the coast. Yesterday during the dinner there was the idea to give up here and take the dolmus to the seaside. Unacceptable of course!
It goes very slow some members have new blisters and new irritation between the legs.
At 07.34 we see the sea for the first time. But it is still far away.
We have two more rests and over a long winding road that never seems to come closer to the sea, we finally reach the waterline at 09.35.
At the waterline I give a short speech again like on the beginning of the walk. With this very much reduced group we have the ceremony of dumping the Black Sea water in the Med. Everyone gets a few drips on their hands and the rest goes in the sea. Photos are taken of all this and everyone goes as group or single on the picture. A stranger takes a photo of the whole group and just like an Anil photo the feet of use are lost as the boy aims at our heads!
We dump our equipment and swim in the seawater. The changing of clothes gives some funny moments as some are shyer then others to undress in public.
A tent without sticks is used as changing place.
I take off my T-shirt and bury it in the sand. I make a tumulus on top of it. Sevgi who looks with some disgust finally agrees with the symbolic of all of it. I wonder if she had her rubbish bag ready?
After one hour we take a dolmus to town (Antalya) and take rooms in the Yalcin hotel. This cost 15 milj a person a night. We have lunch in a place with chicken and beer. After that we enter a birahanesi where we drink a few more beers.
After that we go to buy bus-tickets for the return journey.
The rest of the afternoon we sleep a bit.
For dinner we go to the Burger King and eat like mad!
The evening is as might be as expected a beer event. First in a rock cafe and later some place near the harbor.
Around 01.00 we are home again. Others continue in the night.
03.00 Rado comes knocking on the door. Lost the residence permit somewhere. "If we can go and look for it?". I don't feel for it and continue to sleep. Rado went to search for the bars, but when finally found, the Rock-bar was already closed.
==============================================
Statistics
from starting point = km
to end point = 0 km
walked today = 11 km
total = 547 km
groupmembers = 7
==============================================

29 June

07.30 Packed and breakfast with all in the garden of the hotel.
All walked with me to the Pamukale busstation where I entered the service bus at 09.10. The Çayvus salutes, the others wave as my bus turns the corner....