Through  my webmiles program I had 'bought' myself a holiday in Antalya/Turkey. We had to pay for the air ticket only. So Helen and I decided that a week of wellness and sunshine was the thing we needed to end 2005.

We left from Zurich airport and arrived towards 11 o'clock p.m. in Antalya. The luggage was disgorged 5 pieces at a time, so that took a while. Followed a one hour bus trip to the hotel, which is situated on the Mediterranean with practically no civilization nearby, at least not discernable around midnight...

We had asked for a room with 2 separate beds in our written confirmation and got a room with one bed. So we went back to the reception to ask for a different room, which we got. 

We went back to the room (the hotel is huge, so a trip from the reception to any other point in the hotel takes time...).

This time the keys didn't work. Back to the reception to get the keys reprogrammed. Back to the room, they still didn't work. Back to the reception, same game. Finally they worked, but the suitcases were nowhere to be seen. This can take up your whole night if you don't put a stop to it. We went to sleep at 2 o'clock a.m... I slept beautifully, but Helen complained that I snore, which is of course a lie. Throughout our holiday she stabbed me in my back and hissed at the me in the middle of the night to stop snoring. I wonder about the quality of her ear-plugs because I didn't hear a thing...

Next day I went on the orientation excursion to Alanya while Helen slept till 2 o'clock p.m.:

The next two days we spent at the wellness center of the hotel indulging in all sorts of wonderfull massages, facials, turkish coffees, turkish delights, afternoon naps, and walks to the local nano-sized shopping center,

always stopping at a fruit and veg stall where we had a freshly pressed orange/pomegranate drink and Helen a flirt with the manager (who is also the owner, Madam) and who was also a poet, or so he told us.

The owners of the hotel don't think much of spending too much money on the comfort of their guests, so the hotel was not heated. A terrible draft was prevailing. Since we had assumed it would be warm and sunny all the time we had packed all the wrong clothes. Result: we wore more or less the same things for 6 days, juck!

The excursion we had both looked forward to very much turned out to be a catastrophe. First we had to visit a jew- ellery factory (the largest in Europe) where everyone tried very hard to convince us to buy something we didn't need and want and suggested to pay for it in easy instalments when we were home again... They even wanted to buy my mother's solitaire, I say! It somehow reminded me of earlier times when sales people at Sun or SAP desperately had to make their budgets at the end of the fiscal year... But they treated us like queens.

My cousin Mark had warned me rather maliciously that they would shlepp us from promotion event to promotion event (because they paid for my hotel room?!?) but I hadn't believed him. Now I do...

Next stop was a leather factory, also the largest in Europe. We escaped the diligent sales people and had a drink at the Bar instead.

And then we were driven to the Antalya Market. In the meantime it had started to rain, nay pour. The Turkish drainage system was not prepared for this onslaught of water, so it stood inches in the streets. 

Our guide, Hakan, explained to us that we could not expect the car and bus chauffeurs to drive slowly just for us pedestrians. These poor people were absolutely drowned by waterfalls from passing trucks and cars.

We fled inside the market only to realize that absolutely everyone sold the same identical products from Chanel, D&C, Ferragamo, Joop, Burberry's, and all the other high fashion and perfume brands. Helen couln't resist a pink Joop shopping bag which she haggled down to 1 or 2 Euro. I resisted everything...especially the aggressive way they try to sell their stuff. Reminded me of Luxor.

I have to add that the old town of Antalya evidently is very beautiful and interesting. We didn't get to see it because our guide Hakan had been gravely insulted by a member of the group. This man (a customer, nota bene) had had the temerity to suggest that we should shorten the stay at the leather and jewellery factories. Hakan was very offended, hurt and close to tears, the poor sod. His revenge was not to drive us through the old town. Needless to say that only one nano-brained young woman really liked him... 

He also made it clear that the extermination of the Armenian population at the beginning of the 20th century never happened. On the other hand, the Cruisades were a horrid and detestable episode and every grisly detail you had ever heard or read about them was true (even the movie Kingdom of Heaven, I presume). Oh, man! I don't think that Turkey will join the EU very soon. At least the German tourists on our bus made it absolutely clear that Turkey is Asia, not Europe. 

One can tell how charmed, thrilled and pleased Helen is (see the new bag?). I wore the same expression behind the camera...

The next day I went on an other tour (while Helen en-

joyed yet an other wellness day), this time on a boatright down to the Sea at Manavgat. It reminded me a bit of a cruise on the Nile. After a brisk walk along the sea shore, we had a delicious grilled fish for lunch.