Today we go on Jeep Safari.
We have been warned it will be wet and dirty ,but other than that we are not sure what to expect.
We meet up with 3 other jeeps at a garage and the water fights start!
We are TOTALLY unprepared on our Jeep,whilst others have come armed with giant water blasters & spare bottles of water.
Our Jeep consists of two Turkish couples,a single older Turk from UK, two young scouser girls and a family of 4 from Wales. It turns out to be a good combination. We soon bond with one of the Turkish girls when she manages to get back someone on one of the other jeeps who has soaked us –the joy of the international thumbs up!
We don’t stop laughing from the word go!
First,its water squirted from the other jeeps, then as we drive along the road,children & adults throw water or use their hose pipes to drench us!
Its fine when you spot them,but if you don’t, the cold water hitting you makes you scream!
There are also a few set points with sprinklers which the drivers driver under VERY slowly,ensuring we are all suitably drenched!
An overhead sprinkler
The first stop is at a Turkish Carpet factory. Here the process of making a carpet by hand is explained and we watch one of the workers in action. The guide gets her to slow down so that we can see in full detail each step of the process.
It is a labourious process and some carpets can take up to a year to weave.
Each thread is knotted,then cut to give the pile
We are then shown the range of carpets they make , with the hope that we will decide to purchase
We then wind our way up a narrow & bumpy road, with amazing views
Next stop is the trout farm. not really sure what this was all about-it appeared to be a place to chill out for a while & more importantly re-stock the water fight bottles!
The bar had a moat going round it filled with live trout
Relaxing with our beers
Back to the jeep-we now have a water bottle to use and our resident sure shot Turk makes a hole in the cap for additional fire power!
Wherever they can,when the roads allow the jeeps draw up alongside each other so that battle can commence
We stop to look at Tlos. This is one of the oldest residential areas of Lycia & was inhabited until the 19th century. Tlos was the home of the Lycean tombs and have the history of this ancient city explained to us
The local kids use this as a chance to sell figs and offer sprigs of oregano for a lira or two
As the jeeps have no roofs we are unprotected from the rays of the sun…well that is until we buy these attractive giant t-towel style wraps to put across our shoulders
We stop for lunch at a secluded hotel in the hills, We had a choice of chicken fillet or trout,both of which unfortunately had been overcooked.
The ride continues to Saklikent Canyon
We are advised to hire plastic jelly shoes for the walk in the gorge
and to leave our bags in the jeeps and just take some money.camera & water.
Debs finds a novel way to carry her water
The canyon is 300 meters deep 18km long
We wade across the rushing water-its quite tricky,but there are plenty of young lads willing to help you across, although they expect a tip when you get to the other side.
A mug tree!
When we get back to the jeeps the Turkish couples have stocked up on ammunition. Although we didn’t do as well as another jeep who had managed to get hold of a bucket…and guess who got the full force of that on the journey to the mud baths!
The group in front of us were very organised…
…but our group just couldn’t wait to get deep & dirty in the mud…
…which is meant to make you look 10 years younger
Group photo-the little boy in the front was covered head to toe-he was actually swimming in the mud face down!
On leaving the mud bath-having washed off all the mud in the cold river-everyone filled up their water bottles,but very soon we were on main roads so no chance to continue our water fight with the other jeeps,so what do we do with all this water? Well ,we have a fight amongst ourselves in the jeep-which makes everyone very wet!
Drying off shirts
The next stop is quite bizarre-its at a garage,but one with a pool area! It also has a very expensive cafe 18l for two canned drinks and two cakes.
Whilst here the jeeps are washed, and our photographer for the day flogs us the cd of piccies he has taken. Debs & I agreed that we wouldn’t pay more than 40 l,but when he says the price is 50l we cave in. It is a rip off, but where else will we get photos of us in a mud bath!
Petrol station swimming pool…weird!
Our final stop is for a swim at Chalis Beach-as this is our local beach we do think about walking back to the hotel,but as we are at the far end of the beach it will be a long walk. So we decide to have a beer in the shade instead.
The Turkish equivalent of beach donkey rides
The bar on the beach starts playing Turkish music and our guide & one of the drivers start dancing, then the scouser girls join in doing their own dance routine-which is amazing-it turns out they both study at dance college.
A short clip of the final dance of the day
With that we are taken back to the hotel,where we have a light meal in the hotel restaurant before falling into bed exhausted-its been a great day & I would highly recommend the Jeep Safari to anyone.
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