Antalya

Leaving Göreme, my hosts and I piled into the car and drove down to the bus station with Panda running alongside. The bus to Antalya was jam packed already and I was the only passenger boarding at Göreme. When the bus pulled in I began to say my goodbyes, hugging my hosts and exchanging last minute thank-you and will-miss-yous. Two Turkish men hopped off the bus as it was rolling to a stop, grabbed my bags and began ushering me frantically onto the bus. Goodbyes were cut short and off to Antalya we went. For 9 hours, overnight.  It was snowing on the way and of course I couldn't sleep. Absolutely miserable!

Arriving in Antalya, my first order of business was getting some sleep. Unfortunately,I arrived at 7:30am. An hour or so later I found myself in the old city of Kalieci searching for a place to stay. I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to check in so early, but the first place I walked into accepted me. My 35TL room (about $20) came with breakfast and mediocre WiFi. Sweet. I tried to nap but couldn't sleep. So instead I walked another hour across town to meet my new travel buddy from Vancouver, Sarah. 

Sarah and I started exchanging emails a month or two ago on Couchsurfing (CS). For those not familiar, CS is a network sort of like Facebook, but for travelers. You can meet people and go stay in their home for a night or so. Sounds crazy, but it's safe if you're smart about it. I have hosted people in Bellingham from the US and Australia. It's a great way to meet people and make connections around the world. When two CSers meet, the most natural way to travel is by surfing couches. And that's exactly what we've been doing! 

Several weeks ago in Göreme I met a girl from Tokyo at a CS meetup. Riaki was traveling with her boyfriend through Turkey. Now her boyfriend is traveling through Iran and Pakistan while she travels Turkey. Long story long, we were in Antalya at the same time and she invited Sarah and I to a CS dinner.

Enough context already! At dinner we joined our lovely Turkish host, Devrim, and a couple from Holland. Dinner was delicious and lasted for hours. Tea, dinner, tea, dessert, tea. Devrim was incredibly hospitable and invited Sarah and I to Couchsurf at her house the following night. And so we did :)

During my two days in Antalya I enjoyed walking along the Mediterranean sea; the fresh air, history and culture. But most of all  I enjoyed the people. Devrim really made Antalya for us. Wish we could have stayed longer, but it was time to move on to Kas.

To be continued...