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Report 1595: Turkey - The Turquoise Coast, Cappadocia and Istanbul, 2008

By Linda Hagstrom from Pennsylvania, Fall 2008

Page 10 of 20: 10/13/08 - Lycian Way: Kas and Travel to Ayvali

At the rug shop in Kas

Today would be our last day together. In fact, late this evening all of us except Ismet and Hassan would be flying out of Dalaman Airport.

We had talked over what to do together for this day. We first decided we'd like to rent an excursion boat for half a day and go on a mini-'Blue Voyage.' Ismet checked into this and we decided the price was too high. So she suggested we go to Kas, a seaside town half an hour south of Kalkan, to spend the day, eat a late lunch together, and then Hassan would drive us to the airport.

So we checked out of the hotel and were on the road at 10:30. Margaret and Bill from our group left at the same time to go north to Dalaman Airport. They would be flying to Manchester, England, and their flight was midday. All the others (except me) would be flying to London.

In Kas, we walked to a big Roman amphitheater, then in back of the amphitheater to a group of Lycian tombs. We walked in to the town, which was really charming. One shopping street featured a Lycian tomb among the stores. The buildings had Ottoman-style wooden balconies.

Mike wanted to visit the rug seller who had sold him a rug six years ago, and a lot of us went in with him. We were served apple tea (tastes just like hot apple juice) and coffee. The seller told us about tribal rugs and some of the history of rug-making in Turkey. Many of the rugs he had for sale were old or antique.

Then we all just walked around and shopped, encountering each other in shops here and there.

About 3pm, we met at a sidewalk restaurant for our last meal together. We had grilled whole fish and all the trimmings - appetizers, salads, french fries, dessert, coffee. Barbara presented Hassan and Chris presented Ismet with our cards and gifts in appreciation for a wonderful week.

Ismet stayed in Kas and the rest of us went in the van to Dalaman Airport, about 2.5 hours drive north from Kas. Hassan stopped at a gas station along the way and had the van washed.

We unloaded at the airport and went inside, saying a sad farewell to Hassan. Everyone except me got in line to go through security. All the others in the group would fly from Dalaman to London. My flight from Dalaman was to be a Turkish Airlines flight at 9:30pm but there was no Turkish Airlines flight listed on the Departures board. I walked to the information desk and was told that domestic departures (I was going to Istanbul and then on to Cappadocia) were from a different terminal.

I went back outside and walked to the other terminal, about half a mile away. Fortunately I had lots of time.

Cappadocia Tours had reserved my plane tickets for this part of my journey, and I had noticed I'd have only about 45 minutes in Istanbul between landing and departure for Kayseri in Cappadocia, but everything went well and about 1:00am my plane landed at Kayseri Airport. We got off the plane onto the runway and there were two terminals. A man stood nearby saying, 'International to the left and domestic to the right.' I wasn't sure which to take but more people were going to the international terminal so I did too. However, after all the bags were claimed, mine was not there. Then a man came in the terminal and asked me if my name was on the list he had in his hand. I said, 'Yes, here it is.' He said to go to the domestic terminal. There were many others who made this mistake too. The international terminal was for those who had arrived in Istanbul from other countries.

I walked out of the terminal (it was about 2am by now) and a relieved man met me with a sign with my name on it. He was the driver for Cappadocia Tours. I was his only passenger and we drove for about an hour to Ayvali, a tiny cave town about five miles from the larger town of Urgup. I was met at 3am at Gamirasu Cave Hotel by a very nice hostess. The air was a lot cooler than anywhere else I had been in Greece or Turkey.

My room, like all the rooms in the hotel, was in a cave, but I had a nice room and a bathroom.

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