I have been staying in Antalya for the last 2 days. Antalya is a very nice and charming old town. A lot of older houses have been transformed into pensions and hotels making it a heaven for travelers and backpackers.

The first morning, I walked around the old town checking out the main sights and randomly wandering through the narrow streets looking for an internet cafe or a way to the old port. I found the old harbor, tucked away in a fold of the landscape. It was such a nice place, so I spent some time there contemplating a very pretty Turkish gullet.

Late afternoon, I went to visit the Antalya Regional Museum (sometimes referred to as the Antalya Archeological Museum) which the guidebook categorizes as not be missed. I was not disappointed. The museum presents the information in the form of exhibition rooms each with their own theme, a nice change from the chronological order used in most of the museums I have visited on this trip.

I really liked the exposition on potteries that first explains how the potteries were made and then presents several types explaining their use and evolution via several great ancient examples.

The second theme was the Statues, showcasing fine marble statues of major Greek and Roman gods and goddesses, brought mainly from the ancient sites of Perge and Aspendos.

 

The third theme was Sarcophagus. It showcased several Greek and Roman sarcophaguses. However, I really liked the Hercules sarcophagus that represents the 12 labors of Hercules. It is very well done. A rare dog sarcophagus was a funny sight proving one more time that the affection of people for their pets is not something new.

The second day, I reluctantly joined an organized tour to visit the ancient Roman sites of Perge, Aspendos, and Side, as well as some not so important waterfall. I decided to go with the tour because it is difficult and expensive to visit these sites on your own. This is when I really missed Egypt where I could just hire a taxi for the whole day for less than $20 and go anywhere I wanted.

Some people from my hotel had joined the tour as well. This is when I first realized they were all Asians; 4 Taiwanese and 2 HK citizens. Having met them before made the tour a bit more fun.

Perge has large remains of an important ancient city that houses a Roman theatre, a stadium, a bath house, as well as agora and several temples. Not as amazing as Jerash or Baalbek but still interesting.

Aspendos is mostly known for its theatre and it is the only thing we saw. It is definitely an impressive theatre. Like many other ancient theatres in the region, it houses its own festival every summer. I read there is also a fine Aqueduct there but we did not get a chance to see it.

 

Side is a nice city by the seashore with remains from its glorious past including a theatre (with its own festival. Surprise!) and the ruins of two magnificent temples to Athena and Apollo made out of nice marble, also located on the shore.

Two interesting things happened during the tour.

First, in between the visits from Aspendos to Side, we ended up at a, guess what, … Jewelry factory! I did get upset about it because I had managed to go through Egypt without getting dragged into a papyrus or alabaster shop and there I was, dragged involuntarily into a jewelry store in Turkey! Oh well, I calmed down and tried to at least enjoy the free A/C by looking for the cooler spots in the place. I also did my best to get a little interested in the “tour” but in place of being informative, the “tour” carried no content except the “guide” on accepted forms of payments and currencies. I guess they would even accept your soul if you were so inclined :p. Come on, if you tout a visit as a factory tour, at least provide something interesting and educative. Gladly, nobody in the group bought anything so we were out quite fast and could continue with the tour.

 

Second, during the visit to Side, the guide left us on our own and I ended up hanging out with the Taiwanese girls Jean, Jennifer, and Vicki. It was funny to see the touts trying to get the girls’ attention by talking in Japanese or Korean but never in Chinese. This tour and the fact that I was accompanied by 7 Taiwanese (the 3 girls + 4 guys that were going to Olympos for a day trip) on my way to the bus station the day after, made me realize that the next wave of tourists is definitely coming from China and Taiwan. This new wave is starting out with less expensive countries like Egypt, Turkey and Peru as well as South-East Asia, but it is clear it might soon turn into a massive flooding all over the world. Well, I am not sure the tourism infrastructure is ready for it… Start Studying Mandarin guys.