Leaving Antalya - An Even Burn

Having walked all day yesterday in a straight line with the sun on my left I awoke this morning looking like the supervillain Two-Face.

Still a bit tender

I had half a sunburnt nose and a left cheek the colour of a baboon's ass. Out of interest I typed "What animal has reddest ass" into Google and nothing happened (except for my hotel's IP address being quietly added to an Interpol database). It seems that the internet doesn't know everything yet and there is still a (fast receding) edge to the info-sphere - a comforting notion.

Sizzling

Went for a last coffee and spoon recconoitre at Coffee Dreams.
The waiter who brought the coffee asked "What sports do you play?"
Now, this a markedly different question from "Do you play sports?" or "Shouldn't you think about playing sports?" - and the difference is so gratifying that I felt impelled to lie.
"Soccer. Football", I crossed my fingers under the table "twice a week..."
After that, "Got any chocolate spoons?" felt like a wholly inappropriate line of inquiry.

Half an hour later I heard my boxers tear in half as I clambered clumsily into a taxi.
Justice is swift in Turkey.



The taxi took me to a motorway layby where I was to catch a minibus to my next port of call : Cirali.
The driver looked like the actor Wilford Brimley (from "Cocoon") and the conductor must surely have been his brother.

Minibus driver.......and conductor

An hour an a half later I was dropped in another layby and told that Cirali was 7km away down an off-ramp.
I had a quick tea and decided to walk there rather than take a taxi. The sky was overcast and I felt it was a good chance to practice the walking skills I would employ later on the Lycian Way hike I had planned.
So, chin held aloft, I strode purposefully past frankly disbelieveing cabbies and set off.
The road dropped steeply through a wooded valley right down to the sea.
For the first 15mins or so I was frequently being passed by taxis filled with muffled laughter and cheering but they eventually gave up and I was alone on the road. 

The hills here are like rows of tall thin blades and remind me of the plates on the back of a stegasaurus.

It took about an hour and a half to reach Cirali and I was about halfway down when the clouds evaporated and the sun emerged again - this time on my right, thankfully.

Tomorrow morning I hope to be greeted by a nice even burn...

An even burn