Sanliurfa to Antalya

The old city of Sanliurfa is definitely different from the other cities in Turkey that I have visited.

Our next destination after Sanliurfa is Antalya. There are no direct flights there so we had to take a coach which took us 18 hours. Yes ladies and gentlemen, you read correctly...18 solid hours. The hotel manager at Cevahir Konukevi was kind enough to book our bus tickets. We got on the Urfa Cesur Turizm http://urfacesur.com/ bus and paid 40YTL per person. It is the best and most reliable bus company in Sanliurfa, we were told.

Fortunately the ride was comfortable but there were more stops than expected so our sleep were interrupted. Other than that, it was actually a good ride. We had enough sleep by the time we reach scenic Mediterranean Coast. The journey on by the coast was scenic and the beautiful turquoise sea was tempting. More stops as we picked up and dropped off our fellow passengers. And by the time we reached Antalya bus terminal, it was already 11am. We transferred to a taxi which took us to our hotel, Alp Pasa http://www.alppasa.com/ . It is located in Kaleici, the heart of the city, next to a harbour which now shelters vessels both sleek and seedy.

The first time I was in Antalya was about 10 years ago. And I remembered Kaleici to be a very nice old place, with kids running along the streets. And the bread sellers on old bicycles, honking away, trying to attract the housewives' attention into buying the freshly baked bread. And the cobbled streets were full with Turks selling their carpets and souvenirs.

I am a little disappointed now because Kaleici is so commercialized. I find more foreigners like Russians and Germans selling in the shops than the locals. Foreigners selling properties to other foreigners in Antalya. Cobbled streets changed to bricks and most old houses demolished to make way for more boutique hotels. Changes are good but in this case, the old charm is forever lost. Alp Pasa Hotel went through some changes too but not too drastic. They have added new annexes to the main old building and its bigger, with more rooms. Their rooms are named after old sultans and i think thats cool. In my next blog, i will write more about Antalya and its surroundings.