We decided against going to the Black Sea coast in the Northeast, as much as we’d like to, because it was just too far away, and it looked to be a bit pricey. We told ourselves that we would probably pass through the region if we ever do the Silk Road trip (from China to Turkey) that we’d really like to try someday.

We ended up heading west through some amazing scenery to the lakes district, to a town called API Call ErrorEgirdir (the g is silent). It was beautiful, a very large lake (about 500km sq) nestled at the base of several mountains, and a fairly small town, about 17,000 people. We didn’t do much, because as it turns out, tourist season hasn’t really started yet, and we were the only ones staying at our pension. We were hoping to hire a guide to do some trekking and possibly camping, but there aren’t enough tourists yet to make such trips possible. That was quite disappointing to learn, as the town touts itself as an alternative travel destination. But we had a nice stay just the same. We happened to be there the day of the API Call Errorweekly market, and it was huge, fairly easy to get lost in. It was similar, and yet different from the souqs that we’ve been visiting, I think different because they were housed in temporary tents, and not permanent shops like the souqs. And they had a greater variety of wares for sale.

We also learned that it is possible for mountain lakes (obviously not as chilly as our mountain lakes) to host fresh water lobster and crab. I still don’t know if I believe about the lobster, but we saw the crab (many many crabs!) for ourselves. You learn something new every day, eh?

Yesterday morning we sucked it up and hired a cab for the morning to take us to a nearby API Call Errornational park, just to be out of civilization for a while. We were told that it wasn’t exceptional, that the canyon (about 40km further away) was nicer. That may be, but we really enjoyed our morning. We intended to go on a bit of a nature walk, but we didn’t get very far – we were sidetracked by a cute little doggie and a API Call Errorgoose farm (!!), and nearby a campsite overlooking a large den of frogs. And more geese. I never really thought about geese being farmed, but I guess goose down comes from somewhere, right? They weren’t caged (not at that moment, anyway) but they also weren’t going anywhere. Different.

The campground turned out to be the back of the building at which we’d been dropped off (I guess we walked in a circle, hence, not getting very far), so we had a coke and just enjoyed the sights and sounds of nature. Also had we known that a pre-fab camp existed there (tents and mattresses), we may have been inclined to spend a night, but this information is turning out to be very hard to come by.

Now we are in Antalya, on the Mediterranean, and will soon be heading west along the coast, trekking inland as we go to see the sites. Though it’s not very hot here (compared to what we’ve been experiencing) it is humid. Very very humid. Dew was condensing on our clothes before 9pm last night. And we were joined by bats for dinner. Also different.