Ross' Travel Adventures: Day 14: Düden Falls or not (July 13)

I woke up and gathered my things and left for the day's adventure. I did not eat at the hotel's continental breakfast as per the arrangement I made in deciding to sleep there. I had hoped to go to Düden Falls, a famous waterfall in southern Turkey (the pictures from the guidebook seemed cool). There would be a bus to the end of the roadway and a chance to hike up to the falls, which were supposed to be pretty magnificent. I took the shuttle to the bus station and searched for the right dolmus to go to the falls. What I discovered, much to my dismay, was that there would be no dolmus running to the upper falls that day. I am not sure why it was canceled. I was having horrible luck in Antalya with my day trips. Unfortunately, there is only so much that you can see in this place. I wish I had known earlier and maybe I would have planned to do something else.

I boarded the dolmus and returned to the city center. I walked around and took some pictures in the day time. I also purchased a new watch (as you may have seen a couple of posts ago, I had no cell phone after my endless walk to the Chimera). Anyway, I walked around the city and took some pictures of the harbor and grabbed some lunch at...McDonalds. Ok. Don't judge me. It had been a while since I had a real American cheeseburger. While McDonalds isn't REALLY a good cheeseburger, it was as close as I was going to get.

I decided that I would go to beach for the afternoon and get some swimming in before the long bus ride. I was unsure how long exactly I would stay in Antalya originally. After my bad luck and truthfully, I was starting to get a little tired of traveling, I decided it was time for me to move on. So anyway, I went to the beach for the afternoon. I went to Lara Plaji (Lara Beach). According to the guidebook, it was a nice public beach.

On the way, I saw a sign for Lower Duden Falls. I decided I would stop there on the way back and get some pictures. The beach was decent and also crowded. One thing I love about beaches pretty much everywhere except the East Coast of the US is how clear the water is. The other thing I noticed while swimming is that the water was extremely warm. It felt like I was swimming in bath water -- quite a contrast from the cold water in the Aegean. It was interesting how much warmer it was between even Fethiye (where the water was quite cold) and Antalya. I also wandered a little too far on the beach and was told to turn around. Apparently, a section of this beach is marked off for Policeman and Firefighters (and their families) only. Its an interesting concept but nice to reward the firefighters and police for their hard work.

On the way back, I stopped and saw the Lower Duden Falls. Here are some pictures: