Following on from our last post we were so happy to be back on the road again after having some bodywork done to our van.
Cirali
We were heading to a park up in the town of Cirali, near to Chimera Flames.
Cirali is a lovely village on the south coast of Turkey. The beaches are family friendly and there are a lot of mountain walks.
There is also a local market every Tuesday which means that you cannot stay in the park up on a Monday night.
We were meeting our friends Steve and Elisa who were with Seb and Christine who we’d met briefly in Kaş. They had already started on the beer and wine when we arrived. We were so happy to be there and be able to join them.
Here we all are being very silly after a few drinks!
In the morning I went for a swim with company, which was great, there were actually 3 of us!
The beach was really close and you could also walk round a little bit and see some ruins. You did have to pay to go into the site, we chose not to so we only saw the ruins from the outside.
Chimera Flames
I know I have mentioned the Chimera Flames a few times and by now you are probably wondering what they actually are.
The Chimera Flames are around a dozen flames burning on the side of the mountain known as Mount Chimera and fuelled by methane gas coming through vents. The fires, called Yanartaş in Turkish, have been burning for at least 2500 years!
Chimera flames result from the interaction of different chemical compounds in a fire, each emitting distinct hues when ignited. The interplay of these compounds produces intricate patterns and ever-changing combinations of colours. Researchers continue to delve into the chemistry behind chimera flames, reminding us of the infinite wonders that science and art can create in perfect harmony.
The following morning we were going to go and see the flames. To get there it was a 2-3km walk through the town to reach the bottom of Mount Chimera. Everyone else had already been to see the flames but they came with us to the start of the climb up and sat having coffee whilst we went up. It took about 30 minutes to climb up to the flames. We took marshmallows up to toast in the flame, something everyone does. You can see Dee toasting his marshmallows below.
Later in the day I went with Elisa and Christine for a walk round the town looking at shops and stopping for a coffee and cake. It was really nice to have some ‘girly’ time.
The following day I had another swim, this time just with Seb.
Later in the day we decided it was time to move on, we were all going together to The Duden Waterfalls. We almost went to these waterfalls when we were at the air bnb in Antalya, when our van was having some bodywork done. We were going to get a bus and in the end we didn’t as we knew there was a chance that our van would be ready that day and we didn’t want to get stuck. We were happy to be going now instead .
The Duden Waterfalls
There are actually the Lower Duden Waterfalls and The Upper Duden waterfalls. We went first to the Upper Duden Waterfalls as you were also allowed to stay overnight there.
The Upper Duden Waterfall is situated about 12 kilometres north east of Antalya’s city center and drops from a height of approximately 20 meters, flowing into a pool below.
The Lower Duden Waterfall, on the other hand, is located at the coast, where the Duden River meets the Mediterranean Sea, close to Lara Beach, creating a stunning view as the water cascades down from the cliffs.
We visited The Lower Duden falls the following day.
Both waterfalls offer picturesque scenery and are popular spots, apparently the most visited attraction in Antalya. We enjoyed going to both and would definitely recommend seeing both if you have time. Personally though we thought the Lower Falls were more spectacular.
Denizkent Manavgat
After seeing the Lower Duden waterfall we decided to move on to a beach park up. We chose a wild one off the beat and track, they are always the best ones. Chris and Seb had already gone on ahead, we were going to meet them there.
This was quite a big park up, not only was it on the beach but it was in a completely wooded shady area.
There were a few other vans there, including a German family who had been there almost 3 months and looked after 4 puppies right from when they were born! The puppies were all adorable, 3 girls and a boy. There were other vans too that came and went. Every day a shepherd came with his goats in the morning and in the evening. He was very friendly and chatted to us a few times.
There was also a well where we got our water from. It was a perfect spot. You can also see how wild it was from the photos below. The beach was really close too although you can’t actually see it in those photos.
Below are the photos showing the beach.
As you can see I managed to get everyone in the sea! Dee initially dipped his feet in as you can you in the first photo and then decided he may as well get in and join everyone else.
Seb and Christine left after a couple of days as they needed to get to Istambul. We stayed an extra day with Steve and Elisa .
The day they left we had a fish barbecue. The shepherd came in the morning and asked if we wanted fish. We said yes and it all depended what the fisherman caught weather it would happen or not. It did work out, we had quite a lot of fish between us as you can see!
It was all a great spot for practising yoga which I was still doing most days
Our friend Louise was flying over to Antalya to see us on June 1st so we were staying reasonably close to Antalya until then.
Steve and Elisa said they were going to go move on to Side which was about an hour past Antalya. We decided to go with but no further as we needed to get back to Antalya to pick Louise up on 1st June
Our next post will start in Side and document our return to Antalya.
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