Day 117 Turkey 13/1/2011, Antalya. More rain, a waterfall, a dirty bike and a few beers.

Well it rained again but I decided to be brave and have a ride to Lara beach, stopping to look at the Lower Düden waterfall along the way.

There is something quite depressing about coastal areas out of season. The road to the beach was along a dual carriageway passing closed and sometimes boarded up restaurants and bars. The rather grey skies and constant spray from the vehicles probably didn't help. Riding the bikes without the luggage is when you realise how much you miss mudguards. By the time I got to the waterfall my back was soaking and my previously spotless bike was once again dirty. Nevertheless I felt better for getting out and about, it would be quite easy to go stir crazy on a day like this.

Arriving at the falls I was just in time to wave off a tour group. This was a bit of a double edged sword, as on the one hand I had the falls to myself, but on the other there was no-one to take my photo. A DSLR is not the best camera to take a self portrait with, it's a little heavy and somewhat on the large side. After a few aborted attempts I managed to take one I didn't mind, it's just a shame you cant see much of the waterfall.

Taking pity on me, an elderly German couple who were passing offered to take my picture. It was quite fortuitous really, because they weren't remotely interested in the waterfall. Perhaps they live nearby, there are plenty of Germans and Russians here.

Although the rain had stopped it was still pretty grey, so I decided there was not much point in heading to the beach. Instead I headed back to Antalya via a cycle path, which I presumably should have been on during the ride out. It certainly made for a more pleasant ride back to the city. Along the way I stopped to have a look at some slightly quirky frog statues (all with musical instruments surrounding a park bench) and then had bit of lunch at a small snack bar in the park.

Back at the hotel I gave Debs a quick ring and received the good news that she had put our applications in for our Syrian Visas and that they would be ready to collect on Tuesday. Plus she had bought us some maps for the coming countries. There will be no stopping us when she returns. We are approx 700km from the Syrian border so we should get there relatively quickly.

I was supposed to be going out for a drink with a Turkish/British guy called Ram, who is staying at my hotel, this evening. He lives in the UK, in Chester and is a postman (Brian and Pat if you read this I haven't got round to asking him if he has any elastic bands!). Perhaps we missed each other but he seemed to disappear off the face of the earth. I hung around the hotel as late as I could, but then gave up and went to get some food. Stopping at a bar just a few doors down from the hotel, I got chatting to an American guy Kevin who is studying archaeology in Norway and an English girl (who's name escapes me) from Manchester who is the world's biggest and hopefully only, Celine Dion fan. They were both quite entertaining company, although the girl should definitely not be allowed to pick any music on the bars laptop again.

Somehow time got away from me and it was about 2am when I made the short journey back to the hotel. It will not be an early breakfast tomorrow I suspect!