Short day at Finike, where we will meet a retiree former smelter at Peugeot Sochaux (!) And a jeweler who will recommend several sites to see on the coast to Alanya.

We are heading to the steep Olimpos region. The road is very nice, between rocks, olive trees, meadows and crops of orange and lemon trees that weigh down under the fruits, it’s the full harvest period. The arrival at destination will be at the beginning of the evening, with the crossing of a ford on the river to bring us closer to the ancient site and the sea. The locations look very pretty, full of inns of backpackers and wooden köfteci that fit perfectly into the landscape. Then we meet three French female students and a club of Korean pupils, all very nice and settled in one of the few open inns, and who are getting ready for a small expedition « Chimeras » a few kilometers away! We do not hesitate long before deciding to graft ourselves to their group. After an hour in the minibus and walking, we discover the famous will-o’-the-wisps in the middle of the rocks, it’s fantastic, campsite atmosphere with marshmallows and even fried eggs for some! Despite the late hour, the children are very happy with this moonlit walk, and everyone goes to sleep happy but tired.

As soon as they wake up, the (big) little ones go to join our three new friends, of which they are absolute fans and who will play the babysitters for the morning. The sun, some clouds and a mild temperature: the weather is great to discover the ancient ruins and the beach in which flows the river. Swimming before sunset in the water at 20°C: who can say better for a January 17 in the Northern Hemisphere? We end the day with a tea time at the hostel and then to the truck with our 3 travelers who leave early the next day.

We leave the next day to continue our journey along the coast: heading to Antalya and its busy seafront (and concrete too) that we will just pass by. After a stop at the waterfront falls, one of the main attractions of the city, we drive to Manavgat for a night stop by a beach.

Too bad for the sight and the fishing: the pontoons and the beach (which seem to have suffered from the big gust of wind) are under construction. The day trip to Alanya will be done under the greyness, along a seaside where the huge (almost megalo) hotel complexes (quite empty in this season) follow one another.

The afternoon is well advanced, we go straight to the cable car to access the wall and the castle overlooking the cliff. Too bad the sun is nowhere to be seen, because the site is very beautiful and soothing, with a magnificent view of the sea and the city. The visit will be quite fast because (oops, winter time) the castle is closing.

End of the coastal episode, we go back to the assault of the mountains towards Konya and the doors of Cappadocia.