Thunder and Lightning very very frightning

Keen not to repeat previous escapades we stopped when we got to Antalyia for fear of not finding accommodation before dark. We pulled off the road at a sign that said something like Parki and looked like camping but found only a littered disused gravel beach with overhanging trees and a few mobile port-a-kabin type things. I wandered over and was lucky to find someone that not only spoke good English but had a 1200gs. It turned out they were working on some sort of pipeline and that the campsite was further on somewhere.

We went up and down the road trying to find the campsite but in the end settled on a Pension for 30 lira (about 15 eur). Helen was annoyed we didn‘t find the campsite and the Pension was a bit run down but had air con, en suite and a balcony for a lot less than we have paid in Europe.

It appeared we had landed in the Russian tourist area of town because a lot of the signs had that strange looking cryllic script we had last seen in Serbia and the touts at the shops tried to beckon us in Russian (which made it a lot easier to ignore). We really needed to get out of these tourist areas but they certainly had plenty of accommodation on order which was quickly becoming a bugbear otherwise.

The next day we stopped at Manavgat because the leg after took us up over the mountains where there would be nowhere to stay (at least not designated campground anyway). It took a while to find somewhere to stay because most places in the area are big all inclusive tourist resorts where people go to stay and don‘t leave until the bus comes to take them to the airport. We chanced upon a Pension/Campground and setup the tent.

Later that night there was a terrific thunderstorm that lit up the tent every time there was a lightning strike. I counted 3 seconds from flash to sound on one occasion but that was the closest it got. We also got a big dose of rain, but the tent held up ok. Incidentally the tent was beside 2 trees on a site beside the beach which was probably not the best setup for the circumstances. I was wondering if the aluminium poles of the tent would be enough if the worst happened but it all came to nothing but experience.

As we left in the morning I formulated the idea that we needed to make sure we always have food, fuel and water in stock so we are never caught out looking for them. This having been learned through painful mistakes so far.

What had really surprised me though was how well Helen was adapting to the new lifestyle. She was automatically saving things like toilet roll or good condition banknotes (for exchange) that we would need later. We‘d stop for fuel and she would say to go another 60 miles and stop for something to eat etc or complain we had “only“ done 150 miles on a particular day. All this from the woman who before leaving on the trip had been only as far as Cavan on the bike.