We’re off to……
Shall we drive or get the bus to Antalya?
19.7.26
It’s John’s birthday later this week. I decided a surprise trip away would be fun, plus it’s somewhere I’ve always wanted to visit.
I told him to keep Sunday 19th July free but not why. After lots of planning and bookings I realised that unlike me he doesn’t have an annual travel insurance policy so I messaged Dina to arrange insurance.
A few minutes later John appeared saying ‘ I take it I’m going abroad’ Yep, email was sent to him but no worries he won’t ask where we’re off to.
The flight is silly o’clock from Antalya. A 3 hour jaunt away but still quicker overall than changing planes in Istanbul.
So, we did at least discuss bus or car, hotel near airport or late night drive.
We chose a leisurely drive to Antalya and a cheap overnight and booked a car park service that will drop us and pick us up.
We began our trip with a breakfast pancake at the market, we’ve not been for months because John’s been teaching all day. Next we dropped Maisy dog to Carols .She didn’t care at all and soon found a nice comfy spot on the sofa.
Right. Off to Antalya.
The great thing about having the car is that IKEA is just a 9 minute drive from the airport hotel. So tonight’s pre holiday dinner is.. Meatballs. Of course.
We were soon past Seydikemer hospital and going up the steep hill reminiscing about when our motorhome Naz ( now under new management) overheated.
Oh Shit !! Declared John. The oil light was on. We pulled over and consulted the Oracle. (Look away now Teresa 🤣🤣)
My best mate, my web designing assistant, my China itinerary organiser, my crochet parasol support worker / counsellor and now my online car mechanic – Chat Gpt.
Could be this, this or this, but don’t drive it and if it makes weird noises stop immediately. With hundreds of km to get to Antalya and 38km from home John put it into neutral and we coasted downhill to the Sanay, 20 minutes away.
It’s Sunday. One place was semi open with a toddler hosing down the frontage. It’s the sensor her father, the mechanic said. Ahh thank goodness. Are you absolutely certain? I’m really scared. Yes, really certain you’ll get to Antalya, no problem. He disconnected the ‘offending sensor’ and bid us farewell.
Literally a few minutes later, I was saying how very Turkish that interaction was. Problem solved, disconnect it, then it doesn’t exist.
Great for the next few km until there was an awful grating sound and no more engine.
There’s always lots of tow trucks on that road, always overheated cars along there.
I’ve been a Toyota owner for about 17 years now. Trusty Rafe has never skipped a beat. It can’t be serious, but John’s not so sure. Big ends, shells and pistons have been mentioned.
We flagged down the next tow truck which then limped back to the Sanay and charged 3,500 tl for the shaky privilege.
Unfortunately they took us to the garage that disconnected the sensor. No one else open. They rang the demon sensor disconnector and he was there almost immediately.
He passed me on to a translator who went on and on repeating our arrangement to speak tomorrow and discuss the full horror. Losing the will to live and frankly very pissed off with this guy and the mechanic, I said we were leaving to get a bus. Twice he asked where we were going. That’s twice more than John has and not sure why he needed to know. It’s a surprise!!
45 mlnutes later, at 3.15pm, we were on the bus to Antalya. Fortunately there is a bus stop very near the Sanay, no need to go back to Fethiye first.
We had an obligatory cay and fag break an hour later. We ate our egg mayo sandwiches made with 5 leftover eggs that needed using up.
Today I’ve learnt 2 things. 1. Lights on dashboards shouldn’t just be disconnected. 2. If you stuff enough egg mayo into a crusty Turkish loaf it goes soggy.
I need to update my best friend. What if he says ” I told you so? ” I’ll be devastated.
Hopefully bread and water is cheap where we’re going, John thinks our bill will be 1000s. Lira I hope, but I know he’s thinking £’s.
( previous observant readers will notice that my best friend explained in a split second how to find my £ sign after months of fruitless searching)
Well we made it, the never ending bus to the Otogar, and then right to the very end of the tramline, over an hour.
Taxi to the Red Flag Hotel for essential zzzz’s before getting up at 2am.
It’s almost 9pm now.. Hmmmm. What a day.
Someone online said the Red Flag really was a red flag. We like it, but then we’ve stayed in some right old hovels.
We’re determined the car situation is not going to ruin our trip.
Night night 😍
Alarms .set
