He says: We've taken the last few days to rest at a resort in Belek, Turkey located on the Turkish Riviera. The water of the Mediterranean is unbelievably warm and perfect for swimming. We're on the southern coast of the country and it is the perfect place to relax and explore. Shauna's ear is getting better everyday - the last few days have been spent either snoozing, sitting by the pool, or wading in the Mediterranean. Today, we both had a lot of energy so we rented a car and went to a few sights. Driving in Turkey is a pretty hilarious experience - everyone is in a hurry and the price of gas is CRAZY! We filled up our very un-sporty Renault and it cost the equivalent $100 CDN. We're both really confused how we could fill up a scooter in Thailand for $1 CDN and pay so much more in Turkey when it's right next door to many oil producing countries. Armed with a GPS and bad suntans we made our way to Upper Bowden (I probably spelled that wrong) which has an cool waterfall and cave. On our way we witnessed the following things of note: a 7-year-old boy running naked on the side of a highway with no guardian in sight, two men on a scooter holding an oversized tube tv on the side trying not to fall off, multiple stores that were filled to capacity with necessities such as tricycles, ceramic lion statues, etc. Upon arriving at the waterfall we saw a bunch of camels available to be ridden (side note: There are lots of camels in Turkey for tourists, we were lucky enough to see one dressed in a cowboy hat yesterday. Further side note: It looked good in the hat). Both of us didn't have long pants on so we kept moving. The waterfall was really cool (refer to photographic evidence) and after exploring the cave behind the falls we made our way to our next stop - Antalya Old Town or AOT because I'm a lazy typer. AOT isn't just a clever name - it really is an old town. With cobblestone streets, a rampant cat population, a picturesque marina, and many shops and restaurants, the area was cool to get lost in. The best part of our day was dinner. Shauna found a place on Trip Advisor that was rated very highly, called Sereser. It turns out it won the title of "most romantic restaurant in the world" on Trip Advisor last year. Even though I don't watch The Bachelor and my heart is made of stone, it was unreal. After being sat in the shade (the temp has been in the 40s here), being served cold towels and having a fan placed right by our table, we knew we came to the right place. We sat beneath orange and banana trees and sipped freshly squeezed orange juice from the very trees that were providing us shade. It was a perfect meal. We ended our day with a night swim in the Mediterranean. Tomorrow we are going to see more sights - this time in the city of Olympos. We can only hope there will be camels wearing fedoras there.
- Matt