Hiking in Alanya

On Friday I saw this.  In person.  Details follow.

The breathtaking Ali Bridge

Yes, on Friday, Alan drank an extra cup of coffee and took on both kids for the day so that I could go on a full day hiking excursion with the students.   Ten or so of the students, Colleen (students RA), Bryan (history prof) and his family, including his visiting brother, sister-in-law and son, also went.  A local geography teacher, who belongs to a trekking group and knows Nese, acted as our guide.

We loaded up at 8:45 and drove about about an hour and a half northwest to a small village outside of Manavgat for two hikes separated by a sack lunch.  First we set out for the Alara Castle, which is not on the typical tourist circuit.   (Indeed, no one else, other than the local farmers who live at the foot, were there). When we arrived, I found out why.  It is at the top of this "hill."

Looking up, way up, at Alara Castle

View from the top, the Med in the distant
background

I was a little shocked when I saw this, especially when our guide pulled out his trekking poles and all I had on was my jeans and "hiking" sneakers, but I was there and was feeling confident given that I have been lugging around a 35 pound two year old for 3 months.   Ended up the hike was difficult, damn difficult. Crawling on hands and knees difficult.  But, I made it, and the views at the top were remarkable.   The ruins themselves were in a lot of disrepair   However part of the covered stone staircase up the side of the mountain was passable and hiking up those steep, crumbled steps with our small flashlights gave a glimpse of times long past.

Staircase to Alara Castle

Peaceful path to Ali Bridge

 After hiking/sliding down and lunch, we took a quick 20 minute ride to a different trail head and disembarked for what our guide promised was a much easier "walk" to a bridge.  Now if the Alara Castle was off the beaten path, this destination was off the map, literally.  I can't find anything on line about it other than a 2007 local news article relating to tourism prospects.  And thank God for its anonymity, because we were treated to pure untrampled woods and sections famed Silk Road marked our way.

And, as if that was not enough, at the end of the 2 mile hike we were rewarded with the Ali Koprusu (bridge), which, as a testament to its lack of tourist exposure and general seclusion, was covered in a soft layer of green moss and surrounded by olive trees laden with dark, ripe fruit.  According to the one article I did find, this magnificent bridge dates from 1250 and was part of the Silk Road during the Seljuk period.  With the rushing blue Alara River below us, I seriously felt like I was in a J.R.R. Tolkien novel. 

My attempt at an I-Phone panoramic showing the beautiful
Ali Bridge

We got home at about 5:30.  Awesome day but I was very sore the day after. - Kelly

ECON 107: Why We don't Pay Upfront for Water and Toilets in the US

So we traveled to Turkey knowing that we probably would not be able to drink the tap water here. Since we've arrived, basically everyone here has told us the same although we do brush our teeth and make coffee with it. We've been told the tap water is safe, but tastes bad. But we notice that almost all the locals buy bottled water, too. It is everywhere. That is something we take for granted in the US, although the bottled water market there is crazy profitable. But one can find a clean, public water fountain in many different places.

Brewer boogeying down in a unique disco
toilet in one restaurant we visited

While that was expected, the toilet situation in Turkey was not. Larger, modern businesses function fairly similarly to those in the US with standard bathroom facilities. But what is really different is the fact that most public toilets charge a fee, usually 1 Turkish lira or about 45 US cents (kids get to use the facilities for free). And even some small private establishments don't have their own WC (water closet), but instead congregate around a public one for paying customers.

At first, this was really unexpected for me. But as an economist, it makes a lot of sense. Good, modern plumbing is not available in many rural or quickly urbanizing areas in Turkey. And many restaurants and shops are very small, so providing a toilet area could be quite expensive. So entrepreneurs step forward to provide a badly needed service. They employ turnstiles with tokens or sit by the door with a change bucket. But it could be quite expensive for every shop owner to do the same so many offer their wares without this service - and presumably offer lower prices. But we in the US expect a clean and free toilet almost everywhere, not necessarily thinking about how it's paid for - through invisible, but increased product and service prices. - Alan

Celebrating Ataturk

Do you know when George Washington died? Or the birth- or death-date of any of the 'Founding Fathers'?

Well, they do in Turkey. During our recent study tour trip, our tour bus was abruptly stopped with all other traffic in Izmir at 9:05am on November 10th among loud honking and people spilling out of buildings to stand in silence to honor the death in 1938 of the first President and founder of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. This lasted a few moments across Turkey, to my understanding.

It seems like half of the statues of Ataturk are military
in nature, and half are of him as stateman

Now in the US, we have our Presidents' portraits on our currency and Presidents' Day and even the monument Mount Rushmore, but Turkey takes the honor of Ataturk to an entirely new level. Of course, his actual presence was much more recent as he and his colleagues founded the Republic of Turkey in 1923, after participating within the Turkish War of Independence with the Allies following WW I.

But his name, likeness and memory have been seen throughout our time and travels within Turkey from the capital of Ankara during our second week here to our home of Alanya to Gallipoli during our recent study tour. The nation's honoring of its hero is very much on display for citizens and tourist alike - Alan

Anitkabir, site of Ataturk's mausoleum

Memorial for fallen of Gallipoli

Trenches of Gallipoli where Ataturk
was famous for his military endeavors

The Ruins of Perge

Yay! Ruins!

When we started this adventure, I envisioned being whisked about all of Turkey, seeing ruins upon ruins with Alan's class.  Sadly though, Georgetown's itineraries have, for the most part, ended up being way too hectic for Brewer and Ruby and so- save Istanbul, Cappadocia and Ankara, myself and the tots have stayed in Alanya these past 2+ months.  In our final weeks, Alan and I have set out to remedy this deficiency by visiting several significant Roman ruin sites close to Alanya.

Swimming in one of the baths

This past weekend, we tackled the first with a short 2 1/2 hour bus ride to the world-class city of Antalya.  Antalya is a coastal resort town that perhaps is best known to Americans for its golf courses.  Alan's dad told us that just recently he watched Tiger play there on a course overlooking the magnificent Med.  We stayed in Old Town, in a quaint, remodeled Otoman style villa, Ninova Pension.  Our room was charming with a wood floor and ceiling and two beautiful Turkish rugs.  During the kids' nap, Alan let me go explore and I meandered the maze of streets where shops were selling everything from 2 lira magnets to antique rugs for many 1,000s of lira.  Old town overlooks the Med and is dotted too with hellenic ruins including a clock tower from the 2nd century.

Remnants of an ornate arch at the city entrance

The next morning, after our Turkish breakfast of boiled eggs, bread and cheeses, we were picked up by our driver the hotel had arranged the night before and whisked 20 km outside the city to the Perge ruins.  There, under a clear blue sky we explored an entire Roman city, complete with a stadium, baths, merchant streets, a theater (although it was closed for renovations) and basilicas.  We were there nearly 2 and 1/2 hours and the kids absolutely loved it.  I think they could have stayed twice as long.  So much to explore.  As an added bonus, the site was not at all crowded, allowing to take in many of the ruins in solitude.

Later, realizing that our time here was ending soon, Brewer and I contemplated what each of us would miss the most about Turkey.  For Ruby, we guessed the cats; for Dad, the beach; for me, the farmers markets, and for him, it was, yes, the ruins. - Kelly

Galleys used for shops outside the Stadium

Main entrance

Running for the Acropolis

Ruby liked the "rocks"

Sitting in the 12,000 seat stadium

Brewer's Turkish School Experiences

 Brewer at his OHEP class

All the Georgetown U. faculty and students have been paired with a local host family and, through ours, we have developed a great connection with a local school.  My host "sister" Meltem, is on the Turkish equivalent of the PTA at OHEP Koleji, a private K-12 school located in beautiful old town Alanya.  The school is secular and places a strong emphasis on learning English as a second language.  In fact, students as young as five have a least an hour of English instruction everyday.  Older children receive almost 10 hours of English instruction a week.

Brewer and new friends

The school has become a big part of our lives here.  They have welcomed us into their world, allowing Brewer to stop by "whenever he wants" to participate in their English kindergarten classes. 
We have developed a routine of going every Thursday from 10-11:40 am, which is when they have English instruction that day.  Brewer loves interacting with kids his own age and every visit I am treated to the typical turkish hospitality to which I am slowly growing accustomed.  In fact the school principal, who speaks no English, almost always stops me and asks me if I have time to join him for cay (tea).  Except during our first visit, when Meltem was with us and could translate, I have politely declined, wondering how we would possibly communicate during any such visit especially with Ruby running underfoot.

Kindergarten window

Ruby loves the bathroom

The school itself is nestled into the side of the hill with stunning views of the harbor and brightly painted in orange and white.  They teach art and music and even have a chess class.  During Brewer's class, I sit in their open air hallway outside the classroom, looking over the harbor and mosque minarets while Ruby plays in their covered playground.  Afterwards we walk up the winding, steep, steep cobblestone street/path to Alan's work for lunch.    - Kelly

Not a bad playground view

 

Artwork that adorns
the school walls

Lunch of chicken shish, bulgar,
lentil soup and salad

ECON 106: Turkish vs. US Airfares

A kid does not worry about airfare pricing
or availability, just enjoying the travel as it
comes - like finding a random dinosaur
exhibit within an international airport

Even as an economist, I find myself continually amazed by the day-to-day economic differences between the US and other countries that I experience while abroad. That's one reason I hope so many of my students can travel in the future - to see economics at work firsthand. One such case in point is airfare purchases. Even without obvious travel snafus, it can be frustrating dealing with pricing issues. In late October, Kelly and I booked round-trip airfares from Lexington to Boston for the first week of January for an economics conference I will attend there. Booking travel more than two months in advance for the week after the big holiday travel season, we had to pay almost $400 apiece for our tickets.

Fast forward three weeks to when we booked our flight from Alanya to Istanbul :( to catch our international flight home in December. It is a one-way direct flight with no connections, booked 4.5 weeks in advance. And it cost us $35USD apiece! That's almost the cost of a checked bag in the US, and the Turkish price includes a free checked bag.

Of course, there are potentially several reasons for this in-your-face pricing discrepancy. Supply and demand come to mind first. Demand-wise, I'm not sure that many more people want to fly from Lexington to Boston as they do from Alanya to Istanbul. And supply-wise, there are only two airlines even flying out of Alanya, so competition can't be that much higher here than in Lexington.

The most obvious answer is the difference in incomes and prices between the two countries. In the US, average income (as measured via Gross Domestic Product) is more than 2.5 times higher than that of Turkey, even after accounting for our more expensive prices of goods and services. It seems likely that the reduced purchasing power of the average Turk means a lot fewer flights being purchased since they are oftentimes luxuries.

But again, look at that price difference! And the ease of booking one-way travel here really makes one wonder why it's rather difficult to book easy and timely air travel within the US.

Alanya's Historical Ruins

The shipyard with foundry at the far left

On two different occasions during this past week (primarily because most of the tourists have left and the weather is cooler), we finally visited some of the local historical sites.  These included one trip to the shipyard / foundry and one to the picture-ready Red Tower, both part of the ancient fortifications located in Alanya's harbour.

A rare picture of the complete clan
in one of the ship galleries

First, we visited the 13th century shipyard, which, according to our books is the second largest in all of Anatolia.   It was constructed for five ships and each gallery is 120 feet deep - big ships!  The shipyard museum which is open air and inside the galleries  is full of exhibits, including mock ships that have been pulled in for repair, a star navigation exhibit and many types of ancient anchors.  We also explored the gun foundry tower which is situated at one end of the yard.   Of course, we had to walk along an elevated seawall to get both the shipyard and foundry. Brewer had the time of his life hiking and exploring!  We let him lead the way as much as possible.

Red tower and Ataturk statue

More recently on a sunny, mid-60 degree weather morning we set out for the harbour again.  After a quick stop at a muddy playground we trekked out to Alanya's lighthouse which had been catching Brewer's eye for sometime.  It was quite a walk out the seawall to reach it and Brewer and Ruby made conversation with several fishermen and other locals repairing their boats along the way.  It was closed when we arrived but the kids were content to sit in its shade with their snack of nuts, oranges and crackers and watch the water and coast.  

Admiring the arches at the top
of the Red Tower

The impressive door to the Red Tower

Brewer, hanging in the Red Tower

After that it was on to the main attraction, the Red Tower.  Prominent in any view of the harbor and certainly any Alanya travel brochure, this impressive structure, erected to control to harbour, dates back to 1226.  The locals have every right to brag on it too.  Wow.  It is an octagon shape and although quite plain on the outside, the arches, steps and rooms inside are beautiful and intricate.

Kids' new Friends

The kids meet people EVERYWHERE here. Our first day in Alanya, we ate at a random restaurant between our apartment and the beach and Ruby met her semester-long friend 'Buddy'. We have not eaten there once since, but Ruby looks and asks for him every time we venture to the beach or to the bus stop, which is practically everyday. Otherwise, the kids love hanging with the children of professor Bryan. And most locals can't get enough of our blond babies, wanting to pinch their cheeks, caress their hair and take many pictures with them. Another classic is the bus friend. Several times, Brewer has started out with his own seat. But if it gets crowded, it is not uncommon at all for some Turkish grandmother to haul Brewer out of his seat, sit down in his place and then scoop him up into her lap. That is usually followed with a gift of a pomegranate from a market bag, an almond from a purse or the ever-present random piece of candy. It's so normal here that there's not much one can do about it. But it took the kids some time to get used to getting treats from strangers, and now we're not sure how to break them when we return to the US.

Beach buddies Seamus and Booker

Ruby's favorite snuggler, Booker

Making random friends at the market

Passing time with some Iranians at the bus station

Ruby getting help with her 'homework'

Brewer sorting olives with Colleen of the Georgetown crowd

Visiting a local school and making new friends

Ruby's 'buddy'

Pl(a)ying the Mediterranean

Me and my dive spot off Kleopatra Beach

I was able to go fishing and scuba diving separately in the Med two weeks ago. It was the end of the season (due to lack of tourists) so I was lucky to make it happen. My scuba 'partners' were two German teens traveling with their parents, none of which spoke English. They were barely certified so they had their own instructor. I was a last-minute addition so I was asked (through a lot of gesturing) to follow an off-duty instructor if I could prepare my own gear. It had been at least two years since I had gone diving, but I guess it's like riding a bike. It all came back to me fairly quickly. Once my guide realized I could handle myself, he basically swam at his own pace and I just followed along. He trailed a bag of bread on our first dive so I was engulfed by a school of feeding fish pretty much the entire dive. We also dove next to the castle's cliffs so we were able to venture into several small grottos. It's difficult to beat a quiet adventure underwater in clear conditions, viewing the pooling fish under the sun while laying on the shallow bottom of the sea on the mandatory safety stop, and then floating around the boat on my back for an extended period after surfacing.

My catch of the passing mackerel school

What does beat that experience (for me) is a morning fishing on the Mediterranean. Once again, I traveled with a young German couple and a sun-ripened Turkish fisherman, none of which spoke more than a few words of English. So I was able to fish quietly on my side of the small boat, practically by myself. We caught mackerel with handlines behind the slow-moving boat and then fished in deep water off Kleopatra Beach for whatever would bite morsels of frozen chicken and fresh cut-up mackerel. And that was six pufferfish for me, definitely a first! As always, it's hard for me to beat a day floating on the water, taking in the beautiful nature around me and waiting anxiously to see what comes up on that tightened line. It was certainly a day I will remember for a long time. - Alan

Our noble fishing vessel

Fresh fish lunch cooked onboard

My first pufferfish! One strange beast