Driving to the Mediterranean Sea for Our Vacation

We went on our first family vacation in Turkey.  Reed researched many options and decided to book us at Club Salima.  This resort is on the Mediterranean Sea.  We have been using the Garmin GPS faithfully and it has not failed us.  So we figured that it should be able to get us to the resort, right?  WRONG!

We did not get lost, but we were driving on roads that were one lane at the most.  There was very little traffic and we drove up and down along the cliff of a mountain.  It had no guard rail system at all.  It was a little nerve racking, but eventually we got back on the main road/highway.  We later purchased a map and saw that Garmin was sending us through a short cut.....I don't think so.  It was a beautiful scenic detour, but a little scary at times.  Our drive home; we used the map.  That drive was a little less eventful.

During this detour we saw what poor truly looks like.  These people had a tent out of tarp material for a house. They had an open pit fire to cook on. I saw a pot on the fire and women rolling their dough on a flat rock.  Other women were cooking the flat bread dough by using a stick and another flat rock on the fire pit.  Note -there was no bathroom, outhouse, nor any running water that we could see.   I am not sure if these people were roaming people who helped on farms picking the riped crops/fruit, but they were really without any basics. It really hit home that I need to count my blessings. 

During this 7/8 hour drive (The detour driving through the one lane mountain really slowed us down a bit) we also enjoyed the wonderful view.  I did not know that Turkey was such a mountainous region.  In the beginning it was sandy types of hills with bushes and trees.  You could see farmers and their animals (sheep).  The land fences were either the rocks that came naturally from their soil or a wood stick with barbwire between them.  Their fencing system in Turkey is interesting.  The distance between cities or rest stops (hahaha...there is no such thing as a rest stop- it is the called using nature) is large and vast. 

The climate and terrain changed.  It became warmer and more mountainous.  The bushes and trees turned to pine trees with the sandy hills turning into rugged rocky mountains.  It was a sight!

Driving up one mountain

One view on top of a mountain

Going down a different mountain

I learned a big lesson from this trip.  You need to plan bathroom breaks very carefully. Our first stop at a gas station I decided to use the bathroom.  I went to the bathroom and saw an open porcelain hole. Yes I said "hole." No toilet paper, no seat...nothing but a hole and small bucket with water. Apparently, the water is used to flush the porcelain hole.  The big cities of Turkey have bathrooms with a toilet that has a toilet seat.  The suburbs of Turkey has the porcelain hole.    AND Turkey has a lot of empty nature/road with no cities even available.    Lesson learned; don't drink too much coffee or water when driving 8 hours or you may have to use the "hole" or nature.  Personally, I would rather use nature!