Heidi has a problem with diarrhoea and it is not recommended to go to the beach. There is a public but chargeable toilet, and we do not think that they sell subscriptions for the day. So it is better she minimizes the distance to our chamber and stay at the pool, so there are some stairs only.

I remember that I took a bike with me. So I provide the period from 10 am to 2 pm for a bike tour. Soon I roll along the busy main road passing one hotel after the other with their balconies above the road. May be the people here are not so sensitive against the noise. Some time later there is the Aquapark with a roller coaster water slide big like a house.

I want to ride along the river Dim which flows in the sea just aside the Club Alantur. But I overlook the road into the Dim valley for there is no sign. So I ride on the wrong road but this is not bad for this area now is the best landscape of the tour around the village Kestel. I just have left the main road, as there comes along an old woman with a huge heap of hay on her back. She is soon exhausted and sits down in the shade for a rest. What a contrast to the near-by touristic world. I continue amidst of banana plantations, it is pretty green and many flowers everywhere. It is the hilly foreland of the Taurus and I have no further orientation. So the first part of my tour ends at the stable of some goats.

I have to ride back and meet some German cyclists with mountainbikes. "I am permanently lost" I say, but they have the same problem. They only want to look around, it doesn't make a differenc where they are - they say. They have never heard somthing of the river Dim.

But finally I succeed after passing a hill I run down and hit on a bridge and this is the river and the road. The first sensation is a rope bridge high above the river. I try some steps on the swinging planks but soon my knees tremble and I must return. Some time later I see a platform and a hut in a tree. A place to relax.

And then I find out, thate this route is not so lonesome as I had thought. In the valley there are a lot of picknick stations, one after the other. At hot days in the summer people will come here and enjoy the cooler climate. There are platforms with tables and chairs just above the water. In the moment everything is deserted because the weather is not so hot. Nevertheless I sometimes hear them shout: "Hello, please..." or so. The names of the restaurant are in good German and sound like "Trout Garden" etc.

Occasionally I wanted to look for the Dim-Cave but there is no sign at all. I cycle about 12 km up the valley and at last the picknick stations end. The valley gets more narrow to a gorge and he road leads uphill. But then a downhill would follow and this is the point to return. Moreover inland there are dark clouds and it starts to rain. At the seaside the clouds are cut off like by a knife. The way back is fast because a steady downhill. At last I am back in the sun and can warm up.

At the roadside there is a "decoration camel" for a photo. And there comes a lad and wants money for the photo. But before he is near enough I have run off with my bike. At Alanya I look in some side roads, they are under construction, ugly and dusty. I have run 55 km in 4 hours.

Thursday

It is the last day and as usually then is a fine weather. Heidi wants to stay near the hotel for security. I go to a pharmacy for a medicine. A young man translates the instructions and tells that he is a German teacher. May be he gets more money at the pharmacy than as a teacher.

The rest of the day we are lazy or watch some workers as they pave over a knee high wall at the side of the road. In the evening we see a sunset as it can be observed everywhere in the world and people say "Ah" and "Oh". After dinner we go out to buy the spice assortment, there is a nice shop for this matter. We get a tea and another German couple comes in which is known many years to the owner of the shop. So we think we are right. Then the various spices are mixed: the Osmanian Mixture:

Basilikum, Thyme (Thymian), Oregano, Majoran, Caraway (Kümmel), Curry, Paprika sweet and sharp, Black Pepper.

This is usable for all dishes except custard or layer cake.

At last we have a Turkish Evening at our hotel and we - of course - sit on our balcony again. It is really better to have some distance to the action because the viewers must participate in the show. So they must bow for prayer and are clothed in shorts and Hawai-shirt. Then they must reproduce the steps of the Turkish dances and look somewhat agonized. At last the obligate belly dancer comes up and the men have to lie on the ground. With thriumph she then absolves her program above all that misery.

People of the hotel

There is the owner of the hotel who is said to be one of the most wealthy men of the town. He is clothed in a white suit and looks like we imagine a Turkish Aga or Bey. On the license plate of his dark-green-blue Mercedes is written his name in big letters and the official regestration number is written in miniature. His wife is very decent with a scarf and looks like an usual woman.

The supervision is executed by a manager who always has a grumbling face. The young man at the reception means: "He has problems with his laugh lines".

The women who clear the rooms (chambermaids) have a funny rhythm at their work. When they start a new room they enter the balcony at first and have a look around. As there is no too much haste during their work the last rooms are finished in the late afternoon.

Some other servants take care of the plants, the pool and clean the paths and stairs. One of those, an elder man, once presents a rose to Heidi. This rose then was a pleasure in a teeth glass until the very end.

The funniest of the guests is without any doubt a double of Mr. Bean. As I gave a hint to Heidi for the first time during the dinner she nearly swallowed up. Once I can observe as he enters the pool. This could be part of a real Mr. Bean sketch. At first he dips his great toe into the childrens basin. Then his snow-white backside bends caused by the chill and he goes down the ladder centimeter by centimeter. As he is as deep as his swim shorts the waters seem to have reached the highly sensitive parts. As the waters reach his bellybutton the upper lip gets flapping without control. And then a crie: "Oh how cold!". He finally succeeds to perform some swimming strokes. But I must mention the fact that the water is warmer than 20 degC and is just usable for a cooling.

Heidi's favourite is a woman with a huge body and in principle is cothed in red. Heidi thinks that this is not the right colour for her type. I do not think so, for the colour of her clothes is the same as that of her skin. We call her "The red Fred". (There is a German children's book "Die Oberheudorfer" with a guy who always has to wear blue clothes for they once have bought too much colour, and this is named "The Blue Fred").

A lady from Bavaria onc tells the story tat there was a murder in Alanya. The owner of a disco shall have been shot and so the ownership may change. The district at the harbour was totally blocked by policemen. Such things are not so official for they do not want to scare the tourists.

End

The flight back occours without problems. I will never again take a bike with me, it is more convenient to rent a bike at the destination. We think we had a lot of adventures during this journey.