May 31st to June 3rd Lausanne to Thun Switzerland

 Day #1

Terraced vineyards above Lake Lausanne

Coffee stop, 2 coffees = Swiss franc CHF8 which is equivalent to NZD$20.

One of the many hilltop towns

Looking relaxed at Lake Lausanne before we start the first day. After one month travelling about Turkiye we knew it would be tough.

The trip by train from Geneva airport to Lausanne only took an hour. We did noticed quite a lot of graffiti on the rail corridor. 

Was a warm 25C day. At the hotel we learnt that in Switzerland, and Lausanne in particular, it is legally prohibited to turn on aircon until the 1st June and then it has to be at least 25C outside  before regulations allow you to drop the temp. in your room 5C only!!  This is all energy and environmental decrees. It is a very controlled country by the Federal Council and Assembly. Astounding given the massive quantities of wood burnt over the 6 to 7 months of winter. The irony lost perhaps.

Switzerland has 9 million people and approx. 40,000 sq km land mass compared to 5 million people and 268,000 sq km for New Zealand. Switzerland is land locked by France, Germany, Italy and Austria. So folks speak Swiss derivatives from these countries.  The majority of the countries wealth comes from being a safe haven - the legendary financial sector attracts vast amounts of global capital. They also have high value exports of  pharmaceuticals. 

Switzerland bascially closes Sundays and Mondays. Sometimes also Tuesdays which is tricky for tourists looking for an open grocery store or even just somewhere to eat. We had researched this before we came so have plotted options  because food is very necessary when cycling hilly terrain! Tap water is supposed to be ok but tastes awful at times so stick with bottled water. 

A few issues with the hire bicycles, they are brand new but had not been serviced grr!!, We plugged on to the end of the second day where we found a cycle repair shop. We have sent the invoice to Eurotrek, who we rented the roadbikes from highlighting our disppointment and expect to be refunded. Eurotrek provided the GPX files for navigation, shift our backpacks from place to place, and find accommodation. We guide and cater for ourselves.  They are not a patch on the UK company we have used for the last two years regarding service, value and skilled staff.

The second day we set out to beat the forecast thunder and hail storms, due at 2pm. Thankfully second day not so brutal as the previous, bicycle issues not withstanding.

Got to Laupen by 1pm-ish and the heavens opened rain and hail an hour later whilst we were settled having a drink under a cafe awning.

We now know why Switzerland is so green.... cow manure. The air is pungent with dairy shed effluent and winter bedding that has been spread on every available field. Cows are kept housed October to April in huge sheds, so that is millions of litres of waste and bedding to great rid of.  Cows are turned out now so lots of ringing bells as they each have one around their neck. Also many fields of autumn sown barley and wheat in full head.

Our hotel in Laupen

Like the Turks the Swiss have flags or their emblem everywhere, very patriotic.

Wild bears have been returned to the Swiss Alps

Yes day 3 was a grind from the get go. Kept telling ourselves it would prepare us for tomorrow which looks to be vertical...   The Swiss have huge houses, generally three stories and just as wide. All that time spent indoors plus animals are housed at the back and the usual array of farm equipment. Our cycling route often passes through someones yard so need to keep an eye out for moving tractors and wandering animals.  Steadings dotted all over the hillsides, very high up, with villages tending to be settlements in the valleys. Hence the constant climbing up and down.

Fields of autumn sown barley

Roads range from sealed, concrete or what they call "natural" i.e. gravel/mud.

A closed cafe so used it for our lunch stop with food we need to bring everyday to keep us fuelled. Matching helmets hired go with our Ground Effect jackets.

Grateful to get to Thun, a pretty river town and the hotel is nice called The Krone. After a chilly, wet cycle good to see and feel the sun. Who knew it could be 11C in June ( summer) in Switzerland. Found a great restaurant for an early dinner.

Turreted Thun castle from the 1100's

The river Aare flows from the lake at Thun to the federal capital Bern.

Selcuk -Ephesus 28th- 30th May

From Fethiye the bus trip to Aydin was uneventful. Pamukkale bus line is the best of all the buses we have been on over the last month - non smoking drivers, clean buses and a bus host who gives out snacks/water from an aisle trolley. At Aydin we transferred onto our first train in Turkey- a line that goes to Selcuk and Izmir. Cost NZD$5 each. Our hotel was the cleanest, nicest we have stayed at. Even quieter than Cirali - no roosters.

It has been renovated by investors and run by staff who understand attention to detail, something of a rarity in Turkey.

The reason you come to Selcuk is the proximity to Ephesus, a ancient Greek city once on the Aegean Sea coast. It is no longer on the coast being 7km inland due to sea level rise some 7,000 years ago and silt buildup of the rivers from centuries of deforestation and overgrazing. The temple of Artemis was known as one of the seven wonders of the Ancient world. Ephesus has been ransacked many, many times over the centuries and infamous rulers such as Alexandra the Great, Mark Antony/ Cleoprata have passed through.

We walked the 3km to Ephesus coming in the bottom gate. Tourist are driven to the top gate in multiple buses to walk down the hill in the 27C heat to be picked up by their bus.

There was not too many at 9am thankfully. The onslaught is usually from 10am.

The Celsus library remnants.

Medusa as a centre piece on the facade of the Hadrians Temple.

What was disappointing was that the latest restoration, with the assistance of Austria, the reuse of various marble/ limestone blocks, of what had obviously been a floor block with door holes for moving the great doors, were placed halfway up a 6m archway on its side!!
Granted civilisations pilaged from each other for centuries but you would think in 2018, when they restarted restoration, they could have taken more care.  The highlight for us was the restoration of what had been known as the terrace houses up a hillside.

Remnants of wall frescoes in a hillside house.

The terrace houses have a roof cover up the hillside so was very cool and quiet. The bus tourist do not tend to go in, a selfie photo in front of the library is their objective.

9am

11am...the downhill tourists.

What was known as the Odeon for meetings in Roman times.

We walked back to Selcuk via peach, nectarine and orange orchards which was a delight. The town itself is small, only 38,000 people. Geared to feeding, housing visitors and servicing the hortculture hinterland.  Streets are filled with hort equipment and so many turkish eating houses.

Local butcher sausages hanging outside.

Storks are nesting, many with young chicks, on any high point in the town. You can hear the parents clicking away.

To our absolute delight we found a pizza store with vegetarian pizzas. After a month of doner, kebabs, skewers of "meat" of questionable age and history, being mostly dodged by us we have done very well.

Last day in Selcuk we will visit the museum then on a train to Izmir where we fly out of on Sunday morning to Geneva, Switzerland to start our cycling for two weeks.

25th - 27th May Fethiye

As you travel by bus on the D400 Coastal route from Cirali to Fethiye we passed numerous tiny cove beaches that cars lined both sides of the road to access. Bends, double parking no worries.

Vast areas on the plains are under plastic growing year round fruit and vegetables. Bulk tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, bananas, melon and strawberries and everything in between.

Hectares of plastic tunnel houses.

Even up the hillsides plastic tunnel houses.

Fethiye is known for its natural harbour, proximity to Rhodes, Greece. It also has many near shore islands for day tripping. Due to two earthquakes (magnitude 7) a day apart in 1957 the town and port were flattened and then rebuilt. Another big one in 1969 required more rebuilding so not too many "old" buildings here, although in saying that the construction here does not age well. Crumbling concrete etc. We are staying in a hotel beside the marina so plenty of activity. Earplugs required to sleep though. A huge seafood market in the town where you can choose your fish and they will deliver your choice to one of the many restaurants surrounding the market.

Hilmi fish market

7.30pm diners, most folks eat after 8pm. Too late for the Sewells

Early morning view from our hotel window.

There is a Tuesday market here, repeated Friday. Every imaginable fruit and vege fresh from the grower. Already 25C at 9am so thankfully under cover. We bulked up our supplies for breakfast. 

Turkish cheese, not a patch on French but they try.

Nuts and spice.

At least they are honest about it. Every highend label of any clothing item, bag, etc is sold as fakes. The quantity of clothing, footware, leathergoods has to be seen to be believed.

White loaves are the norm.

Swept around the historical sights, mostly tombs or remains there of. They are restoring a Roman theatre but really the town is geared to the harbour, boating and fishing. Temperatures are climbing 27/28C with 30C by the weekend. Our timing to move on from Turkiye on Sunday will be perfect but in the meantime we notice more UK, European tourists as we move to Western Turkiye, the out of condition English certainly stand out as they expose as much flesh as possible to the Turkish sun, quite revolting. Also quite noticable is a more relaxed dress code amongst the Turkish females, a lot less of the devout muslim dressing like hijab, chador, burka etc.

Spent the last day at Fethiye out on the water in boat run by a family called Jerrys Boat. 

Leaves the harbour area around 9.30am returning 4pm. The son, Jerry, has been the
skipper for 37 years following on from his father who probably did 40 years. All the boat operators compete for customers and the best coves/bays to pull into for anchoring for the swimmers and snorkelers.  They provide a lunch onboard and general patter on the areas topography. One of the islands is called Rabbit Island where boaties feed the rabbits. I kid you not.  Water was 23C according to Jerry, too cold for a seasoned Turk but relished by those that swam off the boat.

Jerry cooking kebabs

Rabbits being encouraged by all who take food to the island. If you say to anyone they are a pest in NZ so we shoot and poison them to save crops and the landscape they are aghast.

Tomorrow away to Selcuk/Ephesus to see the ancient city ruins for a couple of days.