Fwd: Isparta
April 2014.
From Pamukkale we followed the route along through Denizli, Cardak, Afyon to Isparta. We had not booked anywhere to stay but Jim very quickly found a very nice hotel in Isparta. It was late so we just popped out to the nearest restaurant which turned out to be a kebab shop/restaurant run by a gentleman who had lived in Marmaris for 18 years before returning to Isparta. His establishment was cheap, clean and served the most amazing food to two very tired travellers. We can’t understand how they produce the amount of food for so little. If he opened in London using the same prices he would have queues miles long. Isparta is a university and military town so lots of young people on the streets much later into the evenings.
Every other shop sold items of beauty products produced with rose petals. We could not understand how many shops selling the same items could survive but once we left Isparta we never ever saw again any shops selling these items. I wish I had bought some at the time.
We enjoyed the journey through the countryside sometimes seeing no one for many miles as in the fields were horses ploughing and farmers with old tractors but very little in the way of cars. The ladies were often minding the sheep and goats or helping their husbands in the fields. Their homes were often not more than shacks but their fields were beautifully ploughed and they were self sufficient. We past miles and miles of fruit trees all beautifully looked after. Lake Aci and Lake Burdur both looked beautiful with the large mountains surrounding them. Our little Fiat Punto at times had trouble getting up the mountains in second and even first on occasions but we made it there and back in one piece.
We had breakfast the next morning at the restaurant on the top of the hotel which overlooked the town before we started off for Cappadocia.