FINALLY
Aimi is feeling better. Better enough to want to do something active today.
We had been looking for white water rafting excursions, having never done it before. The Tui organised tour looked good, but it was over 2 hours away by coach, and then 2 hours back. It would mean half the day sitting in a sweaty bus, which is not our idea of a holiday.
With a bit of googling, we found Goynuk Canyon just 15 mins away – by expensive taxi – or a 1 euro local bus and a walk. We decided to have an adventure and get the bus.
Once Aimi had spotted the turning, we jumped off the bus and started walking up the road. It seems that until the main road was built recently, the road followed the river bed. Just like in Spain, in the dry season the rivers become roads. This worried Aimi a little, but we were in the right valley, eventually we would get to the canyon.
About 40 mins walk layer we arrived and bought our tickets. From there it was a long walk up the valley to the canyon. We chose to do a boat tour into the mouth of the canyon, rather than getting wet and swimming it. The water was 14 deg and we didnt think getting cold straight after being ill, was a smart move. The boat ride was still very good and we got to aee a huge boulder that had wedged itself between the walls of the gorge. We joked that it was the boulder from Indiana Jones, it really looked like it could have rolled all the way down the canyon.
We had a drink at the top here, sitting enjoying the view of the turquoise pool at the mouth of the white walled canyon. A nice deck and cafe hut had been built with a cute wooden walkway and bridge over the waterfall. It was very relaxed and enjoyable.
There were also ziplines being built up the valley. One of them was really long, straight down the middle, really low to the rocks in places. It will be amazing when finished, but no-one was riding it today.
We took a cheeky detour down into that part of the river to clamber over the rocks. It was good fun working out how to get down without getting wet. A few climbing skills and decent balance was needed in places.
By the bottom of the canyon I was hot and sticky, so I made the dubious decision to have a swim. The water was so blue and clear, it was hard to ignore. It was definitely not 14 degrees tho, it felt freezing! There was only 1 way in and that was quickly by diving. It took a bit of thrashing around, but I survived haha!
On the walk out of the valley we found and old boy with a pile of fruit under a shack at the side of the road. He had a few plastic cups and a mechanical squeezer machine. We bought 2 cups of the freshest orange juice I’ve ever tasted, it was super sour and sweet and really refreshing.
Getting the bus back was surprisingly easy, just a 15 min wait and hold your hand out and they stop. Then when you want to get off, you can do so pretty much wherever you want. This was the first time Aimi had been on a foreign bus so I’m glad it was a good experience.
I rounded off the day with a dunk in the pool and discovering what a Hamman is. You sit in a hot room all made of marble and help yourself to as much super hot water as you want. There are taps in stone alcoves with marble basins beneath. A Turkish family came in and the kids took turns bowling hot water over their parents. It must be a communal bathing culture that’s persisted from Roman times. Whatever the reason is was really pleasant until I dove back into the comparatively cold pool.
We didn’t stay up late after our day out, we were knackered
