Travels in Turkey

Our walk on the St. Paul Trail.

Chapter 3: Travel Day

Day 3 Journal: near Barla

Sunday                           10/2/05

We got up at 6:45 after going to bed at almost 2 a.m. We hurried around and caught the 8:09 a.m. train to the Muze stop to go back to the beach district. This time we could see the Sea. It was gorgeous. Crystal clear with hardly any waves. There was no sand. Only river type stones that got in our sandals. We wished we had taken our swimsuits after getting our feet wet. It was warm at about knee deep. Lots of old men were swimming (some in speedos). We also stopped for more Lira at an ATM since we were leaving town. We caught the train back to Hadrian’s Gate and walked to the panysion. We packed our bags, and had breakfast before leaving for the bus station (Otogar). Two girls from Slovenia walked with us to catch a local bus to the Otogar. On the way we stopped at a postal box to mail our postcards, and I leaned my trekking pole against the post and left it. 

We actually caught the wrong bus, and it dropped us on a street in view of the otogar instead of in front of it. We caught a 12:30 bus to Isparta. It took two hours. They gave us cake and tea and water during the trip. The bus had a guy that served the passengers like a plane stewardess, and they showed an old American film with Turkish voice-over. There were no-smoking and no-cellphone rules. We thought we smelled smoke once, and I was told to turn off my phone when I started to send a text message. 

We got to Isparta at 2:30 and were ushered quickly onto a bus to Egridir. Only later to find out we would have to take a taxi to Barla which cost us 40 Lira. The people in Barla were shocked and surprised by us especially when they out were hiking in the rain (the rain started before we left Antalya). The rain stayed with us all afternoon and the wind blew hard. It was a hard trek up hill in the mud. Several times we slid down the hill a few feet. Our boots were caked with mud when we finally stopped to set up camp about 7 p.m. Back to the bus rides for a minute – There were lots of picture opportunities along the way. Beautiful scenery everywhere. 

Lake Egridir was especially nice and scenic. At Barla, the people wanted pictures and tried to talk to us. They were really sweet. God really has protected us through this trip. Some things haven’t gone as planned (Jeff losing one of his trekking poles in Antalya) but there have been nice, caring and sometimes Christian people to help us. We have wandered around, but the (a) way has been opened for us. We lost the trail several times so far, but prayer and handy work with the GPS has gotten us back on course. We look forward to another great day tomorrow. — Jeff

All pictures and information on this site are the property of Jeff and Angela Lindsey and cannot be used in any way without their written permission. Some information came from signs and tour guide descriptions.