Olympos Climbing: Day 0
Oct. 14th, 2017 11:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sawylAfter parkrun, my sister came round and we spent a gentle morning catching up. She's got a job interview coming up, so I spent some time helping her lay out the basic elements of the presentation she's got to give. With the bare bones of that sorted, we sped down to Central Six to allow me to pick up some essential toiletries before splitting up for lunch.
At one, she returned with one of my nephews in tow and we went to the airport. I was a little worried about checking in because I'd failed to get the online version to work, but everything was absolutely fine.
Passing through security, I got stuck behind a family who were trying to convince the screeners that they the vast quantities of orange juice they had in their hand luggage for their diabetic son were somehow exempt from the liquids ban. They didn't seem to be having much success, but I didn't see how things ended up because the screeners took pity in the rest of us and started moving us past the blockage.
After an uneventful time in departures, I went to the gate. Our scheduled takeoff time approached with no sign of boarding. Our scheduled time arrived and passed, with us still sitting in the gate lounge. I texted E, already in transit but scheduled to arrive just before me, telling her I was going to be late, and waited to be let on to the plane.
Eventually, an hour behind schedule, we were onboard and ready to go. The pilot described the reason for the delay as a minor glitch in one of the engines - the cowling had been open as we boarded - but given the much louder than normal racket from the port side, it was clearly more than a mere glitch.
Arriving in Antalya an hour late, I texted E who confirmed they were waiting for me in the arrivals area and hadn't gone on ahead even though we'd passes the scheduled departure time of the taxi. I found the right baggage reclaim belt and began what I'd expected to be a short wait. Some 30 minutes later, the carousel still hadn't started and those of us who'd arrived from Birmingham were still waiting. Eventually, the cases started to appear - I was lucky because my bag came through relatively early - and was through customs and out I was out into the arrivals area, where I saw E and AB waiting for me.
The last remaining member of the group arrived at precisely the same time and we went over for the waiting minibus taxi and began the long drive from Antalya to Olympos. I used the time to catch up with AB, my roommate from last year, whom I hadn't seem since Kalymnos. The transfer took around an hour and a half and featured a section of road that was so dry, we seemed to dissolve in a dust storm.
Eventually, we reached Kadir's Treehouses where Tom and Gav were waiting for us. I was paired up with C and we were assigned a charming room in the upper floor of a group of four rooms, with K&W next door and the two Andy's downstairs. The beds were excellent and I was delighted to get into mine after a long, long, long day of travel.
At one, she returned with one of my nephews in tow and we went to the airport. I was a little worried about checking in because I'd failed to get the online version to work, but everything was absolutely fine.
Passing through security, I got stuck behind a family who were trying to convince the screeners that they the vast quantities of orange juice they had in their hand luggage for their diabetic son were somehow exempt from the liquids ban. They didn't seem to be having much success, but I didn't see how things ended up because the screeners took pity in the rest of us and started moving us past the blockage.
After an uneventful time in departures, I went to the gate. Our scheduled takeoff time approached with no sign of boarding. Our scheduled time arrived and passed, with us still sitting in the gate lounge. I texted E, already in transit but scheduled to arrive just before me, telling her I was going to be late, and waited to be let on to the plane.
Eventually, an hour behind schedule, we were onboard and ready to go. The pilot described the reason for the delay as a minor glitch in one of the engines - the cowling had been open as we boarded - but given the much louder than normal racket from the port side, it was clearly more than a mere glitch.
Arriving in Antalya an hour late, I texted E who confirmed they were waiting for me in the arrivals area and hadn't gone on ahead even though we'd passes the scheduled departure time of the taxi. I found the right baggage reclaim belt and began what I'd expected to be a short wait. Some 30 minutes later, the carousel still hadn't started and those of us who'd arrived from Birmingham were still waiting. Eventually, the cases started to appear - I was lucky because my bag came through relatively early - and was through customs and out I was out into the arrivals area, where I saw E and AB waiting for me.
The last remaining member of the group arrived at precisely the same time and we went over for the waiting minibus taxi and began the long drive from Antalya to Olympos. I used the time to catch up with AB, my roommate from last year, whom I hadn't seem since Kalymnos. The transfer took around an hour and a half and featured a section of road that was so dry, we seemed to dissolve in a dust storm.
Eventually, we reached Kadir's Treehouses where Tom and Gav were waiting for us. I was paired up with C and we were assigned a charming room in the upper floor of a group of four rooms, with K&W next door and the two Andy's downstairs. The beds were excellent and I was delighted to get into mine after a long, long, long day of travel.
