Saklikent Snow Day

January 31, 2016

Today we joined several of our cruising friends for a day at the snow. Joan (s/v Elusive) arranged the tour with a turkish tour company. We paid 50 TL each for the bus ride and a BBQ lunch on the mountain.

We caught the bus at 7:00 AM (hadn't seen that early for awhile) and headed up past Antalya to Saklikent.  Approximately 1.5 hours into the trip we stopped at a gas station for çay and mini eclairs brought by Nikki and Nick (s/v Celtic Cream). This allowed us to use the facilities before the next leg. It took us 3-3.5 hours to get to the hill. The last part of the trip was tight switch backs, gravel road and steep inclines. Once we arrived we had until 2:00 PM on our own before the BBQ lunch would be served.

We decided to head up the chairlift to see what was up at the top. This was a first for both of the girls as they have never been skiing or snowboarding before. Once we made it to the top we headed inside to warm up. Most of our cruising friends had the same idea.

view from the bottom

enjoying the ride up

Shaun and Paige in front of us

view down to the left where a lot of people were sledding

at the top trying to warm up inside at the cafeteria

another shot of everyone trying to warm up at the top

building at the very top

our good friend Nick (s/v Celtic Cream) in his t-shirt

Joan (s/v Elusive) helping Nick (s/v Celtic Cream) with his Batman shorts

I am a crazy buggar

s/v Maple crew from left to right Ella, Darryl, Iris and Janet

Bundled up at the top

snow angles

the ride down and Paige needs window wipers

Shaun and Jordan in front of us on the way down

another shot going down

After making it to the bottom we were pretty cold. We decided to warm up inside the bus but found that it was locked. We were able to locate the driver and he unlocked it for us so that we could unthaw inside while we waited for the BBQ. Our lunch was BBQ'd chicken on a bun with veggies and a coke or whatever drinks we decided to bring (by drinks I mean alcohol). It was Nikki's (s/v Celtic Cream) birthday and she graciously shared her mulled wine, which was fantastic. After lunch the kids had a snowball fight to burn off some energy.

snowball fight with Iris and Ella (s/v Maple)

getting the projectiles ready

view up the hill

Barnie launching his snowballs at the girls

Barnie getting pummelled by the 5 year old

After everyone was stuffed we all agreed that we wanted to leave at 3:30 PM to head back to Finike. This left us an hour to go sledding. Luckily there were several plastic bags that people brought and shared. We headed up the sledding side of the hill and as we were walking our friend Barnie scored an actual plastic sled. He took turns taking the kids down the hill (bless his heart). The girls had a blast despite my nervousness at the chaos. Paige even had a turn on the plastic sled and accidentally knocked a turkish boy over. He didn't get out of the way fast despite her best efforts to yell and whistle for him to move..... It was a hoot.

sledding on plastic bags

Barnie and Jordan on the sled that was found on the hill

Mike and Debbie preparing to slide on plastic

Paige channeling her inner penguin

Darryl, Ella and Jordan

We had our final slide and headed back to the bus for our LONG bus ride back to Finike. I think I have mentioned in previous posts about the chaotic drivers in Turkey, well it extended up to the mountain parking. Cars were parked 2 and 3 deep and it everyone seemed to be leaving at the same time. This caused a huge traffic jam all the way off the mountain hence the LONG bus ride back.

One of many great things I saw on this trip was how many locals were on the mountain experiencing the snow, having a BBQ and spending time with their families.

We had a great day visiting the snow and then leaving it behind for warmer weather.

Follow our video adventures on our YouTube channel: Video adventures of s/v Element