We just mentioned the clean air of the mountains and plateaus, but you don’t need to go far for dean air in Gazipaşa. The air and natural environment in die town (enter and along the coastline are exceptionally clean. There is no source of pollution in this area.

After long years and many rumours, dreams of many domestic and foreign citizens living in neighbouring regions of Alanya and Gazipaşa become real - Gazipaşa Airport opened eventually.

We went back home for a short while, uploaded the latest on XC paragliding competition Turkey second phase to Alaturka website and hit the road on Thursday night. The next target of XC paragliding competition Turkey was Tekirova near Kemer in Antalya region.

I have been flying paragliders since 1986, before that hang gliders for several year. I started my paragliding school in Bright, Australia in 1988 and taught over 3,000 people to fly before moving on to specialise in paragliding XC Tours and XC skills development clinics.

Murat Iştın, who is a meteorologist and at the same time, paragliding pilot, was born in Balıkesir in 1980. After completing his primary and secondary education in Balıkesir, he graduated from Ankara Anadolu Meteorology Vocational High School in 1998 and started his professional meteorology career by working at Van Ferit Melen Airport.

I'm flying paragliders since 1996. I was hooked from the moment when my feet lost contact to the ground for the first view seconds - I was flying!

For professional rafters and beginners. There are lots of wild water streams coming down from the Taurus Mountains, but a few of them are really difficult to handle on rafts. You need a well-trained body with powerful muscles to move down safely. Permission is also required.

Canyoying is a new and exciting outdoor activity. By Canyoning (also called Schluchteln or Schluchting) you can understand committing a gulch from above to down (in the early time of the sport canyonings from below upwards) in the most different variations.

It is often possible to come across amusement rides named “Jeep safari” on board Jeeps in the tourism centers along the Riviera coast.

A Beetle Club in Antalya

Last produced in 2003, Beetles are without doubt most liked cars in the world. First appeared in the streets in 1938, mass production of the round shaped beetle began after the end of world war one.

Kahramanmaraş is a provincial centre in the east of Turkey and has got 465.370 inhabitants (number from 2007). Up to the end of the Turkish Independence War the town and the province was only called Maraş.

Emerging from the mountains in the Köprülü District of Antalya, the Alara Stream flows into the sea near the Boztepe village of Manavgat.

The Town of Manavgat, being 76 km away from Antalya, is founded on the fertile plains on both sides of the Manavgat River and carries the same name.  

What a coincidence – while arriving at Kargıhan Caravansary from ancient city of Etenna together with Author Wolfgang Dorn we met Kaimakam Mr Hacı İbrahim Türkoglu from Manavgat together with his staff and couple of mayors from neighbouring towns to inspect Kargıhan Caravansary for later restoration and for small picnic at the complex.

According to legend Side is named after the goddess of fertility and nature, Side, which also means pomegranate. The story goes that Side was walking along the Manavgat River with her little daughter and her nymphs. They picked flowers and passsed a tree with thin branches, shiny leaves and colourful flowers.

We went to Karaman again with regard to preparation of the 2011 Paragliding Weeks. Here, the district governor drew our attention to the ancient city of Claudiopolis and invited us to see the district centre called Mut and its vicinity. This region is especially famous for growing of Mut Apricot, which is an aromatic apricot type.

Our invitation from the Municipality of Mut, especially by the Kaymakam….. includes one more special event when we were going to Kilise Tepe, about 25 Kilometers outside of Mut. Always following the Göksu River we at least were leaving the main road going into a farm road, then even going cross country.

The known history of human settlements in the area dates from 2000 B.C. But although they do not give us sufficient information, there are signs of earlier human settlements around Gazipaşa. The chronological history of Gazipasa goes like this:

The antique city of Selinus which is on the spot as today’s Gazipasa. was one of the important cities of mountainous Cilicia. With other cities in the same region, it shows that there was an intensive human settlement here during the antique times.

Turkey, an ever-shining star in the global tourism market with returning tourists and foreigners deciding to settle by buying houses, continues to attract new tourists every year.