Turkey 2010

Sept 8, Patara, Turkey

Off this morning to the ancient city to see the lighthouse.  Supposed to be one of the first on the Mediterranean.  But in my usual style got lost.  I must have missed one of the turns the neighbour in the pension told me.  

But did end up on a hill over looking the beach and could see lighthouse.  Only missed it by a km or 2 and a couple of steep hills!

Walked down to the beach through some huge sand dunes and had a swim.  Walked along the beach to a community run restaurant, the only place on the beach.  Ran into a English couple that were on the canoe trip!  It is a small place.

Walked a bit more and then headed back, via the road, to the lighthouse.  Found it no problem.  Then went to some other old buildings.  They are huge, but not sure of use of one, the other was a tomb, I think!

Sept 7, Patara, Turkey

Today went on a canoe trip down a river.  The Turkish guy is here as well.  He is still trying to teach me some Turkish, but I am a slow learner!

Was very nice as this is the river that comes from the Saklikent gorge.  Saw a few turtles.  

Also had a mud bath on one of the stops.  The guide guaranteed that my hair would grow back!

We were supposed to paddle to the beach but the wind was very strong and would have had to work too hard to get there as well as the risk of capsizing was high!

Lunch was provided as a BBQ chicken kabob.  Very good!

Got back to hotel and headed to Kalkan by dolmus, to find out about boat trips to the sunken city.  In Patara there are not enough people to run any tour.

The tourism is very low here.  There are many pensions, but does not seem to be very many people around.  The village is not very big but has many pensions and a lot of restaurants.  Also  there are about 5 'markets', which are really convenience stores.  I do not know how they make a go of it.

People are very nice and very friendly.  They are not aggressive in their selling which is a nice change from the cities.

Sept 6, Patara, Turkey

Caught the bus from Fethiye to Patara which took about 1 1/2 hours, dropped off at the junction and then had to catch a dolmus to pension, to the door.

Went for a walk to the ancient city and wandered around.  Saw 3 tortoises.

also there is a large theatre as well.

Went to the beach which is about 18 km long.  This is a protected area for the nesting loggerhead turtles.

Could not do much as the wind was so strong that it felt like being sand blasted.

Great as there are no buildings in sight of the beach so it does not disturb the nesting turtles or the hatchlings getting to the water.

Sept 5, Fethiye, Turkey

Caught the water taxi into the city and then walked up to the old tombs.  These are carved out of the side of the mountain.  They date back to about 3 or 4 th century BC.  The richer you are the highter your tomb and the more intricate the carving.    Met a Turkish guy that is doing some travelling and is heading in the same direction as I am.  He is on his way to Antayla for university.   He was walking up to the tombs as well.  He is really into history so I got a bit of a history lesson of the area and Turkey, and he is tried to teach me some Turkish.  On the way back to the city there was even a tomb in the middle of the street.

Back to hotel for a swim and lazed some more!

Sept 4, Fethiye, Turkey

Did not do much.  Lazy day.   Reserved too many days here.  

Sept 3, Fethiye, Turkey

On a bus tour today to Tlos, an ancient city on Lycian road, with tombs carved into the rocks and the city area below.  The tombs are interesting as they too are classed.  Royality is at the top and the rich the next level and the general population lower down.  The guide said that the tombs that are more like sarcofacus are those of sailors.  You can tell as the lids look like the undersides of boats.  

I paid 20 Turkish Lire for a rock! It is carved!  Haggled and got the price down to 19.99, handed the kid a 20 and he comes back with my change with a big smile on his face!

Had lunch at a trout farm.  Fresh trout was on the menu.  This is an area where there is a steady flow of fresh spring water.  The area around is agriculture, growing vegetables, hay, and fruits.

We then took a hike along the Saklikent gorge, climbing ovre and under rocks.  Ended up walking with a woman from Istanbul.  Her camera flash card was full so I became the photographer again.  She walked part way and then stopped, later caught up with the group with a couple of young boys, no more than 3 feet tall.  They were helping her over and under the rocks.  They adopted me as well, but sure if I fell I would have crushed them both.  But that is how they made some money.  In places the walls are 350 meters high and the gorge is 18 km long. 

The cultural part of this trip was a stop at the carpet factory.  Hilarious as i walk in and this guy calls me by name.  I meet him on the bus the day I arrived.  The carpets are beautiful, so good thing the credit card was in hotel.

Got a haircut tonight, bargain at 10 Lire ($7) until he lit a small alcohol type torch. He lit it and started hitting his hand with it!  Turns out he uses to singe the hair in the ears!  The smell of burned hair is pretty bad!

Sept 2, Fethiye, Turkey

Caught the dolmus (pronounced 'dolmush') a mini bus that stops anywhere, to Oludeniz beach, or known here as the Blue Lagoon.  Water was really blue, the sand was very nice and the water great.  Weird as the paragliders were landing on a (very) small piece of grass between the walkway and the beach.  Zooming right over your head, or when on the beach this shadow would pass over you.  Still great to watch.

This is the high end area for all inclusive hotels.  I am in the cheap area!  And there is a big difference, about 50% in prices of food and souvenirs.  It took about an hour to get there.

Sept 1, Fethiye, Turkey

Took a walk along the beach and stopped at travel agent.  Ended up with 2 trips.

The first was  a quad bike trip, interesting as went through a rural area and then up over a pass and down to a very nice looking beach.  Ok trip but in the 3 hours we had 2 restaurant stops and some 'who can create the most flying dirt' time in the bushes on dusty trails.  And then there was the small oval where the guide was doing donuts after telling the guys on the trip that they were NOT to do any fancy stuff!  The guide was a real character.  I do not think he stopped talking the whole time!

On the way we past the ghost town, created in 1923, Independence day for Turkey, when they sent all the Greeks living in Turkey back to Greece and the Turkish living in Greece came home.  House were just left.

August 31, Bodrum/Fethiye, Turkey

Had my final breakfast this morning.  The guys told me that I could go to Fethiye for a couple of days but then had to come back to the Bodrum Park Hotel.

I think I have experienced it all!  I am on a bus from Bodrum to Fethiye, which should take about 4 hours.  Very nice bus.  No sooner had we pulled out of the station and a man came around and gave each a glass of cold water!  Then about an hour into the trip after the first stop, he came around again this time with coffee, pop or juice!  Free!  After coffee I pulled out computer to update journal and I have free internet access 'on the bus'!  Then after the next stop, out came the coffee, water and juice but this time a selection of snacks, pretzels, cookies or something that lookied like a chocolate bar!  Amazing!  Turkey definitely wins for bus travel!