Gület trip on Turkish Mediterranean coast

  Fethiye, Turkish Aegean Coast, Turkey
Monday, July 14, 2008

   Monday 7 July                         Tashkent - Istanbul
   Awake well before the 4.30 am alarm, pack gear, do final toilet visits, and downstairs before 5. There is a taxi waiting, but not ours, which isn't due till 5. A group we think is getting it loads into a private car, the driver of the taxi gets a phone call, and it seems he is our taxi, but MP gets him to check in with the desk first. We think it will be US$10 as it was booked through the hotel, but we get a very high speed run to the airport for only 7,000, but are dropped a long way from departures. There is a big crowd at the ground floor entrance, the only way in that we can see. Work our way through the crowd, then someone points to the left, where there is a passage to somewhere. Turns out to be a pedestrian stairway to departures. We are ushered in, put our bags through X-Ray, then have a long wait for our Uzbekistan Airways flight to start checking in.
   Check-in is smooth, get a window seat, but, as usual, forget about the wings. Row 12, on a big jet, you would think, would be forward of the wings. Fill in our duplicate custom forms, get out our hotel chits and old customs form, and present them after a long wait. Takes about 30 seconds, don't need duplicate or chits, no currency problems, straight through!
   DP goes looking in the duty free area, but can't find anything to spend our Sum on. Eventually lose our drinks at the last security check.
   Leave pretty well on time. Have twin seats by the window, but over the wing. Plane banks with our left side high on the way out, so can see very little of the town, and none of the landmark buildings.
   Further out, see patchwork fields and small, closely spaced towns and villages. Can see a river below, and land getting sandier, with a big lake surrounded by sandhill country. This is Lake Aydar, which we visited and swam in after the Yurt Camp. We can see the large mountain range to the south of it, and the western end of the lake where we were, with possibly a photo of the very bay by which we were bogged.
  We see a lot of sand between here and the Caspian, which we cross somewhere south of  Turkmenbashi, and also Baku, with photos of the coastlines. Later we pass to the north of a large volcano, with a minor cone, which has a lot of snow, and a cloud which makes it look active. Depending on the photo timing, it could be Ararat, last seen by us in 1977.
   There is cloud over Georgia, but see the Black Sea, mountain ranges and isolated volcanoes of Turkey, but nothing identifiable. See the big lake just east of the Sea of Marmara, with some large mountains, streaked with white, maybe snow.
   Take incoming photos of the coastline near the airport, hit the ground with a good bump, but still get applause from the passengers.
    As usual, pick the wrong line at customs, with a woman being eventually led away to the office for more questioning. No problems in customs, change only $50 because of 4% commission, follow the signs to the metro, on board and away. "That was easy", to quote the Daphne automated response.
   Changeover to the tram without problems, but it gets more crowded as we get closer to Sultanahmet, so have to plot an early escape. Glad we didn't get the metro all the way to Aksaray.
   Get out at Sultanahmet, walking down the hill towards the Agia Sofia area when we are accosted by a well-dressed tout with a hotel card for Hotel Anadolu (we have no booked accommodation). "It is not far", the 25 euros a head with breakfast and A/C was attractive, and he thought bag storage for a couple of weeks would be ok, so followed him to the street with the Basilica cistern in it, and along to a cross street. Not TOO far, but not as close as he said.. This is not far from our first hotel, and in an interesting area. The top floor room has a good view, and a terrace, but like all top floor rooms, the sun is blazing in, and it's very hot.
   The second floor room is airy, still has a view, and is cool, so we take it. Verify that bag storage is OK, sweeten it up by offering to pay for the night of the 24th July (our last night in Turkey), but can't pay anything till we get change. Not in the room very long, when we hear one call to prayer, not very far away. Then another

01. Istanbul - wooden houses

02. The cute, but noisy mosque near hotel, Istanbu

starts, and it's much closer - sounded like it was in the room with us!  The joys of travel.
DP is dying of hunger, so goes looking for food, while MP goes to the recommended Grand Bazaar area for change, and a bag for our excess luggage in for a couple of weeks, and a camera card.
   MP is now familiar with the area, changes $500, then wanders through and down into the cheaper area near the port, in search of a cheap, printed  plastic bag, but has to settle for a cloth bag for 8 YTL. Picks up a camera chip for 25YTL not cheap, but beaten down from 35. Told it is a fast Toshiba chip, may be true. Indulges in the guilty pleasure of a Big Mac, without DP, figures his iffy stomach can do with something bland.
   Back at the room, sort out the bag a bit, then catch up on a bit of sleep. After,  talk to the front desk, get our tout back, and he take us to Shiny Travel, upstairs near the cistern.  We have no firm plans, but are thinking a bus for less than 8 hours, to possibly Canakkale, or Izmir, which is a straighter shot at the south west. The agent thinks this is a bad idea, and also puts the damper on car hire at 50 euros a day in the high season plus expensive petrol, because this is a BIG country. He suggests an overnight bus to the south coast. We don't want to do this (we reckon we're too old for overnight buses!) so ask if there are cheap airfares to Bodrum, for example. There are fares with Onurair to Antalya which are reasonable, so he puts a package together, flight to Antalya, 2 nights at Olympos at Turkmen Treehouses (in a bungalow), 3 nights, 4 days on a fishing boat to Fethiye, around the Lycian Peninsular, 2 nights in Fethiye at a non-beachfront hotel with a pool, all for a mere 1640 YTL. The total is pretty high, and not itemised, and doubtless a lot higher than we would do ourselves, but it IS the high season, and arriving without booked accommodation in the sunny south doesn't appeal. The booked deal at least give us time to suss it out.
   Do a couple of trips across to the ATM, throw in our remaining US$'s, and a couple of hundred YTL from this afternoon's change run, and leave poorer but wiser.  Interestingly, the secretary had grown up in Oz, and the tout at the restaurant across the road was a Turk, but from Parramatta, with a genuine ocker accent.
   At least the flight is at a civilized hour (12.45) and at the same airport, so we know how to get there, and can sleep in tomorrow. We must be getting soft.
Finish segregating the luggage. After, the bags seem just as full with a whole black bag of stuff taken out.
   Do a night walk around the area.

03. Sultanahmet by night-Istanbul

Find new and interesting monuments behind the Aya Sofia. Continue through the hotel and eating area nearby, and past the Blue Mosque( French sound and light night). It has been a long day, starting 4000 kms away in Tashkent at 2AM Turkish time.  To bed - we are not looking forward to the 4AM call to prayer from the amazingly loud, nearby mosque, but it does not eventuate.  They must have made some compromise - be as loud as you  like at other times (including one about 11pm), but  no 4am.
   Tuesday 8 July                          Istanbul - Olympos
  Up before 8AM breakfast, as this is 10AM Uzbek time. Good breakfast - seem to be on the mend, bowel-wise. As we have time to kill before taking the tram, we wander down our street to look for a downhill tram station. Buy tokens, note that the trams are chokka, so decide to use the Sultanahmet stop, as a few might get off there. Continue down the main road, bordered by a high, ancient wall, then hug the wall through narrow commercial and industrial streets to the end of the wall, down by the main road around the waterfront. There is an open gateway which DP can't resist, Leads to a guarded portal, but after asking, we find we can turn into a

04. Gulhane Park, Istanbul,Turkey

massive park (Gulhane) below the Topkapi Palace. It is cool, green and pleasant. See one guy who has spent the night. At the uphill exit, take an interesting narrow street of renovated timber mansions behind the Sofia. The street has private guards in boxes each end, must be an upmarket address. This brings us out at the gate into the Topkapi grounds where we were last night, with some interesting Mogul style portals and a sort of ancient "ticket box". Running out of time, so head back to book out and confirm our bag storage arrangement. Fortunately, the young man we arranged it with is back on duty.
   Don't have to pay for 24th in advance. Drag our bags through back streets to the Sultanahmet stop.
  The tram arrives just as we do. The luggage gate is being opened by a couple of civilians, who take our coins and put them in the turnstile then go through themselves. Doubtless a common scam, but it works for them and us. We are too rushed to notice the tram is pretty crowded but we force our way on anyway, gradually working our way towards the concertina between carriages, which is always a quiet area, and fairly quickly get seats on the side, facing in, an ideal position for baggage carriers.
   Uneventful trip to the end of the line, and, as old hands, make the change to the Metro with no trouble, apart from DP clouting a child with a coke bottle as she tries to help his mother through the turnstiles.
  DP quickly gets a seat, MP prefers to stand with the bag. Pass a large Expo area, then into the tunnel to the airport. It is a long haul to the domestic terminal, assisted by moving footpaths, then an extraordinarily complicated combination of stairs, escalators corridors, up, down and sideways arrows, to reach the departure hall. Would certainly confuse the average terrorist, let alone mug commuters.
   There is a common check-in for all Onur flights (we've never heard of the airline before, and it's probably good that we didn't have time to google their safety record). Only a couple of customer groups in front of us. MP thinks that, in the next check-in, five nuns are flying, but it is only a large Moslem with his four black clad and scarved wives, and someone's mother, also in black, in a wheelchair (Murray's version). Dianne also originally thought they were nuns, but then decided it was his wife in the wheelchair, and his four daughters.  There were also two young blokes who could have been his sons. They have a lot of monster bags, some needing a two man lift. The free baggage limit on the airline is 15 kg per ticket, and after much discussion, counting, re-weighing, and looks of consternation,  they end up with a 1000 YTL (at 5 YTL per kg) bill for excess.  . Couldn't find too much sympathy for them. Multiple wives are not all beer and skittles!  (or multiple daughters, as the case may be.)  Allthough they only had their eyes and mouth showing, they were obviously attractive, and were wearing make-up, including eye make-up   The man, one-wife, three-daughter family in front of us finally got sorted, and we were processed through with apologies for the delay. Remember to ask for window seats not over the wing. Manage to pass through security with our water this time, although MP has to be asked to dip his lid.
   We can see no Onur planes out the front, fear they may be Russian, and not pretty, and we are in the downstairs departure lounge for bus transit to the low rent areas of the airport.
   When we get out to the plane, are surprised to find a modern American jet, An MD-88, made by Boeing-McDonnel Douglas, and relatively new. In row 10 we are so far forward we can hardly see the wing behind us, while in row 12 in yesterday's 767, we were right over the wing. A big difference with fuselage mounted engines.
   The plane is full, and  leaves on time. We have 10A and B of a 2/3 seat arrangement. Excellent views all the way, with some good photos of the coast, inland mountains, lakes, and patchwork fields. Decide not to pay for a meal, which suits us fine. On the ground in Antalya in good time.
   It is savagely hot walking to the terminal (high 30's). DP goes looking for a bus, while MP waits for our bags. The usual problem of early check-in applies, with our bags out nearly last.
  DP has found a bus to take us to the main bus station, talked to the man, and he loads our bags into the boot, presumably segregated to suit destination. The bus is pretty flash, and air conditioned. We are very surprised at the 10 YTL per head, as it is less than 10 km to the bus station, but we are committed by now, and cop it sweet for a fast, comfortable trip to the Otogar.
   However, it is a door-to-door service, and it runs all over the town, through back streets, past Otogar signs, across wastelands, rarely dropping passengers, and those dropped don't look too happy. Just when we are about to give up and get a taxi, arrive at the Otogar, over an hour after starting off,  and  all the survivors, which include most of the starters, get off.
   Try the main terminal, but directed outside, then back into the secondary terminal, then outside on stand 10 where a pay-on-board Turbo-Daily minibus with a sign to Olympos, is waiting. Not many people on board, so reluctant to commit without a departure time. Driver indicates 5, can't imagine it is minutes, and it's nearly two hours till 5pm, but commit anyway. DP  goes to the loo, then out to get a drink, and the van starts leaving without her.  MP to the foyer with the click sign, DP out, and away!
   We were half-right with our suspicion about departure, as we still have a few spare seats, and are not surprised when we continue at walking pace around the Otogar, picking up passengers on the roadside. We get another tour of the town,including the bus stop recommended in LP, and into the highrise concentration, before stopping in a wasteland with some Kemer town buses. This is obviously the stop for tourists commuting from the southern hotels into the city.
   Now finally on the way. Get photo of the spectacular mountains behind Antalya from the van, photos of the

05. Antalya, Turkey - the bad

07. Antalya, Turkey - it's a big city

6. Antalya, Turkey - the good

incredible concentration of high-rise on the coast to the East, photos of the coast to the West, and rugged mountains behind. The A/C is barely working, so it is pretty hot. One of the older passengers is smart enough to cover the moon roof with newspaper for some respite. The trip is pretty smooth, a big change from Daphne.
   On the way, see what looks like a big accident, with police, fire trucks and a crowd of people. Turns out to be a flash tour bus with its engine on fire, and passengers and luggage being transferred into a smaller bus.
   There is some good coastal scenery,and parks for cars, and some camping, but nothing which suggests we should have taken a hire car. The cost for 1.5 hours in a bus is 8 YTL each. After passing a sign to a chair lift up the massive peak inland, we stop at a view point and are dumped out - end of the line. There is a local minibus waiting, and we transfer, getting the front seats this time. 

08. Heading towards Olympos, Turkey

09. Near Olympos, Turkey

he road drops steeply down into a valley surrounded by rugged limestone mountains, well covered with pine trees. At the bottom of the hill we stop, and a girl at the roadside produces a jerry can and a funnel, and we top up with diesel. Further along we pull off the road to a tanker parked in a clearing, and fill up, The tanker driver has his family on a blanket beside the truck, must be the local servo.
   The area we drive through is pretty raw, hippy/backpacker tourism just starting to become seriously commercial. The Tree House has set the pattern for this area, and it is all alternative.  The second largest of the camps is positively rustic. After a couple of km of pansayons, cafes, treehouses, souvenir shops, and mini-markets, come to Turkmen Treehouse, a massive complex of buildings, but not a lot of treehouses, but stacked up wooden units with rows of solar hot water collectors on top.
   At reception, we are not sure for a while that they have, or will honour, our booking, but eventually come good with an air conditioned bungalow. (rate is 45 YTL per night, which includes half board - suspect we paid a fair bit more). Tell us not to be late for our 8PM dinner, then we are left to settle in.
   The topography indicates that the sea is not far away, so get our beach gear and head out in the still hot afternoon, even though it's now 6pm.. Half a km down the dry creekbed, past a variety of kiosks, cafes, even a disco, we come to a parking area with a toll collector, and are surprised to find there is a 2 YTL each charge to

10. Olympos, Turkey

11. Ruins at Olympos, Turkey

12. Sarcophagi at Olympos, Turkey

13. Beach at Olympos-looking towards Çirali

get to the beach, which is through the National Park. It's now 6pm, so won't get much use out pf the ticket, so have a drink and think about it. It seems it is not all that far, so reconsider, pay, and walk through the parking lot into the ancient fortress ruins, which had been abandoned by the 15th century, down a track by the creek towards the sea. The creek has gained some clear water by now, and there are strong flows in a small creek and a spring beside the track. Take photo of the ruins and some massive sarcophagi beside the track.
   The creek forms a large pool at the beach, but you avoid it by going through a hole in the rock wall, and then out onto the beach. We can't believe the size of the crowd at the beach! We have passed hundreds of people coming from the beach, and there are hundreds more swimming and lying on the shingle.
   Take turns going in for a swim, but can't believe how cold the water is. It has warm patches, so conclude that there is frigid fresh water filtering through the shingle, or coming up as springs.
   As it is too cold for more than a dip, walk through the outrunning fresh water from the creek, and along to the south end of the beach for photos, and possibly another swim, although there are cold, fresh water springs on the beach at this end too. Decide to walk back in plenty of time for our 8PM dinner. Buy a cheaper coke (it was 5YTL for a litre at our place) and water at a kiosk on the way back.
   Hanging around out the front, looking for vacant tables, we suddenly realise that the queue for dinner had started and grown  20 metres while we watched, so jumped on with a view to finding a table later. The hot food and soup were doled out by staff at the counter, salads self-serve on a central table. Those in the know operated with at least two plates to get salad as well as hot stuff before sitting.  There were at least ten salads, with yoghurt and various extras.  Looked great, and tasted almost as good.  Only protein consisted of two small pieces of sausage in one of the hot dishes, and some dried bean salads.  Salad veges are obviously cheaper than meat, chicken etc.  Our information says there are over 400 people staying here, so that's a lot to feed, particularly with the appetite of some backpackers. A major feature of the salad table was watermelon. People were stacking plates with it, and hogging the tongs so they could pick the best bits at leisure. We managed a fair go with multiple trips to the table, but, as it often happens, the early watermelons were classics, while the one we finished on was pretty ordinary.
   After tea, walked up the road as far as the other large camp, which is a lot more alternative, and has an older clientele.  We've been surprised that at our place most of the people were Turkish people on holidays - very few other nationalities, apart from a few Australians.
At this stage the urges of nature are calling us back to our bathroom. There was an American comedy running on the outdoor screen, but in Turkish, so called it a night. Blanket and air con for most of the night, but cool enough in the morning without it.
   Wednesday 9 July                          Olympos
   Up in time for 8.30 breakfast, typical Turkish bread, cheese, sausage, tomato, cucumber, jam, coffee. Ate up big, then internetted before packing and heading out for the day to the north, along the beach to Cirali and beyond t

14. More ruins at Olympos, Turkey

15. Mosque at Çirali, Turkey

16. Rest stop at Çirali, Turkey

o the headland and island off it. Our National Park ticket from yesterday is still valid, which means we definitely made the right decision to pay yesterday. Walk further along the crowded beach to where the water temperature is very pleasant, cooling, but bearable almost indefinitely. Walk through the grounds of Olympos Lodge, the first tourist resort, a fairly scrappy, ill defined complex, then inland to the bridge over the creek, and into Cirali proper. Take photos of the valley and the town map, buy an English language Turkish paper, good peaches and drinks, then  continue along the back road past the second string pansiyons, and along a suspended concrete aqueduct, left over from the days when the area was all orange groves. Out into open fields past the mosque, and down to the beachfront road, which takes us all the way along the beach to a carpark with interesting, bushy shade trees.

17. . Park at end of beach at Çirali, Turkey

18. Near where we rested at end of beach

19. Beach doesn't look so good from this angle

Cross across to the beach, and walk to the cliffs at the Northern end, finding meagre shade in the lee of a rock. All this was done in the heat of the day (once again in the high 30's, with frequent stops for a cooling swim.
   There are some daytrip boats anchored offshore, and a rocky shoreline below  the cliffs which leads to a passage, and a rock island. DP has the first swim, out to the island, and comes back with a deflated swim ring, hoping that fixing it will keep MP occupied for a while. Fixes one hole, but finds others. Walks the shoreline then swims through the gap to deep blue but lifeless water on the other side. Have a sleep tucked into the shade, then walk back in the heat of the afternoon, at first on the harder, high ground behind the beach. After a rest at under-occupied beach umbrellas, and a swim, buy ice-blocks and cold coke, and walk the road back past more interesting resort and beachfront restaurants with flash local cars parked. Another swim on the way back, near

20. Hinterland - Cirali, Turkey

21. Crowds on Olympos Beach, Turkey

22. Turkmen Treehouses, Olympos, Turkey

23. Turkmen Treehouses, Olympos Turkey

our beach, where the crowds aren't as large as yesterday, in spite of the earlier hour.
   Decide we don't need to see the antiquities in detail, so back to take it easy and internet before dinner.
   MP is in the room at 8pm, and by the time we get to the dining room, the line is already about 200 strong.
Same-same, but we are not so intent in trying the lot, and just pick the things we know we like. The watermelon was not up to last night's superb standard. To bed pretty early, can hear the disco, but don't bother to check it out. Another reasonably cool night without the A/C.
   Thurs 10th July                    Olympos - Gulet cruise
   DP internets early. Pack after breakfast, and get our bags down to reception just before 10. Intercepted by the man from V-Go cruise company. Put bags in a small jeep, and we walk down to their office. Meet some more of the passengers, and all walk through the National Park to where the jeep leaves our bags at the end of the road. MP and DP carry one bag, cruise staff the other, down to the beach where our boat, "Summer Love" awaits.

24. First sight of our boat"Summer Love"-Olympos

25. Looking back at Olympos, Turkey

26.. Murray on boat- backgroundOlympos hinterland

     Two trips out to the boat, shoes off, bags below.  Another group from the Cirali village join us, and we are 12. - two Turkish nationals (who live in New York)  four Australians, one German and an American blended family of five.
 Looks a LOT better than we had feared - in fact it looks quite smart, with a large lounging area at the back with lots of cushions, and a large wooden table, with a large boom tent over them.  At the front, the roof of the cabin is covered with a dozen mattresses, with another boom tent over half of them.  We're told that most people sleep here, as it's too hot in the cabins.

27. The deck sleeping quarters - Turkey

 We set off south along the shoreline, with good views of the big mountain behind.
   Have to select your own cabin, we try port, aft, near the engine, but in the most stable position, and closest to the exit. Looks pretty presentable, with its own bathroom, but a bit airless.
   Cruise south along the rugged coastline all morning, in calm seas and light winds. At times the sea is glassy, and a deep, almost purple shade of blue. See one flying fish, possibly the last in the Med. Have an excellent lunch on board, pass Demre, the port where we would normally join a cruise, in the afternoon, It seems there was some sort of foul-up, and bookings were made on  V-Go's trip which they didn't get. The travel agents assumed the bookings were OK as they didn't hear back.  Therefore to keep their customers happy they've put on an extra trip.  The boat must have been sourced from near Olympos, which is why we started there.  Normally  passengers have an hour and a half bus trip to Demre, where they join their boat.
Stop in a bay inside a rocky headland with some sort of ruin on top, and locals using the beach and jumping off the rocks. We have the use of a pair of flippers, so swim to the rocks. Find a bit of seaweed, razor sharp rocks, and no fish life. The water is pleasantly warm, could stay in indefinitely.
   Our next stop is not far, in a bay with a marina and  a lot of day trip boats. We have an electrical problem, so are allowed to swim while people come and fix it. MP is first in, can't believe how cold it is. The temperature varies, but is coldest when you are swimming, warmest when diving or vertical in the water. Turns out it is our old enemy from Fiji, a layer of cold, fresh water floating on the surface. It comes from a river big enough for the boats, and underwater springs. DP sees a large stingray with a sucker fish, but little else.
   With the electrics fixed, take a long leg to the intricate archipelago before Kekova Island with the sunken city.

28. Islets before Kekova Island, Turkey

29. Ruins at Kekova Island, Turkey

30. Ruins Kekova Island, Turkey

Lots of boats, including some very flash ones sheltering. Lots of photos of island groups, serried hills, boats.
   It is late when we reach Kekova Island. Along the shore of the island are Byzantine ruins, partly submerged 6 metres below  the sea, and called the Sunken City.  They're from the 2nd century AD city of Simena, and the Sunken City is as a result of a major earthquake.  It is now forbidden to stop here, or to swim, so we have to just keep going slowly. Look at the remaining structures above the water line, and look down into the water for the sunken walls, but it is too late in the afternoon, and without sunlight, you can't see much.  Normally we would have been here much earlier, but because of the extra distance we had to travel, plus the stop for electrical repairs, we're much later.
   Cross the channel  to Kalekoy, which looks really interesting. Anchor near other cruise boats and 

31. Fortress at Kalekoy, Turkey

PHOTO_ID_L=31x-fortress-at-kalekoy.jpg]

33. View from fortress to Kekova Island, Turkey

34. View from fortress, Kalekoy, Turkey

35 View from fortress, Kalekoy, Turkey

36. Kalekoy village, Turkey

  go ashore in the dinghy to a wharf, then climb up through house yards to find the stairway up through the village to the fortress at the top. There are many souvenir shops and cafes, mostly deserted now the day-cruise boats have gone. Find the ticket office at the fortress is still open, and decide to pay the 5 YTL each admission as a donation to the community, but get surprisingly good views after a scramble up the steep rocks to the walled citadel. There is agricultural land at the end of the bay behind the fortress, but no sign of any access road, and many bays and headlands to the West.
   Climb down while it is still light, and kill some time down at the bottom walking the path to the West past some pretty waterfront restaurants, almost covered in flowers.
   Have dinner, mainly vegetarian pasta, with good salad, yoghurt etc.  Spend the night here at anchor. Calm night, some partying in the other boats, early morning roosters and departures with noisy boat engines. All slept on the upstairs deck -Four people slept on the rear lounge area, and eight on the mattresses at the front.  A loud snorer forced Dianne downstairs to the cabin for a while, but it was definitely too hot to sleep there.
   Friday 11 July                  Second day cruise, Kalekoy -  near Kalkan

37. Lounge area at back of boat - Turkey

38. Remains of Simena, Turkey

39. Serried mountains, Turkey

40. Kastelloriza from near Kas, Turkey

       
Pass through the channel inside Simena, then out to sea. Pass inside the rugged Greek island of Kastellorizo, (Meis in Turkish), getting some good telephotos. Pass through an outgoing flotilla of day-tripper boats from Kas - looks like an exodus    At Kas, moor stern to the quay inside the boat harbour at 10.30am. Have 3 hours ashore, starting off with DP having a swim off the outside of the sea wall, finding surprisingly good fauna and topography (but only in comparison with other places here).

41. Kas town, Turkey

42. Kas harbour, Turkey

43. Cute Kas street, Turkey

44. Tomb at Kas, Turkey

    Walk through the quaint older harbour precinct, looking for a supermarket. Buy some excellent nectarines, and find a a lot of tourist traps. The city itself consists of the tourist precinct at harbour level, upmarket hotels just above, then two layers of concrete jungle above, a long way up the hill, not really walking distance in the heat.
   There are swimming areas with umbrellas and steps into the water from the low cliffs on the right hand side. Walk past these to the poor man's access down old steps through the bush. Find a small cove with the steel remains of some sort of restaurant with a couple of locals sitting around. The water looks pretty good, clear and green, with rocky underwater terrain, but it is bitterly cold due to a layer of cold spring water on the surface.  It is bearable when vertical in the water, but far too cold for swimming on the surface.

45. Kas, Turkey seafront restaurants

46. Deceptively inviting water Kas, Turkey

37B Sleeping area before boom tent torn- Turkey

  Walk further on, where we find a park with a helicopter pad, and a path down to the water, which is rougher here and  difficult to climb out, but water is back to a reasonable temperature. Still pretty barren underwater. On the way back, buy coke, internet, have another swim off the sea wall, and back to boat at 1.30pm to have lunch in the harbour. Head out to hole up in a sheltered bay just past Kalkan at 4.30pm
   We moor anchored out, with the stern tied to a rock on the shore, but the storm which has been building up over the mountains suddenly hits, catching everyone offguard.  Strong winds from the starboard beam, blow loose articles around the boat and over the side, The two boom tent have to be taken down, but not before the forward one is damaged.
   The wind is so strong we have to let go the stern line and let the boat swing into the wind, with the engine running as a precaution. This may have also been when the dinghy was damaged, with one of the lifting eyebolts tearing a good sized hole in the bottom. This could explain later failures to use the dinghy to ferry people ashore.
  Zac and Axel jump the gun, and go for a swim before we anchor, and can't get back on for a long while because the engine is running.
   After the breeze dies a bit, all go for a swim, over the top of a lot of sea grass, but no sign of turtles, and only a few small fish. Think of taking shoes ashore and climbing to the road, but it is getting late, and it is a long way up, and an even longer distance to the dubious charms of Kalkan.

47. Kalkan town, Turkey

  There is smoke all along the skyline to the west, but can't see the fire. The smoke is moving counter to the wind in our cove, which is still strong at times. The crew make no moves to reposition the boat closer to the shelter of the shore, where there is a large, flash cruise boat. Maybe the areas are allocated. We have a very good dinner of pan-sized bream type fish (bought in Kas) then all twelve of us to bed by 11.30,  on the cabin top, without the boom tent over (no-one is allowed to sleep on the back lounge area tonight).There is a lot of partying on the other boats, and some breeze in the night, but it has settled enough to sleep. Good night's sleep for Dianne, possibly because of so little the night before.
  Saturday 12 July                        Day 3       Near Kalkan - St Nicholas Island
   Early start at 5 am, while we're still in bed. Stay sleeping on front deck till about 7.30am, by which time it's too

48. Early morning bedroom shot -Turkey

49. Breakfast spot outside Blue Lagoon, Turkey

50. Looking towards National Park at Blue Lagoon

hot. Take long leg to sea,  past Butterfly Valley, and holing up near Oludeniz, just outside the Blue Lagoon, about 9.15am. Have breakfast, take our shoes with us, and three flippers, plus our one, mended mask, and swim to the passage between a small island and the mainland, crossing into the "Blue Lagoon", which is just that, very deep, cold and blue, almost devoid of fish life. There are rows and rows of sun umbrellas,and a large crowd of swimmers and sunbathers. It looks like a resort, but we swim across anyway, haul out and walk around a well-made path to the shallower lagoon, with paddle boats, picnic spots etc.  We are accosted by two swimmer-clad young men, who turn out to be National Park security. Want to charge us for being in the national park, but we are just in our swimmers, and have no money, and no intention of paying.  This has to be the world's most unlikely-looking National Park! Offer to go back from where we came, but they insist in escorting us to another guard, who sees us off the premises. He advises us to use the park's carpeted platform to enter the water, as the rocks are slippery.
   This is at a point on the lagoon which is a lot wider than where we swam ashore, so we have a long haul back to the island, and then along the shore to the boat.
   We leave at 11.30, and head back for a close look at Butterfly Valley, which looks pretty spectacular from the water, and is shown as one of the stops on our itinerary.  It is deemed too bumpy to anchor out and disembark from the stern, although there are a dozen day-trip boats doing exactly that. Obviously something we don't know.

51. Butterfly Valley, Turkey

52. Anyone for 5YTL crepes - Turkey

53. Sunset at St Nicholas Island, Turkey

From here, motor to Boat Bay, inside St Nicholas Island where, again, we anchor out and prevail on the driver of a crepe-cooking boat to take the stern line ashore.
  We are besieged by vendors of crepes, ice cream, jet skis, banana boats, but manage to put most of them off till later.  Can't work out why we were in such a hurry to get to this site, which is far from serene with the sound of jet skis and boats towing screaming customers.  We are moored on the other side of the channel to St Nicholas Island, which has ruins on it, but we are told we can't swim across because of the boat traffic, and will have to go in the dingy. Have lunch, then the younger passengers and the family get tempted into taking the banana boat ride - get some good action photos.
Another storm blows up, obscuring Baba Dag with rain, and blowing straight down the the St Nicholas passage. We have to reef the boom tent again, but the load on the broadside of the boat is too much for the stern line, and it pulls the wooden bollard out of the deck. Spend an hour with the engine running, head to wind, sheltering from light rain.
  A very flash white timber schooner with a Russian flag, and a big white fibreglass yacht with a French flag turn up, to join two large black yachts moored further down the passage.  By the time everything calms down it is 8pm, so Dianne has a quick swim across to the island  then another good dinner at 8.30pm.  For the last couple of days we've been hassled by wasps on the boat.  They don't sting, just buzz around you and your food, and are very annoying. Dianne was actually stung on the cheek, when she put her mask on.  It was either on her mask, or on her cheek, and got squashed by the mask.
Another night sleeping on deck, with a lot of party sounds from a beforelunch.com boat with a kangaroo warning road sign.
  Sunday 13 July                               Day 4 to Fethiye
  Another very early wake-up call by a noisy boat leaving, Have breakfast about 7.30am, then an early morning swim across to the island to see the "amazing underwater city and monster fish" reported by the Turkish girl last night. There are some signs of seawalls and foundations below water level, but not much, and the steep drop-off means that even if the island dropped 6 metres, there wouldn't be much of the town immersed. Swim up to the access path to find a booth and a national park sign, with an admission price. The boat is just about to leave, so have a quick look at the other side of the island, then swim back.
    On the way towards Fethiye, head well out to sea, start the generator, then place a lookout on top of the cabin. Suspect they are pumping out the sewage tank, if the smell is any evidence, and don't want to be pinged by the coast guard. It is a lot better than discharge of raw sewage at our overnight stops, but not real flash. It would have been nice to know we did have a tank, rather than "hanging on" until we were under way.
 It looks like we will go straight to Fethiye, but stop just outside the island sheltering the harbour, for a swim,and lunch. There is a bay with beach umbrellas and a beachfront helical water slide, and a lot of childish screaming. We have a delayed departure due to some sort of electrical problem with the engine. MP is just about to get involved when the engine starts. 

54. Dining table and lounge area - Turkey

55. Fethiye town, Turkey

56. Tight parking spot - Fethiye, Turkey

  By this time, the breeze has come in strongly from the east, up to 30 knots. Can see sailing boats in the bay reefing down, and whitecaps out at sea. Approaching the boat harbour,  it is clear that the crew is nervous. and we make a few circuits before dropping the anchor off a wide, but exposed  gap between docked boats. Have one attempt to get in, but it doesn't look promising, so circulate a couple of times before dropping anchor off an impossibly small gap between boats, a lot closer in, and more sheltered.
   With a lot of buffers over the side of the boats involved, and passengers and crew fending off, get halfway in before the windward boat is backed halfway out, then back in with us attached. Narrowly avoid wiping the outboard off the already damaged dinghy, but get in without too much bad will from the other boats.
   We have thoroughly enjoyed the cruise.  Definitely recommend it to anyone who loves swimming, and relaxing on boats. Our boat was definitely fancier than we expected (though various incidents during the trip showed us that her beauty was only skin-deep - looks good, but needs a few repairs).  The food was much better than we expected, and the company was also better than we expected.  After some of the "unusual" people on the Dragoman trip, it was good to be with a good bunch of "normal" people.  Exchange email addresses with some of the passengers, then DP goes ashore with our cryptic vouchers.  We've paid for two nights accommodation  in Fethiye, at the Ata Hotel, according to our itinerary.  However when we check the voucher, it has what looks like Turk, but we assume they have just accidently put the name of our last accommodation, which was Turkman.  Notice that our itinerary shows a transfer to the hotel, which is especially good as we have no address for it, and no-one seems to know it, although there is an Ata Park Hotel. Finally, are approached by the V-Go shore team, who have our names. Turns out we are booked into the Turk Hotel  (say maybe there was a mix-up with the typist - got the start of  the name Attaturk, instead of the end of it). Taken to the office to sort it out.
   We are put into a station wagon with a lot of sails, and one of the workers, and proceed through the town at high speed, getting further from the coast, and into the inland no-mans land. Drop the worker, then the sails at an Otogar, then set off toward Oludeniz, passing into highlands with a concentration of highrises and hotels, no-where near the sea. Not too happy about this, until we find out that the hotel is actually in Oludeniz, 15kms away. We get more hopeful as we see the sea, then drop down a steep hill towards the beach. Turn off the main road

57. Reassuring arrival at Oludeniz, Turkey

58. Oludeniz beach, Turkey, is lovely

59. Turkey -Oludeniz beach is crowded

50 metres to our hotel, where we are deposited at reception.
   They have our booking but will need extra for A/C, safe, fridge ( 10 YTL per day) and evening meal (15 YTL each for smorgasbord). We say will look first. Decide to take the options. Takes a while for the fridge to turn up. It is a pretty gutless non-compressor model. Turn it on, separate our key from the power card, as, if we are paying extra for a fridge, we want it to work all the time, not just when we are in the room.
   Head out to look at the town in the heat of the afternoon. It is a real package-tour town,  very Anglicised, with a lot of the prices in Pounds, English menu items, a lot of tour agencies selling paragliding, jeep safaris, 4-wheeler safaris, boat trips. Walk the waterfront path, which is lined with restaurants and shops. On the other side there is a pretty good looking beach, with lots of beach beds and umbrellas, almost a surf, and clean water. Walk to the east end, climb up to take photos. Check out a Club Med type all-inclusive resort, for a mere 170 YTL each a day. Buy sort-of cold drinks, then back to the hotel, having got lost walking almost straight past our hotel, up the central pedestrian street.
   Out at 8 PM for our 15 YTL each buffet, which has the usual salads, fried chicken, nothing to drink that you don't pay heaps for. Eat too much, then out later for a look at the town by night. Lots of Poms about, including some particularly blowsy women with large areas of chest exposed. Find there is some sort of disco next door, but manage to get to sleep, and don't think it runs till late.
     Monday 14 July                             Oludeniz
   Standard Turkish breakfast, probably too much of it. MP veges and diarizes, DP works the hotel Wi-fi, then out to internet and check out the town.
   About 4pm head out for a late lunch and a swim. Buy beautiful fresh bread and packaged ham, and eat in the shade of a tree on the seafront. Thoroughly enjoyed. It's hard to find take-away food, apart from kebabs, around here, and we're getting tired of restaurant meals all the time.
 In for a cooling swim, and as it's now 5pm, and should soon be cooler (though it's still stinking hot) decide to walk the coast road to the east, climbing stairs at the end of the beach, then up the switchback on the road, to get good views back along the beach and across to the peninsular.
   Pass a stairway up the hill with a sign saying 13km to the peak of Baba Dag. This is the fabled Lycian way, a world class multi-day trek, but, in this weather we are not  at all tempted. The coast below is quite pretty, with pine trees and cliffs into fairly rough water. 

58B. Inland area around Oludeniz, Turkey

60. Scenery from the coast road, Oludeniz, Turkey

61. More scenery from the coast road, Oludeniz

    The beach beyond the cliffs is relatively deserted, but has a manproof fence all the way along it. There are sheer cliffs inland, with isolated pine trees, and there is  a dense stand of pines behind the beach. We pass several holes in the fence before DP prevails, and we climb down a steep bank, and across the sagging fence, and cross to the beach, where DP takes a couple of swims in the choppy surf.
   Back out through the same hole, we walk past the entrance, to Kidirak camping, which turns out to be unmanned, then past the well-guarded entrance to the Lycian World?? secured tourist complex. The road goes right around the complex, which has a manproof fence with a concrete base, which is liberally sprinkled with yellow granules, presumably some sort of pest poison.
   There is a deep valley above the complex, with views right to the top of Baba Dag, and signs of a village perched on the edge of an escarpment. DP is glad she had a swim, as there is no access to the water. Stop for a rest on the first switchback in the steep climb to the seaward face of the mountain. From here can see just how

62. Gated community near Oludeniz, Turkey

63. Baba Dag - near Oludeniz, Turkey

extensive the gated-community is, with its own beach, couple of pools, golf course, tennis courts, volleyball courts, own roads with own buses etc etc. Take photos over the golf course, then MP heads up hill to the mobile phone trailer set up on the sea cliff. Get good photo over the complex, on toward Oludeniz, and out toward St Nicholas' Island.
   DP makes it to the top, and we climb to the next phone trailer for views along the sea cliffs to past Butterfly valley, before turning back. We are expecting a local minibus to come past, which we'll catch, but DP sort-of hitch-hikes, and picks up an older couple on their way to a BBQ at the Country Club. He is Turkish, she English, have lived at Fethiye one year, and at Faralya (where we were heading) for 12. They drop us near our hotel,

64. Our Turk Hotel, Oludeniz, Turkey

where DP has another swim, in the pool this time, and MP tries to negotiate an extra night, but is put off till later.
   Out just before dark, still no accommodation answer. Walk to the beach, then to the right, out past the entrance to the national park, then onto the road to the Sugar Beach Camping and Bungalow Park. The park looks ok, but the beach, which is at the top end of the Blue Lagoon, looks a bit suspect, with a lot of fish and a muddy bottom. The presence of a sewerage works on the way here doesn't improve confidence in the water quality. Take a photo of a home-made wasp trap, baited with chicken. See a Kiwi van in the camping area, and a variety of other vans. This is a real camping area.
  Buy hard nectarines, good peaches and yoghurt on the way back, for a modest tea, maybe 5 YTL as compared with 30 to 40 at a restaurant, or our hotel. Confirm we have a room for tomorrow night.
  DP has a restless night. She was awake from 4am onwards, and wasn't too impressed when Murray started shaking the bed just as she was getting back to sleep at 5.30am. Finally asked him what he was doing - he thought she was doing it.  Decided it must be an earthquake (our first).  Looked outside, and the power lines were whipping, but everything else seemed normal.  Googled later, and found there was a 6.4 earthquake in the Dodecanese Islands, south west of Rhodes, latitude 35..983, longitude 27.785, quite close to us.