WHIRLING THROUGH TURKEY

Friday, October 31, 2008 4:54 PM Happy Halloween!

Idalis:

As I write this, I am sitting on the bed in our wooden bungalow in southern Turkey. Our travels have brought us to many interesting and great places. Turkey is definitely one of them! The people and landscape are so diverse, from Mediterranean fisherman to the Whirling Dervishes of Konya, the blue seas of the coast to the mountains of Nemrut. We look forward to exploring it!




MARMARIS, MEDITERRANEAN COAST, TURKEY

We arrived in Turkey about a week ago, having taken a ferry from the Greek Island of Rhodes to Marmaris, the city that serves as a gate to the Mediterranean Coast of Turkey. We were so excited to be entering a new country after a month in Greece! So, after staring at the deep blue sea from our ferry boat for about an hour, Kevin and I felt a giddy sense of happiness when we finally saw land, in the form of Turkey's signature tall, green mountains.

Our original plan was to try to get a bus from Marmaris to Fethiye once arriving in Turkey, since there wasn't much of interest for us in the first city. But as we waited to make our way through customs at the port and saw it getting darker and darker, we changed our plans and decided to stay in Marmaris for the night, and catch a bus to Fethiye in the morning. While in line to get our passports stamped (yay!) we met a young Japanese gentleman named Kango. Kango proved to be very helpful, and extremely entertaining, in this new foreign city! The three of us decided to walk into the city of Marmaris, ignoring the hawking taxi cab drivers, and try to find the youth hostel mentioned in our guide book. We started walking. And walking. And walking. No map, no directions, no knowledge of the Turkish language, just a general “sense” of where it might be. We stopped several times and asked for directions, eventually finding the covered bazaar where the youth hostel should have been, only to find out that it had been closed for over two years! We wandered through the bazaar, by this time very late and dark, and finally made our way out. Kevin went into an internet cafe to ask for directions for another hostel, Kango went to get advice from a young Turkish man, and I stayed in the middle of the street, looking lost and bewildered! A taxi driver eventually approached us (a sorry-looking lot, I'm sure) and told us his friend had a pension. Although very hesitant at first, we followed him to the cab, realizing that at this point, we had very few options.

We arrived at the pension and the owner, Memo, showed us to our rooms. Spartan? Yes. Better than being on the street? Absolutely! That night was our first introduction to two-folded Turkish hospitality. We sat with an older Turkish woman, and had a great “conversation” that lasted a couple of hours. Being that she knew three words of English and we knew the same in Turkish, our talk included a lot of hand gestures and smiles. She gave us a delicious pastry that her son had baked that day in the bakery where he worked, and we even exchanged jewelry! Later on that night, our new friend Kango came back, telling us he had made some new Turkish friends at a bar we had passed along the way, and was coming back to get us. It was a great evening, as we learned a little about Turkish culture from the locals while drinking a few Efes beers. Conversely, we also got stiffed for the bill in the end, which we later learned was a somewhat common annoyance towards tourists. Regardless, we enjoyed ourselves and made a new friend along the way. Kango, if you read this, we hope you enjoyed the rest of your trip in Turkey and hope you made it safely home. Thank you for the hilarious company!

The next day, Kevin and I got up (kind of) early and after a simple breakfast of Turkish tea and pastries, we made our way to the bus station to make our way to Fethiye. To get to the bus station, we took a dolmuş, a small bus which literally means “stuffed” and is the preferred (and cheapest) way to get anywhere around any town in Turkey.









FETHIYE, TURKEY, MEDITERRANEAN COAST

Kevin:

Arriving at the local bus stop in Marmaris, we were immediately ushered on to a bus that was idling and waiting for the likes of two lost foreigners to reach full capacity and begin the three and one half hour journey to Fethiye. The more we rode along, the more we realized that the country of Turkey was nothing like what we had imagined and was bound to exceed all expectations. The landscape is lush, green and completely exhilarating. It was a nice change from the package resort town of Marmaris that we was our first introduction to Turkey. Fethiye is a, surprisingly and unexpectedly, larger town that is known for sailing and is a main port for all, and I mean all, the gulets that run the summer blue cruises and any combination of fishing, sunset and private tour packages that you could imagine. It does, however, manage to maintain a very small town feel in spite of its large area. It also seems to be a big destination for English tourists whose pound goes a very long way and therefore seem to be snatching up property at a fevers pace! The town is basically defined by its very long and very crowded marina.

Upon arrival at the otogar (bus station), we waited for approximately an hour fro the free shuttle to take is into the historic part of town. We were dropped off at the foot of a very steep hill that we would have to climb in order to arrive at our lodging, which was the very popular and acclaimed Farah Pension, also known as Monica's Place, named after the wife of the owner, Tuna, a very friendly and incredibly informative and handsome gentleman. We happened to be the only guests upon our arrival and were therefore ushered to the double with the best view and a small balcony, where we would end up spending many a cold night sharing a bottle of wine and samples of Turkish food from the local markets. After a complimentary drink, we began to shuffle through the pages of books, guides and pamphlets to see what the town of Fethiye had to offer. We were pleasantly surprised to see how many activities were available within just a few kilometers of our pansiyon. You see, originally, our only interest in Fethiye was as a jump off point for our blue cruise, which is a cruise on a wooden Turkish yacht, or gulet, which would ultimately arrive in the town of Olympos. Unfortunately, or later determined to be fortunately, the last blue cruise of the season was leaving the day after we arrived and was completely booked. Not a problem that wasn't easily overcome and possibly even exceeded. After some research, we realized that the blue cruise is usually more of a booze cruise and consists of very loud music played very late and hords of young and party inclined travellers. We were also advised that there were no guarantees of who your crew would be, how trained or how hospitable. We quickly moved beyond our disappointment and began immediately planning for alternate activities. A chore that would find us extending our original one night stay in Fethiye to a five night stay without a minute wasted or regretted.

On our first full day in Fethiye, we managed to get out early and took a walk into town. We were lucky to run into a girl who was just opening a local travel agency and began to inquire with her on the status of the different boat tours available. After checking our choices, we decided on the 'Twelve Island Tour'. We bought our tickets and asked where exactly the boat would take off from. We were given walking instructions and then advised that the time changed the night before and we were two hours early. So we walked around the marina until it was time to board our gület, which as you all know by now is a wooden Turkish yacht, to explore the 12 small islands that surround the bay. We wanted to have the experience, and because we were forgoing the “blue cruise” we thought this was the next best thing. It was wonderful! We were lucky, since because it was low season, there were only 8 of us on the sailboat, instead of the normal 40-50 people that go out on this boat. We didn't get a detailed explanation of the sights we were visiting. Instead, once we'd reach a new island, the captain of the gulet would yell, “Red island. 45 minutes. Go swim!” Although not very talkative by nature, the family crew was very well experienced, and we enjoyed the beautiful, clear waters. I went out, jumping off the gulet into the waters and exploring the surroundings. Idalis chose, for the most part, to stay on the boat and catch some sun, as the water proved to be too cold for her taste. We liked talking to the other passengers on the boat, and exchanged travel stories as we sailed. We had fresh fish for lunch on its deck, and sailed for the rest of the afternoon to some of the other surrounding islands. It was a great experience, and gave us a taste of cruising through the Mediterranean.

The following day found us walking Fethiye's extensive harbor, admiring the beautiful boats anchored for the season. We also hiked up to the mountain at the back of the town to see the Lycian tombs carved directly into the mountain side. That night, we had met some travelers who had arrived at the pansiyon where we were staying and we all decided to go out to dinner at the local fish market. We enjoyed an amazing dinner with Matt, from England, Ben, from Australia, Josh, from California, and Selma, from Denmark. The traditional Fethiye dinner includes a trip to the fish market where you pick out and pay for your fish of choice, then take it to one of the surrounding restaurants, where they will cook it for you (to your liking), and include bread, a salad, some sauce, and Turkish tea, all for about three dollars! We loved the experience, and we all got along well and had a great evening of conversation. If any of you read this, we hope you are well and thank you for sharing this experience with us!

The next day we decided to go hiking. There is a 500KM trail that runs along the Mediterranean Coast known as the Lycian Trail. Don't get excited, we did not hike the entire length. Rather, we decided to walk about 6KM of the trail from a town called Kayaköy to a town called Ölüdeniz. To get to Kayaköy, we had to catch a dolmüş from Fethiye. The town of Kayaköy is known as “ghost town” locally and is a town of approximately 500 residences that were occupied by the Ottoman Greeks prior to the invasion, and subsequent eviction, by the Turks in 1923. The Turks never occupied the residences after the exodus of the Greeks, thinking the land was cursed. Today, all the structures remain, mostly in tact, some still complete with bright red and blue painted interiors. The town is situated on a hill side and each residence was constructed in such a way that they did not obstruct each other's view. We happened to be the only ones visiting the site that day and it was slightly eerie. It is a town that just ceased to exist and silently lies in the hills of the Taurean Mountains. From the ghost town, we intercepted the Lycian trail and began our trek to the beach town of Ölüdeniz. After about an hour of trekking through and over the mountain range, we came to a look out where we got our first view of the Mediterranean coast and the beautiful beach of Ölüdeniz. After getting a view we seemed to have stepped up our pace to make it to the beach to get some sun during the peak hours. Ironically, after an hour and a half of hiking, the most difficult portion was the last 100 meters or so. It seemed as if the creators of the path also were in a hurry to finish the trail and get to the beach, as it was incredibly steep and full of loose rock. By the time we actually made it to the beach, the seat of our pants were stained the color of the ground we had met with on several occasions. Once arriving in Ölüdeniz, we realized that the town was slightly more attractive from the look out above, as it was more or less a tourist town and jam packed with English tourist. The beach was beautiful and we laid out eating a pancake with meat (kind of like a tortilla stuffed with lamb) and an ice cold Efes beer as we watched the pasty white English tourists paraglide down to Earth with smiles plastered to their faces and gaping holes in their wallets.

The next, and last day, in Fethiye, we decided to go to another local site and were glad we did. It is called the Saklikent Gorge. It is actually 18KM long in total distance, but most people are only inclined to walk about 1KM of it. This gorge, unlike previous ones we had visited, has a river running through it. At the very entrance, there is a spring that feeds into the river and it is a strong and cold current that you must overcome in order to make it to the other side where a lazy little stream accompanies your stroll up the gorge. The reason most people do not make it very far into the gorge is because it gradually becomes more difficult and one must wade in waist deep, and deeper, water that is pretty frigid and little to no sun light permeates the gorge, due to its narrowness. In addition, there are some large boulders that must be traversed. Of course, you know that there was no way that I was to be deterred by cold water and rocks. So, Idalis was kind enough to find a comfortable seat on a smooth stone while I attempted to permeate the inner core of the great chasm. Well, I probably only made it about another 1KM after about an hour and felt satisfied after not seeing any more footprints and reaching a point that became dark and where the gorge started to close in. Had Shawn been with me, we certainly would have pressed on!







OLYMPOS, MEDITTARANEAN COAST, TURKEY

The next morning we packed up our bags and headed down to the bus stop to catch a dolmŭş to the otogar (bus station) for our next trip to Olympos. The bus to Olympos was a four and a half hour ride that hugged the Mediterranean coast for most of the trip. The views were stunning and the ride was made interesting by the beautiful environment. Once again, despite all of our efforts to make it early, we were stuck at a small restaurant at the top of the hill overlooking Olympos while we watched the sun go down and become dark as we waited for a shuttle, or servis, to the village. Once it arrived, we boarded and made our way to Şaban Pansiyon, where we arrived just in time for a most wonderful and traditional Turkish dinner prepared by the owner's daughter, Meril, and her mother, who would turn out being incredible hosts and prompt our decision to stay longer due to the homemade breakfast and dinners included as part of our stay. We originally wanted to stay in a tree house, however, the frigid nights convinced us to rent a bungalow instead. It still felt like camping and we are fairly certain that there will be more tree houses in our future.

Olympos is a very cool town. There are a series of pansiyons (mostly tree houses) tucked down in a valley that discharges onto a pebble beach that is lined with ruins from the Byzantine, Roman and Lycian ruins and a backdrop provided by the large and looming Mount Olympos. It is stunning and has an incredible vibe. The ruins are very accessible and many are tucked away under the growth of local flora. Wild boars, roosters, and birds abound. We have even run into turkeys...Turkeys in turkey, still makes me smile every time I think about it. Our four days in Olympos have been very relaxing, another vacation from the vacation, and have included home made traditional Turkish breakfasts, consisting of tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, bread and much to our surprise, a fried egg. Evenings are met with a dinner of traditional Turkish fare such as çarakçaga, kuzu and mante. We have had time to hike and explore all of the ruins, lay out on the beach in an attempt to darken our tans in an effort to blend a bit more once we arrive to India and I have found various rocks and ledges to leap from, as this country seems to lend itself to my penchant for jumping off of things. Our hosts are wonderful, the bungalow cozy and the company fantastic.

Perhaps our most memorable part of Olympos will be our hike up to the Chimaera on Halloween night. As legend would have it. there was a strong and virile half god, half man that arrived in the town of Olympos. He became very well liked and had a reputation as a good man. He fell in love with the daughter of the King of Olympos, who did not care for him as he was not a local. So, as an agreement, the King told the man, if you can sleigh the Chimaera, or part lion, part snake, part eagle creature, than you could have my daughter's hand in marriage. The king gave him this task knowing full well that this was not even remotely possible. Well, our hero thought long and hard about how to accomplish this task so that he could marry the woman that he loved. Ultimately, he decided that he could not perform this task on his own, so he employed Pegasus, the winged horse, to assist. After a long and grueling battle, the hero was able to pierce the beast in the heart, at which time he collapsed, which sent a shock wave through the mountain which crumbled and buried the creature. It is said that the Chimera still lives as a captive inside the mountain and the fires that come from crags in the Earth, and have burned for centuries, are the breath of the buried beast. The experience in itself was absolutely amazing. However, experiencing it on Halloween and with such wonderful people as Anne, from Germany and Nicolette and Matt, from Australia, made it that much more enjoyable. We arrived at the fires, took a thousand pictures and then cracked a celebratory bottle of wine to mark our accomplishment and our new found friends!