Breathtaking Dalyan

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The last thing I wanted to do was get on that damn bus again....the thought of leaving at 6am (4am bodyclock time) to sit on a bus all day again was not exactly inspiring, but with the thought of seeing 300 BC tombs in a hillside were enough to pry my head of the pillow and do it all over again. I had resolved that I was not getting of the bus and transferring around the place again ( I would, if it came to it, become one of those oh so annoying group travellers where you would have to drag me kicking a screaming off the bus just to prove a point) however, I was pleasantly surprised when we were not on the list to transfer! (much to Vaughn's relief as he knows me too well). I was even more pleasantly surprised when the bus only stopped once for breakfast at a large truck stop which actually wasn't too bad. Vaughn got all self concious when I told him he looked like a white trash scruff in his singlet he was wearing, which was well past it's due by date so he went off to hunt for a replacement in a large store nearby - triumphantly coming back with a black and a white singlet replacement not realising that these were both racer back style which successfully transformed him from a white trash scruff to a wifebeating, finger clicking, skipping gay man....

We reached Dalyan in pretty quick time (about 3 hours from Bodrum) and were told to look out on the drive into the main town area either side of the bus where groves of pomegranate, citrus and olive trees grew. These were some of the main exports from the area. Our tour guide spoke much better english than the one the day before and had a really nice character - he liked to start and end all of his sentences with "Dear Guest"....which was rather funny after a while. He told us about how Turkey won independence in the 1920s and this is also when women's rights came into play. He described the different regions of Turkey and how the people and the culture are very different depending on where you visit. The Northern parts of Turkey displayed a very different environment, almost rainforest like and is very green. The Eastern Anatolia part of Turkey is more conservative, where women cover themselves, they do not drink alcohol and more muslim traditional practices are adhered to. They have to visit the mosque to pray (of which a mosque is present in every community, rather than just the town centre). This is quite a contrast to the Aegean area that we were visiting where for instance muslim women would cover up when attending prayers, but could then wear a bikini at the beach; western muslims can pray in their houses and do not necessarily attend the mosque every day; alcohol is fine, but pork is not. Western Turkey is much wealthier than the Eastern provinces, and has boomed in the last 10 years with the promotion of it as a travel destination. i wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not - it is good that the country has seemingly flourished with a western influence, living standards have improved and there is more opportunity for those living there; however this is all relative isn't it. One culture is not necessarily better than the other - it is just what you get used to and how you are bought up. Your perception of "living standards" and "opportunity" change depending on what you are exposed to and what you value. From our perspective the country is "better", but in the midst of this are they just trading one culture for another? Obviously being from a western country I was greatful for the western comforts and security, but I could also see the nastiness of the western culture seeping through. The way some muslim men may treat women is horrific, but looking at the way some western people act and portray themselves doesn't show alot of respect either - men and women! The village where our guide grew up was apparently "studied" by researchers as an example of peaceful relations in the eastern part of turkey. He said that in his village a mosque, church and synagogue were built side by side and everyone, regardless of religion lived in peace and mutual respect - he was very proud of how Turkey has revolutionised itself and how there was now a mix of old and new muslim tradition. As Turkey was trying to become part of the European Union things were quickly changing, even in the Eastern parts, as there was no way they would gain this status without the entire country "fitting the box". We were also told about how all Turkish men were required to serve in the army for 18 months - this was compulsory, but could be delayed if you wanted to attend university, but after this you had to return and complete the 18 months. Many people paid 15,000 euro to reduce the time to 6 months, and our guide, who had done this said 6 months of patrolling a hilltop at 4am every morning, that didn't need to be patrolled was worth every penny to reduce the time.

Dalyan itself is a small, but busy place, particularly during the tourist season and is home to a few thousand Brits who choose to buy retirement villas here so the town is actually quite westernised which I didn't expect. In the centre of the town is a huge statue of a Loggerhead Turtle which is one of the draw cards to this area - little did I know that the statue was probably closer to lifesize than I thought. Our first stop was the Daylan Mud Baths which I was looking forward to - unfortunately my vision of a walk deep into a forest and natural bubbling mudpools was replaced by the purpose built outdoor complex which was a little disappointing. The mud baths, however were alot of fun and not something you do everyday - surprisingly cool we slapped on the mud all over our bodies and face - somehow Vaughn managed to keep his boardshorts rather clean so I don't think his upper thigh bore the benefit of the mud....perhaps he should have packed a pair of budgie smugglers like everyone else seemed to wear.....oh the europeans and their speedos. After getting a good mud covering we basked in the sun for a bit while the mud worked it's magic, drying and cracking on our skin as we were told to do....the only issue with this was washing it off again! There was a set of outdoor showers under which we all crammed into to clean it all off - I think they should just send one person in an area at a time and fire a water blaster at you, as the freezing cold trickle under a shower head didn't really make the grade.

After making ourselves presentable again we headed to the river dock where a line of river boats were moored. Sitting on the river waiting for the others to arrive was lovely - the surroundings were amazing. Huge exposed cliffs stood over us, overlooking the greeny blue river which was surrounded by green lush trees and plants; while it was busy it also felt so tranquil here. We headed down river to a restaurant on the riverside - had a nice lunch here and got talking to a nice italian couple (well he was italian, she was originally from Poland) who gave us some tips on where to visit in Spain and we reciprocated with tips on New Zealand...oh such seasoned travellers are we, ha! Back on the boat we bonded with some of of the other people on the boat over a german guy who seemed determined to wear his speedos with a unbuttoned shirt for the rest of the trip....normally this would be fine, but he didn't seem bothered by the fact that he had a bit of a "pucker" problem which exposed most of his arse and while he was happily bending and taking photos out the front of the boat (where we were all facing) we saw more of him than we wanted to....to make matters worse it appeared, when he turned around that he either had something in his pocket (which was not possible unfortunately) or he was rather happy to be on the boat ....ah there's nothing like bonding over a mutually uncomfortable situation.

Soon we were heading down stream weaving amongst reed beds when we saw, carved out of the cliffs hanging above, the most amazing looking tombs appear above us. These were the Lycian Tombs and were circa 400 BC! The tombs are the resting places of the kings of the ancient city of Kaunos. Our tour guide told us an old legend story about how the city was founded by Caunus, the son of Miletos and Kyane. Caunus had a twin sister Byblis, whom he fell in love with. When their father found out about it, he sent Caunus away from the country. Later, Caunus founded a city across Dalyan, while his sister cried herself to death, forming the Dalyan River with her tears. The tombs were so fascinating and completely untouched, which was unique - Daylan has the perfect recipe to become the next big tourist spot, but because of the protected loggerhead turtles the area is protected which has prevented develops from ruining this little part of paradise with hotels and resorts. We carried on up up the river, weaving through the reed beds and came to a fenced off area which a underwater gate way that had to be lifted to let the boats through. This was where the protected Iztuzu Beach area starts - Loggerhead Turtles are a protected species and the beach is only one of three places in the world that they choose to breed. Iztuzu Beach is an amazing part of the pensuila on it's own right - the beach is only 4.5kms long and is a narrow spit that proceeds out from the mainland, creating a lagoon area before the main beach area. This is where the sea and freshwater meet. The beach has Special Environmental Protection Area status and special regulations are in place to protect the habitat for the turtles - for instance during May to October the beach is closed between 9pm and 8am, no vehicles or animals are allowed and speedboats are banned about 1km from the beach. As we came closer to the dock at the beach a group of boats was crowding together as a young Loggerhead Turtle was coxed with a piece of fish so we could see him. He was huge! and apparently not yet fully grown. It was awesome to see him swimming around, determined to catch the fish - I could see why they called them Loggerhead Turtles as their heads and eyes are quite big. Another species that is common in the area is the Blue Crab which, if you are a sea food lover) is quite tasty. Once again these crabs were huge! I'm not sure where he came from but suddenly we had a live blue crab on the boat - after some persuasion I managed to get a photo with this monster ...even after the guide was talking about his pinchers and how he could take your finger off. He was surprisingly heavy but I got the photo before promptly handing him back with a "take it off me, take it off me" moment.

We docked at the beach and headed towards the main beach area where there is a nice cafe with water! The whole beach is sand! man it felt good to have sand under my feet again...almost made me a little homesick. But you couldn't stand on it for long as it was hot! Luckily they had wooden walkways everywhere so you could get to the shore without burning your feet off. The beach is divided into two areas. Sun beds line a strip close to the cafe area, then there is a strip about 30 metres wide before another area is designated for sunbathing on towels. The gap between is a protected area where the turtles dig their nests - you are not allowed to sit, walk or dig in these areas.The beach is so clean too and the water sooo warm, you could swim for hours! It is a relatively shallow beach so you can walk quite far out without being over your head, the waves are decent, but gentle and there is no undertoe or sharks! Perfect beach in my eyes! It was so nice to swim in the beach again...I had a bit of a scary moment when I felt something attach itself to my foot and when I tried to get it off it was stuck to me!...I ran towards vaughn, flicking my leg and telling him to "get it off me! get it off me!", but when I was finally brave enough to take my foot out of the water for him to help...I soon realised that it was mealy the plaster I had put on my foot for blisters that had come a bit loose....

After sunbathing a bit on the beach, we got talking to our new found friends from the boat and found out that one of the guys used to be in the British Army. He was telling us a story about how when he was in Iraq leading a patrol through the desert somewhere someone said that the area was where the garden of eden was said to be, it's amazing the history of some of these places ...but in this instance he decided against stopping to site see. Besides there was nothing there in the present day. Soon it was time to go again. We headed back to the boat, but after realising that we had to wait the boys decided to go for a swim in the lagoon part so promptly dived off the boat into the water - Vaughn said this was warmer than the sea, such a nice area just to relax and swim with amazing scenery everywhere - could have quite easily spent the whole day here.

On the way back we could see an impressive storm rolling in (similar to the day before). We knew the rain would soon come, but weren't quite quick enough to get the sides of the boat down to stop the rain coming in. Us girls huddled with towels around us (hardly prepared for the cooler rain) in the middle of the boat, while our new brit mate decided it would be a good idea to lie out in it getting drenched in a matter of seconds. The rain made for amazing photos though with stormy clouds contrasting against the water and the reed beds. We passed a few boats and came across one with some dancing guys who thought they were pretty cool ( I think only they heard the music in their heads) then as we passed the front of the boat we saw the girls on the front of the boat ( I would hope very drunk) stripping off and dancing in the rain naked...! The things you see on the picturesque Dalyan River - makes you proud to be from a western country...?

After a very successful day out we headed back to Bitez pleased that we finally had our highlight of the trip - Dalyan is a must see and such a great way to spend a day in the Turkish countryside.

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Photos

Iztuzu Beach
Note the protected area (line in the sand)