FETHIYE

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DAY 62 - 66

We arrive here from Pamukkale at around 9:30 PM and have to wait 30min. for the shuttle bus to take us to the V-Go Hostel. We did not make reservaations and the only thing available is a dorm room with 3 other women. A young Canadian man offered us his room which was a double bed. We took it since is was so late and figured that Angie was too tired to toss and turn like she usually does. We were assured that they would have a twin single the next day. But after a long day of hiking and swimming we come back to find we are in the same room. The hostel is nice with a swimming pool that we never use and a patio with bar that we never use and nightly barbacue that we never use. Air-con that we had to pay 10TL daily for the use. So we go looking for a hotel for the next 3 days and find a really nice one within walking distance (across the road 1 min) of the marina and town. The Hotel Dedeoglu has just been revamped and it even has a shower door, which was the selling point for us. Plus air-con that is free! And a huge luxury - a hair dryer that works. No use watching TV, none of it is in Engish, well after all, we are in Turkey.

DAY 63

On our first morning we decide to take the city bus to the ghost town of Kaya Koy. It was a small village that at it's peak had 2000 houses, 2 large churches and 4 small churches and 30 chapels. When civil war broke out after WWI the Turks drove out the Greeks and a treaty of 1922 was in place to resettle Greeks living Turkey - in Kaya Koy to an area back in Greece and bring Turks living in Greece to Kaya Koy. The Turks did not like living there as they were sure the town was haunted by the previous inhabitants and the town was left empty. The Turkish Greeks and Greek Turkish had been settled in their respective countries for a few generations so neither group spoke the language of the country they were resettled to. It is a huge mistake made by President Ataturk and one that is embarassing to the Turks and not openly discussed.

The houses are in ruins, the timbers and roofs have all rotted away and only the stone walls remain. Only squirels and birds live there now. Angie decides to climb over the ridge to the blue lagoon on the other side. Francine agrees because the lady at the entry to the town told her it was only 100 metres to the top of the hill and 200 metres down the other side, even though the sign said, 6km. We thought that must have been to the town not the Blue Lagoon. It turned out to be a 3 hour hike over very rocky and hilly terrain that was more of goat trail with sticker bushes everywhere. Angie found that out when she slipped and fell into the stickers. OUCH!! Francine took a slow pace as she was wearing thongs (flip flops). So every step was a careful one. Her dislocated big toe, still slightly sore held out wonderfully. Frangie is glad that she never has to walk anywhere and comes out to enjoy the view when the mood takes her.

We finally made it to the blue lagoon and decided to eat first at Billy's Cafe on the beach. It was hot and we shared a very bad cheeseburger. But too hungry not to eat it. The water was nice and the constant view of the paragliders coming off the mountain was entertaining. We took the local bus back to the bus station. it is late afternoon. We are sweaty, dirty, wet from persperation and yet we stop to shop along the walk back to the hotel. Angie buys some Nike tops and shorts. We eat dinner of salads at the hotel.

DAY 64

On the second morning we decide to take the day and relax. That means a 12 island tour on a large cruising boat. We were picked up at 10.30am and dropped our packs at our new hotel on the way. We cruise from island to island stopping for 45 min at a time to swim, walk around the island or sleep. We swim in the water and sleep, but we did our walking yesterday. We were shocked to see this young Russian family with 3 children (ages around 3,4,5) who were running naked (the children) on the boat and when in the water had only those plastic arm bands on (floaties). The 3 year old was about 25 ft in the sea before either parent even went in the water. And when in the deep sea the parents allowed the children to float away while they were talking to each other with their backs to the children. And then only the father paid any attention to the children and would ocassionly swim out to them and bring them closer only to let them float away again. Francine and I kept a eye on the children for the remainder of the day.

The day was long and being in the sun very tiring. We returned to our new hotel and had a good shower (with a shower door) and walked to town to eat at a nice little place called the Blue Cafe. The staff are very friendly and speak really good English. They have a variety of foods and we choose to have nachos for dinner with a frosted glass of beer. Oh and two desserts, chocolate mud cake, nice and gooey and lemon cheese cake, nice and light. We figured we deserved after our previous day of hiking.

DAY 65

This morning we sleep in. We are having a lazy day. It is another hot day. We did some blogging and then headed off into town to wander around the shops. We decided we desparately need some new clothes for our trip to Greece. We have been wearing the same clothes now for nine weeks and they are a bit worse for wear. No really they are wearing out. Anyway, a nice dress for dinner on the Greek Islands is essential.

We shop till we drop and find a few nice outfits. Francine buys two dresses and a pair of baggy white pants. Angela buys a two piece swimsuit. Stayed tuned for photos of the new purchases.

For lunch we found the fish markets and Angie the trooper does the touristy thing with Francine and has fish again. We chose our restaurant and then we wandered around the fish stalls and chose our fish. We bought a large swordfish cutlet and four giant prawns. Then we took the fish back to the restaurant and for 5TL they cooked it for us as wished. Prawns in garlic butter, swordfish grilled with a bowl of salad, grilled potatoes and toasted bread and a jug of garlic oil. It was delicious and Angie has added swordfish to the fish she will try again.

We wandered around the shops some more and pop in to have a look as there is air con. Found a supermarket and bought a few essentials and had the novelty of wandering around. Sure we won't feel that way when we get home.

Back to our favourite restaurant, The Blue Cafe for a light meal and then ice cream along the waterfront..

DAY 66

This morning we were going to head off to Kas, about three hours from Fethiye. It is a small village and they have tours in glass bottom boats that take you over an ancient sunken city. We decided not to go as it would be a six hour round trip to spend an hour on a boat and we may not even see anything.

So today is another lazy day in Fethiye. We took a bus to the other side of the town and had a walk around. The temperature today is 36c or 97f. We are now trying to get used to the heat. We found a pharmacy to get some vitamin tablets instead we found a set of scales. We are now feeling depressed and then figured its all the walking and musclegain since it weighs more than fat.

We came back to the hotel and air conditioning and worked on the blog until it cooled down a bit. Well Angie did, Fran napped. We did some more wandering around and had an early dinner back at our restaurant, the Blue Cafe. The cafe will fix anything we want we just tell them how we want our food and they try to do the best they can. I twice tried to order mozzerella cheese but the young handsome waiter tells me that feta cheese would be better on my sandwich then today he tells me that he will put a special cheese on my garlic bread that will be much better tasting. I think it was a parmesan cheese. The owner was always present and the waiter and the cook were cousins and the girl waitress was from Japan who had reccently join her boyfiend who was now living in Turkey. We all took photos together and the cook gave us his email so we could send them copies of the photos.

We have now packed our bags and ready to head off to Rhodes. Really looking forward to it as this is the first time we have spent more than two days in one place and have finished having a break.

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Photos

ONLY IN TURKEY
WHITE MALE CAFE
We dıd take a photo of the sıgn. It must be blocked

THE SEA VIEW FROM THE TOP OF THE KAYA PLATEAU
OMG ıt's a long way down

OUR LUNCH
WATER, NUTS, CRACKERS AND PRETZELS

A FRENCH FRY SANDWICH
Francine eats a chip sandwich for lunch (chıp buddy) obvıously not ready for the photo, she was pooped

NAP TIME
Caught a bus driver napping

COORINDATED NAPPING
A member of the BLUE MEN??

FETHIYE MARINA
From our hotel room

Comments

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Blonde Barbie
OK, which of you blondes took your Barbie along for the trip? Love the blog's! Looks like you are having a great trip!