The last days of summer

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The Ceremony

We spent a few lazy days at the hotel with no farm work. We just enjoyed the sun, wandered around Fethiye and relaxed by the pool. On one of the evenings, a ceremony was held in the town center to "open" the brand new promenade and seaside area, as well as unveil the Atatürk statue on the new town square. Quite a few people showed up to hear the mayor's speech (which of course I couldn't understand) and watch the dramatic unveiling of Turkey's favorite politician and national hero, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. A traditional marching band accompanied the event with rythmic turkish traditional music. It was an interesting experience.

12 Islands

The next day, my fellow American helper and I decided to make use of the wonderful weather by going on one of the 12 Islands boat cruises for 25 TL (approx. 12 €). We took off at 10.30 in the most amazing sunshine and 30°C heat and enjoyed the beautiful views of Fethiye bay. It was a super relaxed cruise with amazing views and a few very nice opportunieties to swim in the warm, crystal clear mediterranean water. Lunch was included, we could choose from either meatballs or trout. That came with Spaghetti and salad. Definitely worth that price!! It definitely helped my tan to move a good step foreward and I finally got to swim in the ocean. The day went by pretty quickly, with frequent swimming stops, an occasional EFES (turkish beer) and the sun releasing its energy. We came back to Fethiye by sunset and walked back to the hotel with some delicious turkish ice cream.

Gizil Kent waterfall - a jungle adventure

After such a relaxed week, we were so ready to go back to work and make up for lost time! So we were nothing but surprised, when Ali told us during the car ride to the farm that we have never really rewarded ourselves and we should totally go to a nearby waterfall. No reward? Okay, if you say so. Of course we all agreed to get our reward for all that non-existent hard work. We arrived at the Gizli Kent waterfall, about 45 minutes inland from Fethiye, surrounded by mountains and pomegrenade trees, ready for our spontanious jungle adventure. After a short descend to the creek, we exchanged our sneakers for water shoes. That is because we had to wade through the creek for a good 20 minutes before actually seeing the waterfall. And I must say, having seen a good portion of waterfalls, the hike to the waterfall was a lot more exciting than the waterfall itself. But nonetheless, it was an exciting adventure, a great surprise and a beautiful walk in amazing scenery. And if all that was not enough already, we even got invited to eat some delicious Börek at the restaurant. We got to watch the girl prepare the Börek, which is kind of a very large and thin savory pencake, stuffed with herbs and white cheese. First she rolled the dough with a thin stick, put the stuffing on and then kind of baked it on a special oven with a flat, hot top. Ali decided to make one of these for the farm as well. It was delicious and amazing and beautiful and more we were expecting when we left that moring to get our hands dirty. And even at the farm, that lunch still awaited us!! We did actually work a little bit that day, but never ever enough to make up for all that free time and free food we got.

From tropical heat to tropical thunder

And that was pretty much it for the great weather. Only a few days later, apocalyptical thunder work all of us up in the middle of the night. It was quite frightening, I guess I have never heard thunder that loud! And the rain just poured down like crazy! I felt like I was in the middle of a monsoon. The day didn't get any better. Rain, rain, rain. So obviously there was not much we could do but sit around at the hotel, drink tea and cocktails and wait for better weather.

Incirköy - Bayram preperations

The next day was Tuesday, market day. Because we were already 6 helpers in Alis hotel, only 4 of us could go. And because I really wanted to go to a nearby village and Alis other farm, I volunteered to stay home while the new kids went to the Tuesday market. Later in the afternoon, one of my fellow helpers and I joined Ali to go to a village called Incirköy (lit. Fig village) to transport a sheep that was chosen to be sacrificed for Bayram into Fethiye. We had a short scenic drive up into the mountains and ended up in yet another beautiful valley surrounded by mountains, this one being even more beautiful than the others. The village of Incirköy was truly unique and one of the coolest places I've been to so far. It is a very traditional and old village, with super narrow streets, houses that had stables under the living area and very few commodities that would remind you in which century you are in. The further we went into the village, the more I thought that a donkey would probably be the more useful form of transport than a car. We stopped and met the sheep that was about to die in the name of Allah and put it in the back of the car. It was fairly carlm and just went to sleep back there. On the way out of the valley, we stopped at Alis other farm, which I didn't even know about until then. And I definitely like this one a lot more than the one we worked at. It was a small piece of land, with only a few fruit trees (pomegrenade and fig) tons of chickens and 2 very excitable dogs. I could have stayed there forever. I really like being in the town center and being by the seaside, but when we went to this hidden valley, far away from tourism and in the heart of the real Turkey, I remembered why I loved HelpX so much. It is to be in places exactly like that one, to experience the country far off the beaten track. After a short stop there, we delivered the sheep to Alis sister in Fethiye and went back to the hotel, where it started raining again.

Kayaköy - Ghost Village

It kept raining the next day. But because me and another helper were leaving soon, Ali suggested to take us to nearby Kayaköy, the ghost village. Formerly inhabited by Greek Christians, now a deserted village in ruins and a museum village. The rain seemed to have mercy on us, as it stopped for quite a while, while we wandered through the rocky paths and the ancient ruins. We walked throug the old churches all the way up to the top of the village, from where we had a breathtaking view over the whole village and the misty mountains behind it.
When we reached the top, unfortunately the rain started pouring down again so we had to hurry to get back down and make our way back to the car. Despite the heavy rain, Ali took us to Ölüdeniz beach, the famous Blue Lagoon of Fethiye. It does look beutiful on the pictures taken from above. What we encoutnered on our way to the beach was a differet world. We were in England! It was packed with British bars, pubs, restaurats, restort hotels and villas. The beach itself wasn't that spectacular, as we couldn't actually see the Lagoon from where we were standing, plus it was raining. But at least I can say that I've been there 😊

So, my days in Fethiye are coming to an end. Tomorrow I'll make my way back to Istanbul, where I have less than 24 hours before my flight for Tel Aviv leaves. And after a long overnight bus tour I aleady how I will spend them 😊

I consider myself lucky to have seen this wonderful part of Turkey and being able to do this work exchange in Alis hotek. It was a great experience I won't forget so quickly. But I'm off to a new country, a new home and a new adventure. And the best part is, I dont even know where I'll be in a week 😊

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