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Yesterday, as we joined Joanne, Tom and 3 of their friends on a boat, travelled down the Dalyan river through the reeds, past the fish gate, watched a tour operator feed a giant Caretta-Caretta (Loggerhead) turtle blue swimmer crabs and then went over the bar and out to sea, I thought I should share with you some of our experiences in living in a village in Turkey. We went along the length of Turtle Beach (protected as the last beach used by Carettas for laying their eggs), grounded on a small sandy beach in a sheltered bay, swam, drank, ate our bbq fish and swam again before coming home. On the way back, we passed a large 3 masted sailing boat on a Mediterranean cruise and 4 large boats that had made the 3 hour journey from Marmaris to bring tourists to the area. A fleet of shallow draft boats like ours would have come over the bar to meet them, taken them through the extensive marshes, up the river past the town to Koycegiz Lake and then onto mud baths and hot springs before returning them for the trip back home.
The fish gate is part of a system
River scene from our favourite restaurant
Whilst we ate they tried to move this little boat to discover the anchor was wrapped around a submerged chair! that allows fish in the breeding season to enter the lake to spawn and return to sea. A large proportion of the young fish remain in the lake in what is a gigantic natural fish farm. Those that get down to the lower river often find the turtles wanting a change from their natural crab diet. Since we have been here, our diet has reflected that of the Carettas, fish and crab.
The other day we walked to a new Spa hotel (BCSpa Dalyan – if you look it up) with a daily fee of 30TL (about $20). We swam in the indoor pool, went into a sauna twice, then a steam room and finally a Turkish bath! We could have watched TV in the sauna but Turkish TV doesn't mean much to us so we didn't bother. After all that we wandered up to the main Spa pool and that night we both slept for at least 9 hours!
Today we walked round town, much larger than it looks, went for cappuccinos, talked with locals, got some mince for dinner (point to the piece of great beef and they mince it for you - no mystery ingredients
Garlic Crab entree
We shared this 3 times over our month in town! Peter), Lyn continued painting red poppies and I had a Turkish hair cut.
Tomorrow (like most other days this week) we will get the dolmas (local bus) out to the beach, lie on the deckchairs under an umbrella and swim in the warm salty waters of the Med. We eat out 3 or 4 nights a week in one of our favorite cafes overlooking the river and the tombs on the cliffs opposite and then wander to our favourite bar for a Turkish coffee and a liqueur. In the afternoons we relax, read, walk and sometimes shop. Yesterday 6 eggs, bread and milk cost less than $3 so it is cheap to shop. We find all this fresh air is very tiring.
Dalyan is not on the main road and there is no through traffic. There are a lot of Europeans, mainly English, who have their homes here and Dalamon nearby is the major airport for the Lycian coast with low cost airlines flying tourists in from many English and German cities as well as from France and the Netherlands. Tourist buses travelling along the coast and many buses from Fethiye and Marmaris arrive each day for the
cruise to Turtle Beach and the mud baths. They don't interfere with our tranquil life and provide colour on the river as they go past, traveling on (here today and gone tomorrow – just like in India, Helen and Ross).
Postscript: All this has come to an end as we have travelled by bus and dolmas to Kusadasi and Ephesus and tomorrow we go on the short cruise to Rhodes and Crete and start our Greek adventures. This may not be our last time in Dalyan.
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John
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Poppy Heaven
I gather it was Lyn who did the painting? Just kidding, it is really nice, great to hear you are having an excellent trip.