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Published: September 10th 2008
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After asking around a bit, reading up on our travel book and gauging our time, we decided to make Fethiye the next stop in our Turkey tour. We caught a mid-morning dolmus out of Olympos and up to the local bus stop where we jumped onto another dolmus for the 5 hour ride up the Mediterranean to Fethiye. Once again, the ride was gorgeous, and, being well rested, we were able to sit back, relax and take in the scenery. The road curved along the coast revealing tiny coves, ruins mounted on craggy hills, and deep blue waters. Our arrival into Fethiye came quick and painlessly, and, once we got our bearings, we called up a recommended hostel that had a free pick-up service. It was obvious straight away that this town was “built” for tourism as things flowed easily, shopping was everywhere and prices seems a bit, shall we say, northern.
We stayed at a nice little pension that was centered on a leafy courtyard featuring several fruit trees and a rather shoddily built waterfall of sorts which featured an abundance of bright green plastic plants. The place was clean and the owners were friendly and helpful, however, the
pension sat a few kilometers outside of the main area in Fethiye (and the bus station) forcing us to be less lazy than we prefer to be. No worries, we used this extra walking time to gorge on cheap cherries and pudding cups (some random craving as we hadn’t seen pudding in months). The walk from our pension to the harbour (where most of the action was) took about 15 minutes and proved to be a rather uninteresting walk, after about the 3rd time. The harbour was crowded with boats, and, beyond the water, the streets were full of restaurant callers attempting to lure you into their stores to eat “the best kebab around”.
We had a list of several things we were interested in doing in the areas surrounding Fethiye, with the first being a visit to the oft-spoke of Butterfly Valley. This valley, assumedly packed with butterflies, was supposed to be beautiful with jagged rocks and millions of flowers all flowing towards a little beach cove. It sounded enticing and several folks we met along the way said it was not to be missed. In spirited fashion we boarded a dolmus out of Fethiye and headed up
the coast excited about the day ahead. Little did we know, even after we confirmed our desired destination with the dolmus driver, we would be dumped off at the very end of the route, a full 8 miles from the entry point to Butterfly Valley. Disgruntled and irritated by the possibility of not walking through a valley full of butterflies, we did our best to gain composure and seek refreshment at the only ‘restaurant’ in our remote location.
After snacking on assorted fare (cookies and gozleme) we surveyed the area to see if we could salvage the afternoon by exploring the surrounding village. The little village sat high on the coastal mountain-side but it looked as though we could scale our way down the side of the mountain in order to reach the gorgeous blue water several hundred meters down. We set off ducking below prickly trees and carefully stepping in between dried and bristly vegetation covering the steep slopes of the mountain. Every couple of minutes loose gravel would dislodge our feet sending us to the ground to earn another bloody mark on our arms and legs. Twenty-five frustrating minutes later, we decided that we valued our lives
more than trying to make our way to the little cove in the distance so we clambered back up the mountain attracting every single prickler bush on the way up. Sweating buckets, frustrated and scraped up, we found a patch of shade and waited for the rural dolmus to appear to take us back to Fethiye. To make up for missed swim at Butterfly Valley, we stopped at a poshy little hotel for a quick dip in the pool.
The next morning, chock full of grit, we shook off the bruises from our misadventures the previous day and caught another dolmus, this time to the ghost town of Kayakoy. Abandoned after a population exchange with the Greeks in the early 1900s, this shell of a town stands as a permanent reminder of the destruction that occurs when people of differing viewpoints fail to reconcile their differences. Hundreds of Greek-style stone houses pepper the hills all stripped of their wooden roofs and continuing their decay into the 85th year. Several churches are intermixed with the houses, one of which was particularly beautiful, adorned with mosaic floors and paths throughout. Nearby, on the tallest hill in the area, a lone Turkish
flag flapped red in the wind feeling rather inappropriate considering the nature of the site and the pain suffered by those who were forced to evacuate and leave behind their homes. Perhaps nationalism should be muted in such situations? Or, better yet, perhaps a Turkish and Greek flag should be raised together at the site to respect those who were evicted and create a sense of unity that both nations could build on…just a thought.
After a lengthy wander through the ghost town at Kayakoy, we retired back to Fethiye to stroll through the streets for some pictures and to walk along the rock tombs at the edge of town. Like many/most places in Turkey, the little houses that lined the streets in Fethiye were ancient little Mediterranean abodes with olive, fig and orange trees nestled in leafy gardens with warm sun shining down and a cool breeze blowing through. It is hard not to fall in love with the climate, beauty and history in Turkey along the Mediterranean…all three merge and create an amazing experience for the traveler looking for a bit of it all. The rock tombs were a curious site, perched stoically along a rock cliff
that stared out to the sea. Chisled by Lycean hands thousands of years ago, they are but one of the many reminders of how many different civilizations left their mark in this ancient part of the world.
At this point in our trip, money was beginning to get a bit tight, and, as we were quickly learning, Turkey was considerably more expensive than we were expecting. Our budget, prior to landing in Turkey, was spot on, however two weeks in Turkey and gains we made in previous countries were being quickly eroded by pricy kebabs and pension stays. To “roll with the punches” and find enjoyable ways to preserve our shrinking capital, we hopped on yet another dolmus and headed for Oludeniz beach where free sun, rocks and crystal clear water awaited. At the beach, the chilly Mediteranean waters couldn’t be any clearer…floating in the water you could easily see the sand beneath your feet a good 10 feet down. The smooth rocky beach was a nice break from the typical sand in your pants experience of a normal beach day, and, also made for excellent spherical rock hunting. Even when the weather acted up, we just stayed put,
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Overall, Fethiye was a bit more touristy than we hoped for. That being said, Fethiye and surrounding areas have lots to offer and should probably pop up on the radar of any self-respecting trip to Turkey. As with all of the places we visited in Turkey, the people were friendly, the landscape was breath-taking and the ancient history was hiding out in every little nook and cranny; do yourself a favor and stop in on Fethiye if you find yourself in southwestern Turkey.
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STATISTICS * Flights taken = 13
* Intercity trains rides taken = 19
* Intercity bus rides taken = 57
* Times lost = 36
* Total instances of diarrhea = 13
* Total number of requests for pictures with Daniel = 38
* Total megabytes of pictures taken = 44,190
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