Advertisement
Published: June 11th 2013
Note: by double-clicking on any of the photos you will be transferred to the photo gallery which provides bigger images of the photos.
Tuesday 4th June: time to leave idyllic Cirali and head for Fethiye, our last stop. We left the hotel at 11am and drove back to Kas 80miles/127 kms along the very scenic coast road, which for most of the way is along the base of the mountains and right alongside the sea. We stopped at the Sardunya/Andifli Hotel, where we had stayed previously, for a very pleasant lunch on the terrace overlooking the bay; and it was also good to be warmly welcomed by the very nice staff there. Then back to the car for the second leg of the journey, 67miles/107 kms to Fethiye. This was the same road that we travelled from Dalyan to Kas the previous week.
We arrived at our hotel in Fethiye in the early evening to be told that our suite with sea view (a special treat for our last couple of days, which we booked, and had confirmed in April) wasn’t available. The reception staff seemed surprised that there was only the two of us (despite it being clearly stated on the
Coast Highway
The D400 coastal highway near Kasbooking form that she was looking at) because the suite had beds for four people. They offered us a double room with sea view next to the suite; insisting that it was the best double room in the hotel and that if we wished we could have the suite the following day. Somewhat disgruntled by this unexpected turn of events we checked the double room and it was indeed very nice and with the sea view we wanted, so we took it: not having much choice. Later, the receptionist phoned to say that we could have a €30/day discount for remaining in the double room or we could switch to the suite the next day. I told her that we would think about it and let her know once we had decided what to do. Having unpacked by that time, and as we were staying for just the two nights, we decided to remain in the double room. Later on I went to reception and told the receptionist that we would stay in the double room. I also asked her about the late check-out, at 6pm the next day, that I had requested when we originally booked the room in
Rest stop
Last lunch at the Sardunya Hotel kas en route from Cirali to Fethye April. She told me that it would be ok for a €50 surcharge to which I agreed.
We went out to dinner at Fethiye’s famous fish market which is a large open square occupying an entire city block. The inside of the square is comprised mostly of restaurants featuring fish which their customers buy from stalls at the centre of the open square. Jane had her favourite dish, calamari while I had one of the restaurants specialities, fried shrimp. Both delicious.
Wednesday 5th June: Fethiye is quite a large city (population 70,000 plus) and although having a very scenic location there’s not much to do in the city itself. We decided to drive south along the coast to take a look at a remote beach called Kabak that had been mentioned in glowing terms in our guidebook. Into our excellent, and brand new, but by now very dusty Ford Fiesta, and over the hill to Olu Deniz, a bustling package tour resort 6miles/10 kms from Fethiye. Then out along a narrow road along and up, and up, the cliffs south of Olu Deniz until we were several hundred feet above sea level: and with no namby-pamby Armco crash barriers to prevent cars
Kas to Fethiye
Back along the Esen Valley with the Taurus Mountains across the valley. Some snow still visible near the peaks. In the valley the temperature was 80F/27C. Vive la difference from bouncing down the very steep slope and into the briny should they be careless/unwary/unlucky enough to go off-road and down-slope. After a brief stop at a café for a restorative cold drink after the rather nerve wracking drive we continued on to the end of the road above Kabak Beach: at least 300 feet/100 meters above the beach. To get down to the beach the choice was either pay the local 4x4 shuttle £15/$23 for the trip down or walk down a very winding path that the guide book said would take 20 minutes. As guide books are usually quite conservative with their timing estimates we decided to walk even though the beach looked a long way down. We arrived at the beach after 30 minutes and needing another restorative cold drink which we were able to get at a beachside restaurant, and which also allowed us to use their amenities: changing rooms and showers. The beach was stunningly beautiful, shingle and sand with a milky blue sea straight from a travel company’s brochure. We walked up and down the beach, sat in the shade to enjoy the view and then had a nice lunch at the very obliging
Room with a view
Fethiye Marina from hotel restaurant. Afterwards I asked the manager how we could arrange to get the shuttle back up to the road where our car was parked and also if he knew of anyone else planning to take the shuttle so that we could share the cost. He pointed to a couple sitting at one of the tables and said that they also wanted to take the shuttle so I went over and confirmed this with them. They were from the Sunshine Coast north of Brisbane and had walked to Kabak along a cliff path from their hotel a couple of miles along the road back towards Olu Deniz. They were a bit stuck as they had asked the shuttle driver to take them up the hill and then back to their hotel but he was only prepared to do the shuttle from the beach up the hill. I offered them a lift with us and we agreed that we would leave once they had finished their lunch. Half an hour later we met up again and took the shuttle along with a third couple. At the top our new Australian friends insisted on paying our share of the ride cost which was
Road to Kabak 1
Looking back towards Olu Deniz, in the background. The Lykia Resort in the foreground. very nice of them and we took them back to their hotel; some kind of retreat which they mentioned was costing them $350 per night (it must be very special). We returned to our hotel in Fethiye and later went back to the Fish Market for dinner; where I had been promised a free beer because they had forgotten my order the previous night – and I couldn’t possibly pass up an opportunity like that.
Thursday 6th June: last day. As we had arranged for a 6pm check-out we had the whole day to ourselves so we went over the hill to the beach at Olu Deniz; the best section of which is a national park. We arrived quite early as visitors were starting to arrive in numbers (mostly Brits, and mostly from the London area to judge from the prevalence of “Saarf London” accents). The beach location was glorious, at the entrance of the Olu Deniz Lagoon with views south towards the cliffs and the road to Kabak that we had travelled the previous day. We stayed there until until 2pm and then headed back to Fethiye for lunch and to pack up. Returning to the hotel after lunch
Road to Kabak 2
Looking back at Olu Deniz beach at 4pm we were approached by a harassed looking man outside Reception who demanded to know why we hadn’t vacated our room. He was told that we had arranged and had agreed to pay extra for the 6pm check-out, and suggested that he check with the receptionist who'd had confirmed it with the manager at the time. As the same receptionist was on duty I went over to her and reminded her of the arrangement which she had agreed to. She looked a bit confused but simply said “OK” which we took as agreement with us. So we went to our room, showered and packed and checked out at 6pm, by which time the receptionist was all sweetness and light and wished us a safe journey. Nevertheless it was a rather sour ending to what should have been a pleasant stay but for the incompetence of the hotel staff in not handling our bookings properly.
Then it was off to Dalaman Airport with a quick stop at the car rental office on the way to pick up a driver who would take over the car at the airport. This all went very smoothly and we arrived at the check-in desk before
Road to Kabak 3 Way up high
Looking back towards Olu Deniz in the distance from 400/500 or more feet above sea level. it opened. However we didn’t have to wait very long for the desk to open and then it was through Security and Immigration to Departures and a 2 hour wait for our flight to depart. I used this time to finish off the previous blog (No 4) and transmit it using the excellent Turkcell wireless dongle which I’d bought our first day and which worked brilliantly even in the most remote locations. The flight back to Cardiff was very smooth and fast, under 4 hours, and we arrived back in the homeland just after midnight to find clear weather there also. Then we were transported to our car in the airport’s long-term car park and back home and in bed by 2am.
Excellent holiday: over 700 miles of driving on good roads, wonderful weather, spectacular scenery, great food, great value for money. Thanks again to Pete and Margaret for allowing us the use of their villa in Dalyan which inspired us to visit and enjoy this wonderful country once again. We’d thought that this might be our final trip to the Turquoise Coast having visited it twice previously but now we can’t wait to get back there again.
ps if
Kabak first view.
from the end of the road. from here it's either a 30 minute walk or a 10 minute 4x4 shuttle ride you want to take a low level, high speed flight along the route from Cirali to Fethiye Google has a nifty feature that allows for this. Just follow the instructions below:
Go to Google maps and enter Fethiye and in the dropdown box below the search box. The first place listed will be Fethiye, Turkey, so click on that to select it.At the top of the left side of the screen directly below where it says Google there are two boxes: "
Get Directions" and "
My Places". Click on the
Get Directions box.
Fethiye will now appear in a box labelled
B. Enter Cirali, Turkey in the box above, labelled
A, and then press
Get Directions.A route will appear showing Cirali as Point A and Fethiye as Point B. However, this shows the recommended route and is not the route that we took. So place the cursor on the
Kabak backdrop
The mountains behind which rise very steeply from the beach....on theright and out of view route (I recommend where the town of Emali is shown halfway along the route) and a little box will appear alongside the cursor that says
Drag to change route. Holding the cursor down drag the route down to Kas which is halfway along the coast between Fethiye and Cirali. Then release the cursor so that the new coast route appearsGo back to the left side of the screen where it says Driving directions to Fethiye, Turkey and next to the word Fethiye, there is a little button that says
3D>. Click on this button and then sit back and watch the map as you are taken on a high speed aerial view of the D400 Coast Highway between Cirali and Fethiye
Advertisement
Tot: 0.338s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 15; qc: 47; dbt: 0.0393s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
