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Turkey Tour 2013
There’s something about the Turquoise Coast of Turkey that keeps us coming back for more. This time there it was the added attraction of staying in my brother’s Peter’s villa in Dalyan: an area we hadn’t been to before.
So, on
Thursday 23rd May, courtesy of Thomson Flight TOM 708 from Cardiff to Dalaman we arrived back in Turkey at 9pm to be met at the airport by Pete and Margaret who had kindly offered to guide us in our hire car from Dalaman Airport to the Chateau Pete (more properly known the Villa Limon) in Dalayan. On arrival at Dalaman Airport I discovered that I’d booked the hire car from 24
th May not the 23
rd but Pete came to the rescue and called the car rental agency who agreed to provide us with a car immediately. This delayed our arrival at the villa in Dalyan until after 11pm but Pete and Margaret had made sure that all was ready for us so it was a very fast guided tour of the house, then they left us to head back to their new villa a few miles away. So despite my incompetence the day
turned out well.
Friday 24th May: Pete arrived at the villa at 10.30am to show us around Dalyan and get us orientated. This proved reasonably simple as the Villa Limon is less than a mile from the centre of Dalyan, which is a relatively small town (the population is listed as 5,000 but I think that it’s closer to 10,000, or possibly a bit more), and it has a large river running through it and some distinct hills around the edge of town so finding one’s way isn’t too difficult. After the tour of the town we headed off to lunch at an outdoor restaurant, Ekim’s, out of town and on the way to the beach. I had some delicious Turkish meatballs (lamb) while Jane and Pete had pancakes. Then we went on to have a look at the new villa that Pete and Margaret have built high up in the hills overlooking the estuary of the Dalyan River and the 3 mile beach at Iz Tuzu, a famous turtle sanctuary, and beyond to the peninsula leading south from Marmaris some 16 miles away. To say their view is stunning would be one of the great understatements; it’s sensational.
Then it was back to Villa Limon via the town to pick up a roast chicken for dinner: and a couple of Efes beer for the inner man. Excellent day.
Saturday 25th May: the one local attractions that Pete told us we
must do was to visit the ruins at Kaunos across the river from Dalyan and then a one kilometer walk downstream. So we did it. Parked the hire car close to the jetty and booked a ferry with the Women’s Co-Operative that operate the ferries: which are rowing boats. All very enlightened: the women do the heavy work while the menfolk operate the many large cruise launches taking tourists down river to the estuary. We were ferried across the river by Mina who told us that we must remember her name and use her boat for the return journey. The walk from the jetty to Kaunos was along a pleasant paved (as in made up of rectangular paving blocks very similar to those used on driveways back home) single lane road past some colourful gardens bursting with flowers. Kaunos itself is very impressive dating back nearly 3,000 years, with its period of major influence being during the
Dalyan River ferry
Operated exclusively by a woman's co-operative.
Lycian era rock tombs cut into the cliffs beyond the river.Roman era when it was an important port. As with several other Roman era cities along the Turquoise coast the harbour at Kaunos silted up and the city went into terminal decline. Nevertheless the ruins and the restoration work are very impressive and we really enjoyed our time there. Good call by Pete: and Mina was waiting to transport us back across the river when we returned to the ferry jetty.
Sunday 26th May: the plan for the day was to drive to a little seaside village called Ekincik very close to the mouth of Dalyan River but requiring an 80/90 mile round trip because there are no bridges across the river; and because on the way we wanted to take a look at the town of Koycegiz, up river from Dalyan, at the head of a large lake from which the Dalyan River flows to the sea. We made it to Koycegiz and enjoyed a cup of coffee on the lakeside promenade. Then, faced with the prospect of a further 30 mile drive over narrow mountain roads making it a 50 plus mile drive back to Dalyan we decided instead to head straight back to Dalyan, have lunch
Rock Tombs
The large one on the right is half finished. The carving starts at the top and ends halfway down. at our favourite lakeside restaurant (Ekims: three visits in three days) and go for a walk along the beach at Iz Tuzu. Which is what we did. The beach walk was good exercise as the onshore breeze was very strong and this coupled with the effort of walking through soft sand was quite tiring; so it was a healthily tired pair that made it make to the Villa Limon by 5pm; and with no inclination to head for the bright lights and bars of Dalyan, for dinner and an early night.
ps I recommend that Dalyan, Iz Tuzu and Kaunos are all checked out on Wikipedia for additional, and expert, information.
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