Fethiye, Turkey

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Fethiye, Turkey

Monk said goodbye to Mani and the other staff at the hotel in Haraki Bay and some of the other guests he'd met during his stay. It really had been a good choice and, if Monk ever fetches up in Rhodes again between boats, he'll certainly head immediately for Haraki rather than staying in Rhodes town.

After dumping the car near the port, Monk wandered around town until it was time to catch the ferry. He originally thought the ferry might not run through lack of passengers, however, it was full when it left at 16:30, mostly filled with day-trippers who'd come over from Turkey in the morning for a day out in Rhodes.

By the time Monk got through customs at 18:30, Pam and her sister, Jude, were waiting at the quayside and all went back to Pam's for 'refreshments' before they took Monk out to an excellent fish restaurant by the harbour in Fethiye. Yet more 'refreshments' and long chats into the early morning saw Monk sleep soundly, even missing the 'call to prayer' just before first light.

Pam's apartment is a couple of kilometres from the centre of Fethiye in a predominately Turkish area overlooking the canal that brings water down from the mountains. The local mosque is just a couple of hundred metres further along the road. As in many Turkish towns and villages, the mosque is wired for sound and, several times a day, the chants of the local imam ring out across the neighbourhood calling the faithful to prayer, and instilling guilt into the not-so-faithful. Monk has it on good authority that some imams are turning to technology to help in their daily round of chanting. Some, it seems, have ripped their chants to MP3 and now play them 'live' from their iPods over the mosques' sound system. What next? miming - or maybe even tweeting their congregation at first light instead!

Pam and Monk cycled to the market close to Pam to buy goodies for breakfast. The variety of produce available in the market is truly amazing - all sorts of vegetables, fruit, cheese etc as would put British supermarkets to shame. Some of the local Turkish people might be relatively poor in money terms but they have such a wealth of fresh and varied food that is unavailable to us 'richer' folk in Europe's industrialised, pasteurised and homogenised societies.

Monk spent a lovely day with Pam driving along the coast roads around Fethiye. Some very hairy roads but such marvellous views. This section of the Turkish coast is indented by so many small bays and beaches, some of which can only be reached by boat; for sailors it must be paradise.

In the evening, Pam, Jude and Monk caught the dolmus (local minibus) up over the hill and down into the busy resort of Olu Deniz where they went to one of Pam's favourite restaurants - The Lemon Tree.

Monk had enjoyed his short stay with Pam and Jude and was glad that they'd invited him and that he'd managed to rearrange his plans to travel via Fethiye.

During his stay, Monk had taken pictures of Pam's apartment and gardens for her to use for a website she's planning so that she can rent out the place during times when she's not staying there. It really is a good base away from the tourist melee but within easy reach of Fethiye, the beaches and some interesting sites close by. Contact Monk at [e-mail] if you'd like more information.

Monk's Meanders

Shortly after Pam bought the place in Fethiye, Irene and Monk visited and had the place to themselves for a week - it must have been around 2005. Thye hired a car and explored the local area. They'd always wanted to visit the Greek island of Kastellorizo but the 5 hour boat trip from Rhodes and the schedules had always made things difficult.

Kastellorizo is the name that the Italians knew the island by during their years of occupation. The Greek name is Megisti and it's known by the Turks as Meis. Before the exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey in 1923, Kas had been a Greek town established by the islanders of Kastellorizo, which is only 2km offshore. After 1923, Kastellorizo became the last outpost of Greek defiance toward Turkey and over the years has often been a flash point for Greco-Turk politics. Greece subsidises the otherwise unviable economy of the island to ensure that it, and its two even smaller sister islands, maintained a miminum population such that the islands can continue to be declared Greek. All this is largely irrelevant to the islanders who maintain friendly relations with their Turkish neighbours despite the machinations of their politicians in Athens and Ankara. When Irene and Monk did eventually get to the island three years later, they discovered that much of the produce was contraband from the well-stocked markets and shops of Kas rather than the more-expensive alternatives from the nearest Greek port of Rhodes. Monk suspects that many small boat journeys between the island and Kas take place under cover of darkness.

While staying at Pam's, Irene and Monk decided to try to get to Kastellorizo from Turkey. They packed a small bag with the intention of staying a couple of nights on the island and made the 2-hour drive down to Kas where they planned to spend Friday night before catching the boat over to the island in the morning. Bureaucracy got in the way though. To catch the boat, passports have to be surrendered to the Turkish authorities by 16:00 on the night before departure. Irene and Monk arrived too late and the authorities could not accept any passports until Monday. They returned disappointed to Fethiye - so near yet so far - they could clearly see Kastellorizo across the straits.

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