Advertisement
We awoke to a cloudy sky but feeling most refreshed, we followed our small companion up to the terrace for breakfast. Woolly says – day two of amazing breakfasts and having feasted to my hearts content I could truly say that I couldn’t manage another mouthful...... Miracles do happen and as I wiped the three types of jam of the furry fiend we were all looking forward to the next part of our journey. Woolly says - ....... the jam was delicious but I was glad of the wipe down as I appeared to be sticking to the floor! Next came the entertainment of Jo trying to get her backpack into position and then pointing her in the right direction before she fell over backwards hehehehehe. I led the way to the bus station and as if planned the bus for Feithye was ready and waiting for our arrival. The winding coast roads offered wonderful views and as kilometre after kilometre passed I dozed. I just hoped that his snoring wouldn’t disturb anybody else! Passing through acres of agricultural landscapes I started to feel trancelike as my two fellow travellers slept. Spying a sign for Xanthos, a world heritage site I grabbed the camera on the off chance of getting a quick snap. This was a place that we had considered stopping at but due to the flight we had booked onto for later in the week it hadn’t been worth the risk of staying an extra night. My luck wasn’t in and I mentally added it to the list of places to return to in the future.
Woolly says – I woke as the coach jolted to a holt and grabbing my rucksack scurried down the steps and awaited the arrival of the weightlifters that I appeared to be travelling with. Having checked the route to our accommodation I chived the girls across the road to wait for a local bus or Dolmus as the Turks call them. I sat peering out of the window for our stop until we reached the last on the drivers route, working on the theory that if we got off we couldn’t be far away I herded my party onto the street and set about asking directions. He was wrong, a kind man told us we had to walk back the way we had come for at least a mile!
Woolly says – I failed to see the problem as I set the pace and was surprized to find myself over five hundred metres in front of Zoe with Jo not even in sight. Pausing for the slow coaches to catch up I could see a red faced, sweaty appropriation appear round the corner as the older member of the group finally caught us up, for some reason she appeared to be having breathing problems! Ignoring her feeble pleas for a rest I trotted on, I mean if I can carry my own back pack why can’t she! He’s carrying two bandana’s and a bag of pistachios.....I rest my case! Woolly says – Having checked us into our minuscule room, I suggested an investigation of Calis Beach and the possibility of some sustenance, how could they decline! Jo seemed to move far faster without her backpack and trotting swiftly back along the road we had just arrived on I led the way to the beach. The clouds were still lingering and other than the signs that protect the local turtle population it wasn’t that enthralling, as we wandered along the prom I kept an eye out for passing shelled inhabitants whilst looking for a likely place to eat.
We passed restaurant after restaurant until suddenly the mammoth disappeared from sight before I heard a squeaking from up above and saw a small paw flagging us down, it seemed that he had found the only Indian in the entire place! Woolly says – I couldn’t fault the food but then eating to excess is somewhat a talent with me! Full to capacity we headed back and having settled in for the night I was looking forward to discovering the city of Feithye in the morning. Modern Fethiye is located on the site of the ancient city of Telmessos, which was the most important city of Lycia, with a recorded history starting in the 5th century BC. Legend says that the name came about because the god Apollo fell in love with the youngest daughter of the King of Phoenicia, Agenor. He disguised himself as a small dog and thus gained the love of the shy, withdrawn daughter, he would have looked equally cute disguising himself as a mammoth in my thoughts! He then reappeared as a handsome man, they had a son, whom they name 'Telmessos' (the land of lights). The city became part of the Persian Empire after the invasion of the Persian general Harpagos in 547 BC, along with other Lycian and Carian cities. Telmessos then joined the Attic-Delos Union established in mid-5th century BC although it later left the union and became an independent city. A visit to the city by Alexander the Great in 334 BC left some buildings behind but until the 12
th centuries it seemed to have become a little down on it’s luck until the Turks took over and the area came under the rule of Beylik of Menteşe before It became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1424. In 1934, the city was renamed 'Fethiye' in honor of Fethi Bey, one of the first pilots of the Ottoman Air Force who was killed on an early mission during the war. Should be plenty to see tomorrow then!
The morning bought black clouds and rain falling into the outdoor pool along with three very tired travellers having been kept awake until the early hours with music playing from the bar downstairs.
Woolly says – It wasn’t the best start to the day and once Jo had complained about the Lipton’s tea instead of her usual Cay and sent the stale bread back demanding fresh, we set off for our first adventure of the day. A water taxi along the river gave us a chance to view the reed beds and take in the view of Feithye harbour, castle and rock tombs, I could feel the excitement mounting for the delights in store. Alighting from the boat we strolled along the harbour admiring the statues of Ataturk and some strange ballerina’s before rounding a building to be greeted by two pelicans sat in a pool. Worrying slightly for my safety I kept my distance as I watched them playing with a plastic bottle and Jo explained that they had had their wings clipped so unless they walked they couldn’t really go anywhere, this made me feel rather sad so after wishing them well in their lives as a tourist attraction we meandered on. The map we had acquired seemed easy to follow with a easy to follow road numbering system and after a short walk past a variety of bars and restaurants we started to follow the road upwards in the hope of gaining access to the castle.
The humidity wasn’t good to us and the sharper the incline became the harder the trek seemed. Woolly says – having spotted some goats perched up on the cliffs we finally concluded that we wouldn’t be Kings of the Castle so backtracking we set about finding the rock tombs. The Tomb of Amyntas was built in 350 BC, and was named after the Greek inscription on the side of it which reads "Amyntou tou Ermagiou", which translated to English means "Amyntas, son of Hermagios". They were easy to spot above our heads but as I considered the steps felt it might not be quite as easy to reach. Step after step passed, Jo and Zoe passed me by and continued their ascent as I puffed my way up but the view and the incredible entrance made it all worthwhile. The wonderful stone work and columns were impressive but lacking in further information I could only get my breathe back and admire the stunning views across the bay and harbour. Having taken our fill I trotted back down to the bottom and past a
sarcophagus which now appeared to be a roundabout! A quick snack to recharge the batteries and it seemed logical to check out the archaeological Museum. Opened in 1962 following the earthquake that devastated the city in 1957 it provided us with ceramics, coinage and headless bodies from all era’s. The short one had vanished and it wasn’t until Zoe and I entered the last room of the artefacts that we found he beaming with delight. Woolly says – MY hero, MY HERO!!!! There in all his alabaster glory, I sat glowing in pride as I admired a more than life size Hadrian, the ultimate in making a mammoth happy. Having prised his paws from the statue and carried him out of the building you could only wonder what the staff were making of his screams for his hero! To try and appease we wandered back through the harbour encountering some rather excellent topiary. Woolly says – it wasn’t the same but I tried to smile for the camera in spite of my loss. Through the huge market we went, managing to find a new rucksack for Jo who had already managed to break the straps on one before wearily climbing onto the bus for the trip back to the hostel. Apparently I have the delights of the hammam to look forward to tomorrow.....I’m not going I’m putting my down with a firm, well paw...they can’t make me!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.114s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 14; qc: 32; dbt: 0.0464s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
mahadev
Paul Joseph Drielsma
Turkey lives on
Good to see you and Woolly are still getting around Turkey and discovery it's many wonders... xx